Printer not work in executable

[SeppR]

Is there no guideline that describes the procedure?

Best practices?

[rolfk]

Did you create the INF file for the USB Raw device in the VISA driver wizard? If not you, who did it? It is as simple as using that same INF file on the other computer. Right click on it, select Install and if the INF file is properly signed and VISA Runtime was installed with full USB driver support, it will install. Having NI Max available on that computer to be able to see if NI VISA properly can claim the device would be however mighty handy.

However, USB Raw support in VISA is a doomed feature. With the requirement of modern OSes to have the according INF file signed, which requires a proper certificate that costs several 100 bucks a year, it is pretty much out of reach for most users. That makes it not only very rarely used but also very much untested. Why spend time on testing something that almost nobody ever is going to use? So, my guess is that USB Raw support will be removed from NI VISA at some future point.

[SeppR]

.INF is created, but can not install while not signed (WIN10)

[rolfk]

If you can not install the INF, VISA can not access the device. It's as simple as that.

Get a Certificate and at least self sign the driver file (INF file) or use a different method to talk to your printer (libusb or winusb might be an option, although not trivial). Maybe there is also a .Net component for your printer.

[SeppR]

I would prefer the way with the self-signed INF file but I'm probably too stupid for that 😞

[rolfk]

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA03q000000YH1PCAW

This is the generic KnowledgeBase article about how to get a VISA USB Raw driver installed under Windows. It only mentions the possibility for self signing with a personal certificate but does not go into details about doing that.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/84847/how-do-i-create-a-self-signed-certificate-for-code-signing...

Here is an explanation using PowerShell's cmdlet New-SelfSignedCertificate. I never tried that but used OpenSSL in the past for some tests.

The problem with self signed software packages is that the OS can't trace the certificate to a globally recognized root CA. So you have to install your own certificate as root certificate on every machine you want to install this driver. Not a problem for your own development lab machine, but a complete no-no if you want to let others install your driver on other machines that you do not control yourself. Any IT department will want to skin you alive, if you tell them you want to install a root certificate in the certificate store of their systems. It's almost as bad as telling you the machines admin password (which if you have it, lets you install the certificate anyhow as root certificate).