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Karolis T.
Asked: 2009-06-24 11:43:47 +0800 CST

USB forwarding from dom0 to domU

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What are my options to forward two USB connected phones to xen guest?

I've read about PCI-passthrough http://www.wlug.org.nz/XenPciPassthrough, but I'm sure usb controller in the server isn't a pci card.

There's device level forwarding, but I need to forward two devices, this here doesn't say how to do it: http://www.olivetalks.com/2008/02/03/usb-forwarding-on-xen-it-just-does-not-work/

Would something as simple as:

usbdevice = [ 'host:xxx', 'host:yyy', ]

work?

EDIT: I'm now starting a bounty. This is really important for me and for other people also, hoping someone who have this resolved will be able to help.

xen linux usb

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I use Xen with USB passthrough to my domU on Centos5.

    So far I can tell: Forward the complete USB-stuff or nothing. Do not try to forward only some OHCI/UHCI devices.

    So here it runs more or less (haven't started a stress test yet):

    1. Disconnect all USB devices
    2. Unload the USB devices from dom0 via pciback. Unload UHCI/OHCI and EHCI devices. (Write some kind of init.d script for your needs). Details about pciback are here under point 1
    3. Restart xend
    4. lsusb should output nothing on dom0
    5. edit you domU configuration file with the pci = [ '0000:yy:xx.0'] stuff
    6. Start your domU
    7. domU should report USB devices via lspci (other pciids) and lsusb

    My dom0 is booted with kernel-parameter noirqdebug (grub).

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  2. I can confirm that above approach works under the following preconditions:

    • Xen 3.4.3
    • CentOS 5.5 host, kernel 2.6.18-194.32.1.el5xen x86_64

    • CentOS 5.5 guest, kernel 2.6.18-194.32.1.el5xen x86_64

      1. I removed all attached USB devices.
      2. rmmod uhci_hcd ohci_hcd ehci_hcd
      3. Figure out which USB hub is attached to which connectors
      4. Added hiding for some of the USB ports

    /etc/modprobe.conf:

    options pciback hide=(0000:00:1a.0)(0000:00:1a.1)(0000:00:1a.7)
    1. Restarted xend: /etc/init.d/xend restart
    2. Configured the VM config:

    /etc/xen/auto/vm:

    usb = 1 # Probably irrelevant
pci = [ '0000:00:1a.0', '0000:00:1a.1', '0000:00:1a.7' ]
    1. Recreated the VM (xm destroy / xm create):

    dmesg:

    Loading ehci-hcd.ko module
PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:00.7 (0000 -> 0002)
ehci_hcd 0000:00:00.7: EHCI Host Controller
ehci_hcd 0000:00:00.7: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
ehci_hcd 0000:00:00.7: debug port 1
ehci_hcd 0000:00:00.7: irq 17, io mem 0xdf0fe000
ehci_hcd 0000:00:00.7: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00, driver 10 Dec 2004
usb usb1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-0:1.0: 4 ports detected
Loading ohci-hcd.ko module
Loading uhci-hcd.ko module
USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v3.0
PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:00.0 (0000 -> 0001)
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.0: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.0: irq 19, io base 0x0000ec40
usb usb2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:00.1 (0000 -> 0001)
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.1: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
uhci_hcd 0000:00:00.1: irq 20, io base 0x0000ec60
usb usb3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
...
usb 1-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
...
usb 1-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 1-3:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-3:1.0: 4 ports detected
usb 1-3.2: new full speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 1-3.2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
    1. Achieved nirvana.
    • 1

  3. Your best bet is to put the phone on a retired desktop and run whatever you need on bare metal. Yeah it sucks!

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