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Date:      Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:24:26 -0500
From:      Chuck Robey <chuckr@chuckr.org>
To:        "Julian H. Stacey" <jhs@berklix.org>
Cc:        FreeBSD-Hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: USB Graphic Tablets
Message-ID:  <47AE0BFA.5030007@chuckr.org>
In-Reply-To: <200802091951.m19JpJfj096492@fire.js.berklix.net>
References:  <47ADFD2C.80009@chuckr.org> <200802091951.m19JpJfj096492@fire.js.berklix.net>

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Julian H. Stacey wrote:
> Chuck Robey wrote:
>> Well, my first question is, does there exist a tool for USB that let's you
>> view the raw return from the usb probing?  I want to see what this device
>> is actually identifying itself as.  Actual numeric vendor IDs and product
>> IDs are the sort of thing I'm after.  Something a whole lot more detailed
>> that usbdevs, please.  Even the dmesg listing (as I show above) hasn't got
>> the numbers and tails I need.
> 
> Hi Chuck,
> On list    sane-devel@lists.alioth.debian.org (A mostly Linux using
> crownd though not just, some BSD) They mostly seem to rec. some
> (free I assume) MS$ comparible .exe prog for snatching USB traffic
> to then analyse / develop for *IX drivers. I don't remember prog name,
> but http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/sane-devel
> Julian

Thanks much for the URL, I will definitely look it up.  I'm a bit surprised
that the SANE folks, who I took to be scanner-oriented, should be
interested in graphic tablets.

I know, from having used it in the days before I switched back to FreeBSD,
that the verbose mode of the Linux usb lister gives all the info you could
possibly ask for,  I would really rather not use the Linux tool to do that,
both for feelings of loyalty, and to be honest, my legs are too shot, and
getting back and forth to my now moved Linux machine with the graphic pad
is unfun.  Maybe I will look at usbdevs and see if it's hackable to make it
have a blabbermouth mode.  Or, maybe the verbose mode of booting might be
more verbose for USB devices?

As far as the other side of things, to have a usb device that is identical
to one on the list, except the mfr has moved the ident info, and have that
driver be inaccessible to FreeBSD seems awfully straitlaced to me.  Is it a
feeling of the usb kernel developers involved that thjey should impose that
level of control on folks?  What, in the name of security, maybe?  It seems
that they might maybe protect it to some lenth, but to remove the abilityu
to experiment easily, that sounds a bit too draconian.  Is this really the
sense of folks here, that no user-provoked experimentation should be allowed?
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