anywhereusb number of devices connected limit

Question

Hi,

I have several hubport/14 connected to the same anywhere usb. I configured:
ports 1 and 8 for group 1 (28 devices total)
ports 2 and 9 for group 2 (28 devices total)

When I connect the servers (windows 2008 R2 on Vmware ESXi) the first server to connect is able to connect all devices correctly, but the second server cannot start all the devices. Some of the devices fail to start on both ports, but some are able to start on both ports.
Using "Remote USB Hub Viewer" the devices that fail to start have a yellow ! .

If i configure for instance port 9 for group 3 and only connect groups 1 and 2, all devices start correctly.

The devices i am using are Identive utrust 3512 sam slot token, a smart card reader for a sim like card.

Is there a limit to the number of devices that can be connected to one anywhere usb hub?

Answer 1

There is no "artificial" limit placed by Digi on the AnywhereUSB or Hubport regarding chaining USB hubs and USB devices, but there are limits like this by Windows and the USB specifications.

Reference: Appendix B of the AnywhereUSB Installation Guide:

http://ftp1.digi.com/support/documentation/90001085.pdf

Keep in mind that some USB devices have built-in hubs (I think these are called composite devices, but I could be wrong), so although they may appear on the surface to be "just a USB device", they could present themselves to Windows differently.

Still, even if some of your devices are like that, based on how you described the scenario, this seems to fall within spec, and it sounds like it might be a bug in the AnywhereUSB driver or firmware.

Exactly what devices show the yellow ! icon? You might want to look in Windows Device Manager too, for similar information. It would be helpful to know if these devices represent the 1) AnywhereUSB (RealPort USB), 2) Hubport (Generic USB hub), or any of the attached USB devices.

Comments

The devices I am trying to connect are smart card readers. I don't believe they are composite devices.

When I check the Device Manager, and see under "Smart card readers", some of the readers are OK, and the ones that have the yellow ! icon, have a message that says "This Device cannot start. (Code 10)".

I did another test with a anywhereUsb/2 where I connected 2 hubports/14 to the anywhereUsb/2 and 2 hubport/14 to the anywhereUsb/14 and in windows I connected to both anywhereUsb hubs and I was able to function with the 56 smart card readers correctly.

The AnywhereUsb/14 are recent, (October and December 2015), the AnywhereUsb/2 is newer (February 2016).

What is the procedure to report this problem to Digi?

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Are you running the same firmware versions on the AWUSB/2 and AWUSB/14?  If not, be sure they are matching, so we're comparing apples to apples, for example both 1.83.xxxx, 1.80.xxxx, etc.

If you see the same issue, I suggest reporting this as a bug when creating a support case with Digi.