On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 05:39:58PM -0600, Nathan Hjelm wrote: > There are two seperate issues here: > 1) whether or not vendors should be abusing the HID interface to > bypass problems with the Windows driver model, and > 2) whether or not these devices should be accessed with libusb. > > Let me address the second issue first as it is the most relevant to > the discussion. Yes, Linux user's can easily access HID devices > through libusb but that does not mean we should go out of our way to > support the HID model on any other platform. As I said I will not > add nor support IOHID access for libusb on OSX/Darwin thus our users > can not expect to write a portable app/library using libusb that > accesses a HID device. Since I expect a majority of libusb's users > are looking for portability so all of HID device users should be > directed to use hidapi. > > The first issue is pretty much a religious one. Microsoft screwed up > so vendors are doing something I consider sub-par (I bought a > device-- an ecotech xr30w-- that uses fake-HID and I almost returned > it. luckily for the vendor USB is a secondary feature of the > device). Not much can be done but to encourage vendors to not use > HID and use WinUSB or a dedicated driver. I don't really care if > this is a PIA. They need to take it up with Microsoft to fix their > (one of many) broken software models.
Could you elaborate why you think the ecotech xr30w is "fake-HID", and why you think it is bad? I've no experience with HID, but the HID spec says "Many typical HID class devices include indicators, specialized displays, audio feedback, and force or tactile feedback." The examples given in the Usage Tables http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/hidpage/ include several output only applications, much more than just keyboards, mice and joysticks. I think the key point is that the HID spec provides a framework for devices with a flexible, extensible and self-describing set of controls. To me it looks like the ecotech xr30w developers were choosing the appropriate USB device class for their device. Your assessment that HID is only used to bypass OS shortcomigs seems incorrect. Johannes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ libusbx-devel mailing list libusbx-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/libusbx-devel
