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 - dreamsourcelab-dslogic: The DreamSourceLab DSLogic/DSCope device series
41 requires various firmware files and FPGA bitstream files.
42 These can be extracted/downloaded from the vendor's GitHub repo using a
43 tool from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
45 - fx2lafw: Logic analyzers based on the Cypress FX2(LP) chip 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-6xxx: Certain oscilloscopes based on the Cypress FX2(LP) chip, such
50 as the Hantek 6022BE/6022BL, SainSmart DDS120, and Rocktech BM102, need the
51 firmware files from the 'sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw' repository/project.
52 The firmware is written from scratch and licensed under the GNU GPLv2+.
54 - hantek-dso: The Hantek DSO-2090 (and other supported models of the same
55 series of Hantek PC oscilloscopes) need firmware files.
56 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows drivers using a tool
57 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
59 - lecroy-logicstudio: The LeCroy LogicStudio requires FPGA bitstream files.
60 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows software using a tool
61 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
62 Additionally, it requires a Cypress FX2 firmware. This can be extracted
63 from the vendor's Windows software using another tool. Details:
65 http://sigrok.org/wiki/LeCroy_LogicStudio#Firmware
67 - saleae-logic16: The Saleae Logic16 needs a firmware file for the
68 Cypress FX2 chip in the device, as well as two FPGA bitstream files.
69 These can be extracted from the vendor's Linux application using a tool
70 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
72 - saleae-logic-pro: The Saleae Logic Pro 16 needs a firmware file for the
73 Cypress FX3 chip in the device, as well as an FPGA bitstream file.
74 These can be extracted from the vendor's Linux application using a tool
75 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
79 - The Sysclk LWLA1034 requires various bitstream files.
80 These files are available from our 'sigrok-firmware' repository/project
81 under a license which allows us to redistribute them.
83 - The Sysclk LWLA1016 requires various bitstream files.
84 These can be extracted from the vendor's Windows drivers using a tool
85 from our 'sigrok-util' repository/project.
87 - sysclk-sla5032: The Sysclk SLA5032 needs an FPGA bitstream file.
88 This file can be copied (and renamed) from the Windows vendor software
89 installation directory. Details:
91 https://sigrok.org/wiki/Sysclk_SLA5032#Firmware
93 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
97 - arachnid-labs-re-load-pro
103 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
111 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
118 - hung-chang-dso-2100
119 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
130 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
135 - openbench-logic-sniffer
140 - rohde-schwarz-sme-0x
143 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
144 - serial-lcr (including all subdrivers)
149 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
152 - zeroplus-logic-cube
156 Specifying serial ports
157 -----------------------
159 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
160 or USB-to-serial ones, CDC class) to connect to a PC. These serial cables are
161 supported by the libserialport library. Some vendors prefer to use HID chips
162 instead of CDC chips in their serial cables. These cables can get supported
163 by means of the hidapi library. Note that each chip type requires specific
164 support in the libsigrok library. Bluetooth connected devices may be supported
165 as well when they communicate by means of RFCOMM channels, or one of the
166 implemented BLE notification/indication approaches, and one of the Bluetooth
167 supporting platforms is used.
169 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
170 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
171 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
175 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
176 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=hid/cp2110 ...
177 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=bt/rfcomm/01-23-45-67-89-ab ...
179 Formal syntax for serial communication:
181 - COM ports (RS232, USB CDC):
185 conn=hid[/<chip>]/usb=<bus>.<dev>[.<if>]
186 conn=hid[/<chip>]/raw=<path>
187 conn=hid[/<chip>]/sn=<serno>
188 chip can be: bu86x, ch9325, cp2110, victor
189 path may contain slashes
190 path and serno are "greedy" (span to the end of the spec)
191 - Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE):
192 conn=bt/<conn>/<addr>
193 conn can be: rfcomm, ble122, nrf51, cc254x
194 addr can be "dense" or separated, bt/cc254x/0123456789ab or
195 bt/rfcomm/11-22-33-44-55-66 or bt/ble122/88:6b:12:34:56:78
196 (note that colons may not be available when the conn= spec is taken
197 from a string that separates fields by colon, e.g. in the "--driver
198 <name>:conn=<spec>" example, that is why the dense form and the use
199 of dashes for separation are supported)
201 Some of the drivers implement a default for the connection. Some of the
202 drivers can auto-detect USB connected devices.
204 Beyond strict serial communication over COM ports (discussed above), the
205 conn= property can also address specific USB devices, as well as specify TCP
206 or VXI communication parameters. See these examples:
208 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<vid>.<pid> ...
209 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=tcp-raw/<ipaddr>/<port> ...
210 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=vxi/<ipaddr> ...
211 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=usbtmc/<bus>.<addr> ...
214 Specifying serial port parameters
215 ---------------------------------
217 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
218 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
219 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
220 See libsigrok docs for the function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
224 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
227 Permissions of serial port based devices
228 ----------------------------------------
230 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
231 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
232 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
233 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
235 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
236 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
238 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
239 (see below for details).
242 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules files)
243 ----------------------------------------------
245 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
246 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
247 for the respective USB device.
249 On Linux, this is accomplished using udev rules. libsigrok ships a rules
250 file containing all supported devices which can be detected reliably
251 (generic USB-to-serial converters are omitted, as these are used for a wide
252 range of devices, e.g. GPS receivers, which are not handled by libsigrok).
254 The file is available in contrib/60-libsigrok.rules. This file just contains
255 the list of devices and flags these devices with ID_SIGROK="1". Access is
256 granted by the 61-libsigrok-plugdev.rules or 61-libsigrok-uaccess.rules files,
257 allowing access to members of the plugdev group or to currently logged in
260 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
261 files should already be installed in /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/, i.e.
262 60-libsigrok.rules and one of the access granting rules files. Use of
263 61-libsigrok-uaccess.rules is encouraged on systemd distributions.
265 The access policy can be locally overridden by placing appropriate rules in
266 /etc/udev/rules.d/, disabling or ammending the default policy. See the
267 udev documentation, e.g. man 7 udev, for details.
269 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
270 where udev will read these rules. Local rules should go to /etc/udev/rules.d.
271 Keep the file naming, otherwise interaction between the libsigrok rules and
272 rules shipped by the system will be broken.
274 Please consult the udev docs for details.
277 Cypress FX2 based devices
278 -------------------------
280 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
281 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
282 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
284 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
285 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
287 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
290 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
291 ---------------------------------------
293 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
294 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
296 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
297 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
298 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
299 - UT-D07 (Bluetooth adapter, ISSC BL79 BLETR chip)
300 - UT-D09 (USB/HID cable with SiL CP2110 chip, USB VID/PID 10c4:ea80)
302 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
303 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
304 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
305 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
307 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
308 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
309 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
311 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
312 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
313 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
315 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
316 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
318 Examples (sigrok-cli):
320 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
321 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
323 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
324 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
325 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
327 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
328 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
329 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
331 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
332 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
333 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
334 to access the respective USB device (see above).
336 Examples (sigrok-cli):
338 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
339 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
342 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
343 ---------------------------------
345 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
346 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
347 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
348 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
349 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
351 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
352 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
353 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
355 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
358 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
359 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
360 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
365 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
366 ----------------------------------------------------
368 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
369 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
370 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
371 a short list for convenience:
373 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
374 interface panel on top.
375 - Brymen BM257s: Press HOLD during power-on.
376 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
377 - EEVBlog 121GW: Hold "1ms PEAK" until the "BT" indicator is shown.
378 - ES51919 based LCR meters (DER EE DE-5000, PeakTech 2170, UNI-T UT612):
379 Press the button with the "RS232" or "USB" or "PC link" label (usually
380 the "up" cursor button).
381 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 1x/2x devices, driver gmc-mh-1x-2x-rs232:
382 - Power on the device with the "DATA" button pressed.
383 - Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for the respective interface type.
384 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 2x devices, driver gmc-mh-2x-bd232:
386 The multimeter must be configured for the respective interface type.
387 - 'SI232-II' interface ("PC Mode"):
388 The multimeter must be configured for interface type 'BD232' (all),
389 'SI232 online' (28-29S) or 'SI232 store' (22-26x). The interface must
390 be configured to the same baud rate as the host (default 9600).
391 Multimeter and interface must be configured to the same address.
392 - Metrix MX56C: Press the PRINT button to have the meter send acquisition
393 data via IR. Hold the PRINT button to adjust the meter's transmission
395 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
396 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
397 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
398 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
399 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
400 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
401 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
402 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
403 - UNI-T UT71x: Press the "SEND/-/MAXMIN" button for roughly 1 second.
404 Briefly pressing the "EXIT" button leaves this mode again.
405 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
406 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
407 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
408 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
409 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
410 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
411 - Voltcraft VC-870: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 1 second.
414 ChronoVu LA8/LA16 USB VID/PIDs
415 ------------------------------
417 The ChronoVu LA8/LA16 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
418 the device shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
419 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
421 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8/LA16 from any other device
422 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
423 device with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
425 The 'chronovu-la' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
426 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair.
432 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer
433 driver in libsigrok assumes a somewhat recent firmware has been flashed onto
434 the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware upload every time it's attached via USB,
435 since the firmware is stored in the device permanently).
437 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
439 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
440 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
441 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
443 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
445 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
446 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
447 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
451 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...
457 The Mooshim Engineering Mooshimeter is controlled via Bluetooth Low Energy
458 (sometimes called Bluetooth 4.0), as such it requires a supported Bluetooth
459 interface available. The 'conn' option is required and must contain the
460 Bluetooth MAC address of the meter.
464 $ sigrok-cli --driver mooshimeter-dmm:conn=12-34-56-78-9A-BC ...
466 Since the Mooshimeter has no physical interface on the meter itself, the
467 channel configuration is set with the 'channel_config' option. The format
468 of this option is 'CH1,CH2' where each channel configuration has the form
469 'MODE:RANGE:ANALYSIS', with later parts being optional. In addition for
470 CLI compatibility, the ',' in the channels can also be a '/' and the ':' in
471 the individual configuration can be a ';'.
473 Available channel 1 modes:
475 - Current, A: Current in amps
476 - Temperature, T, K: Internal meter temperature in Kelvin
477 - Resistance, Ohm, W: Resistance in ohms
478 - Diode, D: Diode voltage
479 - Aux, LV: Auxiliary (W input) low voltage sensor (1.2V max)
481 Available channel 2 modes:
483 - Voltage, V: Voltage
484 - Temperature, T, K: Internal meter temperature in Kelvin
485 - Resistance, Ohm, W: Resistance in ohms
486 - Diode, D: Diode voltage
487 - Aux, LV: Auxiliary (W input) low voltage sensor (1.2V max)
489 Only one channel can use the shared inputs at a time (e.g. if CH1 is measuring
490 resistance, CH2 cannot measure low voltage). Temperature is excepted from
491 this, so the meter can measure internal temperature and low voltage at the
494 Additionally, the meter can calculate the real power of both channels. This
495 generally only makes sense when CH1 is set to current and CH2 is set to a
496 voltage and so it is disabled by default. It must be enabled by enabling the
497 'P' channel (the third channel).
499 The range of the channel specification sets the maximum input for that channel
500 and is rounded up to the next value the meter itself supports. For example,
501 specifying 50 for the voltage will result in the actual maximum of 60.
502 Specifying 61 would result in 600. If omitted, sigrok will perform
503 auto-ranging of the channel by selecting the next greater value than the
506 The analysis option sets how the meter reports its internal sampling buffer
509 - Mean, DC: The default is a simple arithmetic mean of the sample buffer
510 - RMS, AC: The root mean square of the sample buffer
511 - Buf, Buffer, Samples: Report the entire sample buffer to sigrok. This
512 results in packets that contain all the samples in the buffer instead
513 of a single output value.
515 The size of the sample buffer is set with the 'avg_samples' option, while
516 the sampling rate is set with the 'samplerate' option. So the update rate
517 is avg_samples/samplerate. Both are rounded up to the next supported value
522 $ sigrok-cli -c channel_config="Aux;0.1/T" --driver mooshimeter-dmm...
523 $ sigrok-cli -c channel_config="A;;AC/V;;AC" --driver mooshimeter-dmm...