Fx2lafw

fx2lafw is an open-source firmware for Cypress FX2 chips which makes them usable as simple logic analyzer hardware.

It is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL (version 2, or later) and written in C, using sdcc as compiler, and fx2lib as helper library.

Hardware overview

The fx2lafw firmware is meant to work on any FX2-based hardware, including logic analyzers, FX2 eval boards, or other hardware which has this chip on-board.

Here's a quick overview of some of the relevant hardware information we have about the various devices.

The devices marked as Clone are those that clone the USB VID/PID of the original product, and also have no own PC software/firmware, but instead illegally ship the software of the original product/manufacturer.

Device	USB VID:PID	Product type	Probes (pins)	FX2 package	Buffer / ESD-protection	Resistors	I2C EEPROM	Status
6-Lab LOGIC-U5	?	Clone (Logic)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
6-Lab LOGIC-U PLUS5	?	Clone (AX-Pro)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
6-Lab LOGIC-U PRO5	?	Clone (AX-Pro)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
6-Lab LOGIC-U ISL5	?	Clone (Logic)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
ARMFLY AX-Pro	08a9:0014	Clone (AX-Pro)	8 (+1 analog)	56LTXC (QFN)	?	100 Ω	Atmel ATML920 24C02N SU27 D	95%1
ARMFLY Mini-Logic2	08a9:0014	Clone (AX-Pro w/o scope)	8	56LTXC (QFN)	?	100 Ω	Atmel ATML920 24C02N SU27 D	100%
Braintechnology USB Interface V2.x	04b4:8613	Eval board	8/16	56PVXC (SSOP)	none	none	Microchip 24LC64I	100%
Braintechnology USB-LPS	16d0:0498	Original product	8/16	56PVXC (SSOP)	none	? 68 Ω	Atmel ATML0816 TINY13 20SU	100%
CWAV BusBee	?	Original product	4	?	?	?	?	TODO
CWAV USBee AX-Standard	08a9:0012	Original product	?	?	?	?	?	TODO
CWAV USBee AX-Plus	08a9:0013	Original product	?	?	?	?	?	TODO
CWAV USBee AX-Pro	08a9:0014	Original product	8 (+1 analog)	?	?	?	?	95%1
CWAV USBee DX	08a9:0015	Original product	16 (+2 analog)	?	?	?	?	TODO
CWAV USBee EX2	?	Original product	8	?	?	?	?	TODO
CWAV USBee SX	08a9:0009	Original product	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	none	560 Ω	Microchip 24LC01B	100%
CWAV USBee ZX	08a9:0005	Original product	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	none	?	?	TODO
EE Electronics ESLA100	0925:3881	Clone (Logic)	8	56LFXC (QFN)	NXP 74HC245D	100 Ω	Atmel ATMLH911 02B 1	100%
EE Electronics ESLA201A	08a9:0014	Clone (AX)	8 (+1 analog)	56LFXC (QFN)	none	100 Ω	Atmel ATMLH113	95%1
ITead Studio MiniLogic4	?	Clone (Logic, AX w/o scope)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
ITead Studio ITDB01	?	Eval board	?	?	?	?	?	100%
Lcsoft Mini Board	04b4:8613 / 0925:3881	Eval board / Clone (Logic)	8/16	56PVXC (SSOP)	none	none	Shenzhen First-Rank Technology T24C128A	100%
MCU123 Saleae Logic clone	0925:3881	Clone (Logic)	8	56PVC (SSOP)	NXP 74HC245	100 Ω	Atmel AT24C02	100%
MCU123 USBee AX Pro clone2	08a9:0014	Clone (AX-Pro w/o scope)	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	NXP 74HC245	100 Ω	Atmel AT24C02	100%
MDSO-LA	?	Clone (SX, AX-Pro)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
Mollex Logic Analyzer3	?	Clone (Logic, AX w/o scope)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
Noname Saleae Logic clone I	?	Clone (Logic)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
Pandatron PLA8 (S, E)	?	Clone (Logic)	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	SN74LVC245APWR	100 Ω	?	100%
picavr Digital USB Analyzer v1	?	Clone (Logic, AX w/o scope)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
picavr A/D USB Analyzer v2	?	Clone (Logic, AX)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
picavr A/D USB Analyzer v3	?	Clone (Logic, AX)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
picavr A/D USB Analyzer v4	?	Clone (Logic, AX)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
Robomotic BugLogic 2	?	Clone (Logic, SX/ZX)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
Robomotic BugLogic 3	0925:3881	Clone (Logic)	8	?	?	?	?	100%
Robomotic MiniLogic	0925:3881	Clone (Logic, AX w/o scope)	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	74HC244A	?	2x Microchip 24LC02BI, 1x 24LC64I	100%
Robomotic XZL0247	?	Clone (AX)	?	?	?	?	?	95%1
Saleae Logic	0925:3881	Original product	8	56PVXC (SSOP)	ST DVIULC6-4SC6	?	?	100%
Sysclk Box	?	Clone (SX, AX-Pro w/o scope)	?	?	?	?	?	100%
XZL_Studio AX	08a9:0014	Clone (AX-Pro)	8 (+2 analog)	56LTXC (QFN)	?	100 Ω	Atmel 24C02N	95%1
XZL Studio DX6	2x 08a9:0015	Clone (DX)	8/16	56PVXC (SSOP)	?	?	Atmel ATML H136 24C02C M Y	TODO

All devices use a 24MHz crystal. For 8 probes the FX2 pins PB0-PB7 are used, for 16 probes PB0-PB7 and PD0-PD7. For analog support PD0-PD7 (plus additional hardware) is usually used.

¹ Analog signal support is not yet implemented.
² Even though this devices has the same USB VID/PID as the CWAV USBee AX-Pro, it only has 8 channels and no analog support.
³ Clone of the USBee AX and Saleae Logic. "Mollex" is the name of the guy who seems to sell it on some forum.
⁴ Clone of the USBee AX (SX?) and Saleae Logic, see also here and here. Dissection by a user here. Seems to be the same hardware as the Robomotic MiniLogic.
⁵ It seems 6-Labs has/had permission from Saleae to distribute the hardware in Ukraine (only)? Various adapters are available, for example RS422/RS232/CAN, galvanic isolation, "BNC divider".
⁶ There is apparently a post from the author of XZL-Studio DX in some forum.
⁷ There's an RS232/RS485/RS422/CAN converter board for this.

Download

Released versions of the source code can be downloaded as tarball from SourceForge:

 http://sourceforge.net/projects/sigrok/files/source/sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw/

There are also pre-built firmware files that can be used without having to build them from source. You can download those from SourceForge too:

 http://sourceforge.net/projects/sigrok/files/binary/sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw/

Or you can get the latest development snapshot of the source code from git:

$ git clone git://sigrok.org/sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw

Usage

Build sigrok

• Build and install a libsigrok frontend (CLI or GUI) with libsigrok >= 0.1.1 (or latest git HEAD) for your platform as usual, see Building.

Install the udev rules file

These steps prevent the need to run libsigrok frontends as superuser.

• Copy the udev rules file from libsigrok/contrib/z60_libsigrok.rules to /etc/udev/rules.d/ (or where-ever your distribution stores udev rules files).
• Restart udev: sudo /etc/init.d/udev restart.

Build fx2lafw

$ cd sigrok-firmware-fx2lafw
$ ./autogen.sh
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo make install

This will install the firmware files into /usr/local/share/sigrok-firmware/, per default.

Pre-built firmware files

There are also pre-built firmware files that can be used without having to build them from source (see above).

Cypress FX2 vs. FX2LP

Various devices supported by fx2lafw can use either the older Cypress CY7C68013 (FX2) or the more recent Cypress CY7C68013A (FX2LP).

There are various differences between the two ICs, see AN4078 - Migrating From EZ-USB FX2 to EZ-USB FX2LP (PDF) for the details.

There are known cases of e.g. the CWAV USBee SX having shipped with an FX2 at some point, and more recent units shipping with an FX2LP. Also, it's not too uncommon that some FX2 "eval board" or clone of an existing logic analyser (e.g. CWAV USBee SX or Saleae Logic ones) has "CY7C68013A (FX2LP)" chip markings, but in reality it really is an older "CY7C68013 (FX2)".

Resources

• Browse Source Code
• sdcc (C compiler for 8051 microcontrollers, usable for FX2)
• fx2lib: SF project page, blog article, github repo, mailing list
• Cypress FX2 docs:
  • CY7C68013A, CY7C68014A, CY7C68015A, CY7C68016A datasheet (PDF)
  • EZ-USB Technical Reference Manual (TRM) (PDF)
  • EZ-USB FX2LP appnotes
  • EZ-USB FX2LP errata
  • GPIF Designer (Windows software, requires login)
    • CY3681 EZ-USB FX2 Development Kit (GPIF designer downloadable without login)
  • AN4078 - Migrating From EZ-USB FX2 to EZ-USB FX2LP (PDF)