MP3 player problem

[Shibathedog]

I need some help here

 

i have the BEST DATA Cabo MP3 player and the software isnt compatible with windows XP, is there some kind of alternate software i can use? The company wont respond to any of my emails

 

OR

 

is there a place to buy/instructions on how to make, a parallel (like a printer port, LPT1) to USB adaptor? because im sure with all the drivers XP has there would be some generic one that would read the MP3 player as an external HDD or something

 

thanks in advance

[kaioshade]

Hmm. that sucks. my guess would be to try the manufacturers page and see what they have to say about it.

[Ramsus]

To your second question: sorry to say this, but there's no point. Parallel port devices always use a proprietary protocol. Even if you created a Parallel Port to USB adapter, it'd only change where the data stream is sent. It'd still be the same data, so you'd have to have the same drivers, only now they'd have to be designed to use the USB port.

 

The odds of some other USB device using the same protocol as your MP3 player are nil. This is because most USB devices use a standard set of protocols that allow one driver to work with hundreds of devices, although they also tend to use proprietary protocols for non-standard features (e.g. A Wacom tablet uses both the standard USB Mouse protocol, or it can use its own protocol for things like pressure sensitivity).

 

Besides, all USB devices have Vendor IDs and Device IDs, which are used by USB drivers to bind themselves to devices. This means you can't just get any driver to attempt to speak with the device you attach, because they're designed only to recognize and work with certain IDs.

 

 

You can look to see if someone reverse engineered the driver's protocol. Almost nobody bothers doing something like that though, unless they can sell the result.

 

EDIT: Looks like the manufacturer decided to completely drop all information on their product on their website (as if it never existed). If they won't cooperate, try asking for some technical specifications for open source driver authors to use.

Edited February 22, 2004 by Ramsus