Hi,
I need to write an application (possibly using C) to communicate with a USB High Speed Device CDC class I am developing, but unfortunately I have no development experience under Mac OS, so I am here to ask for a few help/advice. I hope I am in the right place.
Since I have a working code using libusb on Linux, I have first tried to use such lib on a Mac OS without success. The device is listed correctly using
ioreg -w0 -l -p
but it seems to be always busy:
MYUSBDEVICE@fa410000 <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x100001769, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (262 ms), retain 24>
in fact, attempting to use libusb always results in error:
LIBUSB_ERROR_NOT_FOUND
libusb_bulk_transfer: Entity not found
After searching a bit, I have read that it is impossible (?) to use libusb on MacOS.
Then I came across these following pages:
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/DeviceDrivers/Conceptual/USBBook/USBDeviceInterfaces/USBDevInterfaces.html
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usbdriverkit
I would possible avoid to write a CDC kernel driver for my application, so link #2 seems more appropriate to what I need.
But isn't it available any API to develop USB CDC communications C application on MacOS ?
Any suggestion is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Simon
USBDriverKit
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I have USB DriverKit driver. When I use the log command below to get log, there is logs from my driver on my own M-series MacBook where the driver is built using developer account.
log stream | grep CompanyName
But on other mac like (M-series) Mac Mini, there is no log captured from driver though the driver is communicating with the machine correctly. The only log captured are from MacOS regarding CompanyName driver status/unload/load. The MacOS is Sonoma 14.7.2 and 14.7.3.
Please advise on how to get log from driver since writing to files is not allowed in DriverKit. I need logs to troubleshoot on Mac Mini.
Thanks.
am new to using Swift for a Mac Application. I am trying to control an external UVC-compliant camera focus and other capabilities. However, I'm having trouble with this and don't know where to start. I have downloaded an application from the App Store and it can control the focus and other capabilities.
I've tried IOKit but this seems to be complicated and this does not return any capabilities or control the camera.
I also tried AVfoundation and was able to open the camera, but using the following code did not work for me. as a device.isFocusPointOfInterestSupported returns false and without checking the app crashes.
@IBAction func focusChanged(_ sender: NSSlider) {
do {
guard let device = videoDevice else { return }
try device.lockForConfiguration()
// Check if focus mode and point of interest are supported
if device.isFocusModeSupported(.locked) {
device.focusMode = .locked
}
if device.isFocusPointOfInterestSupported {
// Map the slider value (0.0 to 1.0) to the focus point's X coordinate
let focusX = CGFloat(sender.doubleValue)
let focusPoint = CGPoint(x: focusX, y: 0.5) // Y coordinate is typically 0.5 (centered vertically)
device.focusPointOfInterest = focusPoint
} else {
print("Focus point of interest is not supported on this device.")
}
device.unlockForConfiguration()
// Log focus settings
print("Focus point: \(device.focusPointOfInterest)")
print("Focus mode: \(device.focusMode.rawValue)")
} catch {
print("Error adjusting focus: \(error)")
}
Any help or advice is much appreciated.
Hi everyone,
I am seeking clarification regarding the communication capabilities between an ESP32 microcontroller and Apple's latest devices, specifically the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPad Pro, both equipped with USB-C ports.
Background:
MFi Certification: Historically, establishing communication between external devices and iOS devices required MFi (Made for iPhone/iPad) certification. But I remember this being necessary in the Lightning Cable to USB era.
With the introduction of USB-C ports in recent iPhone and iPad models, there is an indication that MFi certification may no longer be necessary for certain peripherals. Perhaps I'm not confident on the terminology here: https://mfi.apple.com/en/who-should-join
Project Requirements: I am working on a sensor research project that necessitates the collection of low-latency time-series data from an ESP32 microcontroller, which features a USB-C port. The data needs to be transmitted to an iPhone 16 Pro Max or iPad Pro. Bluetooth communication has proven insufficient due to its limited data transfer rates (~1.2 Mbps with L2CAP). While NEHotspot could be an alternative, it restricts the iPad's internet connectivity. Therefore, establishing a direct USB-C connection between the ESP32 and the iOS device appears to be the most viable solution.
Questions:
MFi Certification Necessity: Is MFi certification still required for an ESP32 microcontroller to communicate with iPhone 16 Pro Max or iPad Pro via USB-C?
USB-C Communication Support: Do the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPad Pro natively support serial communication over USB-C with microcontrollers like the ESP32? If not, are there recommended protocols or interfaces to facilitate this communication?
App Development Considerations: Would developing a custom iOS application be necessary to handle data transmission from the ESP32 over USB-C? If so, are there specific APIs or frameworks provided by Apple to support this functionality?
Data Transfer Rates: Considering the need for high-speed data transfer, are there any limitations or considerations regarding the data transfer rates achievable through a USB-C connection between the ESP32 and iOS devices?
Thank you!
I've tried on multiple occasions to add a message on to the request form for a vendor ID, but it always comes back with just the one default.
I read in another post that they got it done through the Feedback Assistant, but that hasn't worked for me.
Does anyone have any other ideas?
Between us and our parent company, I need three vendor IDs.
Hello!
We currently require the development of an iOS system for encrypting and authorizing photos, videos, voice memos, or other files stored on our devices to a connected USB-C storage. The encrypted files can be accessed through authorization. We have already encrypted and authorized the files to be stored on the app's mobile storage, and cannot directly store them to USB-C (this requirement is based on the Apple camera RroRes, which uses external storage for direct storage). We are seeking technical support from Apple.
Hey,
I'currently working on a Driver (and its App) for iPadOS (USB Device).
I think have the right entitlements, as my driver gets installed with the app properly (after accepting it in the settings).
It also gets loaded once the device is plugged in and so on.
However the Kernel is not using the updated Version after I install a new Version of App and Driver to the iPad (at least most of the times). I'm verifying this by reading out the Logs via Console and the Driver prints its Build number on Start(). Sometimes it works like it should but I found no pattern.
As far as I understand the iPad should automatically install the new Version of the Driver with the new App if its Build is different from the current one. I'm incrementing the Build of App and Driver automatically post-build so each build the iPad gets has its own Build number (This also works).
Steps to reproduce:
Cleaning Xcode Build Folder
Unplugging the USB Device from the iPad.
Building and Installing a new Version of the Driver and the App via Xcode (making sure the build number has changed)
Plugging the USB back into the iPad
Reading Console output of the iPad
However it works (each time if I:
Uninstall the app from the iPad manually or via Devices in Xcode
Build and install the App via Xcode
Open the Settings App and activate the Driver
But uninstalling the App each time is taking a lot of time and manual Steps so I would like to fix this issue.
Do you have any Ideas?
Thanks, Bjarne
I am trying to open the CommunicationControl class IOUSBHostInterface in my USB driver, but it only seems to open on iPad Airs and not iPad Pros.
I'm calling
ivars->interruptInterface->Open(this, 0, NULL);
After retrieving the interruptInterface from the device's InterfaceIterator. I try and open this, but on iPad Pros it returns kIOReturnNotOpen. I've tried closing and reopening the IOUSBHostDevice, closing and reopening the Interface, AbortDeviceRequests before opening, etc. but it just seems to work on iPad Air and not iPad Pro.
I've tried on both iPadOS 17.6.1 and 18.2
Has anyone else seen this?
I have a driver project where I'm opening and closing a connection to a custom driver.
If I do what I think I need to be doing to unmap the memory, when I try to open the service again, it fails. If I skip the step where I do that unmapping, the service opens successfully.
If I call unmap() before trying to call openConnection() again, it will fail with a -308 error return code. If I skip that call to unmap(), it works and I'm able to communicate with my device.
Here's the code where I open the service:
public func openConnection() throws {
guard !isOpen else { return }
// Open device
var connection: io_connect_t = IO_OBJECT_NULL
var result = IOServiceOpen(device, mach_task_self_, 0, &connection)
if result != kIOReturnSuccess {
NSLog("Failed opening device with error: 0x%08x.\n", result);
throw NSError.cdc_kernelReturnErrorWithError(result)
}
defer { IOConnectRelease(connection) }
if device == IO_OBJECT_NULL || connection == IO_OBJECT_NULL {
throw NSError.cdc_kernelReturnErrorWithError(result)
}
let receiveDataMappedMemory = ClientDriverMappedMemory(connection: connection, memoryType: MappedMemoryType_ReceiveDataBuffer)
try receiveDataMappedMemory.map()
let transmitDataMappedMemory = ClientDriverMappedMemory(connection: connection, memoryType: MappedMemoryType_TransmitDataBuffer)
try transmitDataMappedMemory.map()
// Setup async notification
IONotificationPortSetDispatchQueue(dataReceivedPort, dataReceivedQueue)
let callbackPort = IONotificationPortGetMachPort(dataReceivedPort)
let input = DataStruct(foo: 0, bar: 0)
var output = DataStruct(foo: 0, bar: 0)
var outputSize = MemoryLayout<DataStruct>.size
// Trampoline to C function because I don't quite know how to make this work in Swift
result = setupCallback(self, connection, callbackPort, input, &output, &outputSize)
if result != kIOReturnSuccess {
NSLog("Error registering async callback with driver: \(result)");
throw NSError.cdc_kernelReturnErrorWithError(result)
}
self.connection = connection
self.receivedDataMappedMemory = receiveDataMappedMemory
self.transmitDataMappedMemory = transmitDataMappedMemory
}
map() and unmap() functions:
- (BOOL)mapWithError:(NSError **)error
{
error = error ?: &(NSError * __autoreleasing){ nil };
kern_return_t result = IOConnectMapMemory64(self.connection,
self.memoryType,
mach_task_self(),
&_address,
&_size,
kIOMapAnywhere);
if (result != kIOReturnSuccess) {
*error = [NSError cdc_kernelReturnErrorWithError:result];
return NO;
}
self.mapped = YES;
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)unmapWithError:(NSError **)error
{
error = error ?: &(NSError * __autoreleasing){ nil };
kern_return_t result = IOConnectUnmapMemory64(self.connection,
self.memoryType,
mach_task_self(),
_address);
if (result != kIOReturnSuccess) {
*error = [NSError cdc_kernelReturnErrorWithError:result];
return NO;
}
self.mapped = NO;
return YES;
}
Any insights? What all should I be doing to close the service? Why would the unmapping create this issue or what else could the -308 error be indicated has gone wrong?
We have a DriverKit entitlement for our USB driver. We now wish to use this same driver with a variant of our existing application. Of course this application has its own separate App ID and will be published in the App Store alongside our existing application.
Will we need to go back to the well and ask Apple for another entitlement?
Hi,
I am trying to develop MacOS application which will be connecting to USB devices and should be available in AppStore.
So it must be Sandbox and probably I've to use permission com.apple.security.device.usb.
I've following requirements:
I need to detect USB devices with file system
I need to have ability to upload & download files from this device
I need to read device serial number
I wonder if I can use IOKit for this and it will be compliant with AppStore rules or not?
I am trying to add a few properties to an IOUSBHostDevice but the SetProperties is returning kIOReturnUnsupported. The reason I am trying to modify the IOUSBHostDevice's properties is so we can support a MacBook Air SuperDrive when it is attached to our docking station devices. The MacBook Air SuperDrive needs a high powered port to run and this driver will help the OS realize that our dock can support it.
I see that the documentation for SetProperties says:
The default implementation of this method returns kIOReturnUnsupported. You can override this method and use it to modify the set of properties and values as needed. The changes you make apply only to the current service.
Do I need to override IOUSBHostDevice? This is my current Start implementation (you can also see if in the Xcode project):
kern_return_t
IMPL(MyUserUSBHostDriver, Start)
{
kern_return_t ret = kIOReturnSuccess;
OSDictionary * prop = NULL;
OSDictionary * mergeProperties = NULL;
bool success = true;
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "> %s", __FUNCTION__);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
ret = Start(provider, SUPERDISPATCH);
__Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
ivars->host = OSDynamicCast(IOUSBHostDevice, provider);
__Require_Action(NULL != ivars->host, Exit, ret = kIOReturnNoDevice);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
ret = ivars->host->Open(this, 0, 0);
__Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
ret = CopyProperties(&prop);
__Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit);
__Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
mergeProperties = OSDynamicCast(OSDictionary, prop->getObject("IOProviderMergeProperties"));
mergeProperties->retain();
__Require_Action(NULL != mergeProperties, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop);
ret = ivars->host->CopyProperties(&prop);
__Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit);
__Require_Action(NULL != prop, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Product Name", ((OSString *) prop->getObject("USB Product Name"))->getCStringNoCopy());
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s : %s", "USB Vendor Name", ((OSString *) prop->getObject("USB Vendor Name"))->getCStringNoCopy());
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
success = prop->merge(mergeProperties);
__Require_Action(success, Exit, ret = kIOReturnError);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "%s:%d", __FUNCTION__, __LINE__);
ret = ivars->host->SetProperties(prop); // this is no working
__Require(kIOReturnSuccess == ret, Exit);
Exit:
OSSafeReleaseNULL(mergeProperties);
OSSafeReleaseNULL(prop);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "err ref %d", kIOReturnUnsupported);
os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "< %s %d", __FUNCTION__, ret);
return ret;
}
I would like to write a driver that supports our custom USB-C connected device, which provides a serial port interface. USBSerialDriverKit looks like the solution I need. Unfortunately, without a decent sample, I'm not sure how to accomplish this. The DriverKit documentation does a good job of telling me what APIs exist but it is very light on semantic information and details about how to use all of these API elements. A function call with five unexplained parameters just is that useful to me.
Does anyone have or know of a resource that can help me figure out how to get started?
I have two different USB devices with different vendor IDs I would like to connect to. I submitted two separate requests for the com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb entitlement for each vendor ID. However I am noticing the provisioning profile only has one of the vendor IDs.
How do I submit a request for the USB Transport entitlement to support more than one vendor ID? I'm new to writing a DriverKit driver, so is this even possible?
Hi everyone,
Are there any new updates on communicating with iPhones via USB-C without needing an MFi chip, especially with the iPhone 15 or upcoming iPhone 16?
I'm developing a custom accessory and wondering if the switch to USB-C has introduced any new possibilities for data communication without going through the MFi program.
Thanks!
I want to install a driver package without internet access and the installation fail. This I think it is due to it need internet to check for signature with Apple Server.
The workaround is to disable System Integrity Protection, but I do not have the administrator password to disable it.
How to install a driver and allow a driver to run without internet access and administrator account? This driver is develop by ourself but how to by pass the code signing and security check for others to use this driver on their Mac PC?
Currently I am following
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/systemextensions/ossystemextensionrequest/activationrequest(forextensionwithidentifier:queue:)
to activate the system extension
If the extension is inactive, the system may need to prompt the user for approval. Which others API can I use which do not need prompt user for approval?
Beside in order to validate the code signing, it need to communicate with Apple server which required internet access. Any method to by pass this validation?
Hello,
I'm developing a custom AU plugin that needs to connect to a DriverKit driver. Using the DriverKit sample (https://github.com/DanBurkhardt/DriverKitUserClientSample.git), I was able to get a standalone app to connect to the driver successfully. However, the AU plugin, running in a sandboxed host, isn't establishing the connection. I’ve already added the app sandbox entitlement, but it hasn’t helped. Any advice on what might be missing?
TIA!
I have an intra-**** video device that's supported by Apple's AVCaptureDevice. I can use the AV classes to connect to the device and get video. However, this device has a button that's used to acquire still images from the video stream. I can't use the IOUSBDeviceInterface to do an asynchronous read, because the Apple driver has the device opened exclusively. How do I go about receiving the button event in this scenario? I know which pipe to read, based on a bus analyzer when I run this on Windows, I just need to know how to access that pipe when the device is opened by another process.
In iPadOS 17.7 my driver shows up in settings just fine. After recompiling with Xcode 16 and installing my app (containing my driver) on iPadOS 18, the app shows up in settings but the driver-enable button is missing from Settings. When I plug-in my custom USB device, the app cannot detect it and I am left with no way to manually enable the driver, as I did in the previous version of iPadOS.
Can anyone definitively say if USBDriverKit is supported on the new OS and 3.2 USB iPhone device? This would be a fantastic way to work with novel devices such as custom cameras. Thanks.