I tend to like to document when I find an issue that I couldn’t readily find a blog article or reddit thread with the solution. Issues with Omnissa Horizon USB Headsets are common, and below we’ll walk you through our methodology for fixing those items, including suggestions for your Omnissa Horizon USB Headset.
USB Headset Redirection Problem
Recently I had a client who was experiencing complete failures in audio video when a headset was plugged in. If the headset was not plugged in Youtube video’s played without issues, but the moment you plugged in a USB headset, the video would become choppy and audio would go in-and-out.
For optimal performance, it’s recommended to use the Omnissa Horizon USB Headset with the latest drivers installed.
Research
In diving into this I came across several variants that were interesting.
For me, the first step of troubleshooting issues like this is to replicate the problem. Upon attempting to get the same experience, I noticed I was having not issues playing back audio/video via Youtube with a headset plugged in. Why’s that? Well come to find out I was using the VMware Horizon Client as opposed to the updated Omnissa Horizon Client…why would this make a difference? Come to find out newer versions of the client give the option for USB Redirection, whereas past clients did not and forced the use of the RTAV (Real Time Audio Video) channel.
So I upgraded my client to the latest and if the headset was not set to auto-redirect, the Youtube video played fine. However, once I selected the device to pass-thru USB Redirection, the documented issue was apparent.
Now I’m sure you’re asking why the client wanted to use USB Redirection versus just using the built-in RTAV features. Well a few things. This particular use case was for a Yealink and Plantronics headset with integrated buttons for muting, volume, etc. So how do we get these integrated controls without having the device redirect audio thru the USB channel?
I’m glad you asked! Well outside of redirecting devices by VID (vendor ID) and PID (product ID), headsets also often include additional “interfaces,” which can be allowed. Doing this manually can be quiet cumbersome and will require you to review Omnissa Horizon Agent and Client logs to determine the interface numbers and their respective function, i.e. (vid-1395_pid-0033(exint:01;exint:02;exint03) was the necessary entry for allowing splitting manually on my Sennheiser headset. The device had 4 interfaces (audio, audio-in, audio-out, hid), which HID being the button interfaces. Each vendor/product may vary so please review your logs.
Now I explained that whole last paragraph just to say that Omnissa’s ADMX templates for USB Redirection does have a setting to Enable Auto-Splitting of Composite Devices. By default, the agent will ignore bluetooth and audio devices as they’ll be relayed through other channels, which leaves the HID devices to be auto-passed thru. Other settings I elected for and likely aren’t mandatory can be seen below in the brief video.
Whew….that was a lot to cover, but I’ll update the posting with screenshots and such to show depictions of the GPO and references where to acquire the necessary ADMX templates.
Best of luck out there, you IT Ninjas!
Honorable Mentions
Often Omnissa side-channels can use different ports. This varies depending on your Horizon deployment version, but common ports are 32111 and 8947. In these modes, USB redirection may traverse these ports and will require a firewall rule exception from the UAGs to the VDIs on port 32111. Once connected, it’s always best to see if that connection is being established via a netstat command that can give you an idea what ports are in use.
If you don’t want to open 32111, having USB redirection ride he same port is possible, though some custom registry settings will be necessary to force this traffic over standard 8443 or 22443 (Blast or Blast Extreme).
Omnissa Horizon USB Headset Tips
Helpful website to find the Vendor/Product IDs of various peripherals. https://pcilookup.com/
Device Manager can be accessed via your local Windows machine. Hardware IDs will be listed in the following location.
If you need help with your Omnisas Horizon envrionment we offer that service as well. Feel free to reach out.