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Using GPS with the De1-SoC...

Altera_Forum
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For our application, position is important and we have procured a Globalsat BU-353-S4 

 

The good news is the Prolific USB/serial port driver is visible... 

root@DE1_SoC:~# lsusb Bus 001 Device 003: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:2512 Standard Microsystems Corp. USB 2.0 Hub Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub  

but there is no corresponding /dev/ttyUSB0 device visible. 

block input network_throughput ptyp5 ram0 tty11 tty21 tty31 tty41 tty51 tty61 ttyp5 ttyS0 vcsa1 bus kmem null ptyp6 ram1 tty12 tty22 tty32 tty42 tty52 tty62 ttyp6 ttyS1 vcsa2 char kmsg psaux ptyp7 random tty13 tty23 tty33 tty43 tty53 tty63 ttyp7 urandom vcsa3 console log ptmx ptyp8 shm tty14 tty24 tty34 tty44 tty54 tty7 ttyp8 vcs vcsa4 cpu_dma_latency mem ptp0 ptyp9 stderr tty15 tty25 tty35 tty45 tty55 tty8 ttyp9 vcs1 vcsa5 disk memory_bandwidth pts ptypa stdin tty16 tty26 tty36 tty46 tty56 tty9 ttypa vcs2 vcsa6 fb0 mmcblk0 ptyp0 ptypb stdout tty17 tty27 tty37 tty47 tty57 ttyp0 ttypb vcs3 watchdog fd mmcblk0p1 ptyp1 ptypc tty tty18 tty28 tty38 tty48 tty58 ttyp1 ttypc vcs4 zero full mmcblk0p2 ptyp2 ptypd tty0 tty19 tty29 tty39 tty49 tty59 ttyp2 ttypd vcs5 i2c-0 mmcblk0p3 ptyp3 ptype tty1 tty2 tty3 tty4 tty5 tty6 ttyp3 ttype vcs6 initctl network_latency ptyp4 ptypf tty10 tty20 tty30 tty40 tty50 tty60 ttyp4 ttypf vcsa  

dmesg also looks promising but doesn't list a tty# ... 

root@DE1_SoC:/etc/modprobe.d# dmesg usb 1-1.2: new full-speed USB device number 3 using dwc2 usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303 usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 usb 1-1.2: Product: USB-Serial Controller D usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.  

 

I have tried encouraging udev to create a device according to a suggestion here (http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/81754/how-can-i-match-a-ttyusbx-device-to-a-usb-serial-device) by creating the udev file below but no device was created. 

root@DE1_SoC:~# cat /etc/udev/rules.d/50-usb.rules SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="067b", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2303", SYMLINK+="USB0", MODE="0666"  

The datasheet (http://usglobalsat.com/store/download/688/bu353s4_ds.pdf) says it is based on the SiRF Star IV chipset. 

 

ATM I am at a loss and I would be very grateful for some constructive ideas.
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Altera_Forum
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Update: I plugged the BU-353 into one of my debian boxes and did the following... 

grunt:~# apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients grunt:~# dpkg-reconfigure grunt:~# dmesg | grep ttyUSB usb 1-6: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 usb 1-9: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB1 grunt:~# stty -F /dev/ttyUSB1 ispeed 4800 grunt:~# cat < /dev/ttyUSB1  

... and out streamed lovely lines of GPS data. 

 

That was easy! That's is what I was expecting. 

 

So there is nothing wrong with the BU-353. 

 

One of the questions i have seen posted on the askubuntu forum (http://askubuntu.com/questions/30569/how-to-use-gps-receiver-bu-353) suggests if it is not working it might be a missing kernel module. Yes, the kernel spots the Prolific USB driver but does it need a special SiRF Star IV module that I might be able to find, compile & modprobe? 

 

Any ideas/help will be gratefully received.
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