[Ham-Mac] How to create a device driver???

[Chris Smolinski]

Sometimes, you can get lucky. If you can determine what USB chip they 
are using, you might find that the same chip is being used in other 
brands/models of products. If there's a Mac driver for that product, 
you're in luck, especially if they kept the same USB PID/VID codes. 
If the codes are different, you'd need to make changes to the driver, 
to change the PID/VID to match what is in your actual device. Mike 
would probably know some details on how to do that. You can also 
google around, I've seen pages that explain how to do this for 
several USB devices where there isn't a Mac driver available, but the 
same chipset is used in another branded device with a Mac driver 
available.

>THe Good News is that the company in China that makes the device has 
>said they will email me a Linux driver for it.  I will report when I 
>get it, and unless it is protected intellectual property, post it to 
>my web site for downloading.
>
>I love the 897D. It has the same "innards" electronically as the 
>smaller FT-857D, but with its larger size and increased weight you 
>get a larger visual display, larger knobs and buttons, 
>self-contained battery capability (or a self-contained power supply 
>that supposedly is pretty noisy), and the cachet of something that 
>looks like it came out of an Abrams Battle Tank.
>
>Lew K6LMP
>
>
>
>
>On Apr 11, 2006, at 12:32 PM, Michael Carter wrote:
>
>>Unless it's a common HID-type device (keyboard, etc), you're going 
>>to need a specific driver written to handle data correctly.
>>
>>I've written Mac USB drivers in the past, and I've always been 
>>lucky to have access to the report and element info from the dev 
>>who wrote the firmware. That coupled with a good understanding of 
>>IOKit and it's not so bad. :)
>>
>>Oh, it's kinda nice to actually have the gear as well. :)
>>
>>Hmmm....I've been looking at the 897D seriously, too...
>>
>>
>>O
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Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com