Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Better USB support for Dell FX100 and VMware View 4.6, using Teradici’s latest firmware upgrade 3.3


Although you won’t find it on the Dell support site, go to the Teradici support site to download the latest firmware release 3.3.1 v327 at http://techsupport.teradici.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=15164http://techsupport.teradici.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=15164&task=knowledge&questionID=622.

The install is simple and trouble free.  Unzip the downloaded files to your local drive.  Log into your Dell FX100 Remote Access Device via https.  The default password is blank.  Click on Upload, Firmware, then browse to the location of the .all file from the download.  The install only takes a couple minutes.  Click the button to Reset the device once the firmware install completes.  The new version info will look like this:

If  you are trying to implement softphones in a call center, you will now have support for isochronous USB devices for headsets and microphones.  Although Teradici does support this technology; it is not supported in large scale implementations of VMware View virtual desktops.  We will be rolling out about a dozen of these softphones in the next several weeks.  If there are any issues, I will let you know.  Currently we are testing the Jabra  Link 350 and Plantronics BUA-200 USB headsets with the Nortel IP Softphone 2050 client running on Windows 7 Pro 64-bit OS.  From the web interface of the DX100, Info, Attached Devices, you can now see the USB headset.


Here is a breakdown of all the features that were added to 3.3.0.  You can also find this information at (http://techsupport.teradici.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=15164 ):
  • ·         Enhancements for improved USB peripheral support for PCoIP zero clients. Requires VMware View 4.6 or newer in order to use this capability.
o    Enhancements to the Teradici USB interface modules (PCoIP zero client firmware and PCoIP server within the VMware View Agent) that connect to the VMware View USB drivers in the virtual machine.
o    Support for USB devices behind a hub (including devices with integrated hubs – multimedia keyboards, mice etc).
o    Support for isochronous USB devices (USB headsets, USB microphones, etc). Note that large scale soft phone and videoconferencing applications (e.g. unified communications) using USB headsets and webcams are not supported in a VMware View virtual desktop environment.
o    Updates to enable support for certain USB devices such as iPhones, iPads, iPods and Blackberries. Support includes device sync; OS update is not currently supported. Please contact VMware regarding schedules for specific smartphone support.
o    USB bridging override for devices that may be inadvertently locally terminated
  • ·         Enhancements for operation over Wide Area Networks (WAN)
    • Improved tolerance for network packet loss.
    • Support for vertical motion compensation to reduce bandwidth when connecting to VMware View virtual desktops.
  • ·         Mobility option for 3D remote workstation users.  Requires VMware View 4.6 or newer in order to use this capability. 
    • Allows notebooks running VMware View Clients to connect to PCoIP Hardware Hosts.
    • Supports dual-display and USB keyboard/mouse only (other USB peripherals are not supported)
    • This capability is not intended to replace workstation zero clients since the PCoIP protocol decode performance of PCoIP software in the VMware View client is limited compared to the PCoIP decode performance of PCoIP hardware zero clients. 
  • ·         Support for RSA SecureID when connecting PCoIP Zero clients to VMware View 4.5 or newer. 
  • ·         Desktop pool enhancements
    • Auto-logon with optional username, password, domain and desktop pool pre-configuration
    • Increased support for up to 100 desktop pools
  • ·         Optional PCoIP Zero Client and Host Card web server and on-screen-display menu lockdown 
  • ·         CAC smartcard enhancements including support for HP USB smartcard keyboard (model# KUS0133.ED707AA) 
  • ·         Keyboard support enhancements
    • Language updates: Hungarian, Serbian, Latvian, Estonian
  • ·         Discontinued support of the Microsoft RDP mode from PCoIP zero clients. Note, customers can use firmware 3.2.2 or prior if they require RDP support.


In addition to above the firmware maintenance release 3.3.1 v327, resolved the following issues:
  • Fixed USB audio issue with VMware View guests running Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit host OS
  • Fixed an issue where PCoIP Zero Clients could not connect to the VMware View Connection Server through certain load balancers
  • Fixed an issue with a Logitech ClearChat wireless headset
  • Fixed degraded performance with PCoIP Host cards on networks with packet loss, high latency, and/or low bandwidth
  • Fixed password protection default setting
  • Fixed CAC PIV endpoint smart card issue
  • Fix for invalid OEM VPD (vendor product information) content
  • Fixed issue with OSD appearing on the wrong set of monitors in certain quad display PCoIP Zero Clients
  • Fixed issue with Power-over-Ethernet failing to power devices if VLAN enabled
  • Language translation updates