# GPIO cards (lab-cards, relay-cards) and FreeBSD



## ogogon (Aug 26, 2017)

Greetings, Colleagues!

Tell me, please, what I/O cards with GPIO-like contacts are supported by FreeBSD.
They are also called binary I/O cards, relay-cards, lab-cards, and so on.

As a rule, they are used in science, in the management of industrial systems, in different monitoring complexes.

*Which manufacturers and model series are supported by the FreeBSD?*

Unfortunately, all sellers of such solutions know only about Windows. If ask about the FreeBSD, they hang for a long time, and then are rebooted.

Ogogon.


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## Phishfry (Aug 26, 2017)

The only x86 boards with supported GPIO are APU1/2/3 and MinnowboardMax Turbot.

https://kernelnomicon.org/?p=767






I know of no supported GPIO expansion cards.

All of the ARM boards support GPIO.


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## ogogon (Aug 26, 2017)

Phishfry said:


> The only x86 boards with supported GPIO are APU1/2/3 and MinnowboardMax Turbot.
> I know of no supported GPIO expansion cards.


I meant something like this - http://www.advantech.com/products/pci-cards/sub_gf-50hh
Here is an example of information material about the card - http://downloadt.advantech.com/Prod...roduct - Datasheet/PCI-176220150714145421.pdf
And this: product page of this card - http://www.advantech.com/products/1-2mlkb0/pci-1762/mod_43903956-8d24-42de-a8c3-6ffd50f92cb4

On the product page, in the list of supported programming languages, is specified Qt. They hardly use Qt package for Microsoft.
Therefore, this card probably supports the Linux. I thought that there were already craftsmans who had brought drivers under FreeBSD.

Ogogon.


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## Phishfry (Aug 27, 2017)

I don't think we have many craftsmen available. Gonzo is the GPIO guy for FreeBSD and when I wanted GPIO support for the Minnowboard Turbot I bought a board for him. That is what it takes to get something supported. It is something the manufacturers should do by sending samples to developers. Unfortunately it does not work that way. Gonzo bought most of the toys he added support for. Not something that pays much from a programmers perspective. It has to be for the love of FreeBSD.

I know all about Advantech as I have a half dozen AIMB-272 still purring along in the field.. I have boxes upon boxes of their gear.
Usually their manual has sample code for GPIO. It is in assembly though. Most manufacturers won't even tell you what the GPIO chipset is.
That is one reason GPIO is under-supported. There are so many chipsets.
Advantech uses SMSC SCH3xxx
APU uses Nuvotron
Axiomtek uses Finntek

So many chips to support.

One low hanging fruit I thought about the FDTI USB-UART boards often offer GPIO pins.
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2264
I bought a couple but never sent them on to Gonzo. That would make a good general purpose adapter.


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