Looking for list of FreeMASTER compatible USB-to-LIN hardware devices

[lukaszadrapa]

Hi all,

on behalf of customer:

"I am unable to locate a list of 'USB to LIN modules' that are compatible with FreeMASTER. When I use the 'FreeMASTER -> Tools -> Connection Wizard -> Connect over LIN bus with USB-to-LIN module -> Read more' the software takes me to a webpage for FreeMASTER CAN Communication Plug-In which lists compatible USB-to-CAN devices when I expected a list of compatible USB-to-LIN devices. Please point me to your list of compatible USB-to-LIN modules. Thank you very much."

It's for S32K144.

Thanks,

Lukas

[toddsteinmetz · Accepted solution]

Thanks Michal for the prompt reply. Regarding our project story, our company designs and sells cooling systems where there is a master controller that communicates on CAN to the vehicle and then also communicates to a configurable array of fans on a modified LIN protocol. We also sell cooling fans that communicate on CAN and have recently created new designs of these CAN based fans using FreeMASTER and found FreeMASTER to be very helpful during development of the product. Now we are upgrading the LIN based fans and would have liked to also use FreeMASTER. Unfortunately our software does not support the LIN transport and diagnostic protocols and I don't believe we have time in the schedule to do so. Plan B for us will be to use FreeMASTER via JTAG but this only works in the early development stages since the JTAG connection is not available later in development after a fan controller is sealed. I appreciate your straightforward reply and based on that I believe our best path forward at the moment will be to utilize FreeMASTER via the JTAG connector as best we can.
Thanks again for the prompt reply.
Todd.

[MichalH]

Hello, 

although the FreeMASTER LIN communication plug-in is there for more than 10 years, it is still quite experimental support. There were very few customers interested in LIN so far as it requires quite specific settings and setup on the MCU side (Diag class III and LIN Transport Layer enabled). 

The only USB-to-LIN device tested so far was NI USB-8476s. Actually, all CAN/LIN National Instruments devices which are supported by the NI-CAN driver should work with FreeMASTER, but it is hard to say without testing. The last update of this plug-in was done in 2014.

If you have any particular need regarding the LIN or a proposal of new hardware to support, please let us know. It would be also good if you share your project story with us, so we can better understand the LIN+FreeMASTER real world use cases.

Thanks,
Michal

[tsh18609]

Hello Michael,

Is there any update regarding the LIN support for Freemaster 3?

When our devices (CAN or LIN) are in the field, we want to possibility to use Freemaster for investigations. BDM and UART interfaces are not an option.

Is the NI USB-8476s now good supported?

Br,

Benoit LEDUC

[MichalH]

Dear Benoit,

unfortunately, there is no update on LIN support. The last test was done in 2015 with NI USB-8476s, the S12ZVML device and the NXP/Freescale LIN stack. The test had required to have Diag Class III and Transport Layer enabled in order to be able to transmit and receive diagnostic data frames. The old code still exists, but many things have changed since that time (e.g. the FreeMASTER protocol has changed significantly), so porting it would be quite complex.

If you share more details about your application, we can try to find some alternative communication option.

Regards,
Michal