Reverse Engineering a Linux Driver for the Nanoleaf Pegboard Desk Dock
The author bought a Nanoleaf Pegboard Desk Dock, a USB hub with RGB LEDs and gadget hooks, and decided to write a Linux driver for it since it only supports Windows and macOS. After obtaining protocol documentation from the vendor, the author used Rust and the libusb library to create a user-space driver. The article details the process, including using lsusb to get device information, handling USB interfaces, and using udev rules for user permissions. The author successfully created a simple driver to control the Desk Dock's RGB LEDs and handle device interrupts. Challenges like kernel driver occupancy and interrupt handling were overcome, leading to a deeper understanding of writing simple USB device drivers. While a simple proof of concept, it highlights that writing basic device drivers isn't as hard as it seems.
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