Is there a linux Driver module for Elitech data logger RC5 ?

[Bernard]

Thanks to everyone, my Elitech Temperature recorder RC-5 is now 
operating very nicely under my systems Debian and Ubuntu.

For the records, I have written a short digest on how to operate this 
data recorder under Linux, which is available at the url below :

http://bdebreil.free.fr/LinuxDriverForTempRecorderEllitechRC5.odt

Bernard

On 9/11/18 6:27 PM, Robert Heller wrote:

>> In my /dev directory, i found this :
>>       drwxr-xr-x  4 root       root          80 sept. 11 12:36 serial
>>       crw-rw----  1 root       dialout 188,   0 sept. 10 19:44 ttyUSB0
>>
>> those 2 lines appear and disappear when plugging/unplugging the RC5,
>> which confirms,
>> but I don't know what to do next.
> 
> There are several "USB<->MCU" chips available (some built into MCUs).  Almost
> all show up "emulating" a RS232 port.  "MCU" == MicroController Unit,
> basically a microprocessor with a pile of GPIO pins, with on-chip RAM and
> "flash"/EEPROM -- these are commonly used for all sorts of gadgets, including
> various USB-connected sensor devices, like your datareader.
> 
> The USB<->MCU can be used to download firmware to the MCU, using a "protocol"
> of sorts over the "psuedo-serial port" that shows up.  This is in fact
> *exactly* what the Arduino and all of its family and friends and relatives do.
> One can also use gdb over this "psuedo-serial port".
> 
> *Some* "USB<->MCU" chips can be set to disable the "psuedo-serial port"
> emulation and implement some sort of "generic" USB endpoint interface.  But I
> suspect that many of the gadget makers don't bother and just put their I/O
> over the "psuedo-serial port" and this is probably true of the older gadget
> makers who were making RS232 / RS485 interfaced gadgets back in the "old
> days".
> 
> In your case the "Elitech data logger RC5" is much like an Arduino and the USB
> interface chip is doing its "default" thing and showing up as a "psuedo-serial
> port".  You don't actually need a "driver" -- Linux already has a kernel
> driver for this USB-based "psuedo-seria port" (since /dev/ttyUSB0 is already
> showing up).  At this point you just need software that reads from this serial
> port (/dev/ttyUSB0) and "decodes" the messages from the data logger.  There
> are two possiblities, either the data logger is sending ASCII text [lines] or
> it is sending some sort of binary message (eg SOT data chksum EOT or something
> like that).
>