orin-nano-env-setup/docs/reports/PCAN-SETUP.md

PCAN-USB Adapter Setup on Jetson Orin Nano

Hardware

• Board: NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Engineering Reference Developer Kit Super
• Hostname: mikkeli-orin-nano-2
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (aarch64)
• Kernel: 5.15.148-tegra (L4T 36.4.4, JetPack r36.4)
• Adapter: PEAK-System PCAN-USB (ID 0c72:000c)

Onboard CAN

The Jetson Orin Nano has a built-in CAN controller:

• Interface: can0
• Controller: MTTCan (c310000.mttcan) — SoC peripheral at memory address 0xc310000
• Driver: mttcan (built into NVIDIA Tegra kernel)
• Module: can_dev
• Clock: 50 MHz
• Status: Always present, currently DOWN

USB CAN Adapter — Initial Detection

Problem

The PCAN-USB adapter was physically connected and detected by the USB subsystem:

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0c72:000c PEAK System PCAN-USB

But no CAN interface appeared. The mainline kernel driver peak_usb (which supports this device since kernel v3.4) was not compiled into this NVIDIA Tegra kernel.

Investigation

1. Checked for the peak_usb module — not present
2. Checked kernel config (/boot/config-$(uname -r)) — not available (NVIDIA kernel)
3. Checked for kernel headers — none matched the 5.15.148-tegra kernel
4. The NVIDIA Tegra kernel from JetPack r36.4 (repo.download.nvidia.com/jetson/t234) uses a custom versioning scheme and does not include PEAK's mainline drivers

Solution — Build PEAK's Proprietary Driver

Why PEAK's driver instead of mainline?

PEAK's mainline peak_usb driver would be the preferred approach (SocketCAN netdev, auto-loading, no rebuild needed on kernel updates). However, the NVIDIA Tegra kernel does not include it. PEAK's proprietary driver package can be built against any kernel that has headers available.

Step 1: Download PEAK Linux Driver Package

curl -L "https://www.peak-system.com/quick/PCAN-Linux-Driver" -o /tmp/pcan-driver.tar.gz
cd /tmp && tar -xzf pcan-driver.tar.gz
# Extracts to: /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/

Step 2: Build with SocketCAN (netdev) Support

The PEAK driver defaults to chardev mode (character devices like /dev/pcanusb32). For standard SocketCAN tools (candump, ip link, etc.), we need netdev mode:

cd /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/driver
sudo make clean
sudo make NET=NETDEV_SUPPORT all

Key output confirming netdev build:

CC [M]  /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/driver/src/pcan_netdev.o
LD [M]  /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/driver/pcan.ko

Step 3: Install the Module

cd /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/driver
sudo cp pcan.ko /lib/modules/5.15.148-tegra/misc/pcan.ko
sudo depmod 5.15.148-tegra

Step 4: Load the Module

sudo modprobe -r pcan 2>/dev/null
sudo modprobe pcan

Result

$ ip link show type can
3: can0: <NOARP,ECHO> mtu 16 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 10
    link/can
8: can1: <NOARP> mtu 16 qdisc noop state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 10
    link/can

• can0 = onboard MTTCan
• can1 = PCAN-USB adapter

Step 5: Bring Up the Interface

sudo ip link set can1 up type can bitrate 500000

Step 6: Read CAN Traffic

sudo candump can1

Build Environment

• GCC: 11.4.0 (Ubuntu 11.4.0-1ubuntu1~22.04.2)
• make: Available
• Kernel headers: Located at /lib/modules/5.15.148-tegra/build
• Driver version: PEAK Linux Driver 9.2.0

Important Notes

1. Out-of-tree module: This driver is built from PEAK's source against the running kernel. It will not survive a kernel update — you must rebuild after any kernel upgrade.

2. Netdev vs chardev: The PEAK driver defaults to chardev mode. For SocketCAN tools, you must build with NET=NETDEV_SUPPORT. The chardev mode creates /dev/pcan* devices and requires PEAK's proprietary API.

3. Blacklisting: The PEAK installer (make install) blacklists the mainline peak_* drivers in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-peak.conf. Since the mainline drivers aren't available on this kernel anyway, this is harmless.

4. Bitrate: The default CAN bitrate is 500 kbps. Adjust as needed for your car's bus (common values: 500000, 250000, 1000000).

5. Read-only use: For reading car CAN traffic without transmitting, you only need to bring the interface up. No special configuration is needed.

Cleanup

Source files left at /tmp/peak-linux-driver-9.2.0/ and /tmp/pcan-driver.tar.gz. Can be removed after verifying everything works.