If you have created your VM image using an earlier version of VMware Workstation or Server, you possibly see the following error messages or advice at your linux:

"Please upgrade your virtual machine to enable high-speed USB 2.0 support for the device "Removable Disk". An attempt will be made to connect this device to the best available host controller. This may result in an undefined behavior for this device"


In this case open the VM and click "VM" on the menu bar and select "Upgrade or Change Version". Select Workstation 6.0 as the type of VM.  Remember, if this VM came from an older version, you might want to upgrade the VM Tools as well.

In some cases, you can’t upgrade your  VM  because the menu entry  "Upgrade or Change Version" is grey and not changeable.   In this case you have to open your vmx-file using your favorite editor and add the following line:

ehci.present = "true"

Save it and restart the VM. You are now able to use your USB 2.0 devices without problems.