Am I the only one who wants to use more than 2 USB devices simultaneously? I need to use 1) a software-enabling USB dongle, 2) a USB JTAG programmer, and 3) a USB serial port all together. In fact, ideally I'd be able to use more devices -- in some cases I've had to use as many as 8 USB serial ports to gather data from a number of devices at once. It seems like it should be a simple matter to bump the number of devices from 2 to some larger number, but this hasn't happened yet, making it a tough sell to get my company to buy licenses for our developers.
No, you are not alone. But in current version of Parallels we do not plan to support more tha two USB devices. In next major version (3.xx) you should be able to use more than 2 USB devices.
Parallels is working for me in some applications, but my biggest disappointment with the software is lack of FULL USB passthrough for a reasonable number (32?) of devices, and multiple NICs. I feel these capabilities should be in the current release and their lack is a bug, or at least a serious misfeature. (Bug = something the software needs to do but doesn't. Misfeature = bug that's been documented.) I've been developing system and application software for a couple of decades, and I can't fathom why this is so difficult. I really feel strongly that I shouldn't have to pay extra to get these deficiencies fixed.
joem, we working on it. I hope soon we will have nice support of all USB features. Problem of realizing USB is in number of devices, that can be plugged into USB. So much devices, so much different interesting things... and bugs...
Ynot, Thanks for the note on v3.xx and multi-USB support. Can you comment on the probability that an eight-port serial <-> USB adapter will work on the current release? See my query here http://forum.parallels.com/thread5015.html Also, when you say 2 USB ports only, does that include any USB hub attached devices? Lastly, does a printer attached to Mac Pro USB count as one device if I use the Bonjour for Windows method?
Multiple USB, version 3.xx When discussing the potential for multiple USB connections in version 3.xx, am I to "assume" that having either or both will allow me to set up an Epson R2400 USB 2.0 printer with its specific driver and not the generic limitation currently allowed. My confusion surrounds the "failure" of the program to recognize only two USBs. Considering at a minimum one has to have a keyboard, mouse and considering we're talking about Mac's most likely a Cinema screen, I'm already over the 2 limit. Let me ask this. Using Bongour, will Paralells for the Mac recognize a firewire printer??? thanks- Dave
Good news- Bonjour recognizes Epson R2400 with firewire. Bad News- Uses same generic postscript driver for HP Laserjet 4550. Still need solution!
Neither the keyboard nor the mouse count towards the USB device limit, since they aren't "owned" by the guest. They are shared devices that are virtualized to the guest(s).
I'd be happy with single usb support I suffered a hard crash with my last attempt to mount the iPod in disk mode. My simple Logitech QuickCam messenger gets the usual "reconnect after 5-10 seconds" message. I really can't believe I paid for a beta software. What a chump I am.
Fully USB support needed for business Like many I really like the Parallels virtualization solution and have great respect for what the team has done to date. However, I have had to abandon the Parallels solution after many week of beta testing in Sept, simply because of the lack of proper USB support. I can't even get a stock standard HP USB printer to work and the Bonjour approach is of no use as I need the full functionality of the native Windows specific drivers. Additionally, there appears to also be a problem with my my combo USB/Firewire hub, although I have given up testing (Build 1920 was my last) and other basic USB devices like PDA phones and cameras. I appreciate that they are working on improving USB functionality but the product is really not complete without fully support and for my purposes, and I am sure for many other as well, not usable from a practical point of view. Chris
Did you try creating a printer in OS X that is configured as 'raw' and then attaching to it with Bonjour? The raw printer passes all data straight to the printer and presumes the print job requester (XP in this case) will correctly format the stream.
Will give it a go! Thanks DKP. I will give it a go when I next get some time and will post me efforts. Probably won't be till next week as I will have to go through and install Parallels again I as got rid of everything including the set up preference when I gave up about a month ago after many hours of time and weeks and weeks of testing and trying. Sure hope they get their USB fixed up properly because I think it is a very promising product with lots of potential. Chris PS: do I need to do anything from the parallel's Window side like disabling the USB etc and do I just use the normal HP driver from Windows? Any more details tips about the exact steps would be much appreciated.
Windows printing via CUPS; PDA & Activesynch Just a quick update and query to this thread and my last post. I can confirm that I can now print using the native Windows printer drivers via CUPS (refer http://forums.parallels.com/post24774-66.html). It won't help you guys with multifunction devices (eg combo printer/scanner/copier/... etc) but it does help those that need to use the native Windows driver for printing only. Thanks very much DKP and Mr SA - much appreciated. Now if anyone has a solution for ActiveSync and a USB PDA phone (O2 XDA mini), I might be able to start using Parallels. Chris
Is this thread still alive? Keep it going! So, I'm a bit surprised that there hasn't been any activity on this thread since last yeear. Did I miss something? Is this problem solved, and I just don't know how to do it? I use my MAC for everything, I have almost no use for windows at all, except for my latest project of course. My wife and I tend to collect movies, weather we need them or not. This leaves me with several hundred movies that are strewn around the house in one cabinet or another. I had this cool plan to get rid of the cases / storage needs, and keep them in a storage system linked to the MAC using Movie Collector. Seemed like a good idea, but Movie Collector for MAC doesn't support disk Carousels , so I got parallels so I could use the windows version. Love it BTW. Well, I have 5 of these Carousel boxes which hook up daisy chain style one to the next (Up to 127), but I can only access two at a time. This is a pain, as I have to look up the movie, and then figure out which 2 of the Carousels are hooked up. Note, in the USB devices menu, they all show up with the same name, so It's hit and miss to get the correct one. I need this to work, and soon. I can understand all the bugs that multiple devices can create, but it seems to me that the simple case, such as this, should work just fine. Is there a way? Please help
What's the status of this? I just bought Parallels and haven't yet installed it. Am I restricted to 2 USB's under Windows XP? I need a printer, scanner, external drive (was hoping to use Firewire but I guess not) Kboard and mouse and, occasionally a Camera and MP#. Did I just waste $80?
Goddammit! Mac filled in my "Username" with my e-mail address and I didn't notice and I can't find anywhere on on here to change my username. Anyone know how to do it?
HI: Mac filled in my "username" with my e-mail address (which I absolutely did not want) and I didn't notice. I can't find anyway to change my username except to make the request to an "Administrator" Are you an Administrator? If you are I would like to change my username. If not, how do I get in touch with one? Thanks.
I don't use dongles but with parallels tools and using devices shared folders instead of mounting the hard disks on the Win XP sp2 system I have access to all my usb devices Hugh W
