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touch screen
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:22 pm
by Mikemk
Since my OS is geared toward tablets, I'd like to implement touch screen functionality. On intel, is there a standard/semistandard method of doing this, or would it vary based on screen/manufacturer/something else?
I have a feeling that it has to do with serial ports or usb, so I may have to get those set up first.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:17 pm
by trinopoty
Touchscreen is a class of HID (Human Interface Device). More specifically, it is an absolute pointing device that sort of works like the mouse.
It may have a dedicated PCI device or may be connected by USB depending on the manufacturer.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:45 am
by rdos
Touch screens are often different between manufacturers. Some touch-screens based on USB could be HID implementations, but even if they are, the HID specification is extremely complex. Other USB implementations could rely on USB-to serial converters, that in the end uses a proprietary format.
For supporting a specific touch-screen on a specific computer, check an existing OS installation for which driver is used, and try to get the spec. In my experience, several manufacturers will send specifications for serial-based touch screens.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:46 pm
by Mikemk
OK, thank you. About reverse engineering a driver, what legal/licensing stuff would I have to go through for that for my OS to remain closed source?
Re: touch screen
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:32 pm
by bewing
Always try one of the BSD flavors first -- those have no real licensing issues.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:39 pm
by Mikemk
Which is the public domain one? Is that BSD?
And thank you.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:14 am
by DennisCGc
m12 wrote:Which is the public domain one? Is that BSD?
Neither are. The BSD style licenses are permissive licenses, allowing you to do almost anything provided you retain their copyright notices in source and binary form. Check
http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause for more information on what the license actually says.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 4:23 am
by Combuster
m12 wrote:About reverse engineering a driver, what legal/licensing stuff would I have to go through
In practice, very little. Reverse engineering is all about separating the functionality (not copyrightable) from the expression in the form of source code or binary (copyrightable), then
discarding the latter.
Re: touch screen
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:54 pm
by AbstractYouShudNow
For touch screens, I think you can take a look at how Android does that. It is based on Linux, Open Source (AFAIK), and has to deal much with touch screens
Re: touch screen
Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:52 pm
by Mikemk
AbstractYouShudNow wrote:For touch screens, I think you can take a look at how Android does that. It is based on Linux, Open Source (AFAIK), and has to deal much with touch screens
I've been trying to download the source for a couple months.
VERY slow and limited access internet in rural areas