3 ms·

I wish there were more resources available detailing how to write drivers. I've had this dream in the back of my mind for a long time of hacking a standard USB

I wish there were more resources available detailing how to write drivers. I've had this dream in the back of my mind for a long time of hacking a standard USB port on the end of a Steel Battalion controller, and then writing a PC driver for it. But I wouldn't even know where to start, really.

joubert 17y ago
Mac-specific, but cool. http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ I've been working against IOKit lately.
wendroid 17y ago
USB Universal - No Serial - No Bus - No leave the USB alone, seriously, that's my advice
- mrcharles 17y ago
  Well, the issue is that Xbox controllers are already USB, they just have a special end.
  - blasdel 17y ago
    ...and they conveniently put those quick-disconnect dongles on the end so you can make your own normal dongles It looks like some people have already written Windows drivers, if you wanted to experiment you might look at writing a userspace driver for Linux. It's kind of strange that they built something custom instead of just implementing it as a couple standard HID devices with an internal hub.
    - nitrogen 17y ago
      It's kind of strange that they built something custom instead of just implementing it as a couple standard HID devices with an internal hub. Depending on the USB chip/microcontroller used, it can be a lot easier to just toss in a bunch of vendor-specific requests instead of adhering to all the requirements of an HID-class device (though I haven't analyzed the Xbox controller itself, so I don't know if that's what was done). Also, there's no need to use an internal hub, as a single USB device ("function" in the USB spec, IIRC) can have multiple "interfaces" that implement different (or the same) classes, such as HID, CDC, mass storage, or vendor-specific.
    - wendroid 17y ago
      they do work fine once you replace the ends, I did it with mine
nitrogen 17y ago
You probably don't need to write a driver if the controller plugs into the Xbox's controller port. You can just download the Xbox controller drivers written by others. That said, you may find the following resources useful (I certainly have): Linux Device Drivers (a very helpful book, but the kernel API has changed a bit since its release): http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ Windows Driver Development Kit (use Google to find the XP or Server 2003 versions if you need to develop for XP): http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/WDK/default.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/WDK/default.mspx libusb (write cross-platform USB drivers without touching kernel code): http://www.libusb.org/ http://www.libusb.org/ http://libusb-win32.sourceforge.net/ http://libusb-win32.sourceforge.net/ If you want to create a new device that's worth writing drivers for, start here (the USB Bit Whacker): http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=762 http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_i... http://www.curdes.com/gnupic/GnuPic.html http://www.curdes.com/gnupic/GnuPic.html http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=123533 http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=123533

joubert 17y ago

Mac-specific, but cool. http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ I've been working against IOKit lately.

wendroid 17y ago

USB Universal - No Serial - No Bus - No leave the USB alone, seriously, that's my advice

mrcharles 17y ago
Well, the issue is that Xbox controllers are already USB, they just have a special end.
- blasdel 17y ago
  ...and they conveniently put those quick-disconnect dongles on the end so you can make your own normal dongles It looks like some people have already written Windows drivers, if you wanted to experiment you might look at writing a userspace driver for Linux. It's kind of strange that they built something custom instead of just implementing it as a couple standard HID devices with an internal hub.
  - nitrogen 17y ago
    It's kind of strange that they built something custom instead of just implementing it as a couple standard HID devices with an internal hub. Depending on the USB chip/microcontroller used, it can be a lot easier to just toss in a bunch of vendor-specific requests instead of adhering to all the requirements of an HID-class device (though I haven't analyzed the Xbox controller itself, so I don't know if that's what was done). Also, there's no need to use an internal hub, as a single USB device ("function" in the USB spec, IIRC) can have multiple "interfaces" that implement different (or the same) classes, such as HID, CDC, mass storage, or vendor-specific.
  - wendroid 17y ago
    they do work fine once you replace the ends, I did it with mine

nitrogen 17y ago

You probably don't need to write a driver if the controller plugs into the Xbox's controller port. You can just download the Xbox controller drivers written by others. That said, you may find the following resources useful (I certainly have): Linux Device Drivers (a very helpful book, but the kernel API has changed a bit since its release): http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/ Windows Driver Development Kit (use Google to find the XP or Server 2003 versions if you need to develop for XP): http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/WDK/default.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/WDK/default.mspx libusb (write cross-platform USB drivers without touching kernel code): http://www.libusb.org/ http://www.libusb.org/ http://libusb-win32.sourceforge.net/ http://libusb-win32.sourceforge.net/ If you want to create a new device that's worth writing drivers for, start here (the USB Bit Whacker): http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=762 http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_i... http://www.curdes.com/gnupic/GnuPic.html http://www.curdes.com/gnupic/GnuPic.html http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=123533 http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=123533