MDB2Pi Configuration

This page contains details of the MDB2Pi configuration for a successful MDB to Raspberry Pi configuration setup. To find out more about the MDB2Pi, please visit About MDB Converter. To buy an MDB2Pi, please visit M D B2Pi.

Connectivity

Please find the GPIO pin layout on Ra spberry Pi Pinout.

Power Supply

The MDB2Pi is powered through the MDB bus (10…42V regulated or unregulated supply) and back-powers the Raspberry Pi with up to 2.5A at 5V. Therefore, no separate power supply is required.

Configuration

Enable UART and RTC by adding the following lines to /boot/config.txt:

enable_uart=1

dtoverlay="i2c-rtc,pcf8563

Disable serial console output:

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

–> remove the “console=…” parameter

MDB Master and Cashless Device Demo

We provide two demo applications for you to test the MDB to Raspberry Pi integration.

Install Mono runtime:

sudo apt-get install mono-runtime libmono-system-core4.0-cil

Get the Demo code:

wget https://secure.abrantix.com/downloads/MDBConverter/MDBConverter.zip

unzip MDBConverter.zip

How to run the Master Demo:

cd MDBConverter

mono MDBMasterSimulatorConsole.exe /dev/serial0 115200

-> For master operation, please make sure to set the DIP Switch to ON-OFF-OFF-ON-ON

How to run the Cashless Device Demo:

cd MDBConverter

mono MDBCashlessDeviceSimulatorConsole.exe /dev/serial0 115200

-> For slave operation, please make sure to set the DIP Switch to OFF-ON-ON-OFF-OFF

Hint: On newer Raspbian releases, the serial port is available as /dev/serial0 – older releases may use dev/ttyAMA0.

Firmware Upgrade

It is normally not required to upgrade the firmware. However, in the rare cases this has to be done we will send you the new firmware. You can then use the following command:

mono FlashUtilityConsole.exe /dev/serial0 <Path to HexFile>

RTC

A PCF8563 I2C chip in conjunction with a SuperCapacitor is used for Real-Time-Clock capability (no battery required). This allows buffering of the time up to 7 days when fully charged (or even more, depending on environment temperature and chip/capacitor variance).

Read the RTC:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo hwclock -r

Thu 04 May 2017 06:22:13 UTC -0.310218 seconds

Write the RTC:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo hwclock -w

RTC Troubleshooting: Check if the chip responds over I2C:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo i2cdetect -y 1

     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f

00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

50: -- UU -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Check dmesg for RTC:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ dmesg | grep rtc

[    2.937443] rtc-pcf8563 1-0051: chip found, driver version 0.4.4

[    2.943665] rtc-pcf8563 1-0051: rtc core: registered rtc-pcf8563 as rtc0

Hint: In case that the SuperCap has fully discharged, the daemon might be unable to talk to the RTC at first startup:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ dmesg | grep rtc

[    2.900119] rtc-pcf8563 1-0051: chip found, driver version 0.4.4

[    2.900403] rtc-pcf8563 1-0051: pcf8563_write_block_data: err="-5" addr="0e," data="03"

[    2.900428] rtc-pcf8563 1-0051: pcf8563_probe: write error

[    2.900459] rtc-pcf8563: probe of 1-0051 failed with error -5

In this case, please wait a few minutes to let the SuperCap recharge, then restart your pi so the RTC daemon can detect the chip again.