inf file without PID for multiple products under same VID

Question

I'm trying to create a "generic" Windows USB driver (really just an .inf-file) that could be used for several products under the same manufacturers. What I would like to do is to only list the Vendor IDs (VID) for the different manufactures so that I can use the same driver for different models from the same manufacturers, something like this:

[Version]
Signature=$WINDOWS NT$
Class=visaUsbDevice
ClassGUID={A3330EDF-239D-4206-833B-1D58952613D5}
Provider=%Vendor%
DriverVer=05/03/2017,1.0
CatalogFile=test.cat

;===========================================================================
;  Default Installer
;===========================================================================

[DefaultInstall]
CopyINF=test.inf

[DestinationDirs]

[SourceDisksNames]

[SourceDisksFiles]

;===========================================================================
;  Class Installer
;===========================================================================

[ClassInstall32]
AddReg=AddClass_AddReg

[AddClass_AddReg]
HKR,,,0,%DeviceClassString%
HKR,,Icon,,"-20"

;===========================================================================

[Manufacturer]
%Vendor%=USBList,NTamd64

[USBList]
%USB\VID_12D1.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_12D1
%USB\VID_1004.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_1004
%USB\VID_18D1.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_18D1
%USB\VID_0BB4.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_0BB4
%USB\VID_04E8.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_04E8
%USB\VID_22B8.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_22B8
%USB\VID_054C.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_054C
%USB\VID_2A70.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_2A70

[USBList.NTamd64]
%USB\VID_12D1.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_12D1
%USB\VID_1004.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_1004
%USB\VID_18D1.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_18D1
%USB\VID_0BB4.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_0BB4
%USB\VID_04E8.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_04E8
%USB\VID_22B8.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_22B8
%USB\VID_054C.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_054C
%USB\VID_2A70.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_2A70

[PreCopySection]
HKR,,NoSetupUI,,1

[WinUsb_Inst]
Include = winusb.inf
Needs = WINUSB.NT

[WinUsb_Inst.hw]
AddReg=WinUsb_Inst_HW_AddReg

[WinUsb_Inst.Services]
Addservice = WinUsb, 0x00000002, WinUsb_AddService

[WinUsb_AddService]
DisplayName    = %WinUsb_Service_DisplayName%
ServiceType    = %SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER%
StartType      = %SERVICE_DEMAND_START%
ErrorControl   = %SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL%
ServiceBinary  = %12%\WinUSB.sys

[WinUsb_Inst_HW_AddReg]
HKR,,DeviceInterfaceGUIDs, 0x10000,"{761ED34A-CCFA-416b-94BB-33486DB1F5D5}"

[Strings]
Vendor="TEST"
USB\VID_12D1.DeviceDesc="HUAWEI"
USB\VID_1004.DeviceDesc="LGE"
USB\VID_18D1.DeviceDesc="GOOGLE"
USB\VID_0BB4.DeviceDesc="HTC"
USB\VID_04E8.DeviceDesc="SAMSUNG"
USB\VID_22B8.DeviceDesc="MOTOROLA"
USB\VID_054C.DeviceDesc="SONY"
USB\VID_2A70.DeviceDesc="ONEPLUS"
DeviceClassString="NI-VISA USB Devices"
WinUsb_Service_DisplayName="WinUSB Driver"

SERVICE_BOOT_START = 0x0
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START = 0x1
SERVICE_AUTO_START = 0x2
SERVICE_DEMAND_START = 0x3
SERVICE_DISABLED = 0x4

SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER = 0x1
SERVICE_ERROR_IGNORE = 0x0
SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL = 0x1
SERVICE_ERROR_SEVERE = 0x2
SERVICE_ERROR_CRITICAL = 0x3

But I can't seem to get it to work without having a product ID (PID) connected to the listed VIDs, e.g:

%USB\VID_1004&PID_631C.DeviceDesc%=WinUsb_Inst, USB\VID_1004&PID_631C

When I try to manually select the inf file I created for my devices in Device Manager, it gives me the following error:

The folder you specified doesn't contain a compatible software driver for your device. If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems.

But if I use the .inf file where i have specified some of my devices PIDs, it works. The problem is that I can't list all the different PIDs because the driver needs to be compatible with a random device from the listed manufacturers. Anyone who knows how I can get around this?

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 03 '17 at 14:38

That's a very bad idea because those manufacturers might choose to make different types of devices in the future and your driver could make it difficult for people to use those devices if it takes precedence over the official drivers.

Also, it won't work because the "PID" is part of the string that Windows uses to find drivers, as you have seen in your experiments.

You might try looking at the devices in the Device Manager to see if they have a "Compatible Id" you can use for matching instead of the VID/PID numbers.

Another thing you could do is instruct your users how to install your driver manually for a specific connected USB device. To do this, they can open the Device Manager, right-click on the USB device in question, select "Update Driver Software...", select "Browse my computer for driver software", select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer", and then from there they should be able to find the INF file you supplied.

Alternatively, you can use a utility like Zadig to install WinUSB for those devices.

inf file without PID for multiple products under same VID

1 Answers1