USAGE.md

USAGE NOTES with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Configuration file

ScanTool saves the settings of the configuration panel in a file named .scantoolrc located in the home directory. Example of configuration file:

version = 2.1

[general]
system_of_measurements = 0
display_mode = 1

[comm]
baud_rate = 15
comport_number = 4

[sensors]
sensor0 = -1
sensor1 = -1
sensor2 = -1
sensor3 = -1
sensor4 = -1
sensor5 = -1
sensor6 = -1
sensor7 = -1
sensor8 = -1
sensor9 = 0
sensor10 = 0
sensor11 = 0
sensor12 = 0
sensor13 = 0
sensor14 = -1
sensor15 = 0
sensor16 = 0
sensor17 = 0
sensor18 = 0
sensor19 = 0
sensor20 = 0
sensor21 = 0
sensor22 = 0
sensor23 = 0
sensor24 = 0
sensor25 = 0
sensor26 = -1
sensor27 = 0
sensor28 = 0
sensor29 = 0
sensor30 = 0
sensor31 = 0
sensor32 = 0
sensor33 = 0
sensor34 = 0
sensor35 = 0
sensor36 = 0
sensor37 = 0
sensor38 = 0
sensor39 = 0
sensor40 = 0
sensor41 = 0
sensor42 = 0
sensor43 = 0
sensor44 = 0
sensor45 = 0
sensor46 = 0
sensor47 = 0
sensor48 = 0
sensor49 = 0
sensor50 = 0
sensor51 = 0
sensor52 = 0
sensor53 = 0
sensor54 = 0
sensor55 = 0
sensor56 = 0
sensor57 = 0
sensor58 = 0
sensor59 = 0
sensor60 = 0
sensor61 = 0
sensor62 = 0
sensor63 = 0
sensor64 = 0
sensor65 = 0
sensor66 = 0
sensor67 = 0
sensor68 = 0
sensor69 = 0
sensor70 = 0
sensor71 = 0

To reset the configuration (e.g., when the program is stuck in resetting an unavailable hardware interface), simply remove the file:

rm ~/.scantoolrc

Standard serial COM port

A standard serial COM port in the form /dev/ttyS<number> is configured in ~/.scantoolrc with the following line: comport_number = <number>; for instance, /dev/ttyS3 is represented as follows in ~/.scantoolrc:

[comm]
comport_number = 3

USB COM port

A USB COM port in the form /dev/ttyUSB<number> is configured in ~/.scantoolrc with the following line: comport_number = 100 + USB number; for instance, for /dev/ttyUSB0, set the following in ~/.scantoolrc:

[comm]
comport_number = 100

Pseudo-tty support

To use a pseudo-tty as COM port, edit ~/.scantoolrc and add the line comport_number = 1000 + pty number; for instance, for /dev/pts/3, set the following in ~/.scantoolrc:

[comm]
comport_number = 1003

Note: when setting a pseudo-tty, only edit ~/.scantoolrc and do not try setting a PTY serial port through the "Options" panel of the user interface, which currently does not provide this feature.

Compilation

To perform a standard compilation, with the following example, which also includes prerequisites:

sudo apt install -y liballegro4.4 liballegro4-dev allegro4-doc
make clean
make

Enabling logging

In order to enable logging to a file named "comm_log.txt" in the current directory, set the log_comms flag to 1 in the ~/.scantoolrc file:

[general]
log_comms = 1