Help Please - Confused about USB Devices

parisi

New Member
Dec 22, 2022
7
0
1
Sorry for the length of this, just wanted to give as much information as possible.

I seem to have gotten myself very confused.

I have four dongles that I am using with HA.
  1. Z-Wave
  2. Insteon
  3. Zigbee Sonoff
  4. Zigbee Skyconnect
I am running HA as a VM under Proxmox.

Here is the list of USB devices (lsusb) on the Proxmox Host:
  • Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2109:0812 VIA Labs, Inc. VL812 Hub
  • Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
  • Bus 001 Device 011: ID 1a2c:0e24 China Resource Semico Co., Ltd USB Keyboard
  • Bus 001 Device 009: ID 0c45:7056 Microdia USB DEVICE
  • Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0b95:6801 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HID Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0b95:6808 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HUB Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 010: ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge
  • Bus 001 Device 008: ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge
  • Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
  • Bus 001 Device 004: ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge
  • Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:2812 VIA Labs, Inc. VL812 Hub
  • Bus 001 Device 005: ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
  • Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
From the above It is hard to know which is which...

Running the following on the Proxmox host:

root@pve-home:~# lsusb -d 10c4:ea60 -v 2> /dev/null | grep 'iProduct'
iProduct CP2102N USB to UART Bridge Controller
iProduct Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus
iProduct SkyConnect v1.0

root@pve-home:~# lsusb -d 0403:6001 -v 2> /dev/null | grep 'iProduct'
iProduct FT232R USB UART

Here is the HA info:

2024-05-04_11-25-21.png

When I connect the above devices to the HA VM, how do I know which goes to which dongle...

In the Proxmox HA VM | Hardware
I am able to configure the USB ports using the "Use USB Vendor/Device ID" settings:

USB0 = SkyConnect v1.0 (10c4:ea60)
USB1 = FT232 USB UART (0403:6001)

However, when I try to add USB2 as Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (10c4:ea60) - the setting reverts back to SkyConnect. The same happens for USB3 as well.

I am able to setup USB2 and USB3 using the "Use USB Port" option in the Proxmox HA VM configuration...



In HA I go to Insteon | Utilities | Change the modem connection and I get this:

2024-05-04_11-44-01.png
Based on the above, it looks as if the Insteon dongle must be #2 or #3.

I think #1 is ZWave,
I think #4 is Sonoff Zigbee

When I set the Insteon to #2 or #3 I do not have any control.

Help!
 

Attachments

  • 2024-05-04_11-44-01.png
    2024-05-04_11-44-01.png
    40.4 KB · Views: 0
Remove all of your USB devices that you are trying to identify and save the output of lsusb. Then add one device and look at the differences in the output of lsusb. Repeat for each device.
Your devices appear to have the same device and vendor ID, so probably best to use port mapping instead of vndr:devc.
Or look at the changes under "Use USB Port" in the Proxmox GUI (VM > Hardware > Add USB) to identify each device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dunuin
Maybe you could passthrough the whole USB Ports instead of devices by its Vendor/Device ID when you got 3 devices using the same Vendor/Device IDs?

Edit: too late^^
 
You suggest using port mapping instead...

Which (just so I am certain) is port mapping?

2024-05-04_12-21-55.png
 
Ok - so I am just getting back to this. Still confused.
  1. I removed the USB mapping from the Host to the Proxmox VM.
  2. I physically removed all the hardware USB dongles from my host.
Running lsusb, on the Proxmox host, I get:
  • Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
  • Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1a2c:0e24 China Resource Semico Co., Ltd USB Keyboard
  • Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0c45:7056 Microdia USB DEVICE
  • Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0b95:6801 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HID Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0b95:6808 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HUB Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
  • Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
I added in the Insteon USB dongle, and get this, on the Proxmox host:
  • Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
  • Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1a2c:0e24 China Resource Semico Co., Ltd USB Keyboard
  • Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0c45:7056 Microdia USB DEVICE
  • Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0b95:6801 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HID Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0b95:6808 ASIX Electronics Corp. Virtual HUB Ver:0.01
  • Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0aaa Intel Corp. Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP)
  • Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
  • Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Next, I went to the Proxmox UI | HA guest | Hardware | Add | USB Device | Use USB Port and chose FT232R USB UART (1-6).

Next, I go to the HA UI | Settings | Devices & Services | Insteon | Configure | Utilities | Change Modem Connection |


2024-05-13_16-47-31.png
I select the FT232R... and get the Could not connect to the modem. Please check the configuration.

Suggestions?
 
Sometimes putting a (externally powered) USB hub in between helps due to driver/hardware incompatibilities or edge cases.
If USB passthrough does not work (and it's definitely not perfect), you could try PCIe passthrough of a whole USB controller (but that comes with a whole new set of caveats).
If passthrough to a VM does not work, and the software can run on Linux, you could try a container instead (but you need a driver on the Proxmox host) and sometimes a VM works better than a container (because then USB unplug and hot-plug work).
If passthrough does not work, you could try usbip to connect a USB port of another (virtual or physical) machine to another using the local network. This could work with a OpenWRT router with a USB port, for example.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kingneutron

About

The Proxmox community has been around for many years and offers help and support for Proxmox VE, Proxmox Backup Server, and Proxmox Mail Gateway.
We think our community is one of the best thanks to people like you!

Get your subscription!

The Proxmox team works very hard to make sure you are running the best software and getting stable updates and security enhancements, as well as quick enterprise support. Tens of thousands of happy customers have a Proxmox subscription. Get yours easily in our online shop.

Buy now!