A self-authored UMDF2 HID minidriver (packaging/windows/dualsense-driver) that presents a virtual Sony DualSense (VID 054C/PID 0CE6) on Windows — adaptive triggers / lightbar / rumble that ViGEm structurally cannot deliver. Validated live on an RTX box (Win11 25H2, Secure Boot ON): the self-signed driver loads, Steam recognizes it as a genuine DualSense, and a game's 0x02 output report reaches the driver. The host<->driver channel is a named shared-memory section (Global\pfds-shm-<idx>) the host creates and the driver maps from its timer: input report 0x01 host->driver, output report 0x02 driver->host — input and output proven both directions live. This bypasses hidclass, which gates both a custom device interface and custom IOCTLs on the HID node, and UMDF has no control device. Built in Rust on microsoft/windows-drivers-rs. The load wall was the PE FORCE_INTEGRITY bit that wdk-build sets via /INTEGRITYCHECK (forces a CI-trusted page-hash signature a self-signed cert cannot satisfy) — cleared post-build. See packaging/windows/dualsense-driver/README.md for the build/sign/install recipe. Deferred: SwDeviceCreate per-session device lifecycle; removing the inert in-driver IOCTL-channel code; full on-glass session test. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Windows host packaging — signed Inno Setup installer
A one-file, signed setup.exe for the punktfunk streaming host on Windows, published to Gitea's
generic package registry (punktfunk-host-windows) by .gitea/workflows/windows-host.yml.
x64 only (no ARM64)
Unlike the client (which ships x64 + ARM64 MSIX), the host is x64-only by design. It is coupled to
an NVIDIA GPU (NVENC, via nvEncodeAPI64.dll from the driver) and the SudoVDA virtual-display
driver — neither exists on Windows ARM64 (no ARM64 NVIDIA driver; the vendored SudoVDA is x64-only). An
ARM64 host would install but couldn't encode or create a virtual display, so we don't build one.
Revisit if NVIDIA-ARM Windows PCs + an ARM64 SudoVDA ever ship.
Why not MSIX (like the client)
The host installs a LocalSystem SCM service that CreateProcessAsUserW's from Session 0 into the
interactive session for secure-desktop (UAC / lock screen) capture, adds firewall rules, and depends
on the SudoVDA kernel/IDD virtual-display driver. MSIX's sandbox can install neither a SYSTEM
service of this kind nor a driver. So the host ships as a classic elevated installer.
The installer is deliberately thin: the real install logic — SCM registration, firewall rules, the
default host.env, and the SYSTEM→interactive-session supervisor — already lives in
punktfunk-host service install (crates/punktfunk-host/src/service.rs). The installer just lays the
exe into C:\Program Files\punktfunk\ and calls that subcommand, elevated.
What the installer does
- Installs
punktfunk-host.exe(+host.env.example, this README) to{app}(C:\Program Files\punktfunk). - Optional task Install the SudoVDA virtual display driver — imports the driver's self-signed
cert (machine
Root+TrustedPublisher), creates theroot\sudomaker\sudovdadevice node (only if absent —install-sudovda.ps1), and stages the driver withpnputil /add-driver /install. Best-effort: a driver failure warns but never aborts the install (the host degrades to a physical display without it). - Runs
punktfunk-host service install(idempotent; writes a defaulthost.envonly if absent, so user config survives upgrades) and, by the Start service now task,service start. - Upgrade: stops a running
PunktfunkHostservice and waits forSTOPPEDbefore replacing files (otherwise the locked exe / respawning supervisor would block the copy), then re-points the service. - Uninstall (Add/Remove Programs): runs
service uninstall(stop + delete service + remove firewall rules). The SudoVDA driver is intentionally left installed.
Silent install: punktfunk-host-setup-<ver>.exe /VERYSILENT (omit the driver with /MERGETASKS="!installdriver").
Prerequisites on the target box
- An NVIDIA GPU + driver — the installer's exe is built
--features nvencand load-depends on the driver'snvEncodeAPI64.dll. - ViGEmBus (optional) for virtual gamepads — still a manual prerequisite (not bundled yet): https://github.com/nefarius/ViGEmBus/releases.
Files here
| File | Role |
|---|---|
punktfunk-host.iss |
Inno Setup script (the installer definition). |
pack-host-installer.ps1 |
Orchestrator: cert + sign, stage the driver bundle, run ISCC, sign setup.exe, emit registry paths. |
stage-sudovda.ps1 |
Stage the vendored SudoVDA driver + fetch/verify the pinned nefcon release into the bundle. |
install-sudovda.ps1 |
Runs at install time (elevated): trust cert → gated device-node create → pnputil install. |
sudovda/ |
Vendored prebuilt SudoVDA driver: SudoVDA.inf / sudovda.cat / SudoVDA.dll / sudovda.cer. |
nvenc/nvenc.def, nvenc/gen-nvenc-importlib.ps1 |
Synthesise nvencodeapi.lib for the --features nvenc link (llvm-dlltool / lib.exe). |
Vendored driver: SudoVDA has no upstream release (its repo is a source-only VS solution; Apollo embeds the driver in its own installer), so the prebuilt signed driver is checked in under
sudovda/(MIT/CC0; v1.10.9.289, signerCN=sudovda@su.mk, Class=Display, HWIDRoot\SudoMaker\SudoVDA). To refresh it, copy the four files out of a box's driver store (C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\sudovda.inf_amd64_*) and re-derivesudovda.cerfrom the.catsigner ((Get-AuthenticodeSignature sudovda.cat).SignerCertificate | Export-Certificate). nefcon (the device-node tool) is fetched + SHA-256-verified from its pinned release instage-sudovda.ps1.
Build locally (Windows, MSVC + Windows SDK + Inno Setup)
# 1. import lib for the nvenc link
pwsh -File packaging\windows\nvenc\gen-nvenc-importlib.ps1 -OutDir C:\t\nvenc
$env:PUNKTFUNK_NVENC_LIB_DIR = 'C:\t\nvenc'
# 2. build the host
cargo build --release -p punktfunk-host --features nvenc
# 3. pack (self-signed unless MSIX_CERT_PFX_B64/MSIX_CERT_PASSWORD are set; -NoDriver to skip SudoVDA)
pwsh -File packaging\windows\pack-host-installer.ps1 -Version 0.0.0-dev -TargetDir C:\t\release -OutDir C:\t\out
Release
Push a vX.Y.Z tag — one tag releases every platform (see
Release Channels). The workflow builds, signs, and
publishes punktfunk-host-setup-X.Y.Z.exe + the public .cer, refreshes the stable latest/
alias, and attaches the installer to the unified Gitea Release. Main pushes publish rolling
0.3.<run> canary builds to the canary/ alias.