Using Windows driver in Linux

[rlowehk]

I have an MP3 player does not work in Linux. The supplier just provide a Windows driver. Similar cases happen with millions of devices.

As I can see there is Wine that lets Windows applications run in Linux, I think it should be possible to have a 'wrapper' that let Windows driver be used in Linux. Does anyone know if this kind of 'wrapper' exists?

[zhenlin]

No. That would allow a user program to interface directly with the hardware and kernel, something that is relatively unacceptable.

Are you sure the MP3 player in question is not just another USB Mass Storage device?

[rlowehk]

The MP3 player is a Sigmatel 3410 based device. I have seen many folks asking about this kind of devices but seems no one have found a solution. I know it cannot run in Linux but I brought it because it is really cheap at about half of any other equivalent devices

I have tried to patch the unusual device header file of the kernel source to add in this device, yet I found that the class of it is of type ff instead of type 09 for mass storage. So, there is no luck to let it work.

I've tried to install VMware and Windows ME. Yet whenever I plug in the device, VMware either hang or close itself adruptly though the device work fine in a real Windows.

It seems very unfortunately I have to leave one PC running Windows until I have found a solution for this. I am planning to buy a palm and a hand set yet I also found that most of them just provide a Windows driver.

It seems to me that only expensive device support Linux.

[zhenlin]

Nonono, it's more like this:

The cheap ones invent their own protocols and drivers because the engineers couldn't be bothered to read the standards.

The expensive ones use the standardized protocol so that they can put a few extra badges onto their box for eyecandy.

[rlowehk]

Can you explain a little bit more why it is impossible to have a 'wrapper' for Windows driver to work in Linux. I don't quite understand why it need direct interface with the hardware and kernel for such kind of wrapper? The wrapper could be a bridge between the kernel and the Windows driver. Only the Windows driver directly interface with the hardware and user application still going through the kernel.

[syadnom]

drivers are either a part of the kernel or a plugin to the kernel(modules). So they are in fact in controll of the system beyond the root user, anything a driver wants to do, it can.

So consider making a wrapper that plugs a windows driver into the linux kernel........now consider it again....you getting it?

giving a WINDOWS DRIVER the power to do what it likes, where it likes!, and then come to the relization that its not made for the linux kernel to other incidental sideeffects could be rather severe, like you plug in your USB mp3 player and then this driver de-partitions your harddrive and writes the contents of the mp3 device directly to the drive without thought of filesystem..MBR..even partitions....