I have the same issue and the answer is VSC does not support Linked Mode, the only way to get VSC to work is by not using Linked Mode. This thread has some more info VSC 5.0: No linked mode support?
I also logged a support request recently for this and the response is the same as in the other discussion, it is not supported.
To say being disappointed that VSC does not support Linked Mode configuration is an understatement....