Re: [Libusb-devel] USB VID/PID for open source projects

[Tyler W. W. <ty...@ty...>]

On 3/24/2011 12:44 PM, Tim Roberts wrote:
> Xiaofan Chen wrote:
>> There is one more issue for the test firmware which is a common
>> issue for small USB developers. Sometimes you can get a free
>> PID sub-licensed from the vendors like FTDI, TI/Luminary and
>> Microchip. And we indeed get one for our Microchip based
>> test firmware (thanks a lot again, Microchip!). But they all have
>> strings attached -- to be used with vendors' USB parts only.
SiLabs has the same option. We are using a C8051F320 and plan to go this 
route too.
>> Now we intend to have more broader test firmware available,
>> for example, for Cypress EZ-USB FX2/FX2LP (high speed
>> USB) and Atmel AVR (and probably AVR32 with high speed)
>> and ARM MCUs. Then we can not use the Microchip VID/PID.
> Well, you can't use the SAME firmware for an FX2 solution and an AVR
> solution.  Maybe you can politely ask for a test PID from each manufacturer.
>
>> What are the potential solution here? I think it is too expensive
>> to get a USB VID for small projects like libusb/libusb-win32.
> $2,000 a year does seem a little steep.
Plus, if you want to WHQL it, so it is as seamless for the user as 
possible, that is another bill.
>> And I do not really like to use random USB VID/PID like
>> what we do right now -- that is the motivation to get a
>> valid PID in the first place.
> I don't see any good alternative.  One advantage of using an obviously
> bogus VID/PID (like DEAD/BEEF) is that it will (hopefully) make it
> obvious to people that they have to provide their own.  Untold misery
> ensued after some idiot company released a product using the FX2's
> default VID/PID, then submitted their driver to WHQL and got it
> installed in the Windows Driver Library.  After that, any time anyone
> plugged in an unconfigured FX2, Windows helpfully installed the wrong
> driver.
We ran into the same thing with Pleo, which used an Atmel ARM7. There 
was some GPS manufacturer which used the default Atmel VID/PID and got 
their driver (usbser.sys based) approved via WHQL. Ugly.