hi ALL !!
I need a consulting device driver programmer/ Wine developer expert to create a specialized parallel port driver to simulate the performance of Win .9x "wrtdevo.VxD" operating under WINE on Ubuntu 10.10. "Wrtdev0.VxD" is a low level early Windows interrupt driven parallel port driver. We are working with 10 year old phased array sonars which use interrupt driven parallel port communication between the sonar ultrasonic transducers/ 8051 controller and a Windows PC which displays the information. The sonar GUI app was compiled around 2001 or 2002 for XP Home Edition ( will run on earlier Win OS down to Win 95- but no later Win versions due to HAL structure ). The GUI app itself runs under WINE but hangs when it calls "wrtdev0.Vxd" to obtain real time data from the parallel port. I understand WINE doesn't support .VxD drivers.
We need to find a way around this problem and are interested in hiring a qualified consultant/ programmer for the task. This could be a fun challenge for a qualified programmer. Anybody capable and interested in such a gig ?
Thanks & Cheers
Alan Jacobs, Director of Engineering
Venturi Corp, Marine Division
Kewaunee, Wisconsin 54216
ph: (920) 654-4477
Windows .9x driver "wrtdev0.VxD" -parallel port IRQ7 driver
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vavventuri
- Newbie
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:24 pm
Re: Windows .9x driver "wrtdev0.VxD" -parallel port IRQ7 dri
Hello,
Interesting challenge you have there.
Just to clarify, the application runs under Windows XP? The reason why I am asking is that Win XP is based on the NT kernel, and the NT kernel is suppose to behave differently then Win 9x in respect to direct hardware access. So I am interested how you managed to make that work? I suspect using something like this: http://hem.passagen.se/tomasf/UserPort/
Another important aspect of your problem is the RealTime requirements. From the short description that you gave, it seems to be quite important. The modern OSs are not designed with that in mind (unless you use a dedicate real time OS like qnx). If the real time part is very important, I suggest using and embedded IO board to take care of the hardware communication, and package the data and send it via USB or network to the OS for displaying.
If the real time is not that important I would suggest using something like this: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/ba ... ex.html.en Parallel ports are being phased out anyways, and WINE does behave quite well with usb devices.
NOTE: Make sure the adapter implements the full parallel port, nut just USBToParallel printer.
Regards
P.S. This is another short description of the problem: http://www.witch.westfalen.de/Wine-HOWTO/vxd.html
Interesting challenge you have there.
Just to clarify, the application runs under Windows XP? The reason why I am asking is that Win XP is based on the NT kernel, and the NT kernel is suppose to behave differently then Win 9x in respect to direct hardware access. So I am interested how you managed to make that work? I suspect using something like this: http://hem.passagen.se/tomasf/UserPort/
Another important aspect of your problem is the RealTime requirements. From the short description that you gave, it seems to be quite important. The modern OSs are not designed with that in mind (unless you use a dedicate real time OS like qnx). If the real time part is very important, I suggest using and embedded IO board to take care of the hardware communication, and package the data and send it via USB or network to the OS for displaying.
If the real time is not that important I would suggest using something like this: http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/ba ... ex.html.en Parallel ports are being phased out anyways, and WINE does behave quite well with usb devices.
NOTE: Make sure the adapter implements the full parallel port, nut just USBToParallel printer.
Regards
P.S. This is another short description of the problem: http://www.witch.westfalen.de/Wine-HOWTO/vxd.html
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vavventuri
- Newbie
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:24 pm
Re: Windows .9x driver "wrtdev0.VxD" -parallel port IRQ7 dri
xyz32...
Thanks for helpful fast reply....yup...is a very interesting project. The .exe GUI DOES DETECT parallel port 0x378 just fine and establish rapid data transfer under Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2K, and WinXP - Home Edition ONLY - will not run on Win XP Pro, Vista, or more recent. Surprised me too....I can see the 9x OS working with Wrtdevo.VxD....but do not understand why XP Home. Yes, better ways do fast real time with modern gear: ARMS, gate arrays, etc- even silly little Arduinos. But we're not interested in starting over or a full blown reverse engineering effort. We are forced to try to run this app on Ubuntu 10.10/ Celeron 220 / 2GB RAM/ 32GB UFD mass storage ( no hard drive). We have tried Wine & Oracle Virtualbox....have had a little success tracking down the "hang" using Dependency Walker ( Depends.exe). Thanks for the next hint.
Thanks for helpful fast reply....yup...is a very interesting project. The .exe GUI DOES DETECT parallel port 0x378 just fine and establish rapid data transfer under Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2K, and WinXP - Home Edition ONLY - will not run on Win XP Pro, Vista, or more recent. Surprised me too....I can see the 9x OS working with Wrtdevo.VxD....but do not understand why XP Home. Yes, better ways do fast real time with modern gear: ARMS, gate arrays, etc- even silly little Arduinos. But we're not interested in starting over or a full blown reverse engineering effort. We are forced to try to run this app on Ubuntu 10.10/ Celeron 220 / 2GB RAM/ 32GB UFD mass storage ( no hard drive). We have tried Wine & Oracle Virtualbox....have had a little success tracking down the "hang" using Dependency Walker ( Depends.exe). Thanks for the next hint.
