11 Sep
2011
11 Sep
'11
1:53 p.m.
Keith Monahan wrote about FTDI USB-serial/parallel interface chips:
Their datasheets, schematics, documentation for using
their .DLLs, their
Virtual Com Port (VCP, as they call them) drivers(certified, as someone
mentioned) are all top notch.
I disagree with respect to the datasheets, which do not provide the
information necessary to write a driver. There is no information on the
details of the USB protocol they use, and apparently that information is
only available under NDA, or by reverse-engineering their drivers.
Perhaps if you're satisfied with the standard drivers that doesn't
matter, but if you want to use the FTDI chip in an unusual environment,
such as from an RTOS on non-PC hardware, you're SOL.
It is a mystery to me why they do this; providing the technical
information would not hurt them in any way.
Eric