FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to get support from libusb-win32 project?

The best way to get help with its software is by sending email to libusb-win32 mailing list.

Please visit the mailing list page to subscribe to the mailing list.

How do I contribute to libusb-win32 project?

Please submit patches and feature request through Sourceforge. Please also use the mailing list to facilitate further discussions about the patches and feature requests. URL is here at https://sourceforge.net/projects/libusb-win32/support.

For bug reports and support request, please use the mailing list. Please also use the mailing list to suggest improvements for the Trac Wiki.

We would like to hear successful stories too. You are welcome to post to the mailing list.

If you like libusb-win32 and want to donate money to the project, please use the Sourceforge Donate facility (through PayPal) at the project homepage. It will be greatly appreciated. You can also communicate with the current project admins (Travis Robinson and Xiaofan Chen) if you want to support the project in other ways.

Can I run libusb-win32 applications without admin privilege?

Yes you can under Windows. You do not need admin privilege to run libusb-win32 based application and you do need to do anything special. However, in order to install the kernel libusb-win32 driver, you will need the admin privilege.

Take note this is different from Under Linux where you do not need to install any kernel driver (usbfs support is typically built-in) but you need to set up proper udev rules in order to run libusb based application without root privilege.

Can I use libusb-win32 to open a file on a USB storage device?

Yes in theory, libusb can be used for low-level communication with USB Mass Storage Class devices. But in order to access a file on such a device you must first implement Mass Storage Class, SCSI and the particular filesystem used on the device, most commonly FAT32. So this is not a simple task. Therefore it is not recommended to use libusb-win32 for this task in reality. Rather you should use the OS provide file API for the task.

Can I use libusb-win32 to talk to a device where the vendor driver is not good enough?

Yes, libusb-win32 can be used for low-level communication with USB devices. However, in order to communicate with the device, you will need to know the communication protocol and understand how the device works. So libusb-win32 only provides the possibilities to do this and you will have to do the hard work.

You can try to contact the vendor to see if they can provide you the communication protocol, or you can use USB Sniffer programs to reverse-engineering the communication protocol. If there are existing libusb based application under Linux (or BSD or Mac OS X), that can be used as a good reference as well.

Can I use libusb-win32 on HID class device?

Yes you can. You can use the filter driver with the HID device and then you can use libusb-win32 to communicate with the HID device.

However, if you only need Windows support, then you may want to use the native Windows HID API. There are very good examples in the Lakeview Research HID website.

If you require cross-platform communication with an HID class device we recommend you to use the HIDAPI library.

I do not know much about USB, how should I get started faster?

Please go read some introductory website for USB. USB Made Simple http://www.usbmadesimple.co.uk/: Introduction to the ABCs of USB.