# GPIO PPS driver for MinnowBoard?



## rcfa (May 14, 2019)

There seem to be drivers for Linux, but support for FreeBSD is missing:






						Connecting a Device or Sensor to the Low Speed Expansion (LSE) Header - MinnowBoard
					

Connecting an accelerometer to the i2c bus and utilizing a Ubuntu install using libMRAA and UPM you can observe motion affecting the reported x,y and z vectors.




					minnowboard.org
				




In particular it would be nice to be able to use this:









						Netgate Store
					

Netgate is the official provider of pfSense® Plus products, the world's leading open source driven firewall, VPN, and router solution. Browse our collection of high-performance and affordable security gateway appliances running pfSense Plus and TNSR® software.




					store.netgate.com
				




as a Stratum-1 NTP clock, sort of like this here:









						Home · BobBallance/freebsd-gpio-pps Wiki
					

PPS timing signals, FreeBSD 11.0, Raspberry Pi-2, GPIO - Home · BobBallance/freebsd-gpio-pps Wiki




					github.com
				




Does anyone here have an idea how difficult it would be to get this done?


----------



## Phishfry (May 15, 2019)

The gpiopps.c file is wrote for an Arm platform with the OpenFirmware layout.
You would need to retool that for x86.
Gonzo has had GPIO on the Turbot working since late 2016.
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/gpio-on-turbot.58693/

So that end is OK but you need the gpio to pps stuff.
The fact that Netgate used Ubuntu for the setup does not bring me great confidence.
https://docs.netgate.com/platforms/minnowboard/lures/gps-lure/manual-install.html

What you could do is talk to Gonzo and see if you buy him one of these if he would add support.
I would be willing to chip in half for this.
I donated the Turbot he used to program BYTGPIO. He tooled it in one weekend. Quite the masterful programmer.


----------



## rcfa (May 15, 2019)

You mean, get him one of the gps modules?


----------



## rcfa (May 15, 2019)

The existing GPIO support, is that part of the standard distribution, i.e. automatically available when installing FreeBSD on one of these, or does it require extra drivers or a custom kernel?


----------



## Phishfry (May 16, 2019)

No extra drivers needed. You do need to load the module.
`kldload bytgpio`
.
To load GPIO at bootup : /boot/loader.conf


> bytgpio_load="YES"





rcfa said:


> You mean, get him one of the gps modules?


It has worked for me in the past. I would be willing to donate 20-25 bucks to see that module supported.
FreeBSD developers can only support what they know or have available..


----------



## rcfa (May 19, 2019)

Sure, I'd be game. I contacted him, but so far no reply. If you have an open line of communication open with him, let me know. I'll paypal or whatever my contribution, if he agrees.


----------



## Phishfry (May 20, 2019)

I would also then contact Netgate. Maybe the only instructions they wrote up were Ubuntu.
Maybe they didn't want to do anything that cost money to promote this GPS module. I dunno.


----------

