Drivers

To use a device which comes preloaded with the HDMI2USB firmware (such as the Numato Opsis board) no drivers are needed under;

  • Linux
  • Mac OS X
  • Windows 10

The HDMI2USB project provides custom tools for increased functionality, easy of operation and upgrading the on-board firmware.

Supported Operating Systems

Currently, the HDMI2USB project actively works on the following operating systems (as they are what is used by the developers and CI systems);

  • Ubuntu Trusty 14.04 (on x86)
  • Debian Unstable (on x86)

HDMI2USB devices should work on almost any standards compliant modern operating system and we will do our best effort to make that happen.

Windows

It is recommended that all Windows users install the [Windows HDMI2USB Package] for ease of use.

If you prefer to only to install the minimal needed requirements, see the next sections.

Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7

Unlike other operating systems, older versions of Windows (such as Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7) will not automatically use their inbuilt USB drivers. Instead every device must provide a .inf (which is plain text) telling Windows about the association.

Newer versions of Windows (Windows Vista and Windows 7) also required the contents of the .inf file be signed (found in .cat file).

Windows 10

To use a device which comes preloaded with the HDMI2USB firmware (such as the Numato Opsis board) no drivers are needed. Windows 10 will automatically detect the HDMI2USB and install drivers as needed.

For other devices you can use the [Windows HDMI2USB package].



Windows HDMI2USB Package

To make it easier to use the HDMI2USB firmware under Windows, an installer package is being developed here.

This package will start of including;

  • The .inf files required to make Windows use it’s internal drivers with HDMI2USB devices.
  • Graphical assets to allow distinguishing the HDMI2USB devices from other USB devices.

Future development will add;

  • Putty for connecting to control channel.
  • Windows compatible version of the [HDMI2USB mode switch] tool (to allow firmware upgrading).
  • A simple graphical control program to allow basic control over a boards input and outputs.
  • OpenOCD compiled for Windows, to allow FPGA development programming.

Thank yous

A big thank you goes to Ryan Pavlik from the Open Source Virtual Reality project for releasing the OSVR HDK Windows Drivers repository on which our package is based.

Linux

To use a device which comes preloaded with the HDMI2USB firmware (such as the Numato Opsis board) no drivers are needed. Linux will automatically detect the devices.

For other devices you can use the packages linked to from here.

Ubuntu

PPA Repositories

  • https://launchpad.net/~timvideos
  • https://launchpad.net/~timvideos/+archive/ubuntu/hdmi2usb
  • https://launchpad.net/~timvideos/+archive/ubuntu/numato-opsis

Debian

We are currently working on making sure all HDMI2USB packages are available on Debian.

Currently you will need to have Debian experimental enabled and then you can install the packages with the following commands;

FIXME: Add apt-get install instructions here.

Fedora

For now, follow the Other Linux Systems section.

We are currently looking for help with packaging HDMI2USB software for Fedora systems.

Other Linux Systems

FIXME: Add instructions for installing the tools from GitHub.

udev rules

FIXME: Put udev rule information here.

Work started here.

Mac OS X

To use a device which comes preloaded with the HDMI2USB firmware (such as the Numato Opsis board) no drivers are needed. Mac OS X will automatically detect the devices.

We are currently looking for help with packaging the HDMI2USB software for Mac systems.

HDMI2USB Mode Switch Tool

As almost all HDMI2USB can operate in multiple different modes, a simple tool is provided to make this process easy. This tool also allows you to update (or load) the HDMI2USB firmware on compatible devices (temporarily or permanently).

Updating Firmware

The HDMI2USB Mode Switch tool can be used to update (or load) the HDMI2USB firmware on compatible devices.

Firmware versions

There are currently 3 different firmware versions released at any one time and they act in a similar manner to the Debian release process or the Chrome release channels.

Unstable

The unstable track is automatically generated from the latest commits in the official [HDMI2USB firmware repository].

These releases only undergo automated testing and have not been verified to be functional.

They should be mainly used to verify bug fixes and test new features.

Testing

The testing track is updated to a new version after manual testing of an unstable revision has been tested.

It is recommended that most people use the testing track so you get a good mixture of stability and quick accesses to the new features.

Stable

The stable track is updated after major rounds of testings (such as when the firmware is used at conferences). These releases are our most stable but released infrequently so often lack the newest features and bug fixes.