1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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5 This README contains various notes for users of libsigrok (or frontends
6 that are based on libsigrok) about device- and/or driver-specific issues.
12 Some devices supported by libsigrok need a firmware to be uploaded every time
13 the device is connected to the PC (usually via USB), before it can be used.
15 The default location where libsigrok expects the firmware files is:
17 $prefix/share/sigrok-firmware
19 ($prefix is usually /usr/local or /usr, depending on your ./configure options)
21 For further information see the section below and also:
23 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Firmware
26 Per-driver firmware requirements
27 --------------------------------
29 The following drivers/devices require a firmware upload upon connection:
31 - asix-sigma: The ASIX SIGMA and SIGMA2 require various firmware files,
32 depending on the settings used. These files are available from our
33 'sigrok-firmware' repository/project under a license which allows us
36 - fx2lafw: Logic analyzers based on the Cypress FX2(LP) chip need the
37 firmware files from the 'sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw' repository/project.
38 The firmware is written from scratch and licensed under the GPLv2+.
40 - hantek-dso: The Hantek DSO-2090 (and other supported models of the same
41 series of Hantek PC oscilloscopes) need firmware files.
42 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows drivers using a tool
43 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
45 - saleae-logic16: The Saleae Logic16 needs a firmware file for the
46 Cypress FX2 chip in the device, as well as two FPGA bitstream files.
47 These can be extracted from the vendor's Linux application using a tool
48 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
50 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
57 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
64 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
69 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
71 - openbench-logic-sniffer
73 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
76 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
82 Specifying serial ports
83 -----------------------
85 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
86 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
88 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
89 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
90 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
94 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
96 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
102 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
108 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
110 - openbench-logic-sniffer
111 - rigol-ds (for RS232; not required for USBTMC or TCP)
112 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
116 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
124 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
128 - rigol-ds (USBTMC or TCP)
130 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
133 - zeroplus-logic-cube
136 Specifiying serial port parameters
137 ----------------------------------
139 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
140 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
141 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
142 See libsigrok docs for function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
146 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
149 Permissions of serial port based devices
150 ----------------------------------------
152 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
153 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
154 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
155 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
157 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
158 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
160 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
161 (see below for details).
164 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
165 ---------------------------------------------
167 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
168 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
169 for the respective USB device.
171 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
172 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
174 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
175 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
176 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
178 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
179 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
180 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
181 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
183 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
184 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
185 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
186 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
187 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
188 re-attach your device via USB.
190 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
193 Cypress FX2 based devices
194 -------------------------
196 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
197 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
198 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
200 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
201 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
203 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
206 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
207 ---------------------------------------
209 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
210 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
212 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
213 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
214 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
216 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
217 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
218 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
219 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
221 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
222 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
223 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
225 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
226 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
227 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
229 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
230 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
232 Examples (sigrok-cli):
234 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
235 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
237 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
238 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
239 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
241 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
242 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
243 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
245 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
246 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
247 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
248 to access the respective USB device (see above).
250 Examples (sigrok-cli):
252 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
253 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
256 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
257 ---------------------------------
259 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
260 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
261 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
262 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
263 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
265 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
266 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
267 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
269 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
272 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
273 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
274 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
279 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
280 ----------------------------------------------------
282 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
283 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
284 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
285 a short list for convenience:
287 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
288 interface panel on top.
289 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
290 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit devices: Power on the device with the "DATA"
291 button pressed. Additionally, Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for
293 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
294 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
295 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
296 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
297 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
298 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
299 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
300 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
301 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
302 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
303 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
304 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
305 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
306 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
312 The 'alsa' driver can be used to sample analog data using a PC's soundcard.
313 I.e. the sound card can act as a simple oscilloscope (with some limitations)
314 using commercial or DIY "sound card scope probe" cables.
316 Since ALSA is a Linux-specific sound system, this driver will inherently
317 only compile and work on Linux.
319 We might write additional drivers to make a similar functionality available
320 on other OSes at some point.
323 Link Instruments MSO-19
324 -----------------------
326 The driver for the Link Instruments MSO-19 mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO)
327 is currently using libudev (which is a library for the Linux-specific udev
328 system). Thus, this driver can currently only compile and work on Linux.
330 We plan to fix this though, so that it'll work on all other OSes, too.
333 ChronoVu LA8 USB VID/PIDs
334 -------------------------
336 The ChronoVu LA8 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
337 the LA8 shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
338 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
340 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8 from any other device
341 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
342 LA8 with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
344 The 'chronovu-la8' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
345 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair. However, currently
346 the driver will assume any device with VID/PID 0403:6001 is a ChronoVu LA8.
352 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer is
353 supported by the 'ols' driver in libsigrok. This driver assumes a somewhat
354 recent firmware has been flashed onto the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware
355 upload every time it's attached via USB, since the firmware is stored in the
358 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
360 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
361 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
362 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
364 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
366 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
367 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
368 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
372 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...
375 Rigol DS oscilloscopes
376 ----------------------
378 The 'rigol-ds' driver (for the Rigol DS series DSOs) currently uses the Linux
379 usbtmc kernel driver. This means it can currently only be built and used on
380 Linux (i.e., it's non-portable).
382 The use of a kernel module also means it is dependent on the kernel version
383 used, as well as on whether this specific module is available in the kernel.
384 Additionally, the usbtmc kernel module has been known to have various bugs
385 in some versions. These are some (but not all) drawbacks of using a kernel
386 module as opposed to a libusb-based driver that works in user-space.
388 We plan to change the driver to use the 'librevisa' user-space shared
389 library (which uses libusb) soon, which will fix all these issues and make
390 the driver portable at the same time.