low level device compatibility


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Thread: low level device compatibility

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    1

    low level device compatibility

    We all know that not all hardware works with Linux. The issues I have had lately are with an ELM327 bluetooth OBDII vehicle diagnostic device and a bar code scanner.
    The bar code scanner is USB and feeds converted scanned data into the keyboard buffer, which will then appear wherever the cursor is. Simple, and works well on 'doze laptop. However, under Linux it becomes dyslexic, displaying the data but in the wrong order.
    The bluetooth ELM327 could not be detected either by the Linux dongle on the PC or a smart phone. The manufacturer (Sunvalley) informed me that it would only work on 'doze and not on Linux as advertised. I know of one user that had success with an android phone and the ELM327.

    The issue is not specific to these devices but a more general concern that something is going on and I do not understand it. In the past, early days on Linux, I can accept that drivers etc. need to be created to access existing devices, but are we not in a position now that we can take any USB or bluetooth device, plug it in, switch it on, and have something happen.

    I suspect the ELM327 device was faulty, but why did Sunvalley change their tune when they discovered I ran Linux?
    It feels like there is a conspiracy to not play nicely with Linux if you want to play with M$.

    I am probably missing something, any insights into how and why devices work on one os and not another would be appreciated. It would have to be something between the BIOS and the kernel wouldn't it?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Newcastle upon Tyne
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    2,978
    Linux uses generic drivers. Thus if a device conforms to the industry standard and becomes popular some volunteers will write driver for it, otherwise the manufacturer will have to offer the driver.

    The provision of drivers is always a weak point of Linux because it is a free system.

    I suggest you raise the issue with a couple of most popular distro forums, say Ubuntu. It is possible that distro-specific patches may be available.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
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    3,202
    Quote Originally Posted by davidryman View Post
    The issue is not specific to these devices but a more general concern that something is going on and I do not understand it. In the past, early days on Linux, I can accept that drivers etc. need to be created to access existing devices, but are we not in a position now that we can take any USB or bluetooth device, plug it in, switch it on, and have something happen.
    Well, something is happening... just not the same as it happens under Windows.

    If I were to try and fix it, I'd work wtih something that produces a known data stream to Windows, see what it does in Linux, and then write some wrapper code that takes the stream in the wrong format and converts it to the proper format. Or write code that takes the wrong format, looks it up in a table of some sort, and displays the proper message.

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