WinTV-dualHD USB passthrough in VMware ESXi

General Discussions Plex Features
1

I am wondering if anyone else is in the same boat as me when trying to setup Plex DVR;

My PLEX server is currently a 2016 VM, but for various reasons, I am having to look at moving from Hyper-V to ESXi, and have PLEX running on a Windows 10 VM instead.

When I attach the WinTV Dual HD USB tuner to the physical box, and then add the device to the VM, it shows up in device manager correctly.
When I search for channels however, nothing is found.
At this point, it looks like my only viable solution is to get another separate physical machine to run just PLEX and the tuner.

Anone else been trying to set up PLEX DVR with a tuner in a VM?

Eds

2

Hi, Yes!

Today I setup my DualHD on my ESXi Server, passed through to a Server 2016 box.

Only two hurdles;

  1. Had to use the usb extension cable it came with. No idea why, but vSphere wouldn’t even pick it up without it.
  2. Drivers were not automatically detected. I downloaded the Hauppauge software and ran through the install which installed the drivers fine.

Plex picked it up straight away, and its currently syncing the EPG.

Rich

1 Like
3

This is great.

Can you give me some specifics on things like the below

  • Spec of ESXi host
  • ESXi version/VM hardware version
  • VM settings such as USB controller type (USB 2.0/3.0)
  • Did you have to add BDA support the the 2016 VM for it to work

When I pass mine through, I can’t find any channels when scanning through the WinTV8 application :disappointed:

4

I have a hp dl380. esxi 6. I put in a usb 3 pci card and I have that set to pass-through to my Plex VM. I hooked an antenna to it and installed the drivers via the win 8tv app. I did not install the app, just the drivers. Plex picked it up immediately and so far so good.

2 Likes
5

Ok, I’ll have a go at just running the scan via Plex rather than the WinTV app.
Let’s see what happens!

6

I’m still not having any luck.

Am running ESXi 6.5 latest build on an ASUS Z87 motherboard. Tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports on the mobo, as well as 2.0 and 3.0 virtual USB controllers.

Hardware versions 11, 12 and 13. Drivers installed from the latest WinTV8 installer.
No channels found when scanning :’(

7

you’re going to want to make sure your USB controller is one that is on the HCL.

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

If you find it here, check and see if the manufacturer has a VIB for it. If not, go to eBay and find one specifically in the HCL. If your USB is recognized at the hypervisor layer, you should be good for passthrough if you have the right VIBs installed.

It should go without saying, make sure you have vmware tools installed.

8

@djumv said:
you’re going to want to make sure your USB controller is one that is on the HCL.

VMware Compatibility Guide - System Search

If you find it here, check and see if the manufacturer has a VIB for it. If not, go to eBay and find one specifically in the HCL. If your USB is recognized at the hypervisor layer, you should be good for passthrough if you have the right VIBs installed.

It should go without saying, make sure you have vmware tools installed.

Thanks DJ.

I haven’t used the HCL much in the past, so not entirely sure how I go about looking for USB controllers specifically?
Admittedly, I am using the built in USB ports (Z87 chipset on a consumer board), so could well be a case of no listing on the HCL.
The controller does show up, so hopefully that is good enough sign?

I will also try on my Supermicro server board with a c206 chipset. Problem is, this board is the one I will ultimately want to use, and I have no more room for PCIe cards :disappointed:

I might also be able to get access to a DL380 G7 temporarily, which is much more likely to be on the HCL. Let’s see what happens.

9

Is everyone here using PCIe USB cards?
I have just tried on a DL380 G7 using the built in USB 2.0 ports, ESXi 6.5, latest HP service pack installed, with a out of the box install of Windows 10 on a single running VM, installed latest Hauppague drivers, and once again no channels found.

This is starting to really frustrate me now!

10

Unrelated but I have a dualHD and just want to know if anyone can record DVB-T2, I get an unknown error has occured, SD or DVB-T is fine.

11

Out of interest are people passing through the tuner as a USB device, or are you passing through the entire USB controller?

Hauppague aren’t helping, so think I might have to return it and get a networked HDHomeRun

12

Decided to sack off the Hauppague device, and have an HDHR coming tomorrow which is network based, and hopefully gets round my issues.