How can I develop windows driver that does not touch hardware?

Question

I need to create a WDM driver that emulates a device that is not present. The driver needs to be loaded when the O/S boots, opened and closed via SetupDiXXX and CreateFile, needs to respond to DeviceIoControl, etc.

I have the driver coded, but XP refuses to load it. The system event viewer says:

The MyDevice service failed to start due to the following error: The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.

Given that, I think the problem is in the INF file (reference below). Is it? How should I go about fixing it?

;; MyDevice.inf

[Version]
Signature="$Windows 95$"

Class=MyDeviceDeviceClass
ClassGUID={ff646f80-8def-11d2-9449-00105a075f6b}
Provider=%ProviderName%
DriverVer= 12/21/2009,1.0.0.1

[ClassInstall32]
Addreg=Class_AddReg

[Class_AddReg]
HKR,,,,%DeviceClassName%
HKR,,Icon,,"-18"

[DestinationDirs]
MyDevice_Files_Driver = 10,System32\Drivers


[Manufacturer]
%MfgName%=Mfg0

[Mfg0]
%DeviceDesc%=MyDevice_DDI, *MyDevice


[MyDevice_DDI]
CopyFiles=MyDevice_Files_Driver
AddReg=MyDevice_9X_AddReg


[MyDevice_DDI.NT]
CopyFiles=MyDevice_Files_Driver
AddReg=MyDevice_NT_AddReg

[MyDevice_DDI.NT.Services]
Addservice = MyDevice, 0x00000002, MyDevice_AddService

[MyDevice_AddService]
DisplayName    = %SvcDesc%
ServiceType    = 1
StartType      = 3
ErrorControl   = 1
ServiceBinary  = %10%\System32\Drivers\MyDevice.sys

[MyDevice_NT_AddReg]
HKLM, "System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyDevice\Parameters","BreakOnEntry", 0x00010001, 0

[MyDevice_Files_Driver]
MyDevice.sys


[Strings]
ProviderName="Acme"
MfgName="Acme"
DeviceDesc="Acme"
DeviceClassName="Device class for MyDevice"
SvcDesc="MyDevice NT service"

I don't know the answer, but projects like the Null-modem emulator (http://com0com.sourceforge.net/) indicate that it is possible. Perhaps you could glean something by looking through that project? — Judge Maygarden, Dec 22 '09 at 05:46
The com0com driver is close to what I needed, but not 100% of the solution: I also had to install the driver from the control panel "Add New Hardware". Just right-click installing the INF wasn't enough. — Clay, Dec 22 '09 at 14:32

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 22 '09 at 14:36

Self answered:

I changed the INF to include the following:

[Mfg0] %DeviceDesc%=MyDevice_DDI, *MyDevice\ipm1

The "\ipm1" is new, and a little voodoo in my eyes. I got it from an example in Chris Cant's "Writing Windows WDM Device Drvers".

The big change is using the "Add New Hardware" wizard from the control panel to install the driver. Right-click installing the INF is not enough. I suspect the reason is that it invokes the PnP manager which correctly fails to find hardware for the driver to control.

How can I develop windows driver that does not touch hardware?

1 Answers1