USB Device Driver Development Resources

USB Device Driver Development Resources

[Gabriel Ricard]

Hello all,

I'm looking to write a device driver for my Keyspan
USB -> Mac Serial adapter so I can attempt to use my
DeLorme GPS device under Linux (another step to aid me
in eliminating my need for MacOS). I think I posted to
this mailing list a while back asking for info, I'm
not sure.

Anyways, if anyone has any links, resources, tips,
etc, for dealing with USB drivers in Linux/PPC, and/or
serial port drivers, please let me know.

Thanks!

=====
Gabriel Ricard
g_ricard@yahoo.com

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Re: USB Device Driver Development Resources

[Brad Parker]

Gabriel Ricard wrote:
...
>I'm looking to write a device driver for my Keyspan
>USB -> Mac Serial adapter so I can attempt to use my
>DeLorme GPS device under Linux (another step to aid me
>in eliminating my need for MacOS). I think I posted to
>this mailing list a while back asking for info, I'm
>not sure.

I want to do the same.  I contacted Keyspan and they said "huh -
interesting" and I've heard nothing since.  That was 2-3 weeks ago.

The 2 port keyspan fob I have (USA28X) uses the Anchor EXUSB chip.
This means it needs code downloaded to it.  My hope was that Keyspan
would release a binary image (srecs) of their code load and we could
include it in the Linux driver.  This assumes they use a standard USB
interface to the serial ports...

I pawed around their macintosh driver and didn't see any obvious code
in it - I didn't use resedit, however, so their might have been some
resources in the file I didn't see (I'm an ancient mac programmer - do
mac files still have two forks and resources ? do people still use
resedit?  am I showing my age?)

Anyway, I'd call their tech support and ask for help.  Maybe if
several of us do it they'll help out...

I'm tempted to reverse engineer it, or maybe start with a USBStick,
which looks fairly similar and make my own code down load.  But that's
probably a pipe dream :-)

-brad

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Re: [linux-usb] Re: USB Device Driver Development Resources

[Vojtech Pavlik]

On Fri, Mar 03, 2000 at 04:08:39PM -0500, Brad Parker wrote:
>
> Gabriel Ricard wrote:
> ...
> >I'm looking to write a device driver for my Keyspan
> >USB -> Mac Serial adapter so I can attempt to use my
> >DeLorme GPS device under Linux (another step to aid me
> >in eliminating my need for MacOS). I think I posted to
> >this mailing list a while back asking for info, I'm
> >not sure.
>
> I want to do the same.  I contacted Keyspan and they said "huh -
> interesting" and I've heard nothing since.  That was 2-3 weeks ago.
>
> The 2 port keyspan fob I have (USA28X) uses the Anchor EXUSB chip.
> This means it needs code downloaded to it.  My hope was that Keyspan
> would release a binary image (srecs) of their code load and we could
> include it in the Linux driver.  This assumes they use a standard USB
> interface to the serial ports...

Unfortunately there's no standard for USB serial ports.

--
Vojtech Pavlik
SuSE Labs

** Sent via the linuxppc-dev mail list. See http://lists.linuxppc.org/

Re: [linux-usb] Re: USB Device Driver Development Resources

[Greg KH]

On Fri, Mar 03, 2000 at 04:08:39PM -0500, Brad Parker wrote:
>
> Gabriel Ricard wrote:
> ...
> >I'm looking to write a device driver for my Keyspan
> >USB -> Mac Serial adapter so I can attempt to use my
> >DeLorme GPS device under Linux (another step to aid me
> >in eliminating my need for MacOS). I think I posted to
> >this mailing list a while back asking for info, I'm
> >not sure.
>
> I want to do the same.  I contacted Keyspan and they said "huh -
> interesting" and I've heard nothing since.  That was 2-3 weeks ago.
>
> The 2 port keyspan fob I have (USA28X) uses the Anchor EXUSB chip.
> This means it needs code downloaded to it.  My hope was that Keyspan
> would release a binary image (srecs) of their code load and we could
> include it in the Linux driver.  This assumes they use a standard USB
> interface to the serial ports...

There is no "standard" way to interface USB to serial. Every vendor does
it differently. You can thank Microsoft for that big problem (it's a
long story, ask me if you're curious.)

But there is a person working on a Linux driver for this device without
the help of Keyspan. His name is Brian Warner, and hopefully there will
be some code for you to play with soon (right Brian? :)

He is writing his own AnchorChip code for the device and the driver will
download it to the converter, eliminating the need to reverse engineer
Keyspan's vendor specific protocol. A very cool hack.

greg k-h
greg@kroah.com

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Re: [linux-usb] Re: USB Device Driver Development Resources

[Greg KH]

On Fri, Mar 03, 2000 at 02:33:47PM -0800, Greg KH wrote:
>
> But there is a person working on a Linux driver for this device without
> the help of Keyspan. His name is Brian Warner, and hopefully there will
> be some code for you to play with soon (right Brian? :)
>
> He is writing his own AnchorChip code for the device and the driver will
> download it to the converter, eliminating the need to reverse engineer
> Keyspan's vendor specific protocol. A very cool hack.
>

Oops, I forgot, there is another developer that IS working with Keyspan
to provide a Linux driver, Hugh Blemings. In fact, Keyspan has commented
to him that there have been a number of inquiries about Linux drivers
for their devices, so they have been helping him out in getting the
proper specs and firmware.

So hopefully we will have a number of Keyspan drivers to choose from
soon.

greg k-h
greg@kroah.com

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