- A device driver is a program that lets the operating system communicate with specific computer hardware. Computer parts need a driver because they do not use standard commands. For example, video cards from Advanced Micro Devices (or AMD) and Nvidia do the same job, but each requires its own driver as different hardware requires different commands. Different operating systems also.
- May 22, 2018 Whenever we insert a USB drive into a computer, a registry key with the name 'USBSTOR' is created. This registry key stores information about that USB device, and whatever information the OS needs to know can be found in this registry key. Finding the USB Attachment History To find the USB history of your device, take the following steps.
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Power Flush Computer. The problem of USB devices not working in Windows 10 could be due to.
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductor industry |
| Founded | 13 March 1992 |
| Founder | Fred Dart |
| Headquarters | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Website | www.ftdichip.com |
Future Technology Devices International Limited, commonly known by its acronym FTDI, is a Scottish privately held semiconductor device company, specialising in Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology.[1]
It develops, manufactures, and supports devices and their related cables and software drivers for converting RS-232 or TTLserial transmissions to and from USB signals, in order to provide support for legacy devices with modern computers.[2]
The company also provides application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design services, and consultancy services for product design, specifically in the realm of electronic devices.
History[edit]
FTDI was founded on 13 March 1992[3] by its current CEO, Fred Dart. The company is an indirect descendant of Computer Design Concepts Ltd, a former semiconductor technology startup also founded by Dart.
FTDI's initial products were chipsets for personal computer motherboards, the primary customer of which was IBM, which used them in its AMBRA and PS/1 personal computers. It later expanded its product line to include interface translators, such as the MM232R and the USB-COM232-PLUS1, along with other devices for converting between USB and other communication protocols.
The headquarters of FTDI is in Glasgow, Scotland. It has offices in Singapore, Taipei (Taiwan), and Portland, Oregon, and a subsidiary in China.[3] The company's manufacturing is handled by subcontractors in the Asia-Pacific region.
Driver controversy[edit]
On 29 September 2014, FTDI released an updated version of their USB-to-Serial driver for Windows on their website.[4] Users who manually downloaded the new drivers reported problems.[5] After Windows drivers became available on 14 October (Patch Tuesday) via Windows Update, it was reported by users of hardware enthusiast forums and websites that the drivers could soft-brickcounterfeit and software-compatible clones of the chips by changing their USB 'Product ID' to '0000'. The change prevents the chip from being recognised by drivers of any OS, effectively making them inoperable unless the product ID is changed back.[6] The behaviour was supported by a notice in the drivers' end user license agreement, which warned that use of the drivers with non-genuine FTDI products would 'irretrievably damage' them.[6] Critics felt that FTDI's actions were unethical, considering that users may be unaware that their chips were counterfeit, or that Windows had automatically installed a driver meant to disable them.[7][6][5][8] On 22 October 2014, an emergency patch was made to the FTDI drivers in the Linux kernel to recognise devices with the '0000' ID.[9]
On 24 October 2014, in response to the criticism, FTDI withdrew the driver and admitted that the measure was intended to protect its intellectual property and encourage users to purchase genuine FTDI products. The company also stated that it was working to create an updated driver which would notify users of non-genuine FTDI products in a 'non-invasive' manner.[10][7]
In February 2016, it was reported that FTDI had published another driver on Windows Update with DRM components intended to block non-genuine products. This time, the driver will communicate with affected devices, but all transmitted and received data is replaced with the looped ASCII string 'NON GENUINE DEVICE FOUND!', which could cause irregular interactions with devices.[11][12]
Distribution[edit]
FTDI sells its products through major distributors around the world.[13]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'FTDI Corporate Information'.
- ^'FTDI Products'.
- ^ ab'Future Technology Devices International Limited'. Companies House. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^'Virtual COM Port Drivers'. Archived from the original on 5 October 2014.
- ^ ab'Watch That Windows Update: FTDI Drivers Are Killing Fake Chips'. Hackaday. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ abc'Windows Update drivers bricking USB serial chips beloved of hardware hackers'. Ars Technica. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ ab'FTDI admits to bricking innocent users' chips in silent update'. ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^Siy, Sherman. 'IP Rights Aren't a License to Kill Devices (And No, Fine Print Doesn't Make It OK)'. Public Knowledge. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^Hung, Perry. '[PATCH] usb: serial: Add 'bricked' FTDI device PID'. linux-usb mailing list. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^'FTDI Post'. FTDI. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^'FTDI Drivers Break Fake Chips, Again'. Hack A Day. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^'FTDI abuses Windows Update, pushing driver that breaks counterfeit chips'. TechRepublic. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^'FTDI Sales Network'.
External links[edit]
Media related to FTDI at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
Versions supported
- Windows 10
- Windows 8.1
Applies to
- Device manufacturers of CDC Control devices
Microsoft-provided in-box driver (Usbser.sys) for your Communications and CDC Control device.
In Windows 10, the driver has been rewritten by using the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework that improves the overall stability of the driver.
- Improved PnP and power management by the driver (such as, handling surprise removal).
- Added power management features such as USB Selective Suspend.
In addition, UWP applications can now use the APIs provided by the new Windows.Devices.SerialCommunication namespace that allow apps to talk to these devices.
Usbser.sys installation
Load the Microsoft-provided in-box driver (Usbser.sys) for your Communications and CDC Control device.
Note
If you trying to install a USB device class driver included in Windows, you do not need to download the driver. They are installed automatically. If they are not installed automatically, contact the device manufacturer. For the list of USB device class driver included in Windows, see USB device class drivers included in Windows.
Windows 10
In Windows 10, a new INF, Usbser.inf, has been added to %Systemroot%Inf that loads Usbser.sys as the function device object (FDO) in the device stack. If your device belongs to the Communications and CDC Control device class, Usbser.sys is loaded automatically.You do not need to write your own INF to reference the driver. The driver is loaded based on a compatible ID match similar to other USB device class drivers included in Windows.
USBClass_02
USBClass_02&SubClass_02
- If you want to load Usbser.sys automatically, set the class code to 02 and subclass code to 02 in the Device Descriptor. For more information, see USB communications device class. With this approach, you are not required to distribute INF files for your device because the system uses Usbser.inf.
- If your device specifies class code 02 but a subclass code value other than 02, Usbser.sys does not load automatically. Pnp Manager tries to find a driver. If a suitable driver is not found, the device might not have a driver loaded. In this case, you might have to load your own driver or write an INF that references another in-box driver.
- If your device specifies class and subclass codes to 02, and you want to load another driver instead of Usbser.sys, you have to write an INF that specifies the hardware ID of the device and the driver to install. For examples, look through the INF files included with sample drivers and find devices similar to your device. For information about INF sections, see Overview of INF Files.
Note
Microsoft encourages you to use in-box drivers whenever possible. On mobile editions of Windows, such as Windows 10 Mobile, only drivers that are part of the operating system are loaded. Unlike desktop editions, it is not possible to load a driver through an external driver package. With the new in-box INF, Usbser.sys is automatically loaded if a USB-to-serial device is detected on the mobile device.
Windows 8.1 and earlier versions
In Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of the operating system, Usbser.sys is not automatically loaded when a USB-to-serial device is attached to a computer. To load the driver, you need to write an INF that references the modem INF (mdmcpq.inf) by using the Include directive. The directive is required for instantiating the service, copying inbox binaries, and registering a device interface GUID that applications require to find the device and talk to it. That INF specifies 'Usbser' as a lower filter driver in a device stack.
The INF also needs to specify the device setup class as Modem to use mdmcpq.inf. Under the [Version] section of the INF, specify the Modem and the device class GUID. for details, see System-Supplied Device Setup Classes.
For more information, see this KB article.
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Configure selective suspend for Usbser.sys
Starting in Windows 10, Usbser.sys supports USB Selective Suspend. It allows the attached USB-to-serial device to enter a low power state when not in use, while the system remains in the S0 state. When communication with the device resumes, the device can leave the Suspend state and resume Working state. The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled and configured by setting the IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy entry under this registry key:
To configure power management features of Usbser.sys, you can set IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy to:
'0x00000001': Enters selective suspend when idle, that is, when there are no active data transfers to or from the device.
'0x00000000': Enters selective suspend only when there are no open handles to the device.
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That entry can be added in one of two ways:
Write an INF that references the install INF and add the registry entry in the HW.AddReg section.
Describe the registry entry in an extended properties OS feature descriptor. Add a custom property section that sets the bPropertyName field to a Unicode string, 'IdleUsbSelectiveSuspendPolicy' and wPropertyNameLength to 62 bytes. Set the bPropertyData field to '0x00000001' or '0x00000000'. The property values are stored as little-endian 32-bit integers.
For more information, see Microsoft OS Descriptors.
Develop Windows applications for a USB CDC device
If you install Usbser.sys for the USB CDC device, here are the application programming model options:
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Starting in Windows 10, a Windows app can send requests to Usbser.sys by using the Windows.Devices.SerialCommunication namespace. It defines Windows Runtime classes that can use to communicate with a USB CDC device through a serial port or some abstraction of a serial port. The classes provide functionality to discover such serial device, read and write data, and control serial-specific properties for flow control, such as setting baud rate, signal states.
In Windows 8.1 and earlier versions, you can write a Windows desktop application that opens a virtual COM port and communicates with the device. For more information, see:
Win32 programming model:
.NET framework programming model:
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