[SOLVED] HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

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krauster
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[SOLVED] HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by krauster »

Mint 20.2 Cinnamon
Not a printer or scanner question.

I have a handheld Wouxun KG-UV3D. I want to use the CHIRP app to program it. When I connect the Wouxun to my ASUS laptop via a USB port and the USB cable that has two prong connector on side designed for the Wouxun, and select Download from radio I see this:

Then I see this:
wouxun choice.png
wouxun choice.png (12.01 KiB) Viewed 2079 times
I have had problems with trying to connect this to Windows too. In the windows Device Manager under Ports I saw an error and with some reading about this it says to track down VID_067B files after determining the chip inside the cable. I wasn't able to get it working on this laptop. I was successful in Windows in the past on a different laptop, years ago and can't remember exactly how I did that and my notes I wrote to myself aren't clear enough to use on this newer dual boot laptop, so I figured to try linux mint to see if the interface to get the cable working has better options in Linux. Any ideas?
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wouxun error.png
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Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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sideband
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by sideband »

The Chirp website has an extensive FAQ and specifically addresses the problem you describe

https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/ch ... ing_Ubuntu

The "permission denied" is a clue that the User does not have permission to access the USB connection. There are many "issues" listed on the Chirp website, several describe the User permission problem and creating a udev rule to overcome this

If this does not resolve the issue then maybe raise the problem on the Chirp mailing list or raise an "issue" with the developers as the radio is in the list of supported equipment.
krauster
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by krauster »

Thanks for referring me to CHIRP site. I looked and tried the suggestions, including
sudo gpasswd --add stev dialout to add myself to dialout but that didn't get me any farther. "Dialout means permission for the TTY set that includes serial and USB connections."

stev@stev-Nitro-AN517-52:~$ groups stev
stev : stev adm dialout cdrom sudo dip plugdev lpadmin sambashare

Then I found some discussion of running:
sudo systemctl mask brltty.path
So I did that.

Then checked more carefully the listing of ports that the CHIRP download window brings up and did see that there is USB entry at the bottom. I may have missed that before I did the systemctl command so I am not sure what made it appear or whether it was there all the time and I just wasn't choosing it.

Anyway I at least got Chirp to get to a point where it was showing a new message that indicates that the cable is now probably talking to the radio.
wouxun not communitcating.png
wouxun not communitcating.png (21.18 KiB) Viewed 2020 times
I think it might be that my KG-UV3D is not one of the choices available under the Wouxun section of radios. Not sure yet what would be an equivalent alternative Wouxun model.

Checking on the Activity tab at that site I see lots of discussions. It seems to be an active group. A quick browse for my specific problem doesn't show me anything so I have requested to join the group and am awaiting request confirmation so that i can ask about this.
sideband
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by sideband »

USB to serial converters are notoriously "inconsistent" under Linux. There is lots of help on the Internet about checking the USB to serial connection, and the trials and tribulations of the Prolific chips often used, this is typical ..

https://www.usb-drivers.org/usb-serial- ... linux.html

The dmesg output is particularly useful

The Chirp website mentions the KG-UV3D with ...

Wouxun Radios

The KG-UVD1P and KG-UV2D, KG-UV3D, KG-UV6D radios use the same cable as the Kenwood TH-F6A and TH-K2A listed above. The connection consists of a 3.5 mm and a 2.5 mm 3-conductor phone plug (TRS). It is a 5 Volt (TTL) serial interface, with Ground and TXD (fKrom Radio) on the sleeve and ring of the 2.5mm connector. RXD (to radio)is on the sleeve of the 3.5 mm plug.

..on this page - which makes interesting reading

https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/ch ... CableGuide

The actual connection of the programming cable to the radio can be a source of poor comms. On my FT-60 the programming cable 4-pole jack has to be precisely positioned - just a slightly different design plug can ease the connection issues
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Pierre
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by Pierre »

typically , you do have to Turn the Radio Off,
before plugging in the usb to serial adapter.

then, Turn the radio On, after connecting both ends correctly.

there was ( maybe still is ) an issue with the Prolific PL2303 Chipset
if it was Not the Genuine article.

this did cause all sorts of weird errors, if it was the faulty chip-set.

did you get the cable from the same supplier ?
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Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
and DO LOOK at those Unanswered Topics - - you may be able to answer some!.
krauster
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by krauster »

sideband wrote: Tue May 24, 2022 4:27 am USB to serial converters are notoriously "inconsistent" under Linux. There is lots of help on the Internet about checking the USB to serial connection, and the trials and tribulations of the Prolific chips often used, this is typical ..

https://www.usb-drivers.org/usb-serial- ... linux.html

The dmesg output is particularly useful

The Chirp website mentions the KG-UV3D with ...

Wouxun Radios

The KG-UVD1P and KG-UV2D, KG-UV3D, KG-UV6D radios use the same cable as the Kenwood TH-F6A and TH-K2A listed above. The connection consists of a 3.5 mm and a 2.5 mm 3-conductor phone plug (TRS). It is a 5 Volt (TTL) serial interface, with Ground and TXD (fKrom Radio) on the sleeve and ring of the 2.5mm connector. RXD (to radio)is on the sleeve of the 3.5 mm plug.

..on this page - which makes interesting reading

https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/ch ... CableGuide

The actual connection of the programming cable to the radio can be a source of poor comms. On my FT-60 the programming cable 4-pole jack has to be precisely positioned - just a slightly different design plug can ease the connection issues
From your suggestion to check out usb-drivers.org site---
Here's the last lines from the dmesg command:

[10925.433246] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 8
[10925.433612] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303 converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
[10925.433649] pl2303 1-1:1.0: device disconnected
[10948.227674] usb 1-1: new full-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
[10948.376603] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303, bcdDevice= 3.00
[10948.376616] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[10948.376622] usb 1-1: Product: USB-Serial Controller
[10948.376626] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc.
[10948.379395] pl2303 1-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
[10948.382108] usb 1-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
stev@stev-Nitro-AN517-52:~$

It looks like the pl2303 is identified.

-- can't remember where I bought the cable but knowing my habits I probably researched a cable that was known to be compatible and might have paid a little extra for one. -- And I think I did get the cable working in windows (7 or 10? can't remember) at one point but can't get it working in a new windows installation on a different laptop recently -

Reading the instructions in the usb-drivers.org site I wasn't able to understand where they were going with the further suggestions there. Do you think I need to proceed with that further stuff if I am getting "pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0"? It starts to get pretty complicated (for me) in setting paths or loading other stuff. This is linux and its all about learning stuff which I am always happy to try but I don't want to break any already working USB functionality to get this cable working. I could imagine all types of headaches.

Alternatively I could just go through the much simpler learning of the Wouxun's interface and just load a couple memory channels through the radio's menu, which is all I'm really trying to do. I even have the paper user's manual.
sideband
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by sideband »

You are almost there, the USB to serial adapter chip is identified and the port is identified as ttyUSB0

With the radio switched off, connect the programming cable to the pc and radio.
Launch CHIRP, select "Download from Radio" from the "Radio" menu, select the Port as ttyUSB0, Vendor Wouxun
Model...from the CHIRP website list of supported radios...."For Wouxun KG-UV3D use KG-UVD1P"

Quote...
Wouxun
KG-816/818
KG-UV2D (use KG-UVD1P)
KG-UV3D (use KG-UVD1P)
...Unquote

Click "OK", then follow the instructions to download from the radio, eventually the list of memories will appear

Not sure which version of CHIRP you are using. If your existing version does not perform, worth trying the very latest
Not had much success with the latest tarball - error reports on the website indicate that this uses Python 2

But the latest Flatpak version (my first and only venture into Flatpak) works OK, but you need to follow the full process from the Chirp website "Running Chirp Under Linux - Installing the flatpak (Ubuntu/Debian example" to complete the Chirp Flatpak install

Logout and back in, Flatpak then runs the latest Chirp from the command line with a few minor errors which can be ignored

It's a long, involved and tedious process, but it does work OK with my Yaesu FT-60
krauster
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Re: HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by krauster »

That's all it took. After I got to the point where Chirp was seeing the radio, meaning it was at least understanding the cable, I had just not chosen the correct alternative for the KG-UV3D. I had tried some other radios from the pulldown selection but I guess I had not tried the KG-UVD1P. That one works, at least to read the radio so far.
chirp working.png
That flatpak was my first experience with flatpaks too. I learned from the help of others that I have to run the install command from the command line and that seems to have installed it successfully to get to this point.

> flatpak install chirp-daily-20220515.flatpak

Marking this as [SOLVED] .... Thanks.
Eneb
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Re: [SOLVED] HAM radio USB to serial cable connection problem

Post by Eneb »

Hi,

Maybe it can help you. I also have problem to connect USB on Chirp.

I use the command:

sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyUSB0

Then select the port "USB0", and just try again uploud or downloud to radio and its works.

I hope it works for you

Thanks
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