Measurement Computing (MCC) Linux Drivers

🙉 🙈 🙊

This repository contains Linux drivers for data acquisition boards from Measurement Computing Corp., MCC (aka ComputerBoards). All these drivers are maintained by Warren J. Jasper (wjasper@ncsu.edu). Please send any comments, suggestions, or questions to me. All the PCI drivers are licensed under the Gnu Public License while the USB, Ethernet, and Bluetooth drivers are licensed under the Lesser Gnu Public License or LGPL. Most PCI drivers will run under the Linux 2.6, 3.X ,4.X and 5.X kernels.

For more information on these cards, go to http://www.measurementcomputing.com

If you don't see a driver for a card you want or have, or if there is a feature that you want but are having problems implementing, please write me (wjasper@ncsu.edu) about it.

There have been many requests for Python drivers, which I have put off for many reasons. However, I am beginning the process starting with the E-1608.py (Ethernet devices) and am now writing them for USB HID and high speed USB devices. I should have most of them done by 2020. Please send me comments and feedback.

Note: There have been many changes to the 2.6 kernel API. All the drivers have been tested with the 2.6.22 kernel. There are backward compatibility issues, so it may or may not work under earlier versions of 2.6 (pre 2.6.22). Please send email and I'll try to work them out, or upgrade to the 2.6.22 or later kernel. Around 2.6.29, the kernel API changed enough that I started a new version of the modules. I do not have a new version of the modules for each version of the kernel. If you notice problems that are kernel version related, use a later version or email me. The pci drivers should also work on the 3.X and 4.X kernels. Most should also work with the 5.X kernels.

I have divided the drivers into categories by bus type. Thus, all the USB drivers are in the USB directory, etc. There are additional README files for each bus type, and also for C and Python. Therefore, please look carefully for the README files as they provide additional information and will save us an email exchange. This might seem overly long and complicated, but you will save yourself a lot of upfront time if you prepare your system with the correct packages before beginning.

I have written drivers for the following boards:

PCI Cards

1. PCI-DAS08
2. PCI-DAS1602/16
3. PCI-DAS4020/12
4. PCI-DIO24,PCIe, DIO24/LP, DIO24/S
5. PCI-DIO24H
6. PCI-DIO48H
7. PCI-DIO96
8. PCI-DIO96H
9. PCI-DAS1000
10. PCI-DAS1001
11. PCI-DAS1002
12. PCI-CTR05
13. PCI-CTR10
14. PCI-CTR20HD
15. PCI-DDA0x-12
16. PCI-DDA0x-16
17. PCI-QUAD04
18. PCIM-DAS1602/16
19. PCIM-DAS16Jr/16
20. PCIM-DDA06-16

Ethernet

1. E-1608 (C/Python)
2. E-DIO24 (C/Python)
3. E-TC (C/Python)
4. E-TC32 (C/Python)

Bluetooth

1. BTH-1208LS (C/Python)

New❗ Python drivers for BTH-1208LS

USB Uses the libusb.1.0/HIDAPI
USB-1208FS, USB-1024LS, USB-1024HLS, USB-1608FS, USB-1208LS USB-TC, USB-TEMP, USB-1096HFS, USB-1616FS miniLAB-1008, USB-5201, USB-5203 USB-SSR24, USB-SSR08, USB-3101,USB-3102, USB-3103,USB-3104, USB-3105, USB-3106, USB-3110, USB-3112, USB-3114, USB-501, USB-502, USB-503, USB-504, USB-ERB, USB-DIO96H, USB-DIO96H/50, USB-4301, USB-4303, USB-DIO24, USB-DIO24H, USB-1408FS, USB-TC-AI, USB-TEMP-AI USB-1608HS, USB-1608HS-2AO, USB-2416, USB-1208HS, USB-1608G, USB-1608GX, UB-1608GX-2AO USB-1608FS-Plus, USB-2633, USB-2637, USB-201, USB-204, USB-205, USB-CTR8, USB-1208FS-Plus, USB-1408FS-Plus, USB-2020 USB-2001TC USB-2408 USB-7202 USB-7204 USB-DIO32HS USB-1808, USB-1808X

Python USB-1208LS, USB-miniLAB1008, USB-1024LS, USB-1024HLS, USB-DIO24, USB-DIO24H, USB-SSR24, USB-SSR08, USB-ERB24, USB-ERB08, USB-PDISO8 USB-1208FS, USB-1408FS, USB-1608FS, USB-2408, USB-2408-2AO, USB-3101, USB-3101, USB-3102, USB-3103, USB-3104, USB-3105, USB-3106, USB-3110, USB-3112, USB-3114, USB-2001TC, USB-CTR-04, USB-CTR08, BTH-120LS, USB-201, USB-202, USB-204, USB-205, USB-1608G, USB-1608GX, USB-1608GX-2AO, USB-1808, USB-1808X, USB-2623, USB-2627, USB-2633, USB-2637, USB-DIO32HS, USB-1208HS, USB-1208HS-2AO, USB-1208HS-4AO

New Python❗ USB-31XX, USB-2001TC USB-CTR04, USB-CTR08, USB-201, USB-202, USB-204, USB-205, USB-1608G, USB-1608GX, USB-1608GX-2AO, USB-1808, USB-1808X.

====================================================================

FAQ: Here are some questions that I sometimes get that might help.

1. Q: Should Plug-And-Play be set in the BIOS
   A: You should disable/Turn off Plug-And-Play in the BIOS.

2. Q: The newer Makefiles don't work under 2.4.X kernel.
   A: Depending on your distribution, esp. Red-Hat, the new Makefile won't work for the 2.4.X kernel out of the box. Please do the following:

   1. install the kernel-source (or kernel-sourcecode on Fedora) rpm. 
   2. cd /usr/src/linux-*
   3. type "make xconfig"
   4. click "Save and Exit"
   5. IMPORTANT:  do not do anything else, esp make dep, make modules.
      You either need to recompile the entire kernel or none at all.
      You should see a .config file in /usr/src/linux-*
   Now the Makefile will work.  This should not be an issue under 2.6.X.
   

3. Q: The newer Makefiles don't work under 2.6.X kernel.
   A: If the driver is not compiling, chances are you forgot to include the kernel-include pacakge for your disribution. They go by different names depending upon your distribution, but a good place to look is in /lib/modules/uname -r/build/include. This directory should not be empty.

4. Q: How do I know if I have a hardware problem with the board?
   A: Measurement Computing tests each and every board and QC's it before shipping. It is rare, but possible that you have a bad board. Run InstaCal (under Windows). If InstaCal fails, you should contact Measurement Computing, as it is likely you have a hardware problem.

5. Q: The driver fails to load.
   A: There are many reasons why the driver may fail to load. Check that
   a) Modules are enabled in the kernel.
   b) Check that the board is installed. You can not install the driver if the boards are not installed.

   Under the new 2.6 improved drivers, the modules should autoload if you have pci-coldplug installed. After typeing

   $ make
   $ make install
   $/sbin/depmod -a

   This should put the correct entry in /lib/modules/uname -r/modules.alias file and /lib/modules/uname -r/modules.pcimap and your system will load the driver (kernel module) on bootup. If you update your kernel, you will need to repeat the process (make, make install, depmod -a). If this fails, put the following line in rc.local:

    if [ -x /sbin/modprobe ]; then
      /sbin/modprobe driver_name
    fi

6. Q: The driver loads, but the test program does not run correctly.
   A: Type "dmesg" as see if there is a message at the end about the driver loading correctly. If the driver loaded correctly, but you are not getting what you think is the correct answer, check the cable (either it is loose or you put in in backwards), or your wiring. It is possible that the board is bad (See Question 4).

7. Q: How do I access the drivers as a non-root user.
   A: for the 2.6 kernels: copy the file 60-mcc.rules to /etc/udev/rules.d and restart udev (or reboot)

   $ cp 60-mcc.rules /etc/udev/rules.d  
   $ /sbin/udevadm control --reload-rules

   for the 3.X and 4.X kernels: copy the file 61-mcc.rules to /etc/udev/rules.d and restart udev (or reboot)

   $ cp 61-mcc.rules /etc/udev/rules.d  
   $ /sbin/udevadm control --reload 

8. Q: Under Ubuntu, the drivers compile correctly, but do not load. I can not run the test-pci* program.
   A: Recent versions of Ubuntu are now shipping with the COMEDI drivers. These are a set of data acquistion drivers for a variety of boards that conflict with my drivers. The drivers in question may look like cb_* or 8255_pci. Type lsmod -vv | grep cb or lspci -vv to see the names of the driver associated with your board. Then go to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf and add the line

   blacklist 8255_pci (or whatever the name of the kernel module is)
   update-initramfs -u

   Then run

    $ depmod -a 

   and reboot. After reboot, use lsmod is see if the drivers are gone. If not, seach the web blacklisting kernel modules.

9. Q: Under Raspbian on the Raspberry Pi, I can not run the test program except as root.
   A: Go to /etc/udev/rules.d and rename the file 61-mcc.rules to 99-mcc.rules and reboot.