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 locations where libsigrok expects the firmware files are:
17 $SIGROK_FIRMWARE_DIR (environment variable)
18 $HOME/.local/share/sigrok-firmware
19 $prefix/share/sigrok-firmware
20 /usr/local/share/sigrok-firmware
21 /usr/share/sigrok-firmware
23 ($prefix is usually /usr/local or /usr, depending on your ./configure options)
25 For further information see the section below and also:
27 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Firmware
30 Per-driver firmware requirements
31 --------------------------------
33 The following drivers/devices require a firmware upload upon connection:
35 - asix-sigma: The ASIX SIGMA and SIGMA2 require various firmware files,
36 depending on the settings used. These files are available from our
37 'sigrok-firmware' repository/project under a license which allows us
40 - fx2lafw: Logic analyzers based on the Cypress FX2(LP) chip need the
41 firmware files from the 'sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw' repository/project.
42 The firmware is written from scratch and licensed under the GNU GPLv2+.
44 - hantek-6xxx: Certain oscilloscopes based on the Cypress FX2(LP) chip, such
45 as the Hantek 6022BE/6022BL, SainSmart DDS120, and Rocktech BM102, need the
46 firmware files from the 'sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw' repository/project.
47 The firmware is written from scratch and licensed under the GNU GPLv2+.
49 - hantek-dso: The Hantek DSO-2090 (and other supported models of the same
50 series of Hantek PC oscilloscopes) need firmware files.
51 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows drivers using a tool
52 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
54 - lecroy-logicstudio: The LeCroy LogicStudio requires FPGA bitstream files.
55 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows software using a tool
56 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
57 Additionally, it requires a Cypress FX2 firmware. This can be extracted
58 from the vendor's Windows software using another tool. Details:
60 http://sigrok.org/wiki/LeCroy_LogicStudio#Firmware
62 - saleae-logic16: The Saleae Logic16 needs a firmware file for the
63 Cypress FX2 chip in the device, as well as two FPGA bitstream files.
64 These can be extracted from the vendor's Linux application using a tool
65 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
69 - The Sysclk LWLA1034 requires various bitstream files.
70 These files are available from our 'sigrok-firmware' repository/project
71 under a license which allows us to redistribute them.
73 - The Sysclk LWLA1016 requires various bitstream files.
74 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows drivers using a tool
75 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
77 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
81 - arachnid-labs-re-load-pro
88 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
95 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
100 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
108 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
111 - openbench-logic-sniffer
116 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
117 - serial-lcr (including all subdrivers)
122 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
126 - zeroplus-logic-cube
129 Specifying serial ports
130 -----------------------
132 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
133 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
135 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
136 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
137 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
141 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
143 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification. Some of
144 the drivers implement a default for the connection. Some of the drivers
145 can auto-detect USB connected devices.
152 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
156 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
159 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
161 - openbench-logic-sniffer
162 - rigol-ds (for RS232; not required for USBTMC or TCP)
163 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
164 - serial-lcr (including all subdrivers)
168 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
176 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
181 - rigol-ds (USBTMC or TCP)
184 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
187 - yokogawa-dlm (USBTMC or TCP)
188 - zeroplus-logic-cube
190 Beyond strict serial communication over COM ports (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0), the
191 conn= property can also address specific USB devices, as well as specify TCP
192 or VXI communication parameters. See these examples:
194 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<vid>.<pid> ...
195 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=tcp-raw/<ipaddr>/<port> ...
196 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=vxi/<ipaddr> ...
197 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=usbtmc/<bus>.<addr> ...
199 The following drivers/devices accept network communication parameters:
208 Specifying serial port parameters
209 ---------------------------------
211 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
212 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
213 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
214 See libsigrok docs for the function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
218 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
221 Permissions of serial port based devices
222 ----------------------------------------
224 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
225 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
226 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
227 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
229 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
230 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
232 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
233 (see below for details).
236 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules files)
237 ----------------------------------------------
239 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
240 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
241 for the respective USB device.
243 On Linux, this is accomplished using udev rules. libsigrok ships a rules
244 file containing all supported devices which can be detected reliably
245 (generic USB-to-serial converters are omitted, as these are used for a wide
246 range of devices, e.g. GPS receivers, which are not handled by libsigrok).
248 The file is available in contrib/60-libsigrok.rules. This file just contains
249 the list of devices and flags these devices with ID_SIGROK="1". Access is
250 granted by the 61-libsigrok-plugdev.rules or 61-libsigrok-uaccess.rules files,
251 allowing access to members of the plugdev group or to currently logged in
254 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
255 files should already be installed in /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/, i.e.
256 60-libsigrok.rules and one of the access granting rules files. Use of
257 61-libsigrok-uaccess.rules is encouraged on systemd distributions.
259 The access policy can be locally overridden by placing appropriate rules in
260 /etc/udev/rules.d/, disabling or ammending the default policy. See the
261 udev documentation, e.g. man 7 udev, for details.
263 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
264 where udev will read these rules. Local rules should go to /etc/udev/rules.d.
265 Keep the file naming, otherwise interaction between the libsigrok rules and
266 rules shipped by the system will be broken.
268 Please consult the udev docs for details.
271 Cypress FX2 based devices
272 -------------------------
274 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
275 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
276 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
278 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
279 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
281 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
284 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
285 ---------------------------------------
287 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
288 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
290 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
291 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
292 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
294 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
295 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
296 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
297 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
299 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
300 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
301 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
303 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
304 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
305 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
307 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
308 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
310 Examples (sigrok-cli):
312 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
313 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
315 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
316 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
317 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
319 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
320 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
321 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
323 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
324 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
325 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
326 to access the respective USB device (see above).
328 Examples (sigrok-cli):
330 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
331 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
334 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
335 ---------------------------------
337 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
338 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
339 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
340 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
341 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
343 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
344 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
345 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
347 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
350 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
351 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
352 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
357 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
358 ----------------------------------------------------
360 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
361 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
362 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
363 a short list for convenience:
365 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
366 interface panel on top.
367 - Brymen BM257s: Press HOLD during power-on.
368 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
369 - EEVBlog 121GW: Hold "1ms PEAK" until the "BT" indicator is shown.
370 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 1x/2x devices, driver gmc-mh-1x-2x-rs232:
371 - Power on the device with the "DATA" button pressed.
372 - Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for the respective interface type.
373 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 2x devices, driver gmc-mh-2x-bd232:
375 The multimeter must be configured for the respective interface type.
376 - 'SI232-II' interface ("PC Mode"):
377 The multimeter must be configured for interface type 'BD232' (all),
378 'SI232 online' (28-29S) or 'SI232 store' (22-26x). The interface must
379 be configured to the same baud rate as the host (default 9600).
380 Multimeter and interface must be configured to the same address.
381 - Metrix MX56C: Press the PRINT button to have the meter send acquisition
382 data via IR. Hold the PRINT button to adjust the meter's transmission
384 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
385 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
386 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
387 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
388 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
389 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
390 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
391 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
392 - UNI-T UT71x: Press the "SEND/-/MAXMIN" button for roughly 1 second.
393 Briefly pressing the "EXIT" button leaves this mode again.
394 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
395 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
396 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
397 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
398 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
399 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
400 - Voltcraft VC-870: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 1 second.
403 ChronoVu LA8/LA16 USB VID/PIDs
404 ------------------------------
406 The ChronoVu LA8/LA16 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
407 the device shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
408 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
410 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8/LA16 from any other device
411 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
412 device with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
414 The 'chronovu-la' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
415 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair.
421 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer
422 driver in libsigrok assumes a somewhat recent firmware has been flashed onto
423 the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware upload every time it's attached via USB,
424 since the firmware is stored in the device permanently).
426 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
428 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
429 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
430 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
432 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
434 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
435 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
436 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
440 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...