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

[Jack Brindle]

I would consider going a different direction. I believe the Yaesu  
interface is TTL. FTDI now has an interesting USB-TTL serial cable  
that should be easily adapted for this use. You would need to attach  
the proper Mini-DIN connector for the radio to the cable in place of  
the .1" header plug that is now on the cable. This adapter has some  
petty good MacOS X drivers, so that wouldn't be a problem.

The cable is called a TTL-232R and is available from Mouser for $20.  
FTDI's web site for the cable is:

http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/EvaluationKits/TTL-232R.htm

The only problem I foresee is soldering the wires onto that little  
Mini-Din connector. That in itself may be a good reason to buy a  
prefab cable.

On Apr 11, 2006, at 1:29 PM, Chris Smolinski wrote:

> 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
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-Jack Brindle, W6FB
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