Mailing List Archive: Access to USB devices

I'm afraid I need a little help with the following:
Most server-functions are put into unprivileged domains and I'm
currently putting a desktop-environment in a domain with as little
privileges as possible. This domain will be used from "diskless" clients
using XDMCP to log in (and ultimately freeNX for applications).
However, this domain needs access to several hot-plug USB devices, like
a photo-camera (gphoto2), a USB-storage-stick and a scanner.

Dom0 gets all access to these devices, but from another domain (with the
same full-privileged kernel) I can't see or use these devices.
The Debian hotplug startscripts say this:

bad PCI agent invocation

What's going wrong and how can I allow another domain to use USB
devices? If possible, with access to only _these_ devices?

Thanks very much, Arie Kraai

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> However, this domain needs access to several hot-plug USB devices, like
> a photo-camera (gphoto2), a USB-storage-stick and a scanner.

OK, several ways you might like to try:
* export the USB stick (and the camera, if possible) as VBDs from dom0
* export the devices using networked solutions (e.g. NFS / NBD for the storage
devices, something else must be available for the scanner), as you would for
multiple machines
* try the PCI virtualisation stuff in the stable tree and give the USB
controller device to the domain for direct control
* try the USB virtualisation stuff in the unstable tree and give the domain
control of the appropriate host USB ports

Cheers,
Mark

> Dom0 gets all access to these devices, but from another domain (with the
> same full-privileged kernel) I can't see or use these devices.
> The Debian hotplug startscripts say this:
>
> bad PCI agent invocation
>
> What's going wrong and how can I allow another domain to use USB
> devices? If possible, with access to only _these_ devices?
>
> Thanks very much, Arie Kraai
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xen-users mailing list
> Xen-users@lists.xensource.com
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users

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