Hi:
I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like getting
a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of
my
gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
Do you have to get a vendor ID to distribute your USB based project?
It looks like for some reasons a few USB projects (a widely used low cost
data logger for example) don't seem to have a specific vendor ID. Is it
because they release their software as open source that they don't
require
one?
Jean
Vendor ID and USB devices
Started by ●March 22, 2011
Reply by ●March 22, 20112011-03-22
Hi Mike:
Thank you for the quick reply. That link and the lengthy explanation why
they are still in busyness is kind of worrying. But I guess for 29 euros you
can't go wrong.
Do other user recommend going this route?
Jean
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Mike Harrison wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:45:15 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >Hi:
> >
> >I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
> >if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
> >
> >From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like
> getting
> >a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of
> my
> >gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
> >
> >Do you have to get a vendor ID to distribute your USB based project?
>
> It is not essential unless you want to use the USB logo.
>
> You can buy a VID/PID combination here
>
> http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=1
>
>
>
Thank you for the quick reply. That link and the lengthy explanation why
they are still in busyness is kind of worrying. But I guess for 29 euros you
can't go wrong.
Do other user recommend going this route?
Jean
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Mike Harrison wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:45:15 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >Hi:
> >
> >I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
> >if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
> >
> >From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like
> getting
> >a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of
> my
> >gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
> >
> >Do you have to get a vendor ID to distribute your USB based project?
>
> It is not essential unless you want to use the USB logo.
>
> You can buy a VID/PID combination here
>
> http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=1
>
>
>
Reply by ●March 22, 20112011-03-22
Am 22.03.2011 17:58, schrieb Jean-Sebastien Stoezel:
> Hi Mike:
>
> Thank you for the quick reply. That link and the lengthy explanation why
> they are still in busyness is kind of worrying. But I guess for 29 euros you
> can't go wrong.
Hmm, like I suggested :-) So to be legal one needs to find a legal way to
circumvent the USB-IF limitations : Like founding a club of which the
members get the right to use the vendor ID and need to pay a small amount
of money to get into the club :-)
--
42Bastian
+
| http://www.sciopta.com
| Fastest direct message passing kernel.
| IEC61508 certified.
+
> Hi Mike:
>
> Thank you for the quick reply. That link and the lengthy explanation why
> they are still in busyness is kind of worrying. But I guess for 29 euros you
> can't go wrong.
Hmm, like I suggested :-) So to be legal one needs to find a legal way to
circumvent the USB-IF limitations : Like founding a club of which the
members get the right to use the vendor ID and need to pay a small amount
of money to get into the club :-)
--
42Bastian
+
| http://www.sciopta.com
| Fastest direct message passing kernel.
| IEC61508 certified.
+
Reply by ●March 22, 20112011-03-22
Well it's ok if you use an FTDI ship, but I use the USB capabilities
provided by the microcontroller.
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 12:07 PM, Mike Harrison wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:03:33 +0100, you wrote:
>
> >Am 22.03.2011 17:45, schrieb Jean-Sebastien Stoezel:
> >> Hi:
> >>
> >> I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is
> that
> >> if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
> >>
> >>>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like
> getting
> >> a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough
> of my
> >> gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
> >
> >Maybe you can offer others to participate under "your" vendor ID. Selling
> >lots of ,say, 512 product IDs ? (I am not sure the USB-IF allows this)
>
> >(AFAIK something like this is done by FTDI.)
>
> FTDI will give you some PIDs to use with their VID - I think this is OK
> with the USB people as it's
> effectively FTDI's product sitting inside yours.
>
>
>
provided by the microcontroller.
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 12:07 PM, Mike Harrison wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:03:33 +0100, you wrote:
>
> >Am 22.03.2011 17:45, schrieb Jean-Sebastien Stoezel:
> >> Hi:
> >>
> >> I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is
> that
> >> if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
> >>
> >>>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like
> getting
> >> a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough
> of my
> >> gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
> >
> >Maybe you can offer others to participate under "your" vendor ID. Selling
> >lots of ,say, 512 product IDs ? (I am not sure the USB-IF allows this)
>
> >(AFAIK something like this is done by FTDI.)
>
> FTDI will give you some PIDs to use with their VID - I think this is OK
> with the USB people as it's
> effectively FTDI's product sitting inside yours.
>
>
>
Reply by ●March 22, 20112011-03-22
On 22/3/2011 6:41 PM, Jean-Sebastien Stoezel wrote:
> Well it's ok if you use an FTDI ship, but I use the USB capabilities
> provided by the microcontroller.
Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
chip vendors do so.
I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
don't want to risk being sued.
http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
--
Wouter van Ooijen
-- -------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
> Well it's ok if you use an FTDI ship, but I use the USB capabilities
> provided by the microcontroller.
Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
chip vendors do so.
I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
don't want to risk being sued.
http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
--
Wouter van Ooijen
-- -------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
Reply by ●March 23, 20112011-03-23
Am 22.03.2011 17:45, schrieb Jean-Sebastien Stoezel:
> Hi:
>
> I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
> if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
>
>>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like getting
> a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of my
> gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
Maybe you can offer others to participate under "your" vendor ID. Selling
lots of ,say, 512 product IDs ? (I am not sure the USB-IF allows this)
(AFAIK something like this is done by FTDI.)
--
42Bastian
+
| http://www.sciopta.com
| Fastest direct message passing kernel.
| IEC61508 certified.
+
> Hi:
>
> I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
> if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
>
>>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like getting
> a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of my
> gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
Maybe you can offer others to participate under "your" vendor ID. Selling
lots of ,say, 512 product IDs ? (I am not sure the USB-IF allows this)
(AFAIK something like this is done by FTDI.)
--
42Bastian
+
| http://www.sciopta.com
| Fastest direct message passing kernel.
| IEC61508 certified.
+
Reply by ●March 23, 20112011-03-23
On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 3:01 AM, Wouter van Ooijen wrote:
> Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
> chip vendors do so.
TI/Luminary has one.
http://focus.ti.com/mcu/docs/mcuorphan.tsp?contentIdr713&DCMP=STELLARIS&
> I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
> from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
> don't want to risk being sued.
>
> http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
>
> I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
> they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
>
I think LUFA got some from Atmel.
We (libusb-win32 project) just got one from Microchip for use only
with the example firmware written for Microchip USB PICs.
But we intend to have example firmware for other MCUs down the
road (say for EZ-USB FX2/FX2LP, Atmel AVR/AVR32 and
ARM based MCUs), so we still have a problem now.
--
Xiaofan
> Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
> chip vendors do so.
TI/Luminary has one.
http://focus.ti.com/mcu/docs/mcuorphan.tsp?contentIdr713&DCMP=STELLARIS&
> I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
> from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
> don't want to risk being sued.
>
> http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
>
> I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
> they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
>
I think LUFA got some from Atmel.
We (libusb-win32 project) just got one from Microchip for use only
with the example firmware written for Microchip USB PICs.
But we intend to have example firmware for other MCUs down the
road (say for EZ-USB FX2/FX2LP, Atmel AVR/AVR32 and
ARM based MCUs), so we still have a problem now.
--
Xiaofan
Reply by ●March 24, 20112011-03-24
On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:45:15 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi:
>
>I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
>if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
>
>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like getting
>a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of my
>gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
>
>Do you have to get a vendor ID to distribute your USB based project?
It is not essential unless you want to use the USB logo.
You can buy a VID/PID combination here
http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=1
>Hi:
>
>I have an USB enabled microcontroller project and my understanding is that
>if I want to distribute it, I have to get a vendor ID.
>
>From this page: http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/ it looks like getting
>a vendor ID is quite expensive! I don't think I could even sell enough of my
>gizmos to pay for a quarter of the annual fee.
>
>Do you have to get a vendor ID to distribute your USB based project?
It is not essential unless you want to use the USB logo.
You can buy a VID/PID combination here
http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=1
Reply by ●March 24, 20112011-03-24
Happy WvO PID customer here!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wouter van Ooijen"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [lpc2000] Vendor ID and USB devices
> Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
> chip vendors do so.
>
> I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
> from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
> don't want to risk being sued.
>
> http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
>
> I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
> they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
>
> --
>
> Wouter van Ooijen
>
> -- -------
> Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
> consultancy, development, PICmicro products
> docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wouter van Ooijen"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [lpc2000] Vendor ID and USB devices
> Microchip offers a service similar to FTDI, I don't know whether other
> chip vendors do so.
>
> I bought a VID some years ago, sold quite a few PIDs, got the emails
> from usb.org, and stopped selling PIDs. I guess I am a coward, but I
> don't want to risk being sued.
>
> http://www.voti.nl/docs/usb-pid.html
>
> I think most open source projects simply don't have a legal VID/PID, so
> they leave it to the user to somehow supply one.
>
> --
>
> Wouter van Ooijen
>
> -- -------
> Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
> consultancy, development, PICmicro products
> docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
Reply by ●March 25, 20112011-03-25
>> Happy WvO PID customer here!
>
> OK, Whats a Wvo PID ?
WvO == Wouter van Ooijen == me
PID == Product ID, in this context a PID range I used to sell from the
VID I bought
VID == Vendor ID == USB address range (2^16 PIDs for each VID)
--
Wouter van Ooijen
-- -------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
>
> OK, Whats a Wvo PID ?
WvO == Wouter van Ooijen == me
PID == Product ID, in this context a PID range I used to sell from the
VID I bought
VID == Vendor ID == USB address range (2^16 PIDs for each VID)
--
Wouter van Ooijen
-- -------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
