Enabling driver use with all USB ports

Question

Does anyone know how to prevent a device driver installation from being required each time a device is attached to a USB port where the USB port has not previously had the device driver associated with that port?

Example:

Step 1: New device attached to USB port A

- Windows activates the new hardware wizard for implementing the new device driver

- User interacts with the wizard and installs the driver

- Windows completes install of the driver

Step 2: Device removed from USB port A and inserted into USB port B

- Windows once again activates the new hardware wizard for implementing the device driver

Step 1 is expected, but I don't want to require the user to run through this process again if they plug the device into a new port (Step 2).

Answer 1

sign your driver package. it will then be automatically used during installation of new instances of your device. it is by design that the usb stack treats your device as a new instance when plugged in to a different port. if you implement a serial number in the device, it is treated as the same device no matter which port it is plugged in to.

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Answer 2

Great! I will give that a try and post the results.

Thank you very much for the quick responce.

Answer 3

BionicSparhawk wrote:

>

>Does anyone know how to prevent a device driver installation from being

>required each time a device is attached to a USB port where the USB port

>has not previously had the device driver associated with that port?

 

The simplest solution is to add a serial number to your USB device

descriptor.  When a device has a serial number, Windows recognizes it

regardless of the port it is plugged into.  Without a serial number, the

specific device cannot be recognized, so each new port has to be seen as a

previously unseen new device.

--

Tim Roberts, [e-mail]

Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

 

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Tim Roberts, VC++ MVP Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.