1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 GNU 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 - sysclk-lwla: The Sysclk LWLA1034 requires various bitstream files.
51 These files are available from our 'sigrok-firmware' repository/project
52 under a license which allows us to redistribute them.
54 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
62 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
68 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
70 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
75 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
77 - openbench-logic-sniffer
79 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
82 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
88 Specifying serial ports
89 -----------------------
91 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
92 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
94 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
95 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
96 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
100 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
102 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
109 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
113 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
116 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
118 - openbench-logic-sniffer
119 - rigol-ds (for RS232; not required for USBTMC or TCP)
120 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
124 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
132 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
136 - rigol-ds (USBTMC or TCP)
139 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
142 - zeroplus-logic-cube
145 Specifiying serial port parameters
146 ----------------------------------
148 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
149 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
150 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
151 See libsigrok docs for the function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
155 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
158 Permissions of serial port based devices
159 ----------------------------------------
161 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
162 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
163 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
164 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
166 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
167 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
169 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
170 (see below for details).
173 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
174 ---------------------------------------------
176 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
177 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
178 for the respective USB device.
180 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
181 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
183 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
184 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
185 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
187 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
188 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
189 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
190 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
192 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
193 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
194 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
195 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
196 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
197 re-attach your device via USB.
199 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
202 Cypress FX2 based devices
203 -------------------------
205 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
206 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
207 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
209 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
210 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
212 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
215 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
216 ---------------------------------------
218 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
219 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
221 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
222 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
223 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
225 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
226 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
227 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
228 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
230 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
231 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
232 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
234 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
235 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
236 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
238 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
239 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
241 Examples (sigrok-cli):
243 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
244 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
246 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
247 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
248 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
250 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
251 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
252 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
254 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
255 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
256 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
257 to access the respective USB device (see above).
259 Examples (sigrok-cli):
261 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
262 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
265 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
266 ---------------------------------
268 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
269 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
270 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
271 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
272 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
274 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
275 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
276 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
278 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
281 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
282 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
283 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
288 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
289 ----------------------------------------------------
291 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
292 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
293 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
294 a short list for convenience:
296 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
297 interface panel on top.
298 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
299 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 1x/2x devices, driver gmc-mh-1x-2x-rs232:
300 - Power on the device with the "DATA" button pressed.
301 - Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for the respective interface type.
302 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 2x devices, driver gmc-mh-2x-bd232:
304 The multimeter must be configured for the respective interface type.
305 - 'SI232-II' interface ("PC Mode"):
306 The multimeter must be configured for interface type 'BD232' (all),
307 'SI232 online' (28-29S) or 'SI232 store' (22-26x). The interface must
308 be configured to the same baud rate as the host (default 9600).
309 Multimeter and interface must be configured to the same address.
310 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
311 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
312 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
313 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
314 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
315 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
316 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
317 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
318 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
319 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
320 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
321 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
322 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
323 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
326 ChronoVu LA8/LA16 USB VID/PIDs
327 ------------------------------
329 The ChronoVu LA8/LA16 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
330 the device shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
331 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
333 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8/LA16 from any other device
334 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
335 device with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
337 The 'chronovu-la' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
338 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair.
344 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer
345 driver in libsigrok assumes a somewhat recent firmware has been flashed onto
346 the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware upload every time it's attached via USB,
347 since the firmware is stored in the device permanently).
349 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
351 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
352 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
353 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
355 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
357 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
358 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
359 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
363 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...