diff -uNrp trunk.orig/vl.c trunk/vl.c
--- trunk.orig/vl.c	2008-09-17 02:11:53.000000000 +0200
+++ trunk/vl.c	2008-09-17 03:20:28.000000000 +0200
@@ -5786,7 +5786,13 @@ static int usb_device_add(const char *de
         return -1;
 
     if (strstart(devname, "host:", &p)) {
-        dev = usb_host_device_open(p);
+        /* check if we actually want to add an auto filter */
+        if (strstart(p, "auto:", NULL))	{
+            usb_host_device_open(p);
+            return 0;
+        } else {
+            dev = usb_host_device_open(p);
+        }
     } else if (!strcmp(devname, "mouse")) {
         dev = usb_mouse_init();
     } else if (!strcmp(devname, "tablet")) {