[Elecraft] KXUSB with Linux

[Nate Bargmann]

* On 2014 06 Nov 11:28 -0600, Lyn Haddock wrote:
> I’m trying to connect my KX3/PX3 rig to a Linux computer to use the
> Utility programs. I’m have tried to connect to two different computers
> running both Mint 17 and Ubuntu 14.04 with no luck so far.
> 
> From what I can tell, these Linux distros should both natively support
> FTDI chips for VCP connections. The FTDI site confirms this and only
> provides instructions for replacing the VCP driver with a D2XX driver.
> 
> I can see the FTDI device using “lsusb” when plug the KXUSB
> in. However, the KXUSB apparently can’t connect to /dev/ttyusb0 to let
> me use the KX3 or PX3 Utilities.

Hi Lyn.

Most likely the name of the port is /dev/ttyUSB0 as that has been
standard convention for some time.  Case matters in file names.  If you
are typing the name correctly, then all I can think of is that your
username may not be a member of the 'dialout' group.  You can easily
check this in a terminal by typing the 'groups' command.

There are various ways to do add your username to the 'dialout' group,
as I recall, both Mint and Ubunutu offer a graphical program to manage
your user's group membership.

> When i unplug the KXUSB from the USB port on either Linux box and plug
> it into my Mac, all is well. It even works when I reboot the same PC
> to WIN7 instead of Ubuntu. What am I missing?

I don't know about OS/X, but I recall that Windows will automatically
make the device available to a non-privileged user.  The Linux
distributions are a bit more careful about security in this regard which
sometimes seems like a bit of undue paranoia.

73, Nate

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