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Using SpringCard CSB6 with CDC-ACM

Products in the SpringCard CSB6 Family (CSB6, Prox'N'Roll PC/SC, EasyFinger and CrazyWriter) are smartcard readers, compliant with CDC-ACM driver.

This makes those products usable on non-Windows operating systems thanks to CDC-ACM driver.

Introduction

USB CDC standard

The USB CDC specification from the USB working group is the standard for USB to serial bridges (CDC-ACM subclass). SpringCard CSB6 Legacy follows this standard, allowing the products in the family to be seen as serial communication devices (comm. ports) on most operation systems, without effort.

Once the corresponding device driver has been launched, the CSB6 Legacy is seen from the computer as if it were a regular comm. port ("COMxx" under Windows, "COMxx:" under Windows CE / Windows Mobile, "/dev/ttyUSBxx" or "/dev/ttyACMxx" on GNU/Linux, ...).

Disclaimer and warning

There's no relationship between SpringCard and the developers involved in the open source CDC-ACM project.

Apart from this explanation page, SpringCard can't provide any technical support related to CDC-ACM driver.

CSB6 Family on GNU/Linux

In this part we're going to install SpringCard CSB6 in Legacy mode on Ubuntu 8.04.1 (Hardy).

Actual procedure may vary a little, depending on the GNU/Linux distribution you're working with.

Connecting the device

Plug the device onto an unused USB connector.

In a terminal, use the command lsusb to verify device's information.

result of lsusb

In the above screenshot, we have a CSB6 connected : Vendor ID=0x1C34 (Pro Active and SpringCard), Product ID=0x7041 (Prox'N'Roll 10, Legacy mode). Other devices will have different ProductIDs ; all products in the CSB6 Legacy family have a ProductID in the 0x7000 to 0x70FF range.

Validating the installation of CDC-ACM driver

In a terminal, use the command dmesg | grep ACM to verify that USB ACM Device is connected.

result of dmesg | grep ACM

In the above screenshot, we have a USB ACM Device connected : Serial Device ttyACM0 . If you plug other devices, the number of the serial device could change : ttyACMX instead.

Next, use the command cat /sys/class/tty/ttyACM0/device/../product to verify that USB ACM Device corresponds to a CSB6 Family Device.

result of cat /sys/class/tty/ttyACM0/device/../product

In the above screenshot, we have the name of the CSB6 product connected to the Serial Device ttyACM0.

Testing with minicom

In a terminal, use the command minicom to launch the program.

Configure minicom
  • Serial Device : /dev/ttyACM0
  • Bps/Par/Bits : 8N1
  • Hardware Flow Control : No

result of cat /sys/class/tty/ttyACM0/device/../product

Troubleshooting

If invoking minicom fails, install minicom (command : apt-get install minicom).