This package adds support for the Waveshare RS485 CAN HAT (B) to Victron VenusOs version 3.0 and newer. Since the HAT uses a couple of GPIO pins, ensure that it is compatible with any other addons and hardware you use!
The following addons are incompatible with the HAT:
- https://github.com/kwindrem/RpiGpioSetup (additional digital inputs and relay outputs)
Since two GPIOs used for VenusOS collide with the SPI-1 bus needed for the RS485 chip, the gpio_list file for VenusOS must be changed:
| Pin | Default | New |
|---|---|---|
| Relay 1 | Pin 40 / GPIO 21 | Pin 13 / GPIO 27 |
| Digital input 3 | Pin 33 / GPIO 13 | Pin 11 / GPIO 17 |
| Digital input 4 | Pin 35 / GPIO 19 | Pin 15 / GPIO 22 |
Additionally, the digital input 6 is added as required by ShutdownMonitor (Pin 36 / GPIO 16 ).
Here is the complete pin usage overview (with an additional backlight PWM pin for TFT display):
The setup scripts adds the following lines to /u-boot/config.txt:
#### begin CAN+RS485 overlay
dtparam=spi=on
dtoverlay=mcp2515-can0,oscillator=16000000,interrupt=25,,spimaxfrequency=1000000
dtoverlay=sc16is752-spi1,int_pin=24
gpio=16=ip,pu
#### end CAN+RS485 overlay
The two comment lines (first and last) are required to find the modifications on uninstallation, so please do not remove them!
The last line (gpio=16=ip,pu) activates the internal pull-up for GPIO pin 16 (used by ShutdownMonitor).
Obviously, this package works only on Raspberry PI platforms.
Conflicts can sometimes occur when modifications to config.txt are needed. For this reason, this script asks before installing overlays into the config.txt file. If overlay lines are not automatically added to config.txt, it will be necessary for the installer to add the necessary lines manually.
As an aid to sorting out GPIO conflicts, I have provided a list of GPIO assignments in this package.
VeWsCan485 requires that SetupHelper is installed first.
The easiest way to install VeWsCan485 is to do a "blind install" of SetupHelper and then add the VeWsCan485 package via the PackageManager menus.
Refer to SetupHelper here:
https://github.com/kwindrem/SetupHelper
Once SetupHelper is installed, you can add VeWsCan485 by placing the archive from its GitHub repo on a USB stick or SD card and inserting it in the GX device (CCGX, Cerbo, etc.). PackageManager will detect the archive and transfer the package to local storage. It will then appear in the Active packages list.
The VeWsCan485 compressed archive can be downloaded here:
https://github.com/herrfrei/VeWsCan485/archive/refs/tags/latest.tar.gz
Another install option IF the Venus device has internet access is to run the following command:
wget -qO - https://github.com/herrfrei/VeWsCan485/archive/current.tar.gz | tar -xzf - -C /data mv /data/VeWsCan485-current /data/VeWsCan485
If not, do the following a computer that does have internet access
click on this link in a web browser: https://github.com/herrfrei/VeWsCan485/archive/current.tar.gz
rename the resulting .tar.gz file to venus-data.tar.gz copy the venus-data.tar.gz to a USB stick, put the stick in the Venus device and reboot. When Venus boots, it will unarchive the file to /data/VeWsCan485-current
mv /data/VeWsCan485-current /data/VeWsCan485
If you are installing multiple packages, SetupHelper need only be installed once.
Once both packages are installed run setup and follow the prompts. /data/VeWsCan485/setup
You will need root access to the Venus device. Instructions can be found here: https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:root_access The root password needs to be reentered following a Venus update. Setting up an authorization key (see documentation referenced above) will save time and avoid having to reset the root password after each update.