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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 - nexus-osciprime: The Nexus Computing OsciPrime PC oscilloscope needs
46 firmware files. These are available from the vendor website.
48 The following drivers/devices do not need any firmware upload:
58 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
62 - openbench-logic-sniffer
71 Specifying serial ports
72 -----------------------
74 Many devices supported by libsigrok use serial port based cables (real RS232
75 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC.
77 For all these devices, you need to specify the serial port they are connected
78 to (e.g. using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli). It is not possible to scan
79 for such devices without specifying a serial port.
83 $ sigrok-cli --driver <somedriver>:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
85 The following drivers/devices require a serial port specification:
95 - openbench-logic-sniffer
99 The following drivers/devices do not require a serial port specification:
107 - ikalogic-scanalogic2
112 - zeroplus-logic-cube
115 Permissions of serial port based devices
116 ----------------------------------------
118 When using devices supported by libsigrok that use serial port based cables
119 (real RS232 or USB-to-serial ones) to connect to a PC, you need to ensure
120 that the user running the libsigrok frontend has (read/write) permissions to
121 access the serial port device (e.g. /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0, and so on).
123 You can use 'chmod' to apply permissions as you see fit, and/or 'chown' to
124 change the owner of the serial port device to a certain user or group.
126 For USB-to-serial based devices, we recommended using our udev rules file
127 (see below for details).
130 Permissions for USB devices (udev rules file)
131 ---------------------------------------------
133 When using USB-based devices supported by libsigrok, the user running the
134 libsigrok frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) has to have (read/write) permissions
135 for the respective USB device.
137 On Linux, this is accomplished using either 'chmod' (not recommended) or
138 using the udev rules file shipped with libsigrok (recommended).
140 The file is available in contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules. It contains entries
141 for all libsigrok-supported (USB-based) devices and changes their group
142 to 'plugdev' and the permissions to '664'.
144 When using a libsigrok package from your favorite Linux distribution, the
145 packager will have already taken care of properly installing the udev file
146 in the correct (distro-specific) place, and you don't have to do anything.
147 The packager might also have adapted 'plugdev' and '664' as needed.
149 If you're building from source, you need to copy the file to the place
150 where your distro expects such files. This is beyond the scope of this README,
151 but generally the location could be e.g. /etc/udev/rules.d, or maybe
152 /lib/udev/rules.d, or something else. Afterwards you might have to restart
153 udev, e.g. via '/etc/init.d/udev restart' or similar, and you'll have to
154 re-attach your device via USB.
156 Please consult the udev docs of your distro for details.
159 Cypress FX2 based devices
160 -------------------------
162 Devices using the Cypress FX2(LP) chip without any specific USB VID/PID will
163 be enumerated with VID/PID 04b4:8613 (the default for "unconfigured FX2").
164 These are usually "FX2 eval boards" (that can also be used as LAs, though).
166 On Linux, the 'usbtest' driver will usually grab such devices, and they will
167 thus not be usable by libsigrok (and frontends).
169 You can fix this by running 'rmmod usbtest' as root before using the device.
172 UNI-T DMM (and rebranded models) cables
173 ---------------------------------------
175 UNI-T multimeters (and rebranded devices, e.g. some Voltcraft models) can
176 ship with different PC connectivity cables:
178 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with Hoitek HE2325U chip, USB VID/PID 04fa:2490)
179 - UT-D04 (USB/HID cable with WCH CH9325 chip, USB VID/PID 1a86:e008)
180 - UT-D02 (RS232 cable)
182 The above cables are all physically compatible (same IR connector shape)
183 with all/most currently known UNI-T multimeters. For example, you can
184 use either of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables or the UT-D02 RS232 cable with
185 the UNI-T UT61D multimeter.
187 When using the UT-D02 RS232 cable with any of the supported UNI-T DMMs,
188 you have to use the respective driver with a '-ser' drivername suffix
189 (internally all of these models are handled by the 'serial-dmm' driver).
191 You also need to specify the serial port via the 'conn' option, e.g.
192 /dev/ttyUSB0 (attached via a USB-to-serial cable) or /dev/ttyS0 (actual
193 RS232 port) on Linux (see above).
195 Finally, the user running the frontend (e.g. sigrok-cli) also needs
196 permissions to access the respective serial port (see above).
198 Examples (sigrok-cli):
200 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e-ser:conn=/dev/ttyUSB0 ...
201 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820-ser:conn=/dev/ttyS0 ...
203 When using any of the UT-D04 USB/HID cables you have to use the respective
204 driver _without_ the '-ser' drivername suffix (internally all of these models
205 are handled by the 'uni-t-dmm' driver).
207 Since the UT-D04 cables are USB based (but don't use a USB-to-serial chip)
208 there is no need to specify a serial port via 'conn', of course.
209 However, the user running the frontend does also need to have permissions
210 to access the respective USB device (see above).
212 Examples (sigrok-cli):
214 $ sigrok-cli --driver uni-t-ut61e ...
215 $ sigrok-cli --driver voltcraft-vc820 ...
218 UNI-T UT-D04 cable issue on Linux
219 ---------------------------------
221 The UNI-T UT-D04 cable with Hoitek HE2325U (or WCH CH9325) chip seems to have
222 a very specific problem on Linux. Apparently it requires to be put into
223 suspend (and woken up again) before it is usable. This seems to be a
224 Linux-only issue, Windows is not affected by this since apparently the
225 Windows kernel does this for every USB device, always.
227 Thus, if you want to use any of the UNI-T DMMs with this specific cable,
228 you'll have to run the following script (as root) once, every time you attach
229 the cable via USB. The script was written by Ralf Burger.
231 See also: http://erste.de/UT61/index.html
234 for dat in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*; do
235 if test -e $dat/manufacturer; then
236 grep "WCH.CN" $dat/manufacturer > /dev/null && echo auto > ${dat}/power/level && echo 0 > ${dat}/power/autosuspend
241 Enabling multimeter / data logger measurement output
242 ----------------------------------------------------
244 Some multimeters or data loggers will not start outputting measurement data
245 unless a certain action has been performed by the user beforehand. This is
246 usually mentioned in the vendor manual of the respective device, but here's
247 a short list for convenience:
249 - Digitek DT4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
250 - PCE PCE-DM32: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
251 - RadioShack 22-812: Press and hold "SELECT" and "RANGE" together.
252 - TekPower TP4000ZC: Briefly press the "RS232" button.
253 - UNI-T UT61D: Press the "REL/RS232/USB" button for roughly 1 second.
254 - V&A VA18B: Keep the "Hz/DUTY" key pressed while powering on the device.
255 - Victor 70C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
256 - Victor 86C: Press the "REL/RS232" button for roughly 1 second.
257 - Voltcraft VC-830: Press the "REL/PC" button for roughly 2 seconds.
263 The 'alsa' driver can be used to sample analog data using a PC's soundcard.
264 I.e. the sound card can act as a simple oscilloscope (with some limitations)
265 using commercial or DIY "sound card scope probe" cables.
267 Since ALSA is a Linux-specific sound system, this driver will inherently
268 only compile and work on Linux.
270 We might write additional drivers to make a similar functionality available
271 on other OSes at some point.
274 Link Instruments MSO-19
275 -----------------------
277 The driver for the Link Instruments MSO-19 mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO)
278 is currently using libudev (which is a library for the Linux-specific udev
279 system). Thus, this driver can currently only compile and work on Linux.
281 We plan to fix this though, so that it'll work on all other OSes, too.
284 ChronoVu LA8 USB VID/PIDs
285 -------------------------
287 The ChronoVu LA8 logic analyzer is available in two revisions. Previously,
288 the LA8 shipped with a USB VID/PID of 0403:6001, which is the standard ID
289 for FTDI FT232 USB chips.
291 Since this made it hard to distinguish the LA8 from any other device
292 with this FTDI chip connected to the PC, the vendor later shipped the
293 LA8 with a USB VID/PID of 0403:8867.
295 The 'chronovu-la8' driver in libsigrok supports both VID/PID pairs and
296 automatically finds devices with either VID/PID pair. However, currently
297 the driver will assume any device with VID/PID 0403:6001 is a ChronoVu LA8.
303 The Dangerous Prototypes Openbench Logic Sniffer (OLS) logic analyzer is
304 supported by the 'ols' driver in libsigrok. This driver assumes a somewhat
305 recent firmware has been flashed onto the OLS (it doesn't need a firmware
306 upload every time it's attached via USB, since the firmware is stored in the
309 The most recent firmware version that is tested is 3.07.
311 If you use any older firmware and your OLS is not found or is not working
312 properly, please upgrade to at least this firmware version. Check the
313 Dangerous Prototypes wiki for firmware upgrade instructions:
315 http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Logic_Sniffer_upgrade_procedure
317 Also, you need to specify a serial port for the OLS in the frontends, e.g.
318 using the 'conn' option in sigrok-cli, and you also need to have the
319 permissions to access the serial port (see above).
323 $ sigrok-cli --driver ols:conn=/dev/ttyACM0 ...
326 Rigol DS1xx2 oscilloscopes
327 --------------------------
329 The 'rigol-ds1xx2' driver (for the Rigol DS1052E and some other, similar DSOs)
330 currently uses the Linux usbtmc kernel driver. This means it can currently
331 only be built and used on Linux (i.e., it's non-portable).
333 The use of a kernel module also means it is dependent on the kernel version
334 used, as well as on whether this specific module is available in the kernel.
335 Additionally, the usbtmc kernel module has been known to have various bugs
336 in some versions. These are some (but not all) drawbacks of using a kernel
337 module as opposed to a libusb-based driver that works in user-space.
339 We plan to change the driver to use the 'librevisa' user-space shared
340 library (which uses libusb) soon, which will fix all these issues and make
341 the driver portable at the same time.