Anywhere USB stays in connecting state on vmware guest

Hi All,
I have AnywhereUSB installed on a VMWare ESX Guest Server (W2K3 Sp1). I’m trying with no success to get a USB Modem operational from the VM Guest.
I’ve installed vers. 1.80 of AnywhereUSB as described in the VMWare AnywhereUSB guide. And then attached the modems, discovered them and loaded the modem drivers.

When I run into accessibility problems with the USB devices I’ve resorted to rebooting the AnywhereUSB Hub. When it comes back the GUI indicates it is Connected (e.g. Connected to me is 1) but the text in the right hand panel indicates it is Connecting to this server…
The Connect button is greyed out, so it seems to be in no mans land. The only “fix” is to reboot the Guest Server, which will certainly not be an option if we go live with this solution.
I’ve also found with the modems, we have two connected, I can only Query one of them (using Device manager), the other modem tells me the device is not available.

Has anyone done anything like this and have some tips that might make this work?

Hello RobB,

Most modems are incompatible with the AnywhereUSB. The exception is our Rapidport modems (a single enclosure with 4 modems in it) and the Best Data 56USB-P modem:

http://www.bestdata.com/index.php?file=c-allproddesc&iProductId=16158

I’m sure these “accessibility problems” (using an incompatible USB device) are what’s causing the AnywhereUSB to “hang”. Still, without using incompatible USB devices, let me know if you continue experiencing a problem where you have to reboot the AnywhereUSB.

Best regards,

Jeremy M

Thanks for that, although it looks somewhat like a sales pitch.
The utility that Digi International provide to validate if the device works passed the USB modem when I ran it.

The issue I’m left with is how to access a modem from a Virtual Server (using VMWare ESX). Does your solution do that?

RobB,

To my knowledge, most modems are incompatible because they are “software” modems (controllerless), as opposed to “hardware” modems (controller based). These hardware modems handle more of the processing instead of the PCs CPU. The Best Data model I mentioned is a controller based “hardware” modem.

I’ve had multiple customers tell me that Beta Data model works with the AnywhereUSB, so I recommend trying it out. We have no relationship with Best Data. I wouldn’t be surprised if other make/model “hardware” modem would work with the AnywhereUSB.

The AnywhereUSB is compatible with VMWare ESX as long as you follow the instructions in this workaround:

http://ftp1.digi.com/support/documentation/aw_usb_vmware.txt

I’ve had customers tell me they successfully used the AnywhereUSB + that Best Data modem + VMware ESX.

I hope this helps answer your question.