Troubleshooting USB device issues with USBlyzer

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August 27, 2018

Last modified: 09/03/2023, 6:11 pm

Knowledge Base Article Troubleshooting Peripheral Devices Zero Clients

USBlyzer

USBlyzer is a software protocol analyzer that can be used to observe USB traffic from the host perspective. It may be useful debugging cases where a device is plugged in successfully (it can be seen in Device Manager) but for some reason doesn't work with PCoIP Zero Clients. It may also be useful for understanding why a device fails to work when plugged in to a zero client but works on the local PC (in these cases the customer would need to run the tool on a PC).

A 33-day trial version of the tool can be downloaded from https://download.cnet.com/developer/USBlyzer/i-6296325/

Note: Installation requires a reboot and you must ensure no other USB device (beside mouse and keyboard) is plugged into the PCoIP Zero Client while testing, so there is no interference with the USBlyzer results.

 

Scenario 1.

The user needs to capture applicable USB device enumeration stats when the USB device is plugged into a Zero Client.

Procedure:

  1. Install USBlyzer.
  2. Open Device Manager and under the View menu select 'Devices by connection'.
  3. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Host Controller node.
  4. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Hub node.
  5. Open USBlyzer.
  6. Under the Capture menu, select 'Capture Hot-plugged'.
  7. On the main toolbar, click the 'Start capture' button.
  8. Plug in the USB device and wait until it appears in Device Manager.
  9. On USBlyzer's main toolbar, click the 'Stop capture' button.
  10. Save the file (File > Save As\u2026)(.ulz extension).
  11. Send us the file.

 

Scenario 2.

The user needs to capture applicable USB device enumeration and device failure stats when the device is plugged into a Zero Client.

Procedure:

  1. Install USBlyzer.
  2. Open Device Manager and under the View menu select 'Devices by connection'.
  3. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Host Controller node.
  4. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Hub node.
  5. Open USBlyzer.
  6. Under the Capture menu, select 'Capture Hot-plugged'.
  7. On the main toolbar, click the 'Start capture' button.
  8. Plug in the USB device and wait until it appears in Device Manager.
  9. Leave USBlyzer capturing until a failure occurs (see note).
  10. After failure occurs, on USBlyzer's main toolbar, click the 'Stop capture' button.
  11. Save the file (File > Save As...)(.ulz extension).
  12. Send us the file.

Note: The longer it takes to capture the stats, the bigger the file grows. Teradici will provide details to a secure upload site if the file if it grows too large.

 

Scenario 3.

The user needs to capture applicable USB device enumeration and a successful device task(s). This can be performed on the physical PC or when connected using a View Client (see note below for more details).

Procedure:

  1. Install USBlyzer.
  2. Open Device Manager and under the View menu select 'Devices by connection'.
  3. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Host Controller node ('Universal Serial Bus controllers' for local PC).
  4. Expand the VMware View Virtual USB Hub node ('Universal Serial Bus controllers' for local PC).
  5. Open USBlyzer.
  6. Under the Capture menu, select 'Capture Hot-plugged'.
  7. On the main toolbar, click the 'Start capture' button.
  8. Plug in the USB device and wait until it appears in Device Manager.
  9. Leave USBlyzer capturing until USB device successfully performs the task (see the note).
  10. On USBlyzer's main toolbar, click the 'Stop Capture' button.
  11. Save the file (File > Save As...)(.ulz extension).
  12. Send us the file.

Note: Perform this step only if successful USB device performance is needed to be captured.