340 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
340 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
HIDAPI library for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X
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=========================================================
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About
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======
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HIDAPI is a multi-platform library which allows an application to interface
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with USB and Bluetooth HID-Class devices on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and Mac
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OS X. HIDAPI can be either built as a shared library (.so or .dll) or
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can be embedded directly into a target application by adding a single source
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file (per platform) and a single header.
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HIDAPI has four back-ends:
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* Windows (using hid.dll)
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* Linux/hidraw (using the Kernel's hidraw driver)
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* Linux/libusb (using libusb-1.0)
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* FreeBSD (using libusb-1.0)
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* Mac (using IOHidManager)
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On Linux, either the hidraw or the libusb back-end can be used. There are
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tradeoffs, and the functionality supported is slightly different.
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Linux/hidraw (linux/hid.c):
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This back-end uses the hidraw interface in the Linux kernel. While this
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back-end will support both USB and Bluetooth, it has some limitations on
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kernels prior to 2.6.39, including the inability to send or receive feature
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reports. In addition, it will only communicate with devices which have
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hidraw nodes associated with them. Keyboards, mice, and some other devices
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which are blacklisted from having hidraw nodes will not work. Fortunately,
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for nearly all the uses of hidraw, this is not a problem.
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Linux/FreeBSD/libusb (libusb/hid.c):
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This back-end uses libusb-1.0 to communicate directly to a USB device. This
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back-end will of course not work with Bluetooth devices.
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HIDAPI also comes with a Test GUI. The Test GUI is cross-platform and uses
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Fox Toolkit (http://www.fox-toolkit.org). It will build on every platform
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which HIDAPI supports. Since it relies on a 3rd party library, building it
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is optional but recommended because it is so useful when debugging hardware.
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What Does the API Look Like?
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=============================
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The API provides the the most commonly used HID functions including sending
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and receiving of input, output, and feature reports. The sample program,
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which communicates with a heavily hacked up version of the Microchip USB
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Generic HID sample looks like this (with error checking removed for
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simplicity):
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#ifdef WIN32
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#include <windows.h>
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#endif
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#include <stdio.h>
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#include <stdlib.h>
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#include "hidapi.h"
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#define MAX_STR 255
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int main(int argc, char* argv[])
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{
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int res;
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unsigned char buf[65];
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wchar_t wstr[MAX_STR];
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hid_device *handle;
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int i;
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// Initialize the hidapi library
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res = hid_init();
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// Open the device using the VID, PID,
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// and optionally the Serial number.
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handle = hid_open(0x4d8, 0x3f, NULL);
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// Read the Manufacturer String
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res = hid_get_manufacturer_string(handle, wstr, MAX_STR);
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wprintf(L"Manufacturer String: %s\n", wstr);
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// Read the Product String
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res = hid_get_product_string(handle, wstr, MAX_STR);
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wprintf(L"Product String: %s\n", wstr);
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// Read the Serial Number String
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res = hid_get_serial_number_string(handle, wstr, MAX_STR);
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wprintf(L"Serial Number String: (%d) %s\n", wstr[0], wstr);
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// Read Indexed String 1
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res = hid_get_indexed_string(handle, 1, wstr, MAX_STR);
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wprintf(L"Indexed String 1: %s\n", wstr);
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// Toggle LED (cmd 0x80). The first byte is the report number (0x0).
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buf[0] = 0x0;
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buf[1] = 0x80;
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res = hid_write(handle, buf, 65);
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// Request state (cmd 0x81). The first byte is the report number (0x0).
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buf[0] = 0x0;
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buf[1] = 0x81;
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res = hid_write(handle, buf, 65);
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// Read requested state
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res = hid_read(handle, buf, 65);
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// Print out the returned buffer.
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for (i = 0; i < 4; i++)
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printf("buf[%d]: %d\n", i, buf[i]);
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// Finalize the hidapi library
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res = hid_exit();
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return 0;
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}
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If you have your own simple test programs which communicate with standard
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hardware development boards (such as those from Microchip, TI, Atmel,
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FreeScale and others), please consider sending me something like the above
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for inclusion into the HIDAPI source. This will help others who have the
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same hardware as you do.
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License
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========
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HIDAPI may be used by one of three licenses as outlined in LICENSE.txt.
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Download
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=========
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HIDAPI can be downloaded from github
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git clone git://github.com/signal11/hidapi.git
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Build Instructions
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===================
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This section is long. Don't be put off by this. It's not long because it's
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complicated to build HIDAPI; it's quite the opposite. This section is long
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because of the flexibility of HIDAPI and the large number of ways in which
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it can be built and used. You will likely pick a single build method.
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HIDAPI can be built in several different ways. If you elect to build a
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shared library, you will need to build it from the HIDAPI source
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distribution. If you choose instead to embed HIDAPI directly into your
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application, you can skip the building and look at the provided platform
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Makefiles for guidance. These platform Makefiles are located in linux/
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libusb/ mac/ and windows/ and are called Makefile-manual. In addition,
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Visual Studio projects are provided. Even if you're going to embed HIDAPI
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into your project, it is still beneficial to build the example programs.
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Prerequisites:
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---------------
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Linux:
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-------
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On Linux, you will need to install development packages for libudev,
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libusb and optionally Fox-toolkit (for the test GUI). On
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Debian/Ubuntu systems these can be installed by running:
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sudo apt-get install libudev-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libfox-1.6-dev
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If you downloaded the source directly from the git repository (using
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git clone), you'll need Autotools:
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sudo apt-get install autotools-dev autoconf automake libtool
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FreeBSD:
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---------
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On FreeBSD you will need to install GNU make, libiconv, and
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optionally Fox-Toolkit (for the test GUI). This is done by running
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the following:
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pkg_add -r gmake libiconv fox16
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If you downloaded the source directly from the git repository (using
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git clone), you'll need Autotools:
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pkg_add -r autotools
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Mac:
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-----
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On Mac, you will need to install Fox-Toolkit if you wish to build
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the Test GUI. There are two ways to do this, and each has a slight
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complication. Which method you use depends on your use case.
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If you wish to build the Test GUI just for your own testing on your
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own computer, then the easiest method is to install Fox-Toolkit
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using ports:
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sudo port install fox
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If you wish to build the TestGUI app bundle to redistribute to
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others, you will need to install Fox-toolkit from source. This is
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because the version of fox that gets installed using ports uses the
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ports X11 libraries which are not compatible with the Apple X11
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libraries. If you install Fox with ports and then try to distribute
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your built app bundle, it will simply fail to run on other systems.
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To install Fox-Toolkit manually, download the source package from
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http://www.fox-toolkit.org, extract it, and run the following from
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within the extracted source:
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./configure && make && make install
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Windows:
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---------
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On Windows, if you want to build the test GUI, you will need to get
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the hidapi-externals.zip package from the download site. This
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contains pre-built binaries for Fox-toolkit. Extract
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hidapi-externals.zip just outside of hidapi, so that
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hidapi-externals and hidapi are on the same level, as shown:
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Parent_Folder
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+hidapi
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+hidapi-externals
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Again, this step is not required if you do not wish to build the
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test GUI.
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Building HIDAPI into a shared library on Unix Platforms:
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---------------------------------------------------------
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On Unix-like systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, Mac, and even Windows, using
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Mingw or Cygwin, the easiest way to build a standard system-installed shared
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library is to use the GNU Autotools build system. If you checked out the
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source from the git repository, run the following:
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./bootstrap
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./configure
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make
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make install <----- as root, or using sudo
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If you downloaded a source package (ie: if you did not run git clone), you
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can skip the ./bootstrap step.
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./configure can take several arguments which control the build. The two most
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likely to be used are:
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--enable-testgui
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Enable build of the Test GUI. This requires Fox toolkit to
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be installed. Instructions for installing Fox-Toolkit on
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each platform are in the Prerequisites section above.
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--prefix=/usr
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Specify where you want the output headers and libraries to
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be installed. The example above will put the headers in
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/usr/include and the binaries in /usr/lib. The default is to
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install into /usr/local which is fine on most systems.
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Building the manual way on Unix platforms:
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-------------------------------------------
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Manual Makefiles are provided mostly to give the user and idea what it takes
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to build a program which embeds HIDAPI directly inside of it. These should
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really be used as examples only. If you want to build a system-wide shared
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library, use the Autotools method described above.
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To build HIDAPI using the manual makefiles, change to the directory
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of your platform and run make. For example, on Linux run:
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cd linux/
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make -f Makefile-manual
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To build the Test GUI using the manual makefiles:
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cd testgui/
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make -f Makefile-manual
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Building on Windows:
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---------------------
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To build the HIDAPI DLL on Windows using Visual Studio, build the .sln file
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in the windows/ directory.
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To build the Test GUI on windows using Visual Studio, build the .sln file in
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the testgui/ directory.
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To build HIDAPI using MinGW or Cygwin using Autotools, use the instructions
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in the section titled "Building HIDAPI into a shared library on Unix
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Platforms" above. Note that building the Test GUI with MinGW or Cygwin will
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require the Windows procedure in the Prerequisites section above (ie:
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hidapi-externals.zip).
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To build HIDAPI using MinGW using the Manual Makefiles, see the section
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"Building the manual way on Unix platforms" above.
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HIDAPI can also be built using the Windows DDK (now also called the Windows
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Driver Kit or WDK). This method was originally required for the HIDAPI build
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but not anymore. However, some users still prefer this method. It is not as
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well supported anymore but should still work. Patches are welcome if it does
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not. To build using the DDK:
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1. Install the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) from Microsoft.
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2. From the Start menu, in the Windows Driver Kits folder, select Build
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Environments, then your operating system, then the x86 Free Build
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Environment (or one that is appropriate for your system).
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3. From the console, change directory to the windows/ddk_build/ directory,
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which is part of the HIDAPI distribution.
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4. Type build.
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5. You can find the output files (DLL and LIB) in a subdirectory created
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by the build system which is appropriate for your environment. On
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Windows XP, this directory is objfre_wxp_x86/i386.
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Cross Compiling
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================
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This section talks about cross compiling HIDAPI for Linux using autotools.
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This is useful for using HIDAPI on embedded Linux targets. These
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instructions assume the most raw kind of embedded Linux build, where all
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prerequisites will need to be built first. This process will of course vary
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based on your embedded Linux build system if you are using one, such as
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OpenEmbedded or Buildroot.
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For the purpose of this section, it will be assumed that the following
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environment variables are exported.
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$ export STAGING=$HOME/out
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$ export HOST=arm-linux
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STAGING and HOST can be modified to suit your setup.
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Prerequisites
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--------------
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Note that the build of libudev is the very basic configuration.
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Build Libusb. From the libusb source directory, run:
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./configure --host=$HOST --prefix=$STAGING
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make
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make install
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Build libudev. From the libudev source directory, run:
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./configure --disable-gudev --disable-introspection --disable-hwdb \
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--host=$HOST --prefix=$STAGING
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make
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make install
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Building HIDAPI
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----------------
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Build HIDAPI:
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PKG_CONFIG_DIR= \
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PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig:$STAGING/share/pkgconfig \
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PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR=$STAGING \
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./configure --host=$HOST --prefix=$STAGING
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Signal 11 Software - 2010-04-11
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2010-07-28
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2011-09-10
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2012-05-01
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2012-07-03
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