How to find out when something is connected to my USB port

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5.00/5 (1 vote)

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Hello friends,
I use CODE::BLOCKS in Windows vista.
I would like to write a program on USB, that, when a pen drive or something is connected to the USB port my program should warn me that something is connected.
I would like to write the same in C or C++ language.
Please provide me some tips.
I think I can make it out from registry. If yes, then I would like to know what will be value of registry key before and after USB drive connected. Because I did not find any difference.
Please help me.

Posted 24-May-12 2:22am

rasmiranjanbabu

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5 solutions

Solution 4

Hi
The link below might be helpful:
How to enumerate hardware devices by using SetupDi calls[^]

MSDN:Public Device Installation Functions[^]

I like using DevCon.exe in WinDDK. (Src code: WinDDK\*version\src\setup\devcon)
This should have enough info to enumerate connected devices.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff544707(v=vs.85).aspx[^]

If you want to monitor the connection, you might wanna use Timer using the API above and constantly watch the changes.

Good luck,
Sean

Posted 25-May-12 10:27am

Sean Niizuma

Solution 1

Have you read this codeproject article.. It have some useful inputs for you

HIDAche - An Exercise in Hardware/Software Integration

The following link the related links in StackOverflow might help you

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7964639/net-programming-and-interfacing-with-a-usb-device

Posted 24-May-12 2:30am

Jim Jos

Updated 24-May-12 2:31am

v2

Comments

rasmiranjanbabu 24-May-12 9:00am

@JimJos: I have gone through the links, but does not serve my needs.

Solution 2

Advise you to always search Codeproject.com first. Accidentally, there is a good article on this very topic - Simple URB (USB Request Block) Monitor[^].
But there is even better sample "USB Device Viewer" in Windows DDK (in C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.1\src\usb\usbview). But it does not constantly "monitor" ports (that functionality you could, probably, add by yourself).
P.S. I was wrong, it has option "Auto Refresh".

Posted 24-May-12 2:35am

Sergey Chepurin

Updated 25-May-12 9:19am

v4

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Volynsky Alex · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-25T10:13:00

Solution 3

Hi Sergey,
maybe it will help you:
http://www.programmersheaven.com/mb/CandCPP/352664/352664/is-it-possible-to-writeread-data-from-usb-with-cc++/[^]
http://objectmix.com/c/25806-connecting-usb-c-code.html[^]
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/52366-c-project-to-writeread-usb-port/[^]
http://www.edaboard.com/thread141571.html[^]
http://bytes.com/topic/c/answers/213150-how-chek-if-usb-port-mounted-linux[^]

Posted 25-May-12 10:13am

Volynsky Alex

Comments

Sergey Chepurin 26-May-12 5:43am

The OP's user name is "rasmiranjanbabu". But probably, he is known to somebody as "Sergey".

Volynsky Alex 26-May-12 13:32pm

Sorry,
I mean rasmiranjanbabu

Regards,
Alex

SoMad · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-25T19:37:00

It is not exactly clear to me if you want to be able to scan through the connected devices (on program startup) or detect when devices are added/removed on the fly. If you want to detect the changes, I recommend taking a look at this CodeProject article:

www.codeproject.com/Articles/14500/Detecting-Hardware-Insertion-and-or-Removal[^]

It is written in C++ and I found it easy to use the code for detecting when USB COM port devices are added and removed.

Soren Madsen