Dell LCD Panel built in USB hub

[risk_reversal]

Well finally bought the Dell LCD panel, 1907FPV. Finding this panel was a real chore.

In any case, I connected the TFT and the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the panel which correctly shows up as Dell 1907FPV in Device Manager.

I then connected the USB hub. Again, the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the usb hub as Generic USB Hub [just as you said dencorso, cheers].

In case this is of use to anyone. As per above my mobo has usb1.1 and I was using NUBS v2.4.

I do have one final question. Is it possible to change the identifier ie 'Generic USB Hub' in the registry or not?

ie >HKLM/Enum/USB, find the correct key and change the DeviceDesc Generic USB Hub & Mfg "(Generic USB Hub)" respectively to say Dell USB Hub & Dell. Would this work, or lead to issues ie 98SE &/or NUSB confusion? If this change can be made would it be a global change or would I need to change other registry keys.

Cheers

Edited October 1, 2009 by risk_reversal

[dencorso]

Glad it worked for you, risk_reversal!

You can freely change the string under Device Desc, and that's the string that appears in the Device Manager, as well as everywhere the device is identified, so it should suffice.

I'm not sure what happens in case you also change the Mfg string, though.

BTW, you said "As per above my mobo has usb1.1 and I was using NUBS v2.4". But you didn't upgrade NUSB, afaik, so you ought to have said "and I am using NUSB 2.4", right? Also, there is a typo in your NUSB: "S" and "B" are reversed. Bear with me, please, I'm not nitpicking: we both know what you're talking about, but I'm thinking of someone not familiar with the subject might read that and be confused.

Also, BTW, I see no reason for you to upgrade NUSB from v. 2.4, until the day you add a usb 2.0 add-on card.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I connected the TFT and the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the panel which correctly shows up as Dell 1907FPV in Device Manager.

I then connected the USB hub. Again, the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the usb hub as Generic USB Hub [just as you said dencorso, cheers].

Cool! And thanks for posting back.

Is it possible to change the identifier ie 'Generic USB Hub' in the registry or not?

ie >HKLM/Enum/USB, find the correct key and change the DeviceDesc Generic USB Hub & Mfg "(Generic USB Hub)" respectively to say Dell USB Hub & Dell. Would this work, or lead to issues ie 98SE &/or NUSB confusion? If this change can be made would it be a global change or would I need to change other registry keys.

You can freely change the string under Device Desc, and that's the string that appears in the Device Manager, as well as everywhere the device is identified, so it should suffice.

I'm not sure what happens in case you also change the Mfg string, though.

Yup. I've been doing this myself on Win9x systems for a long time with very few problems.

To be safe, just don't exceed the length of the original entry, some of these "DeviceDesc" appear to be fixed length fields (within their respective keys). Here are some I have played around with in the past. Original vs Edited ...

[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE  Disk Type47"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (PM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (PS)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (SM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (SS)"[/color]

[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE  Disk Type80"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 80 (PM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 80 (PS)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 80 (SM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 80 (SS)"[/color]

[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Plextor CD-R   PX-W2410A"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Plextor CDR PX-W2410A PM"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Plextor CDR PX-W2410A PS"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Plextor CDR PX-W2410A SM"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Plextor CDR PX-W2410A SS"[/color]

These denote the various positions (PM=Primary Master; etc...). And they each need to be under their proper respective branch naturally in order to work. Notice the field lengths were maintained after editing. Many entries use multiple white spaces that are easy to miss when messing around with GUI tools like Device Manager and REGEDIT that don't use monospace fonts. The length for yours will probably be different, so, just keep that exact length always. Save a registry export, and always view/edit REG files using a fixed width font.

Most likely the GUI in Device Manager will just truncate any extended descriptions (or not! buffer overflow?). And of course, sometimes the stupid Windows detection gets re-initiated for no apparent reason and the defaults from some Windows INF file overwrites them!.

[risk_reversal]

dencorso said:

You can freely change the string under Device Desc, and that's the string that appears in the Device Manager, as well as everywhere the device is identified, so it should suffice.

I'm not sure what happens in case you also change the Mfg string, though.

Cheers, will give it a go.

dencorso said:

BTW, you said "As per above my mobo has usb1.1 and I was using NUBS v2.4". But you didn't upgrade NUSB, afaik, so you ought to have said "and I am using NUSB 2.4", right?

Yes, correct I am using NUSB v2.4.

dencorso said:

Also, there is a typo in your NUSB: "S" and "B" are reversed. Bear with me, please, I'm not nitpicking: we both know what you're talking about, but I'm thinking of someone not familiar with the subject might read that and be confused.

Yes, sorry mate typo.

CharlotteTheHarlot said:

QUOTE (risk_reversal @ Oct 1 2009, 01:31 PM) *

I connected the TFT and the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the panel which correctly shows up as Dell 1907FPV in Device Manager.

I then connected the USB hub. Again, the new hardware found wizard opened and installed the usb hub as Generic USB Hub [just as you said dencorso, cheers].

Cool! And thanks for posting back.

No probs, pleased to be able to give some feedback to other 98SE users.

CharlotteTheHarlot said:

QUOTE (risk_reversal @ Oct 1 2009, 01:31 PM) *

Is it possible to change the identifier ie 'Generic USB Hub' in the registry or not?

ie >HKLM/Enum/USB, find the correct key and change the DeviceDesc Generic USB Hub & Mfg "(Generic USB Hub)" respectively to say Dell USB Hub & Dell. Would this work, or lead to issues ie 98SE &/or NUSB confusion? If this change can be made would it be a global change or would I need to change other registry keys.

QUOTE (dencorso @ Oct 2 2009, 02:34 AM) *

You can freely change the string under Device Desc, and that's the string that appears in the Device Manager, as well as everywhere the device is identified, so it should suffice.

I'm not sure what happens in case you also change the Mfg string, though.

Yup. I've been doing this myself on Win9x systems for a long time with very few problems.

To be safe, just don't exceed the length of the original entry, some of these "DeviceDesc" appear to be fixed length fields (within their respective keys)

Cheers and noted thanks.

CharlotteTheHarlot said:

Notice the field lengths were maintained after editing.

Confused..Must the field lengths be maintained or not exceeded? ie if the DeviceDesc filed is Generic USB Hub can I not replace it with Dell USB Hub?

I have posted a pic of the reg key below. From the link above it looks like VID 0424 is Standard Microsystems Corp with the PID 2504 as USB 2.0 Hub

Cheers

Edited October 2, 2009 by risk_reversal

[dencorso]

Use USBView to get the HUB's VID and PID, to confirm you're on the right entry (when you click on the right hub icon on USBView, all relevant info, including VID, PID and Device Desc appear on the right-hand panel). Enter regedit and export the original key to a .reg file and keep it somewhere, just to be on the safe side. Then edit the Device Desc to say Dell USB Hub. Close regedit and right-click on My Computer -> Properties, go to the Device Manager and see what it now shows. Reopen USBView and see what it now shows, too. If all is OK, fine. If strange caracters appear at the end of the string, then we'll know the answer to your question should be "mantain", and in this case you can pad the end of the string with spaces. But I think this won't be the case, and "not exceed" should suffice. And be sure to let us know about it.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

CharlotteTheHarlot said:

Notice the field lengths were maintained after editing.

Confused..Must the field lengths be maintained or not exceeded? ie if the DeviceDesc filed is Generic USB Hub can I not replace it with Dell USB Hub?

I see no problem there, go for it. But since you asked, don't exceed them (maintain the original lengths). Note, if you export the registry before you edit anything, you will be 100% safe because anything can be undone later with a simple registry punch-in via importing a small registry script.

The field lengths are the size of the data values (number of characters) found in the "DeviceDesc" entries.

Note once again: Original vs Edited ...

              |----------------------| <--- original field 24 chars long
[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE  Disk Type47"[/color]

              |----------------------| <----- edited field 24 chars long
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (PM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (PS)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (SM)"[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic IDE Type 47 (SS)"[/color]

Here is an example with multiple spaces ...

[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Generic NEC  Floppy Disk"[/color]

You see, the CodeBox above uses a fixed width font. Out here in the normal forum space is a variable font which displays fat characters wider than skinny ones. Compounding that problem is the fact that web browsers typically collapse multiple white-spaces (unless told not to). Now, take a look at how that exact same string looks out here with a different font:

"DeviceDesc"="Generic NEC Floppy Disk"

When you look at these things in GUI tools like REGEDIT, Device Manager and UsbView, we are viewing with the standard Shell font, and this can lead to inadvertent mistakes. This is why it is imperative to use an editor with a fixed width font for viewing/editing REG scripts (not notepad, etc).

But like I said previously, probably the worse case scenario when sticking too many characters into a fixed length field is truncated information in some GUI tool. I say probably because Microsoft apparently stinks at using error checking within their code judging by the enormous quantity of buffer exploits patched over the years (these theoretically can be forced by overloading data input fields in certain situations).

Years ago I was editing these entries and noticed that some of my information wasn't displayed in Device Manager. I simply went back and carefully matched the exact size of the Original fields and all was well. I was able to quickly correct that by referencing a saved exported registry so save yours first.

Anyway, I have no explanation as to why there is such a wide range of field sizes! There seems to be no discernible pattern. I'll end on this note: here are some more actual entries demonstrating vastly different field lengths and white-space padding:

[color="#2E8B57"]"DeviceDesc"="Iomega ZIP 100         "
"DeviceDesc"="Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical (IntelliPoint)"
"DeviceDesc"="Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS"
"DeviceDesc"="Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard"
"DeviceDesc"="Intel® 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to I/O Controller - 2570"
"DeviceDesc"="Intel® 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2"
"DeviceDesc"="Intel® 82801EB LPC Interface Controller - 24D0"
"DeviceDesc"="Ic35l020 Aver07-0        "[/color]

[dencorso]

Well, with all due respect to CharlotteTheHarlot, I must say YMMV! I have been using strings longer (and shorter, but unpadded) than the originals for a long time now, without having noticed any adverse effects whatsoever.

Then again, my own Win 98SE (98SE2ME) is really far from plain vanilla, so, again, YMMV. Export the relevant registry keys *and* make a full backup of the registry (both system.dat and user.dat) before you begin, just to stay on the safe side, and then experiment. Find below some examples, with the original string in green and the edited (currently used) one in red:

[color="#2E8B57"]Generic NEC  Floppy Disk[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]GENERIC NEC 3½ FLOPPY DISK
GENERIC NEC 5¼ FLOPPY DISK[/color]

[color="#2E8B57"]Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]101-Key 1993 IBM model M (1391401) Keyboard[/color]

[color="#2E8B57"]Microsoft PS/2 Wheel Mouse Optical (IntelliPoint)[/color]
[color="#FF0000"]Microsoft PS/2 IntelliMouse Optical 1.1 (Kensington MouseWorks)[/color]

And also a screenshot of some of them, just for the record:

[risk_reversal]

Many thanks for your added replies and comments guys.

What I did in the first instance was edit the DeviceDesc field from "Generic USB HUb" to "Dell USB Hub" bearing my mind your comments.

Once changed in the registry, USBView correctly showed the edited string without any issues. Similarly all relevant entries in Device Manger under Universal Serial Bus controllers were correct.

Once this change had been done I quickly did a test. I have a printer connected to a port of the hub and switched it on. It was also correctly detected in both Device Manager & USBView. I test printed a few pages from various sources ie word & web page and all seemed fine.

I have attached below a screenshot of USBView with printer

I will be carrying out further tests connecting flash drives, etc to the hub just to make sure that there are no potential intermittent issues but at this stage I would say that all is working well with this new panel.

Again many thanks for your kind help.

Cheers

[EDIT:] dencorso without wishing to go off topic but as regards changing the DeviceDesc of the HDDs where is it located. I have looked in the HKLM/Enum key and cannot find it. I see the floppy, opticals and other assorted hw but not the HDD.

Edited October 3, 2009 by risk_reversal

[dencorso]

[EDIT:] dencorso without wishing to go off topic but as regards changing the DeviceDesc of the HDDs where is it located. I have looked in the HKLM/Enum key and cannot find it. I see the floppy, opticals and other assorted hw but not the HDD.

No problem! Here:

For HDDs connected directly through the motherboard, you find their entries in:

HKLM/Enum/ESDI/GENERIC_IDE__DISK_TYPE47_/ --> for IDE (=PATA) HDDs

or

HKLM/Enum/SCSI/ --> for SCSI, SATA and USB HDDs

I don't know whether disks connected through an add-on card go there too, or if they get a special key.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

And also a screenshot of some of them, just for the record:

All I can say is brilliant minds ... Nice job there.

It never amazes me how folks spread out on the four corners of the globe wind up tinkering away accomplishing identical achievements without some how-to guide!

[risk_reversal]

dencorso said:

No problem! Here:

For HDDs connected directly through the motherboard, you find their entries in:

HKLM/Enum/ESDI/GENERIC_IDE__DISK_TYPE47_/ --> for IDE (=PATA) HDDs

or

HKLM/Enum/SCSI/ --> for SCSI, SATA and USB HDDs

Many thanks. I opened all the keys in HKLM/Enum apart from that one.....................The Device Manager looks very professional with everything correctly labeled.

CharlotteTheHarlot said:

It never amazes me how folks spread out on the four corners of the globe wind up tinkering away accomplishing identical achievements without some how-to guide!

Must admit that would be useful as I still dual boot on 2 systems and my wife's system for which this Dell 1907FPV panel was installed only has 98SE [she says she is used to it and does not want anything else].

When I built my last system about 3 years ago [Mobo Asus A8VDeluxe Rev2, Via K8T800Pro chipset] and needed to get info as regards win98 dual booting on the Promise controller [the Asus has 2, the Via and Promise] it was a devil of a job to get all the relevant info.

Still I suppose that half the fun is digging out the info and the testing and messing about

In any case many thanks for all the info [inc registry string length] which I have carefully noted. Hopefully this thread will help others. At the very least when another one of my CRT screens goes caput then all the donkey is already done for me.

Cheers

Edited October 4, 2009 by risk_reversal