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Problems getting a device driver to load at startup - WM6.1

Answer 1

+1 A:

I am more familiar with Windows CE, but here are a couple of things:

Did you add a debug print in the DllMain function to see whether it is called?
Did you check for a dependency break. Could it be that somehow you have a Dll available under CE 5 that is not there under WM6?

Shaihi 2010-08-29 04:41:12

Hi Shaihi,I have looked at DllMain and there is no debug print, I have added one in and will test it on Tuesday morning when I have access to the WM6 device again. I know for a fact no other debug prints are written at startup, so maybe putting in an instant debug may shred light on the issue to if the dll is even loaded.As to a dependency break, i do not know how to do this on a mobile OS. But in thinking about it the driver can be activated manually with ActiviateDevice, so surely all the needed dependencies are already installed, aren't they?Thank you for the suggestions.

JonWillis 2010-08-29 09:45:06

I missed the part that it loads under WM with ActivateDevice. This rules out dependency. Did you try to change the `order` filed in the registry? maybe the driver tries to load before some functionality it needs is ready.

Shaihi 2010-08-29 10:27:58

Hi Shaihi, No problem, all help is appreciated.I did consider order and actually tried to make it load sooner rather than later incase of a COM port in use rather than dependency issue of other files not yet loaded, when I next get in ill set it to 255 and see if that helps.It maybe worth mentioning that someone has pointed out out the possible issue of signing. Whilst I have signed it with our cert, they have recommended to drop back down to the new (Jan 2010) SDK certificates and use cabsigner.exe instead of signtool.exe, and see if it loads. Could you see this been an possible issue? Thx

JonWillis 2010-08-30 10:04:02

I did not regard the signage since I don't work with WM (that was the opening in my answer (: ). Can't you try and load it on a device that is "open"/"unlocked"/"does need signage"?

Shaihi 2010-08-30 11:24:46

My apologies ;) The requirement for signing of DLLs are far as I know is built into the OS and is not something that can be disabled. Just spent the last 30 minutes looking and disabling certificates is for server/exchange/wifi only not for drivers. RapiConfig.exe is the tool to use for WM6 and I will investigate it but do not think it would help.As to the device, the driver is for a specific piece or hardware for this device so it cannot be tested on a different WM6 device unfortunately, but it was a good suggestion.

JonWillis 2010-08-30 12:45:21

To update.The print dubug in DllMain is not displayed in WM6.1, but is in CE5. For those reading this in he future, I have tried it without and with signing of the DLLs and cab files yet it seemed to make no difference.

JonWillis 2010-08-31 12:47:44

Answer 2

A:

This is an answer, but not the 'right' one. It is merely a work around the loading issue. I figured this out over a week ago but did not want to use it as the solution. So this is hopefully just a temp fix.

The following code is used to load the driver manually, Its written in C# using C++ calls, I am used to C# which is why I did a C# project not a C++ one. Those who use C++ will undoubtedly create this in a C++ app.

public class LoadDriver
{
    [DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    public extern static IntPtr ActivateDevice(string lpszDevKey, int dwClientInfo);
    [DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    public static extern void SignalStarted( uint dw);

    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
        IntPtr handle = ActivateDevice("Drivers\\BuiltIn\\A36D_GPS_COM", 0);
        if(handle != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            Console.Write("Success");
        }

        if (args.Length > 0)
        {
            try
            {
                SignalStarted(uint.Parse(args[0]));
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

Now in order for this to work it needs to be run at startup, so i added in the required registry keys.

"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/init"
Launch62 = A36D_loaddriver.exe
Depend62 = "32 00"

"32 00" is to ensure it loads after the shell32.exe

Now the the startup of the device, the driver is activated in device.exe.

As to the signing/registry issue, this is still being looked into.

JonWillis 2010-09-01 15:32:15

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Problems getting a device driver to load at startup - WM6.1

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