[vfio-users] USB >>port<< passthrough

[Rich Mingin (vfio-users)]

Just to chime in, yes and no. You can't pass a port, you can pass a single
device, but it's best to pass a whole USB controller. I also picked up a
USB PCIe card for vfio use, it has two USB 3.0 ports on the PCI bracket and
a header for two front mounted ports, and I have labels from my Brother
labeller to mark those as being the VM ports. I considered using an A/B
switch like Jayme described, but ended up using a piece of software called
Synergy (popular and mentioned elsewhere on the list before) to switch
targets. I turn off scroll lock, I can mouse from host to guest and back
(and even copy/paste), and when I hit scroll lock again, the mouse and
keyboard are locked to the instance where they are currently. It works very
nicely once you're used to it, it cuts down on cabling, and you can plug in
a spare keyboard/mouse to connect directly to the guest if needed.

On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 2:09 PM, Jayme Howard <g.prime at gmail.com> wrote:

> You can't pass the port itself.  You can pass individual devices attached
> to a port, but the latency can get weird sometimes.  I had pretty
> significant problems when I did it that way.  I opted to use Francisco's
> solution above, with a slight adjustment.  I have a dedicated card that
> gets allocated to the VM.  Connected to that, and to one of the host's USB
> ports, I have a USB A/B switch.  Connected to the switch is a 4 port hub.
> Connected to the hub is my keyboard and mouse.  All I have to do to switch
> the inputs from the host to the guest and back is to choose A or B on the
> switch, and a few seconds later all input is directed to the correct
> location.
>
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 5:28 AM, Quentin Deldycke <
> quentindeldycke at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes, it is best way.
>>
>> My motherboard have 2 controllers. One is all time on Linux, the other
>> one move between both.
>>
>> Keyboard mouse on the moving one, printer and other device all time on
>> Linux.
>>
>> On 23 Aug 2016 12:16 p.m., "Francisco Menendez" <aterfelis at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If you don't mind spending a few dollars, what I did was basically buy
>>> a PCIe USB port card, then give it exclusive control of the device to
>>> the guest. I can't use it in the host, but I have other USB ports for
>>> the host, so no biggie.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 4:07 PM, Rokas Kupstys <rokups at zoho.com> wrote:
>>> > Is it possible to pass-through USB port? I know we can pass-through
>>> > specific usb devices or entire usb controllers however it is not ideal
>>> > in all cases. For instance in my case single pci device drives all usb
>>> > ports on the back panel. Naturally i cant pass-through that pci device
>>> > because it would leave me without access to the host. Passing through
>>> > USB devices is of little use if one wishes to use kvm switch -
>>> > mouse/keyboard switched to another port would still have same
>>> > vendor/device ids. Is there any solution to this?
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Rokas Kupstys
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>> > vfio-users at redhat.com
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>>>
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>>
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>
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