Keyboard and mouse devices are unusable on the pi after disconnecting from virtualhere server

Submitted by lethegrin on #1

Client: Windows 10 intel chip
Server: Raspberry pi 3

Client Software: Windows 64 bit Version 4.3.5
Server Software: VirtualHere USB Server Optimized for Pi3

Connected Devices: Corsair K70 RGB keyboard, Corsair sabre RGB mouse

Expected Result: Keyboard and mouse resume functionality on host device after disabling the virtualhere connection and killing the server.

Actual Result: After connecting a device with the client, it remains unusable without a reboot of the host device. Even unplugging and replugging the USB mouse/keyboard has no effect.

I've tried both disconnecting the devices in the U.I. and killing the server on the pi. Neither works.

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 2017/12/04 - 21:18

#2

ok, yes on the raspberry pi if you want to use the device on the pi again you need to

1. Stop and exit the virtualhere server process
2. edit the server config.ini file
3. add the line

AutoAttachToKernel=1

4. save and exit then reboot the pi and start virtualhere

Now when you release control from virtualhere the host kernel will grab the device again

Submitted by lethegrin on Tue, 2017/12/05 - 04:54

#3

Thank you. Was this information available in the embedded tutorial? I'm sorry if I missed it. I really did search around for this answer.

Submitted by hochd on Sat, 2023/07/22 - 08:18

#5

I had this problem, read this post, uninstalled both the server on the pi and the client on my Mac, edited the left-behind config file on the pi exactly as indicated, re-installed the server on the pi and had the same problem again even before I re-installed the client on the Mac. As soon as the server install script finished on the pi, I lost use of the keyboard and mouse locally. 

The only thing I can think of is this pi has VNC server enabled. Could that be a problem or conflict with the VirtualHere server? After I lost control of the device locally, I was using a VNC client to login, uninstall, and reboot. I guess I could do any that with an ssh terminal session instead of VNC. Would that be a better control? 

Thanks! 

Submitted by Michael on Sat, 2023/07/22 - 17:13

#6

I dont think this is related to virtualhere. Virtualhere wont grab devices if the client is not running

Submitted by hochd on Sun, 2023/07/23 - 01:56

#7

Thank you. The solution was to use IgnoredDevices in config.ini to block out the Apple keyboard that I have attached to the pi. Then the mouse and keyboard returned to local control on the pi, even with the VirtualHere script installed. For my use case (SDR dongle), I should not need this keyboard to appear remotely so the ignore should not cost me any functionality while restoring local control of the pi when needed. 

FYI, however, the loss of local keyboard control on the pi was definitely caused by running the VirtualHere server script (trial/generic) without regard to the client's presence on the remote machine. Using the uninstall script reliably removed the issue, and re-installing brought the issue back.

But since I seem to have a solution, no biggie. My new guess is this is some obscure power-management issue on the USB bus. 

Great product! If it works as I anticipate on the SDR use, I will eventually buy a license.