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 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
56 - openbench-logic-sniffer
65 Specifying serial ports
66 -----------------------
68 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
69 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
71 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
72 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
73 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
77 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
79 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
86 - openbench-logic-sniffer
90 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
102 - zeroplus-logic-cube
105 Permissions of serial port based devices
106 ----------------------------------------
108 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
109 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
110 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
111 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
113 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
114 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
116 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
117 (see below for details).
120 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
121 ---------------------------------------------
123 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
124 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
125 for the respective USB device.
127 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
128 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
130 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
131 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
132 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
134 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
135 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
136 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
137 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
139 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
140 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
141 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
142 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
143 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
144 re-attach your device via USB.
146 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
149 Cypress FX2 based devices
150 -------------------------
152 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
153 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
154 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
156 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
157 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
159 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
162 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
163 ---------------------------------------
165 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
166 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
168 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
169 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
170 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
172 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
173 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
174 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
175 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
177 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
178 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
179 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
181 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
182 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
183 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
185 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
186 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
188 Examples (sigrok-cli):
190 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
191 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
193 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
194 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
195 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
197 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
198 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
199 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
200 to access the respective USB device (see above).
202 Examples (sigrok-cli):
204 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e ...
205 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820 ...
208 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
209 ---------------------------------
211 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
212 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
213 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
214 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
215 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
217 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
218 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
219 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
221 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
224 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
225 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
226 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
231 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
232 ----------------------------------------------------
234 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
235 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
236 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
237 a short list for convenience:
239 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
240 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
241 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
242 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
243 - UNI-T UT61D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
244 - V&A VA18B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the device.
245 - Victor 70C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
246 - Victor 86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
252 The 'alsa' driver can be used to sample analog data using a PC's soundcard.
253 I.e. the sound card can act as a simple oscilloscope (with some limitations)
254 using commercial or DIY "sound card scope probe" cables.
256 Since ALSA is a Linux-specific sound system, this driver will inherently
257 only compile and work on Linux.
259 We might write additional drivers to make a similar functionality available
260 on other OSes at some point.
263 ChronoVu LA8 USB VID/PIDs
264 -------------------------
266 The ChronoVu LA8 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
267 the LA8 shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
268 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
270 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8 from any other device
271 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
272 LA8 with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
274 The 'chronovu-la8' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
275 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair. However, currently
276 the driver will assume any device with VID/PID 0403:6001 is a ChronoVu LA8.
282 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer is
283 supported by the 'ols' driver in libsigrok. This driver assumes a somewhat
284 recent firmware has been flashed onto the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware
285 upload every time it's attached via USB, since the firmware is stored in the
288 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
290 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
291 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
292 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
294 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
296 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
297 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
298 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
302 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...
305 Rigol DS1xx2 oscilloscopes
306 --------------------------
308 The 'rigol-ds1xx2' driver (for the Rigol DS1052E and some other, similar DSOs)
309 currently uses the Linux usbtmc kernel driver. This means it can currently
310 only be built and used on Linux (i.e., it's non-portable).
312 The use of a kernel module also means it is dependent on the kernel version
313 used, as well as on whether this specific module is available in the kernel.
314 Additionally, the usbtmc kernel module has been known to have various bugs
315 in some versions. These are some (but not all) drawbacks of using a kernel
316 module as opposed to a libusb-based driver that works in user-space.
318 We plan to change the driver to use the 'librevisa' user-space shared
319 library (which uses libusb) soon, which will fix all these issues and make
320 the driver portable at the same time.