usbprint

[Mr G]

I have an Olivetti PR 2E that does not come with a windows device driver,
however when I connect it my Windows 2000 professional system tray the
"Unplug / Eject Hardware" icon appears, and upon clicking this, an entry is
shown for the device called "USB Printing Support" (but the device proerties
tag says that the device cannot start).

An entry is created in the registry under the key
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\Vid_0000&Pid_0000" (I
assume the vendor and product ID are 0000 because it is an unknown device).

I have previously successfully written data directly to a USB printer that
DOES install a driver, using a C++ program and invoking the "CreateFile"
function (specifiying the port as the vendor and product id name from the
registry subkey "..\Device Parameters\SymbolicName"). Even though a driver
is installed, the registry entries show it using USBPRINT.

After this long explanantion my question is, how can I write to the USB
printer that does not come with a Windows driver? Should I just be able to
use its 0000 vendor and product id as the port descriptor because it is also
using USBPRINT, or do I need to bugger about and create some sort of ini
file so that Windows recognises it properly? Or do I need a generic Windows
driver for it first?

Regards

Gary Styles

[Marc Reinig]

Gary,

Here are the short answers:

> ... how can I write to the USB printer that does not come with a Windows
driver?

Write a printer driver for it and talk to the driver.

> Should I just be able to use its 0000 vendor and product id as the port
descriptor

> because it is also using USBPRINT, ...

No.

> ... or do I need to bugger about and create some sort of ini

> file so that Windows recognises it properly?

You probably mean INF file, but that requires that windows have a high level
printer
driver to load.

> Or do I need a generic Windows driver for it first?

You need a driver that knows about the specific printer in question, i.e. a
vendor driver or your own if you know the details about how to talk to the
specific printer.

Here's the long answer from the DDK:
USBPRINT.SYS is the Microsoft®-provided kernel-mode device driver for USB
printers. USBPRINT.SYS works with USBMON.DLL to provide end-to-end
connectivity between USB printers and high-level printer drivers.

Unlike some USB device classes, USBPRINT.SYS does not "drive" the printer.
Instead, USBPRINT simply provides a communication conduit by which
higher-level drivers can control the printer. As with Parallel, every USB
printer will require a printer driver to render print jobs, and may also
require a language monitor to manage high-level communication with the
printer.

Marc Reinig
System Solutions

"Mr G" <gst...@nexxussoft.com> wrote in message
news:9def9f$jss$1...@sshuraaa-i-1.production.compuserve.com...

[Mr G]

Thanx Marc.

Looks like I've gotta lotta work ahead of me!!

Regards

Gazry Styles