Took me an hour today to find this, so I might as well post it.

I’m using Windows XP SP2, and Parallels 2.5 build 3212 (June 1, 2007) on Mac OS X 10.4.9

NOTE: Buying Parallels 3.0 should fix the problem, according to one of the Parallels forum posts below. I’m using version 2.5 in a semi-production environment at work, so I’m not changing major versions yet…

If ALL your USB devices (like usb thumb drives, mice, cad tool flexlm keys) fail with the warning below:
Parallels 3212 error

Other symptoms

Console.log says:
GetUsbDevices(): Unable to create a plugin (0xe00002c7)

system.log says:
Jun 26 10:38:16 HanksComputer kernel[0]: ParallelsControlUSBUserClient(0x4a2c100)::setProperties() Client has not privileges!

I’ve also tried running the very dangerous commands:

kextstat
sudo kextunload -b com.parallels.kext.ConnectUSB
sudo kextunload -b com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass

Then you have a problem.

The forum entries that tell you how to fix it are:

http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=13580&highlight=upgrade
http://forum.parallels.com/thread13499.html

In a quick summary of the answer:

  1. DO NOT install Mac OS 10.4.10.
  2. Download the Parallels 3214 build at http://download.parallels.com/GA/Parallels%20Desktop%203214%20Mac%20en.dmg