If you are like us, you get too many mice and keyboards lying around. With 5 or six devices, and an equal number of receivers you can just plug stuff in to find what matches. That assumes the peripherals are working and haven’t been lost. Can we interrogate the usb receivers and discover their associated hardware?

First, the findings: I tried four random USB receivers and found out their purpose and matching peripherals (Amazon Basics and Logitech) via windows powershell commands I share below. The interesting thing is that each one was made by a different company from the North part of Taiwan. These are huge companies that I’ve never heard of, each taking parts from the TSMC ecosystem and putting them into devices. The Amazon Basics companies were Pixart Imaging, Inc, MOSART Semiconductor Corporation and Chicony Electronics.

If you want to follow the tech details below, I’m eager to show how I figured out what these black boxes are for the three different receivers.

All three of these companies were close to each other on the north side of Taiwan.

What are the numbers that identify these receivers?

First, some background. Each device has a ClassGuid, a unique identifier assigned to a device class in the Windows operating system. A device class is a group of devices that have similar characteristics and perform similar functions. The ClassGuid provides a way for Windows to recognize and manage different types of devices connected to the system.

You look into something small like this, the well goes deep. The logitech part had external serial numbers and government spectrum identifiers, the Amazon Basics parts required me to use windows PowerShell to learn about them.

The ClassGuid was originally defined by the Open Software Foundation (OSF) as part of the Distributed Computing Environment (DCE).

Today, the UUID specification is maintained by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as part of the Request for Comments (RFC) series. The current UUID specification can be found in RFC 4122, titled “A Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace.”

RFC 4122 defines the structure and generation algorithms for UUIDs, ensuring that the generated identifiers are unique across different systems and over time. It covers various UUID versions that use different methods for generating unique values, such as time-based, random-based, or name-based algorithms.

Each device class in Windows has its own ClassGuid, which is typically a hexadecimal string enclosed in braces (e.g. {4d36e967-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}). The ClassGuid is used to associate a device driver with the corresponding device class, allowing the operating system to communicate with the device and perform necessary functions.

For example, when you connect a USB device to your computer, Windows uses the ClassGuid to determine which driver to use to communicate with the device. If the device is a Human Interface Device (HID), such as a mouse or keyboard, Windows will use the HID driver associated with the {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da} ClassGuid. If the device is a USB mass storage device, Windows will use the storage driver associated with the {4d36e967-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} ClassGuid.

The ClassGuid for USB receivers, or USB dongles, will depend on the type of device.

For example, if you have a USB Wi-Fi adapter or a Bluetooth dongle, their ClassGuids will be either:

• USB Wi-Fi adapter: {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} (Network adapters)
• Bluetooth dongle: {e0cbf06c-cd8b-4647-bb8a-263b43f0f974} (Bluetooth radios)

However, if you have a USB receiver for a wireless mouse or keyboard, its ClassGuid will be that of a Human Interface Device (HID), which is {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}.

First Dongle, by Logitech

First, you can look at the device and read a couple numbers (only by taking pictures with my iPhone and zooming in, then using their character recognition).

Looking at the outside I see FCC ID JNZCU0010 refers to a specific device authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States. The FCC ID is an alphanumeric code that is assigned to devices that have been tested and comply with the FCC’s requirements for radio frequency interference, safety, and other regulatory standards.

The FCC ID JNZCU0010 belongs to the Logitech Unifying Receiver, which is a wireless USB receiver that connects multiple compatible Logitech devices, such as keyboards and mice, to a single computer using a 2.4 GHz wireless connection. This receiver is particularly useful for reducing the number of USB ports occupied by input devices and for providing a seamless connection experience between compatible Logitech peripherals.

You can find more information about the device by searching the FCC’s equipment authorization database with the FCC ID. The database typically contains documents related to the device’s testing, internal and external photos, and user manuals. You can access the database here: https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid

The “IC” code, in this case, “IC: 4418A-CU0010”, refers to an Industry Canada (IC) certification number for the device. Industry Canada is the Canadian government agency responsible for regulating and certifying radio frequency devices, ensuring that they meet the necessary requirements and do not cause harmful interference.

Similar to the FCC ID in the United States, the IC certification number identifies a specific device tested and approved for use in Canada. The IC number “4418A-CU0010” is associated with the same Logitech Unifying Receiver that the FCC ID JNZCU0010 refers to.

So, both the FCC ID JNZCU0010 and the IC number 4418A-CU0010 identify the Logitech Unifying Receiver, confirming that it has been tested and certified for use in both the United States and Canada. This is enough to learn all I need about this receiver. A quick Bing/Google can tell you it’s compatible with: It is compatible with all Logitech Unifying products, which include mice and keyboards that have a Unifying logo displayed on them. You can connect up to 6 compatible keyboards and mice to one computer with a single Unifying receiver.

Active Interrogation for the unmarked receivers

While I’m a linux user, I’ve learned a bit of Windows PowerShell since that is where the hardware is directly connected. Let’s use windows to find out about the black boxes that have no markings that Amazon uses. Hint, it’s going to take us into the crazy Taiwanese CMOS ecosystem.

This command uses the “Get-PnpDevice” cmdlet to get a list of all the Plug and Play (PnP) devices currently connected to your computer. The “-PresentOnly” parameter limits the results to only devices that are currently connected. The “Where-Object” cmdlet is then used to filter the results to only devices with a ClassGuid that begins with ‘{‘, which is the format of all ClassGuids.

The “Select-Object” cmdlet is used to select the “ClassGuid”, “FriendlyName”, “Manufacturer”, “Description”, and “DeviceID” properties of each device. The “-Unique” parameter ensures that each device is only listed once.

When you run this command, you will see a list of all the ClassGuids associated with their respective devices. The output will include the device’s FriendlyName, which is a human-readable name for the device; the Manufacturer, which is the company that produced the device; the Description, which is a brief description of the device’s function; and the DeviceID, which is a unique identifier for the device. This additional information should give you a better understanding of what each connected device is and what its purpose is.

You can paste these commands into powershell and learn a lot:

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object {$_.ClassGuid -like '{*}'} | Select-Object ClassGuid, FriendlyName, Manufacturer, Description, DeviceID -Unique

or to find what we are looking for:

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object {($_.ClassGuid -eq '{745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}') -or ($_.ClassGuid -eq '{4d36e96f-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}' -and $_.Description -like '*USB Receiver*')} | Select-Object ClassGuid, FriendlyName, Manufacturer, Description, DeviceID -Unique

This command queries Win32_USBControllerDevice for USB devices, and then retrieves detailed information on each device. The output will display the PNPDeviceID and the Description for each USB device.

You can then check the output for the relevant device and see if the model number (CU0010) is mentioned in the device description or the PNPDeviceID. If the model number is not explicitly mentioned, you might be able to find a unique identifier for the device that can help you confirm the model number through an online search or by checking the device documentation.

So if we run:

Get-WmiObject Win32_USBControllerDevice -Impersonation Impersonate | Foreach-Object { [Wmi]$_.Dependent } | Select-Object PNPDeviceID, Description

So I plug in a mystery receiver (bad idea) and that produces this output on my machine. Note the VID (vendor id) and PID (part id). You can look up parts based on that.

USB\VID_3938&PID_1059\6&208E681&0&3                USB Composite Device
USB\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_00\7&E30261B&0&0000       USB Input Device
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_00\8&3483BAC7&0&0000      HID Keyboard Device
USB\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01\7&E30261B&0&0001       USB Input Device
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01&COL01\8&C190CFE&0&0000 HID-compliant mouse
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01&COL02\8&C190CFE&0&0001 HID-compliant consumer control device
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01&COL03\8&C190CFE&0&0002 HID-compliant system controller
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01&COL04\8&C190CFE&0&0003 HID-compliant vendor-defined device
HID\VID_3938&PID_1059&MI_01&COL05\8&C190CFE&0&0004 HID-compliant device

The  USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) assigns vendor ID 3938 to MOSART Semiconductor Corporation, a Taiwan-based company that designs and develops integrated circuits (ICs) such as consumer ICs, PC peripheral ICs, and wireless consumer ICs.

Through some googling, I can find ou this is connected to my amazon basics keyboard:

Key	Value
Brand	Amazon Basics
Item model number	KS1-US
Operating System	Windows 7
Item Weight	1.05 pounds
Product Dimensions	5.61 x 1.13 x 17.83 inches
Item Dimensions LxWxH	5.61 x 1.13 x 17.83 inches
Color	Black
Batteries	2 AAA batteries required. (included)
Manufacturer	Amazon Basics
ASIN	B07WV5WN7B
Country of Origin	China
Date First Available	November 11, 2019

It’s strange that most components are made in Taiwan, but Country of Origin is listed as China.

A random dongle

Let’s try the next one, I connect a usb receiver with absolutely zero markings on it and find:

USB\VID_04F2&PID_1825\6&208E681&0&4           USB Input Device
HID\VID_04F2&PID_1825&COL01\7&295CC939&0&0000 HID-compliant mouse
HID\VID_04F2&PID_1825&COL02\7&295CC939&0&0001 HID-compliant vendor-defined device

The new device appears to be a USB Input Device with VID (Vendor ID) “04F2” and PID (Product ID) “1825”. VID “04F2” belongs to Chicony Electronics, a company that manufactures computer peripherals such as keyboards and mice. So where is  群光電子股份有限公司 located?

Just another 50 story building in a far away place.

In this case, the USB Input Device seems to be a multi-function device, as it includes both an HID-compliant mouse and an HID-compliant vendor-defined device. The device might be a mouse with additional features or a keyboard with an integrated touchpad. I had to set it aside and marvel and the world’s CMOS supply chain.

Trying my last device:

USB\VID_093A&PID_2510\5&7993A9C&0&2 - USB Input Device
HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL01\6&5B1E42D&1&0000 - HID-compliant mouse
HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL02\6&5B1E42D&1&0001 - HID-compliant vendor-defined device
HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL03\6&5B1E42D&1&0002 - HID-compliant consumer control device
HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL04\6&5B1E42D&1&0003 - HID-compliant system controller

So the vendor ID is Pixart Imaging, Inc and the part number is for an “optical mouse”.

is a Taiwan-based company founded in 1998 that specializes in designing and manufacturing CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) image sensors and related imaging application products. These components are commonly used in various devices, such as optical mice, digital cameras, webcams, and other consumer electronics.

One of the key products that Pixart Imaging is known for is its optical navigation sensors used in computer mice. These sensors replaced traditional mechanical ball-tracking mechanisms, allowing for more accurate and responsive cursor movement. The company’s optical sensors are widely used by different mouse manufacturers due to their high performance, low power consumption, and cost-effectiveness.

In addition to optical sensors, Pixart Imaging also offers a range of other products, such as capacitive touch controllers, fingerprint identification modules, and gesture recognition solutions. These components are utilized in a variety of applications, including smartphones, tablets, wearables, and IoT devices.

What are each of these entries?

1. USB\VID_093A&PID_2510\5&7993A9C&0&2 – USB Input Device: This is a generic USB input device that can be used to transmit data between the connected device and the computer. It could represent a variety of peripherals, such as keyboards or game controllers.
2. HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL01\6&5B1E42D&1&0000 – HID-compliant mouse: This entry represents a Human Interface Device (HID) compliant mouse. It follows the HID protocol to communicate with the computer, allowing for plug-and-play functionality and seamless interaction between the user and the computer.
3. HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL02\6&5B1E42D&1&0001 – HID-compliant vendor-defined device: This entry represents a device that adheres to the HID protocol, but its specific function is defined by the vendor. It could be a custom input device or a specialized peripheral designed for a particular purpose.
4. HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL03\6&5B1E42D&1&0002 – HID-compliant consumer control device: This is a Human Interface Device that is specifically designed for consumer electronics control, such as multimedia keyboards, remote controls, or other devices used to control media playback or volume.
5. HID\VID_093A&PID_2510&COL04\6&5B1E42D&1&0003 – HID-compliant system controller: This entry represents a device that follows the HID protocol and serves as a system controller. It could be a device like a power management controller, system monitoring device, or another type of controller that helps manage various aspects of a computer system.

So, I was able to quickly find out this matched my Amazon Basics Mouse.

Time to catch my flight.