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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 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)
121 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
125 - zeroplus-logic-cube
128 Specifying serial ports
129 -----------------------
131 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
132 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
134 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
135 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
136 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
140 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
142 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
149 - center-3xx (including all subdrivers)
153 - gmc-mh-1x-2x (including all subdrivers)
156 - mic-985xx (including all subdrivers)
158 - openbench-logic-sniffer
159 - rigol-ds (for RS232; not required for USBTMC or TCP)
160 - serial-dmm (including all subdrivers)
161 - serial-lcr (including all subdrivers)
165 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
173 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
178 - rigol-ds (USBTMC or TCP)
181 - uni-t-dmm (including all subdrivers)
184 - yokogawa-dlm (USBTMC or TCP)
185 - zeroplus-logic-cube
188 Specifying serial port parameters
189 ---------------------------------
191 Every serial device's driver has default serial port parameters like baud
192 rate, number of data bits, stop bits and handshake status. If a device requires
193 different parameters, pass them as option "serialcomm" with the driver name.
194 See libsigrok docs for the function serial_set_paramstr() for complete specs.
198 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=<someconn>:serialcomm=9600/7n1/dtr=1
201 Permissions of serial port based devices
202 ----------------------------------------
204 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
205 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
206 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
207 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
209 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
210 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
212 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
213 (see below for details).
216 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
217 ---------------------------------------------
219 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
220 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
221 for the respective USB device.
223 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
224 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
226 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
227 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
228 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
230 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
231 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
232 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
233 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
235 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
236 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
237 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
238 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
239 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
240 re-attach your device via USB.
242 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
245 Cypress FX2 based devices
246 -------------------------
248 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
249 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
250 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
252 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
253 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
255 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
258 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
259 ---------------------------------------
261 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
262 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
264 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
265 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
266 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
268 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
269 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
270 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
271 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
273 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
274 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
275 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
277 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
278 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
279 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
281 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
282 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
284 Examples (sigrok-cli):
286 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
287 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
289 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
290 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
291 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
293 You also need to specify the USB vendor/device IDs of the cable.
294 Autodetection is not possible here, since various other products use the
295 USB VID/PID of those cables too, and there is no way to distinguish them.
297 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
298 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
299 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
300 to access the respective USB device (see above).
302 Examples (sigrok-cli):
304 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e:conn=1a86.e008 ...
305 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820:conn=04fa.2490 ...
308 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
309 ---------------------------------
311 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
312 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
313 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
314 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
315 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
317 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
318 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
319 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
321 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
324 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
325 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
326 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
331 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
332 ----------------------------------------------------
334 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
335 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
336 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
337 a short list for convenience:
339 - BBC Goertz Metrawatt M2110: Briefly press the "Start/Reset" button on the
340 interface panel on top.
341 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
342 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 1x/2x devices, driver gmc-mh-1x-2x-rs232:
343 - Power on the device with the "DATA" button pressed.
344 - Metrahit 2x devices must be configured for the respective interface type.
345 - Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit 2x devices, driver gmc-mh-2x-bd232:
347 The multimeter must be configured for the respective interface type.
348 - 'SI232-II' interface ("PC Mode"):
349 The multimeter must be configured for interface type 'BD232' (all),
350 'SI232 online' (28-29S) or 'SI232 store' (22-26x). The interface must
351 be configured to the same baud rate as the host (default 9600).
352 Multimeter and interface must be configured to the same address.
353 - Norma DM950: If the interface doesn't work (e.g. USB-RS232 converter), power
354 on the device with "FUNC" pressed (to power the interface from the DMM).
355 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
356 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
357 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
358 - Tenma 72-7750: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
359 - UNI-T UT60G: Briefly press the "RS232C" button.
360 - UNI-T UT61B/C/D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
361 - UNI-T UT71x: Press the "SEND/-/MAXMIN" button for roughly 1 second.
362 Briefly pressing the "EXIT" button leaves this mode again.
363 - UNI-T UT325: Briefly press the "SEND" button (as per manual). However, it
364 appears that in practice you don't have to press the button (at least on
365 some versions of the device), simply connect the device via USB.
366 - V&A VA18B/VA40B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the DMM.
367 - Victor 70C/86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
368 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
369 - Voltcraft VC-870: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 1 second.
372 ChronoVu LA8/LA16 USB VID/PIDs
373 ------------------------------
375 The ChronoVu LA8/LA16 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
376 the device shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
377 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
379 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8/LA16 from any other device
380 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
381 device with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
383 The 'chronovu-la' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
384 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair.
390 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer
391 driver in libsigrok assumes a somewhat recent firmware has been flashed onto
392 the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware upload every time it's attached via USB,
393 since the firmware is stored in the device permanently).
395 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
397 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
398 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
399 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
401 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
403 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
404 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
405 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
409 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...