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0001 .. SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-3-Clause)
0002 
0003 can327: ELM327 driver for Linux SocketCAN
0004 ==========================================
0005 
0006 Authors
0007 --------
0008 
0009 Max Staudt <max@enpas.org>
0010 
0011 
0012 
0013 Motivation
0014 -----------
0015 
0016 This driver aims to lower the initial cost for hackers interested in
0017 working with CAN buses.
0018 
0019 CAN adapters are expensive, few, and far between.
0020 ELM327 interfaces are cheap and plentiful.
0021 Let's use ELM327s as CAN adapters.
0022 
0023 
0024 
0025 Introduction
0026 -------------
0027 
0028 This driver is an effort to turn abundant ELM327 based OBD interfaces
0029 into full fledged (as far as possible) CAN interfaces.
0030 
0031 Since the ELM327 was never meant to be a stand alone CAN controller,
0032 the driver has to switch between its modes as quickly as possible in
0033 order to fake full-duplex operation.
0034 
0035 As such, can327 is a best effort driver. However, this is more than
0036 enough to implement simple request-response protocols (such as OBD II),
0037 and to monitor broadcast messages on a bus (such as in a vehicle).
0038 
0039 Most ELM327s come as nondescript serial devices, attached via USB or
0040 Bluetooth. The driver cannot recognize them by itself, and as such it
0041 is up to the user to attach it in form of a TTY line discipline
0042 (similar to PPP, SLIP, slcan, ...).
0043 
0044 This driver is meant for ELM327 versions 1.4b and up, see below for
0045 known limitations in older controllers and clones.
0046 
0047 
0048 
0049 Data sheet
0050 -----------
0051 
0052 The official data sheets can be found at ELM electronics' home page:
0053 
0054   https://www.elmelectronics.com/
0055 
0056 
0057 
0058 How to attach the line discipline
0059 ----------------------------------
0060 
0061 Every ELM327 chip is factory programmed to operate at a serial setting
0062 of 38400 baud/s, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stopbit.
0063 
0064 If you have kept this default configuration, the line discipline can
0065 be attached on a command prompt as follows::
0066 
0067     sudo ldattach \
0068            --debug \
0069            --speed 38400 \
0070            --eightbits \
0071            --noparity \
0072            --onestopbit \
0073            --iflag -ICRNL,INLCR,-IXOFF \
0074            30 \
0075            /dev/ttyUSB0
0076 
0077 To change the ELM327's serial settings, please refer to its data
0078 sheet. This needs to be done before attaching the line discipline.
0079 
0080 Once the ldisc is attached, the CAN interface starts out unconfigured.
0081 Set the speed before starting it::
0082 
0083     # The interface needs to be down to change parameters
0084     sudo ip link set can0 down
0085     sudo ip link set can0 type can bitrate 500000
0086     sudo ip link set can0 up
0087 
0088 500000 bit/s is a common rate for OBD-II diagnostics.
0089 If you're connecting straight to a car's OBD port, this is the speed
0090 that most cars (but not all!) expect.
0091 
0092 After this, you can set out as usual with candump, cansniffer, etc.
0093 
0094 
0095 
0096 How to check the controller version
0097 ------------------------------------
0098 
0099 Use a terminal program to attach to the controller.
0100 
0101 After issuing the "``AT WS``" command, the controller will respond with
0102 its version::
0103 
0104     >AT WS
0105 
0106 
0107     ELM327 v1.4b
0108 
0109     >
0110 
0111 Note that clones may claim to be any version they like.
0112 It is not indicative of their actual feature set.
0113 
0114 
0115 
0116 
0117 Communication example
0118 ----------------------
0119 
0120 This is a short and incomplete introduction on how to talk to an ELM327.
0121 It is here to guide understanding of the controller's and the driver's
0122 limitation (listed below) as well as manual testing.
0123 
0124 
0125 The ELM327 has two modes:
0126 
0127 - Command mode
0128 - Reception mode
0129 
0130 In command mode, it expects one command per line, terminated by CR.
0131 By default, the prompt is a "``>``", after which a command can be
0132 entered::
0133 
0134     >ATE1
0135     OK
0136     >
0137 
0138 The init script in the driver switches off several configuration options
0139 that are only meaningful in the original OBD scenario the chip is meant
0140 for, and are actually a hindrance for can327.
0141 
0142 
0143 When a command is not recognized, such as by an older version of the
0144 ELM327, a question mark is printed as a response instead of OK::
0145 
0146     >ATUNKNOWN
0147     ?
0148     >
0149 
0150 At present, can327 does not evaluate this response. See the section
0151 below on known limitations for details.
0152 
0153 
0154 When a CAN frame is to be sent, the target address is configured, after
0155 which the frame is sent as a command that consists of the data's hex
0156 dump::
0157 
0158     >ATSH123
0159     OK
0160     >DEADBEEF12345678
0161     OK
0162     >
0163 
0164 The above interaction sends the SFF frame "``DE AD BE EF 12 34 56 78``"
0165 with (11 bit) CAN ID ``0x123``.
0166 For this to function, the controller must be configured for SFF sending
0167 mode (using "``AT PB``", see code or datasheet).
0168 
0169 
0170 Once a frame has been sent and wait-for-reply mode is on (``ATR1``,
0171 configured on ``listen-only=off``), or when the reply timeout expires
0172 and the driver sets the controller into monitoring mode (``ATMA``),
0173 the ELM327 will send one line for each received CAN frame, consisting
0174 of CAN ID, DLC, and data::
0175 
0176     123 8 DEADBEEF12345678
0177 
0178 For EFF (29 bit) CAN frames, the address format is slightly different,
0179 which can327 uses to tell the two apart::
0180 
0181     12 34 56 78 8 DEADBEEF12345678
0182 
0183 The ELM327 will receive both SFF and EFF frames - the current CAN
0184 config (``ATPB``) does not matter.
0185 
0186 
0187 If the ELM327's internal UART sending buffer runs full, it will abort
0188 the monitoring mode, print "BUFFER FULL" and drop back into command
0189 mode. Note that in this case, unlike with other error messages, the
0190 error message may appear on the same line as the last (usually
0191 incomplete) data frame::
0192 
0193     12 34 56 78 8 DEADBEEF123 BUFFER FULL
0194 
0195 
0196 
0197 Known limitations of the controller
0198 ------------------------------------
0199 
0200 - Clone devices ("v1.5" and others)
0201 
0202   Sending RTR frames is not supported and will be dropped silently.
0203 
0204   Receiving RTR with DLC 8 will appear to be a regular frame with
0205   the last received frame's DLC and payload.
0206 
0207   "``AT CSM``" (CAN Silent Monitoring, i.e. don't send CAN ACKs) is
0208   not supported, and is hard coded to ON. Thus, frames are not ACKed
0209   while listening: "``AT MA``" (Monitor All) will always be "silent".
0210   However, immediately after sending a frame, the ELM327 will be in
0211   "receive reply" mode, in which it *does* ACK any received frames.
0212   Once the bus goes silent, or an error occurs (such as BUFFER FULL),
0213   or the receive reply timeout runs out, the ELM327 will end reply
0214   reception mode on its own and can327 will fall back to "``AT MA``"
0215   in order to keep monitoring the bus.
0216 
0217   Other limitations may apply, depending on the clone and the quality
0218   of its firmware.
0219 
0220 
0221 - All versions
0222 
0223   No full duplex operation is supported. The driver will switch
0224   between input/output mode as quickly as possible.
0225 
0226   The length of outgoing RTR frames cannot be set. In fact, some
0227   clones (tested with one identifying as "``v1.5``") are unable to
0228   send RTR frames at all.
0229 
0230   We don't have a way to get real-time notifications on CAN errors.
0231   While there is a command (``AT CS``) to retrieve some basic stats,
0232   we don't poll it as it would force us to interrupt reception mode.
0233 
0234 
0235 - Versions prior to 1.4b
0236 
0237   These versions do not send CAN ACKs when in monitoring mode (AT MA).
0238   However, they do send ACKs while waiting for a reply immediately
0239   after sending a frame. The driver maximizes this time to make the
0240   controller as useful as possible.
0241 
0242   Starting with version 1.4b, the ELM327 supports the "``AT CSM``"
0243   command, and the "listen-only" CAN option will take effect.
0244 
0245 
0246 - Versions prior to 1.4
0247 
0248   These chips do not support the "``AT PB``" command, and thus cannot
0249   change bitrate or SFF/EFF mode on-the-fly. This will have to be
0250   programmed by the user before attaching the line discipline. See the
0251   data sheet for details.
0252 
0253 
0254 - Versions prior to 1.3
0255 
0256   These chips cannot be used at all with can327. They do not support
0257   the "``AT D1``" command, which is necessary to avoid parsing conflicts
0258   on incoming data, as well as distinction of RTR frame lengths.
0259 
0260   Specifically, this allows for easy distinction of SFF and EFF
0261   frames, and to check whether frames are complete. While it is possible
0262   to deduce the type and length from the length of the line the ELM327
0263   sends us, this method fails when the ELM327's UART output buffer
0264   overruns. It may abort sending in the middle of the line, which will
0265   then be mistaken for something else.
0266 
0267 
0268 
0269 Known limitations of the driver
0270 --------------------------------
0271 
0272 - No 8/7 timing.
0273 
0274   ELM327 can only set CAN bitrates that are of the form 500000/n, where
0275   n is an integer divisor.
0276   However there is an exception: With a separate flag, it may set the
0277   speed to be 8/7 of the speed indicated by the divisor.
0278   This mode is not currently implemented.
0279 
0280 - No evaluation of command responses.
0281 
0282   The ELM327 will reply with OK when a command is understood, and with ?
0283   when it is not. The driver does not currently check this, and simply
0284   assumes that the chip understands every command.
0285   The driver is built such that functionality degrades gracefully
0286   nevertheless. See the section on known limitations of the controller.
0287 
0288 - No use of hardware CAN ID filtering
0289 
0290   An ELM327's UART sending buffer will easily overflow on heavy CAN bus
0291   load, resulting in the "``BUFFER FULL``" message. Using the hardware
0292   filters available through "``AT CF xxx``" and "``AT CM xxx``" would be
0293   helpful here, however SocketCAN does not currently provide a facility
0294   to make use of such hardware features.
0295 
0296 
0297 
0298 Rationale behind the chosen configuration
0299 ------------------------------------------
0300 
0301 ``AT E1``
0302   Echo on
0303 
0304   We need this to be able to get a prompt reliably.
0305 
0306 ``AT S1``
0307   Spaces on
0308 
0309   We need this to distinguish 11/29 bit CAN addresses received.
0310 
0311   Note:
0312   We can usually do this using the line length (odd/even),
0313   but this fails if the line is not transmitted fully to
0314   the host (BUFFER FULL).
0315 
0316 ``AT D1``
0317   DLC on
0318 
0319   We need this to tell the "length" of RTR frames.
0320 
0321 
0322 
0323 A note on CAN bus termination
0324 ------------------------------
0325 
0326 Your adapter may have resistors soldered in which are meant to terminate
0327 the bus. This is correct when it is plugged into a OBD-II socket, but
0328 not helpful when trying to tap into the middle of an existing CAN bus.
0329 
0330 If communications don't work with the adapter connected, check for the
0331 termination resistors on its PCB and try removing them.