Adding a USB device to the virtual machine fails with the error: Error connecting to arbitrator socket: No such file or directory

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• After upgrading an ESXi 4.1 host to ESXi 5.0, you are unable to add a USB device to the virtual machine.
• The USB controller has been added to the virtual machine, but the USB device is not available.
• In the hostd.log file, located at /var/log/, you see the error:
  
  USBGL: Error connecting to arbitrator socket: No such file or directory (2)
  warning 'Libs'] USBGL: Giving up on connecting to USB arbitrator
  
  
• In the /var/log/vmkernel.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  New USB device found, idVendor=05 ac, idProduct=8261
  2012-01-11T20:29:28.998Z cpu8:2695)<6>usb 6-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
  2012-01-11T20:29:28.998Z cpu8:2695)<6>usb 6-1: Product: Frontpanel Controller
  2012-01-11T20:29:28.998Z cpu8:2695)<6>usb 6-1: Manufacturer: Apple Computer
  2012-01-11T20:29:29.001Z cpu8:2695)<6>usb 6-1: usbfs: registered usb0602
  2012-01-11T20:32:53.312Z cpu10:4903)<6>usb passthrough enabled; all eligible dev
  
  
• Restarting the Management services does not resolve the issue

Note: To view a list of USB devices on the host, run the lsusb command in the command line

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Cause

This issue occurs if hostd loads before the USB Arbitrator in ESXi 4.1 and 5.0.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in:

• ESXi 4.1 Update 2
• ESXi 5.0 Update 1

To work around this issue when you do not want to upgrade:

1. Connect to the host using SSH as the root user. For more information, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x (2004746).
2. Back up the /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator file.
3. Open the /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator file using the vi editor. For more information, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302).
4. Locate this line:
   
   # chkconfig: 3 70 70
   
   
5. Change this line to:
   
   # chkconfig: 3 17 83
   
   
6. Save and close the file.
7. Run these commands on the host:
   
   chkconfig usbarbitrator off
   chkconfig usbarbitrator on
   
   
8. Reboot the host.
9. Run this command to stop hostd service:
   
   /etc/init.d/hostd stop
   
10. Run this command to stop the usbarbitrator service:
    
    /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop
    
    
11. Run this command to start the usbarbitrator service:
    
    /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator start
    
    
12. Run this command to start hostd service:
    
    /etc/init.d/hostd start

Alternatively, if the USB Arbitrator service is running and the device is listed as recognized on the host (using the lsusb command):

1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Shut Down Guest or Power Off.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Remove from Inventory.
   
   Note: Make a note of the datastore where the virtual machine folders are present before removing the virtual machine from inventory.
   
   
3. Right-click the relevant datastore and click Browse datastore.
4. Click the virtual machine folder, right-click the virtual machine’s .vmx file, and click Add to Inventory.
5. Power on the virtual machine and check if the USB device appears in the guest operating system.

Additional Information

Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano
Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x and 6.x