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:
58 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
65 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
70 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
72 - openbench-logic-sniffer
74 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
77 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
83 Specifying serial ports
84 -----------------------
86 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
87 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
89 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
90 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
91 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
95 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
97 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
103 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
109 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
111 - openbench-logic-sniffer
112 - rigol-ds (for RS232; not required for USBTMC or TCP)
113 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
117 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
126 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
130 - rigol-ds (USBTMC or TCP)
132 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
135 - zeroplus-logic-cube
138 Specifiying serial port parameters
139 ----------------------------------
141 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
142 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
143 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
144 See libsigrok docs for function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
148 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
151 Permissions of serial port based devices
152 ----------------------------------------
154 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
155 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
156 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
157 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
159 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
160 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
162 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
163 (see below for details).
166 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
167 ---------------------------------------------
169 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
170 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
171 for the respective USB device.
173 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
174 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
176 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
177 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
178 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
180 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
181 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
182 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
183 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
185 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
186 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
187 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
188 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
189 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
190 re-attach your device via USB.
192 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
195 Cypress FX2 based devices
196 -------------------------
198 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
199 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
200 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
202 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
203 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
205 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
208 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
209 ---------------------------------------
211 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
212 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
214 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
215 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
216 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
218 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
219 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
220 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
221 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
223 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
224 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
225 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
227 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
228 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
229 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
231 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
232 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
234 Examples (sigrok-cli):
236 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
237 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
239 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
240 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
241 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
243 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
244 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
245 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
247 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
248 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
249 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
250 to access the respective USB device (see above).
252 Examples (sigrok-cli):
254 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
255 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
258 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
259 ---------------------------------
261 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
262 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
263 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
264 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
265 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
267 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
268 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
269 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
271 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
274 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
275 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
276 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
281 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
282 ----------------------------------------------------
284 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
285 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
286 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
287 a short list for convenience:
289 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
290 interface panel on top.
291 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
292 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 1x/2x devices, driver gmc-mh-1x-2x-rs232:
293 - Power on the device with the "DATA" button pressed.
294 - Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for the respective interface type.
295 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 2x devices, driver gmc-mh-2x-bd232:
297 The multimeter must be configured for the respective interface type.
298 - 'SI232-II' interface ("PC Mode"):
299 The multimeter must be configured for interface type 'BD232' (all),
300 'SI232 online' (28-29S) or 'SI232 store' (22-26x). The interface must
301 be configured to the same baud rate as the host (default 9600).
302 Multimeter and interface must be configured to the same address.
303 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
304 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
305 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
306 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
307 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
308 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
309 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
310 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
311 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
312 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
313 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
314 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
315 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
316 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
322 The 'alsa' driver can be used to sample analog data using a PC's soundcard.
323 I.e. the sound card can act as a simple oscilloscope (with some limitations)
324 using commercial or DIY "sound card scope probe" cables.
326 Since ALSA is a Linux-specific sound system, this driver will inherently
327 only compile and work on Linux.
329 We might write additional drivers to make a similar functionality available
330 on other OSes at some point.
333 Link Instruments MSO-19
334 -----------------------
336 The driver for the Link Instruments MSO-19 mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO)
337 is currently using libudev (which is a library for the Linux-specific udev
338 system). Thus, this driver can currently only compile and work on Linux.
340 We plan to fix this though, so that it'll work on all other OSes, too.
343 ChronoVu LA8 USB VID/PIDs
344 -------------------------
346 The ChronoVu LA8 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
347 the LA8 shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
348 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
350 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8 from any other device
351 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
352 LA8 with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
354 The 'chronovu-la8' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
355 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair. However, currently
356 the driver will assume any device with VID/PID 0403:6001 is a ChronoVu LA8.
362 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer is
363 supported by the 'ols' driver in libsigrok. This driver assumes a somewhat
364 recent firmware has been flashed onto the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware
365 upload every time it's attached via USB, since the firmware is stored in the
368 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
370 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
371 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
372 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
374 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
376 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
377 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
378 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
382 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...
385 Rigol DS oscilloscopes
386 ----------------------
388 The 'rigol-ds' driver (for the Rigol DS series DSOs) currently uses the Linux
389 usbtmc kernel driver. This means it can currently only be built and used on
390 Linux (i.e., it's non-portable).
392 The use of a kernel module also means it is dependent on the kernel version
393 used, as well as on whether this specific module is available in the kernel.
394 Additionally, the usbtmc kernel module has been known to have various bugs
395 in some versions. These are some (but not all) drawbacks of using a kernel
396 module as opposed to a libusb-based driver that works in user-space.
398 We plan to change the driver to use the 'librevisa' user-space shared
399 library (which uses libusb) soon, which will fix all these issues and make
400 the driver portable at the same time.