WiiLi.org

[Sprzeo]

I would like to work on a Windows driver for the wiimote. If anyone has any insight on this that would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[volsung]

My advice would be: First figure out how to talk to a USB HID (Human Interface Device) in Windows. The Wiimote is a Bluetooth HID, which (if Windows is smart) will be treated similarly to a USB HID. That will be one half of the Windows-dependent code. The other half will be figuring what to do with the events the Wiimote generates. Do you want to simulate a mouse? Pass button presses on to games? Connect the rumble pack? Somewhere in here, I'm pretty sure the DirectInput API will be involved, though I'm definitely not a Windows programmer.

In between those two pieces, you'll need to interpret the data coming from the Wiimote. Keep an eye on the wiki and this forum for clues to the data format. Andy's been making great progress figuring out the HID codes to control and access the Wiimote's sensors. This information will apply to equally all platforms.

[Jephthah]

Count me in. I've never done any driver programming for Windows yet, but I'm enlisting the help of some people who know their stuff. Granted, a Windows driver is outside of the scope of Wii LINUX forums...but honestly, every other Wiimote forum I've found consists of a bunch of little kids going "zomg, I wanna use the wiimote to play games on my computer" and nothing more, whereas this forum has thusfar been useful. So, until this discussion finds a better home...
Here's what I know.
The Wiimote can pair with Windows; it shows up as an HID game controller with no buttons or axes once its paired.
I don't like this for two reasons -
1. I have no clue how to write anything for a game controller, nor any idea where to begin.
2. This is an unnecessary abstraction....

Building on 2....
Every bluetooth device I've ever seen for Windows registers as a USB device. This is true of my bluetooth, which is on the mainboard of a Lenovo T60p laptop (and, obviously, of the various USB bluetooth dongles)....so here was my idea.

I downloaded a program that let me view the hex dump of data sent to and from a USB device, paired up my wiimote with my machine, cut off my phone (to eliminate packets from it, so that the wiimote was my only bluetooth device) and fired up the usb sniffer...if that term's really the right one.

What I got was the following....no packets, none, sent to or from my bluetooth device, until I pressed a button. Bam, a hex dump for the button press, another for the release. So, it looks like instead of working with the wiimote as a game controller and having to define the buttons and axes, etc, etc, I can just work with the USB data coming from my bluetooth device. Of course, this idea falls apart if you want to use bluetooth on your phone or something while using the wiimote, but its a start.

A thought...do other bluetooth devices sent out packets over the usb connection (like wifi does...not that wifi has much to do with usb) when buttons aren't being pressed? If so, this would interfere with this strategy...

It may be, however, that the only packets sent over the device's connection are the Wiimote's packets, as seems to be the case with my bluetooth. If this is the case, then essentially we could write a driver for the wiimote, point it to whatever USB device represents the user's bluetooth radio, and control the wiimote using Windows' instantiation of the radio device as a gateway.
That said, I have no idea how to work with USB under windows. MSDN probably has a section on it - anyone have a link?
Also, there's been talk on the other forum topics, and in the wiki, about how to enable the accelerometers under linux using various bluetooth-controlling commands. I've worked extensively with linux user-end, somewhat, though not all that much, in development, but I'm unfamilliar with the context of this information. Someone said that you could activate force feedback by sending X to channel Y....I assume this is bluetooth-specific? So...the problem remains of how to activate the accelerometers over USB....ideas?

[Jephthah]

A flaw in my logic in the previous post....
While it is possible to read the raw data of packets sent FROM the Bluetooth USB device to interpret the data that the wiimote sends out, sending anything TO that device does not inherently send it to the Wiimote. So, the usb-based approach without using the HID gamepad is out. If only the accelerometers were activated by default.....

[aL3891]

im in too..
the best bet for deving a driver is using the windows driver kit (figures:)

i havent done any driver deving but i might do some on a project in my company.. senice i live in sweden i havent got a wii yet so my deving abilities are a bit limited..

but just you wait

[saue0]

Using Delphi and TJvHidDeviceController, i am able to play with the leds, activate the motion feed back, but not able to use the ir.

I created a small application. and i can move the mouse and click on thing. But the mouse use the d.pad to move. No IR yet

[Mrio]

Good idea, i can be part of it. Got to wait till december 8 for it to be released here though :'(