LL_USB Installation guide

Lawson Labs, Inc.
USB Data Acquisition system
Installation guides

read the important notes at the link below before proceeding
important notes to read first

Win98 and WinME

New Installation

Device Driver update
Method 1
Method 2

Things to be aware of
System and .inf files
.Ini files
Cross platform compatibility
Driver time slicing issues

Additional Installation notes

Win2k and WinXP

installation screen-shots ( WinXP ) | troubleshooting suggestions

Win98 and WinME

Installation notes

1.) New Installation: Required if you've never installed a M30x device on your system, or if we do a hardware modification. You may also be required to do so each time you add a new manufacturer's device to a USB port that never had one of that manufacturer's devices on it before. Connect power, then USB cable from the computer to the M30x . If this is the very first installation of any of our M30x devices, then you should allow Windows to "Search for a suitable Driver...", (since USB devices at the time of this writing, are not yet listed in it's list of devices for you to choose from) when prompted. When/if prompted to do so, insert diskette as the source for the driver.

If you've received the code and installation files by means other than an installation disk, such as by e-mail or our website, then there is information in the "READ_1ST.TXT" file concerning the making of the installation diskette. If as part of the installation process, Windows asks for a location of a .inf or .sys file other than the installation diskette (for example your Windows installation CD), use the "browse" button to point Windows to the files on the installation diskettes. If Windows indicates that it is installing a compatible driver already on the system, and you haven't previously installed any of our M30x devices then this is an indication that your computer's USB chipset may not be compatible with our device. Contact us for more information if you encounter this condition. Once one of the M30x devices is installed you should not have to repeat this procedure unless we do a hardware update. If the Windows install process does not occur, it could mean that you may already have one of our M30x devices installed, and no registry update is required. However, you must still physically copy the new LL_USB.sys device driver into your WINNT\system32\drivers directory (as described below), overwriting the previous copy of the driver. We do not currently have an installation program to do that sort of thing for you.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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2.) Device Driver update: Required to install a newer version of the device driver. There are two options available to update the device driver on a system that has a previous version of our device driver:

Method I.); This is the method to use unless we specify using method "II" below. Copy new version of Device Driver to your WINNT\System32\Drivers directory. If you are not prompted with the window's message "Overwrite previous file?" then you may have copied it to the wrong directory, and will need to confirm that the new driver has been copied to the correct directory.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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Method II.) .; Connect power, then USB cable from the computer to ALL M30x devices. Open the "Control Panel" and select the "System" icon. Click on the "Hardware" tab of the box that appears, and then click the "Device Manager" button. From the display of device icons, left-click the "+" sign next to "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" icon to view the list of installed USB devices. In that list, you'll see one or more entries for "Lawson Labs ....". Each device will need to be updated individually. To do so, right click on the icon and from the drop-down menu, select "Properties". From the dialog box that will be displayed, select the "Driver" tab. From the next panel, click the "Update driver" button. Follow the prompts to install the newest version of our driver from the floppy diskette where you should have placed it. You will need to select:

"Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver"

when prompted, in order to have the option to locate the driver from the floppy diskette. If you allow the system to "Search for a sutable driver...." it will most likely reinstall the previous version of the driver, or present you with a list of both old and new making for a confusing situation. From the next window, "Upgrade Device Driver Wizard", press the "Have Disk" button. When the drive letter of your diskette is displayed, press the "OK" button, which should return you to the previous window with the name of the new driver in the "Models" window. Press the "Next" button, and then at the next confirmation screen, press that "Next" button as well at which time Windows will install the new driver. You complete the process, by pressing the "Finish" button on the final screen.

The floppy diskette should contain the newest .inf file, .sys file and any .ini files that were originally on the installation diskette if we made the diskette for you, or from the diskette you made from our installation archive that you downloaded from our website.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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Things to be aware of

1.) System and .inf files: Device driver filename is LL_USB.sys . During installation, that file will usually be placed in the Windows\system32\drivers directory.

Special note: After 7-9-03 Win98 and Win2k will use the separate .inf files. WinXP/2k/NT will use LL_USB2k.inf and Win9x/ME will use LL_USB.inf
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2.) .Ini files: LL_USB.INI should be placed in the Windows directory automatically by the Windows installation process. LL_USB.INI contains information used by the DLL for optional debug output as well as various DLL-to-app messaging options. It ships with default values which are the same values used by the DLL if it fails to find LL_USB.INI at runtime.

Special note: Windows application will not recognize .ini files that are placed within the application directory. The .ini files must reside in the WINNT directory.
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3.) Cross platform compatibility: The Device Driver (.sys) and the Dynamic Link Library (.dll) is not interchangeable between Win2k and Win98. Even though the Win2k driver and DLL may appear to work in Win98 or vice-versa, the results are unpredictable as the contents of the binaries and use of runtime libraries, though similar, are not exactly the same.
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4.) Driver time slicing issues: While in "scan mode" some software that interrogates low-level drivers can cause critical time slicing to our driver to be interrupted. Such an interruption disrupts the driver's reading of the hardware's data buffer which can cause it to overlfow. A good example of this is the "FindFast" utility that ships with some Microsoft software. Such programs should be disabled. The same issue could occur with a screen save, or power saving features that shut down the hard-disks.
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Win2k/NT/XP

Installation notes

1.) New Installation: Required if you've never installed a M30x device on your system, or if we do a hardware modification. You may also be required to do so each time you connect one of our M30x devices to a USB port that never had one connected to it before, since Windows needs to create an association within the registry between the main HUB and it's ports, external HUB and it's ports, and the devices connected to them.

Connect power, then USB cable from the computer to the M30x device. If this is the very first installation of any of our M30x devices, then when prompted, you should allow Windows to "Search for a suitable Driver...", being sure to list the floppy diskette with the installation files on it as one of the places for it to search.

When/if prompted to do so, insert the diskette with the installation files and tell the Windows installer where it is at, and that it is to be used as the source for the driver. If you've received the code and installation files by means other than an installation diskette from us, such as by e-mail or our website, then there is information in the READ_1ST.TXT file concerning the making of the installation diskette. If as part of the installation process, Windows asks for a location of a .inf or .sys file other than the installation diskette ( for example your Windows installation CD ), use the "browse" button to point Windows to the files on the installation diskette. If Windows indicates that it is installing a compatible driver already on the system, and you have never installed any of our M30x devices then this is an indication that your computer's USB chipset may not be compatible with our device. However, although this problem seemed to happen frequently on a Win98 system when USB was first introduced, we haven't yet seen such an occurrence with Win2k/NT/XP. Once one of the M30x devices is installed, you will only have to repeat the process when you connect the same device, or a new one to a port that it was never previously connected to, or if we do a hardware update. If the Windows install process does not occur, it could mean that you may already have one of our M30x devices installed. Follow the information further down this document for instructions on how to update our driver.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Remember - since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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2.) Device Driver update: Required to install a newer version of the device driver. There are two options available to update the device driver on a system that has a previous version of our device driver:

Method I.); This is the method to use unless we specify using method "II" below. Copy new version of Device Driver to your WINNT\System32\Drivers directory. If you are not prompted with the window's message "Overwrite previous file?" then you may have copied it to the wrong directory, and will need to confirm that the new driver has been copied to the correct directory.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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Method II.) .; Connect power, then USB cable from the computer to ALL M30x devices. Open the "Control Panel" and select the "System" icon. Click on the "Hardware" tab of the box that appears, and then click the "Device Manager" button. From the display of device icons, left-click the "+" sign next to "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" icon to view the list of installed USB devices. In that list, you'll see one or more entries for "Lawson Labs ....". Each device will need to be updated individually. To do so, right click on the icon and from the drop-down menu, select "Properties". From the dialog box that will be displayed, select the "Driver" tab. From the next panel, click the "Update driver" button. Follow the prompts to install the newest version of our driver from the floppy diskette where you should have placed it. You will need to select:

"Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver"

when prompted, in order to have the option to locate the driver from the floppy diskette. If you allow the system to "Search for a sutable driver...." it will most likely reinstall the previous version of the driver, or present you with a list of both old and new making for a confusing situation. From the next window, "Upgrade Device Driver Wizard", press the "Have Disk" button. When the drive letter of your diskette is displayed, press the "OK" button, which should return you to the previous window with the name of the new driver in the "Models" window. Press the "Next" button, and then at the next confirmation screen, press that "Next" button as well at which time Windows will install the new driver. You complete the process, by pressing the "Finish" button on the final screen.

The floppy diskette should contain the newest .inf file, .sys file and any .ini files that were originally on the installation diskette if we made the diskette for you, or from the diskette you made from our installation archive that you downloaded from our website.

Please remember to always use the newest version of the DLL and to place that DLL within your application directory as is currently recommended by Microsoft for DLLs that are not shipped with the operating system. Since the installation process isn't aware of the location of your application directory, the copying of the DLL is not done by the installation process.
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Things to be aware of

1.) System and .inf files: Device driver filename is LL_USB2k.sys . During installation, that file will usually be placed in the WINNT\system32\drivers directory.

Special note: After 7-9-03 Win98 and Win2k will use the separate .inf files. WinXP/2k/NT will use LL_USB2k.inf and Win9x/ME will use LL_USB.inf
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2.) .Ini files: LL_USB.INI should be placed in the Windows directory automatically by the Windows installation process. LL_USB.INI contains information used by the DLL for optional debug output as well as various options to increase robustness. It ships with default values which are the same values used by the DLL if it fails to find LL_USB.INI at runtime.

Special note: Windows application will not recognize .ini files that are placed within the application directory. The .ini files must reside in the WINNT directory.
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3.) Cross platform compatibility: The Device Driver (.sys) and the Dynamic Link Library (.dll) is not interchangeable between Win2k and Win98. Even though the Win2k driver and dll may appear to work in Win98 or vice-versa, the results are unpredictable as the contents of the binaries and use of runtime libraries, though similar, are not exactly the same.
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4.) Driver time slicing issues: While in "scan mode" some software that interrogates low-level drivers can cause critical time slicing to our driver to be interrupted. Such an interruption disrupts the driver's reading of the hardware's data buffer which can cause it to overlfow. A good example of this is the "FindFast" utility that ships with some Microsoft software. Such programs should be disabled. The same issue could occur with a screen save, or power saving features that shut down the hard-disks.
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5.) Known hardware installations problems Win2k: If a plug-n-play (such as our USB) device is installed, and then one of the system "Driver Remove" or "Driver Uninstall" processes is used to remove the driver, the driver is not completely removed from the system. Windows maintains a record of the driver and .inf file names as well as the manufacturer name of the device - possibly an attempt to make a reinstallation of the device easier. If an attempt is made to reinstall the device with a new driver or .inf file name supplied by the same manufacturer, Windows will insist on installing only files that have the same name as the previously installed files. It will be necessary to do the following:

Rename the new files to the same as the name that Window's installer is insisting on, which is the name that was used when they were previously installed. Allow Windows to install the files using the old names. Once installed, then rename the files on the diskette to the new (correct) names and use the Device manager to update the driver with the new one.
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Additional Installation notes
and USB related issues

1.)   Device has been tested using the Intel chipset and "Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller." or "VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal Host Controller."

2.)   Device has been tested using the following add-in PCI USB interface cards: ADS "USB Turbo Quad 4" part # USBX-404 ADS "USB Port - for desktops" part # USBH-600 ADS "USB Hub" part # USBX-500

3.)   Device FAILED when tested with the following add-in PCI USB interface cards: SIIG "High-Speed USB 5-Port Adapter for PC and Mac" part # US2216

4.)   Microsoft has stated, "USB Devices May Not Work in Windows 98 Second Edition" they name the following processors: An AMD processor (running at 350 MHz or faster) A VIA Technologies USB controller and also say, "This behavior may occur with an SiS 7001 Usbohci chip set as well." Please visit the following URL for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q240/0/75.ASP

5.)   http://www.usbman.com/Guides/known_issues.htm Intel 82371SB (Hardware version 000 and 001)

The "SB" chipset has a lot of known defects that are referred to as "errata". Errata is defined as defects in a product that can result in the specified product not performing to the manufactures specifications. Intel fixed many of the defects, but then decided not to fix all of them. Instead they moved on to the “AB” chipset. You will generally find “SB” chipsets on machines that are older than 12 months; this includes many Compaq’s. Compaq was one of the three companies that started the implementation of USB, Intel and Microsoft completes the trio.

6.)   http://support.microsoft.com/support/Windows/readme/win98se/w98sehardwaretxt.asp?LNG=ENG&SA=ALLKB#NECUSB

NEC USB OHCI Host Controllers[jrh1]

Some older systems ship with a USB OHCI host controller from NEC that has known problems with bulk devices. You may experience problems with this host controller when using bulk USB devices such as scanners, printers, and modems.

7.)   http://www.ping.be/bios/

From Peter - The first round of system chipsets that was advertized as having USB was made to an early pre-1.0 USB specification, and shipped in the hope that this attempt would be close enough to the 1.0 spec that the chips would be useful.

After that it turned out that the specification had to be changed bigtime to get it working, and that the chipsets would have to be changed as well. That's why there are mainboards around that seem to have everything you need for USB, yet don't show any sign of actually doing it. BIOS developers then were asked to hide these pre-1.0 USB controllers, both from BIOS setup and, where possible on chipset programming level (as with Intel's PIIX3 south bridge chip), from the PCI bus as well.

The big four chipset makers Intel, ALi, VIA and SiS all had pre-1.0 chips out. I don't have any detail for ALi and SiS. Intel's pre-spec PIIX3 is recognized by being rev. 0 (as read through PCI revision ID register) and marked "SU052" production S-spec. The rev. 1 "SU093" is the one with working USB. VIA has working USB in the 82C586B south bridge, and it seems the implementation in the original 82C586 and 82C586A was pre-spec, although I don't have confirmation on that (only the fact that Ocean Rhino 12 and PC-Chips M537 boards were advertized as "with working USB" once they sported the 586B).

On an interesting side note, recently one Intel spokesman claimed that only around 100 SU052 PIIX3 had been made. From the number of those I alone encountered here in Germany, I don't quite buy that.

8.)   http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Cleanup%20Device%20Manager%20Safe%20Mode.htm

Removing USB Completely:

If USB is sharing an IRQ with another device and you are attempting to free the IRQ, or you wish to refresh the USB drivers, you should remove USB completely and allow Windows to reinstall the drivers.

To remove USB completely, delete the Root Hub FIRST and then delete the host controller in that order. The Universal Serial Bus Controller heading should disappear from the Device Manager. Before rebooting to Standard Mode, insert the Windows CD into the CDROM drive and direct Windows to look in, ( CDROM drive: / Win98), when prompted.

Note: USB Does NOT like to share it's IRQ with another device especially when using sophisticated USB peripherals. Even though Windows may report NO conflict, if USB is sharing it's IRQ with another peripheral, (i.e. video, sound, SCSI etc.), that is often the source of the problem. (IRQ Holder for PCI Steering is NOT considered another device)
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Win2k/NT/XP/ 98/ME

Read this FIRST

Some things to be aware of - installing and updating our M30x devices

1.)

Each manufacturer of a USB device has a unique numeric code that is encoded into their device. When the device is connected to the PC, that numeric code is the first thing that Windows will look for. Once it finds the code, it will search all of it's resources ( number one resource is the registry ) to determine if the device has ever been installed. If a device with the same manufaturer's numeric code has been installed on the same port that the current device is connected to, Windows will load the driver into memory and you will be ready to start using the device. If any of our USB devices have been connected to the PC except on a different port than you are currently connected to ( and the installation process for that device completed successfully ) Windows will let you know that it has found a suitable driver for the device and whether or not you want it to use the existing driver. If you answer no, it will then prompt you for a location where it can search for the correct driver. If you answer yes, it will use some of the information it already has stored in the registry to install the new device, and may still ask you for a location of the driver.

2.)

During the installation process, whenever Windows asks you for the location of a driver for it to install, it is actually asking for the location of a file with the .inf extension which will contain information about the name of the device driver it should install for the device as well as any other files ( such as our LL_USB.INI ) that should also be installed with the device driver. The name of our information file is LL_USB2k.inf for Win2k/XP/NT, and LL_USB.inf for Win98/ME installation. The information within the .inf tells Windows that it needs to copy our device driver LL_USB2k.sys ( for Win2k/XP/NT ) or LL_USB.sys ( for Win98/ME ) to the Windows system/drivers folder, and that it needs to copy a configuration file LL_USB.ini ( used by our DLL ) into the Windows directory. All three of those files should be together on the floppy diskette being used for the installation to prevent installation errors. Although our DLL, LL_USB2k.dll ( for Win2k/XP/NT ) or LL_USB.dll ( for Win98/ME ) should be kept on the floppy diskette that is used for installaion, there is no reference made to it in our information file, so the Windows installer will never look for it - it's up to you to copy it into your application directory wherever that may end up being.

3.)

After a successful installation of one or more of our M30x devices, here are some things that may be of interest.

A.)

When the first of any one or more of our M30x devices has it's cable connected to the PC, the device driver will load into memory. While the driver is loaded in memory, if you attempt to update the driver by simply copying the new version over the old one in the Windows/system32/drivers directory ( the update method we recommend ), it will not be used until the current one loaded into memory has been unloaded by disconnecting all M30x devices and then connecting at least one M30x device device to cause the new driver to load into memory.

B.)

When all of our M30x devices have their USB cable disconnected the device driver will unload from memory.

C.)

You cannot use the device manager to uninstall our M30x device unless you have the cable connected between the device and the PC, since the device manager will not uninstall our device driver unless it sees that it is loaded into memory.

D.)

If the Windows device manager is used to uninstall our M30x device, all traces of the device are not removed, but rather it is just marked as being removed, and the device driver is unloaded from memory. If you connect the device after having uninstalled it, you will not go through the same installation process that you went through the first time you installed it, but will still have to go through an installation process. See the installation sections of this document for your version of windows for further information.

4.)

Although our device driver is in the Window's system32/drivers folder and our DLL is in your application folder, you may not be able to see them, using the Window's explorer ( file manager ) unless you have the option to show system files selected in the Windows explorer. Enabling the option to show system files requires a process that varies from one version of windows to another and can usually be understood by using the Windows HELP that is available from the start menu. Likewise, you may have to enable the ablility to show file extensions for known file types in order to know which type of file you are looking at - for example a .dll, .cfg, .ini, etc, might all have the same name if the extension is not visible.

5.)

During the installation process, if you are advised that our driver is not signed ignore the message and proceed with the installation process.

6.)

There should never be a reason to use the Windows device manager to uninstall our M30x devices unless you are using an older PC with Win98, and have mistakenly allowed the operating system to install it's own generic USB driver for our device. See the installation notes for Win98/ME to find out more about this.

7.)

After you've successfully completed the initial installation of one of our M30x devices, and you want to install the newest version of our driver, follow the notes below.

A.)

If you think you may not already have the most recent version of our driver, it can be downloaded from our website using the links below. Be sure to download the correct version of the driver, for your version of windows - LL_USB2k.sys for Win2k/XP/NT, and LL_USB.sys for Win98/ME.
note: you will also need to use the newest version of the DLL ( downloadable from same location ) with the new driver.

Win/98/ME	archive individual files
Win/XP/2k/NT	archive individual files

B.)

Disconnect any of the M30x devices you may currently have connected which will cause the current driver to unload out of memory.

C.)

Copy the new driver over the old driver in the Windows system32/drivers folder. If when copying the new over the old, you should get a message from Windows confirming that you want to replace the old file with the new ( unless you've explicitly disabled that feature for it to ask first ) for which you should always answer yes. Also remember, as mentioned elswhere in this documentation, that you may not be able to see the device driver, or even the system32/drivers folder unless you have the option enabled in Windows explorer to not hide system files.

C.)

Reconnect your M30x devices and the new driver will load into memory and be ready to use.

8.)

Never rename our .SYS or LL_USB.INI files. Renaming our .DLL and/or .INF files can cause unpredictable errors - you should consult us before doing so. If you are a software developer, and understand what is required to make use of those two files if they are renamed, please also remember that if they are renamed, our VerChk.exe utility will not be able to be used to troubleshoot errors that may be associated with those two files if they are renamed.

9.)

A USB device is considered to be a Plug-n-Play device.

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Win2k/NT/XP/ 98/ME

Troubleshooting

1.)

Driver files not found - you've never installed any of our M30x devices on your PC, and...

A.)

You connect the USB cable between the M30x and the PC or HUB, the windows driver installation process begins and at some point in the process, Windows asks you where to look for the driver. You have the installation files on a floppy diskette so you use the option to browse there for Windows to get the driver but you are either informed that the correct files for the device are not found, or you see nothing on the disk when the installer browsers there and shows you what's there.

1.)

You may have the wrong installation files on the diskette for your version of Windows. See table below.

LL_USB.SYS, LL_USB.DLL, LL_USB.INF, LL_USB.INI	Win98/ME
LL_USB2k.SYS, LL_USB.DLL, LL_USB2k.INF, LL_USB.INI	Win2k/XP/NT

Besides the file correlation shown above, also be aware that the only file that Windows is looking for on the disk is the one with a .inf extension, so it is likely that it won't display any of the other files that may be on that disk, and if it doesn't find a .inf file, it won't display anything at all.

2.)

You are using Win98 on an older PC and the chipset does not recognize our device. See HERE for more information.

2.)

Device not recognized - you've never installed any of our M30x devices on your PC, and...

A.)

When you connect the USB cable between the M30x and the PC nothing happens - there is no message box or any other indication that Windows knows that you've connected a new device to the PC

1.)

The USB port on the PC is not functioning. If a USB adapter card has been added to the PC, read the documentation that came with the card - there is a chance that it failed to have it's drivers installed properly.

B.)

When you connect the USB cable between the M30x and the External USB HUB nothing happens - there is no message box or any other indication that Windows knows that you've connected a new device to the PC

1.)

Be sure that there is power to the HUB and all cables between HUB and PC are secure.

2.)

Reboot the PC and try connecting the M30x again.

3.)

Try connecting the HUB to a different port on the PC.

4.)

Check documentation that came with the HUB for troubleshooting ideas.

3.)

Driver not signed

A.)

During the installation process, you're informed by the Windows installer that the device is not signed.

1.)

Choose the option to proceed with the installation.

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lawsnlab@lawsonlabs.com
last reviewed/modified: 3-24-06 (Tim Van Dusen)