On 8 Jul 2003 at 20:50, Oliver Neukum wrote:

> Am Dienstag, 8. Juli 2003 18:23 schrieb [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
> > Hello all,
> > 
> > I'm setting up a device driver for a GPIB (IEEE-488) interface. 
> > GPIB is a General-Purpose Interface Bus (hence the name) which
> > enables connection of arbitrary peripherals to a PC.  It's used
> > primarily to support automated test facilities in manufacturing
> > environments.
> 
> I am remembering C-128 right now :-)
> 
> > Each interface can support up to 30 peripheral devices (hard limit
> > per the GPIB spec), which can include hard drives, keyboards,
> > printers, etc.  My design will support up to eight interfaces
> > (arbitrary limit).
> 
> Have a look at
>  http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/
> But they might not be what you need.
> 

I've already looked at that, and it doesn't seem to support the USB 
complexity.  It's just generic GPIB.

> > I need to map peripherals to user-visible nodes like /dev/prn0 or
> > /dev/usb/prn0.  I don't know how to register the driver for these
> 
> Don't drag USB into this. There's no reason to specify how the
> bus is connected to the host. The cleanest way to do this is to get a
> GPIB major number.
> 

That seems like a cleaner way to do it.  Hide the USB connectivity 
from the user.  But there's still the problem of hotplugging.

> > nodes since the configuration is defined by user software.  The only
> > access to the driver from user space appears to be through the
> > open() or ioctl() functions, but the driver must already be
> > registered for a node before being called.  Seems to be a
> > chicken-and-egg problem ???
> 
> If you wish to export all a bus's devices to user space, you might
> just as well register 2**5 devices per GPIB bus. Could you state your
> problem more clearly?
> 

Clarity is actually the essence of the problem.  Each system will be 
different, and each user will likely have many different system 
configurations, which could change many times per day.  I have no 
control over the configuration.  I have to support whatever the 
client chooses to define.

> > Also, these mappings must persist through unplugging and replugging
> > of interfaces, regardless of the order in which this is done, since
> > the external bus is hard-wired.
> 
> Almost impossible unless you can tell GPIB adapters apart. 
> 

I can identify them by serial number.

>  Regards
>   Oliver
> 

Thanks very much.  Any further suggestions would be welcome.

Leigh Bassett




-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email sponsored by: Parasoft
Error proof Web apps, automate testing & more.
Download & eval WebKing and get a free book.
www.parasoft.com/bulletproofapps
_______________________________________________
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe, use the last form field at:
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linux-usb-devel

Reply via email to