TRX-1 & 2 on Linux

[g6fgy]

TRX-1 & 2 on Linux

A query for the coding experts - Linux (Mint/Ubuntu) sees the SDcard in the radio as a removable drive, which is fine, but there's no driver for the on-board modem when using EZscan or the Democontrol software - which appears to run under Wine, until you need to enter a com port.

The product & device ID are shown when examining the USB connections (2a59:0011) but there's no CDC-ACM driver associated with it. I note that some one has written an API (https://forums.radioreference.com/whistler-scanners/349122-trx-2-maybe-trx-1-cross-platform-api.html) which looks as though it'll do the job, but I don't have the coding skills to know whether the source code (as a .h file) can be used to compile a suitable driver, let alone how to do it.

So my question is, has anyone successfully written a suitable Linux driver for use when the radio is in modem mode (I.E EZscan etc) & if so, would they be prepared to share?

I run Linux as a base system and it's a right PIA to keep opening a virtual windows machine every time I want to do something on the scanner

Eric - G6FGY

 

[Wackyracer]

Easiest to just buy an old windows laptop via ebay or craigslist.

 

[g6fgy]

Easiest to just buy an old windows laptop via ebay or craigslist.

Yep, been there, done that, but would much rather pursue a Linux option so that I don't have to.

I know that there are many amateur radio programs that will only run via Windows, such as programming software etc, but the further I can get away from Windows, the better.

Eric - G6FGY

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

Microsoft's USBSer.sys driver is used under Windows. The generic usb serial driver may work under Linux, but you need to configure the system to load the driver when the scanner is connected to the computer. This is from the usb serial documentation:

Generic Serial driver

If your device is not one of the above listed devices, compatible with
the above models, you can try out the "generic" interface. This
interface does not provide any type of control messages sent to the
device, and does not support any kind of device flow control. All that
is required of your device is that it has at least one bulk in endpoint,
or one bulk out endpoint.

To enable the generic driver to recognize your device, provide
echo <vid> <pid> >/sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/generic/new_id
where the <vid> and <pid> is replaced with the hex representation of your
device's vendor id and product id.
If the driver is compiled as a module you can also provide one id when
loading the module
insmod usbserial vendor=0x#### product=0x####

This driver has been successfully used to connect to the NetChip USB
development board, providing a way to develop USB firmware without
having to write a custom driver.

73 Eric

 

[g6fgy]

Great, Eric...that's just the sort of thing I was looking for - a way to use a ready built generic driver and adding the requisite device/product ID's.

I've done a lot of googling and trying various methods over time, including attempting to compile a driver from the floor up, modifying the code as seemed appropriate, but always came out of the exercise with a frazzled brain

I hadn't spotted that particular one so I'll give it a try over the next day or so and see what happens.

Thanks for the pointer..

Eric - G6FGY

 

[g6fgy]

Update - Unfortunately no joy with the above idea, but thanks for offering the info.

I've managed to locate the source code to build a basic cdc-acm kernel driver, as that is what seems to be required. Onwards and upwards. At least I'm learning a lot more about using and compiling code.

Eric - G6FGY