CAN Explorer Documentation

Installation

CAN Explorer is a native macOS app, not on the Mac App Store. Download the notarized DMG, open it, and drag the app to Applications.

Download

• Free download: dl-can-explorer.voltrus.id
• Pro licence: $39.99 one-time from the Voltrus Console. One key activates one Mac and can be moved.

System Requirements

PEAK, Kvaser and Vector interfaces need their vendors' drivers and are not supported. Licence activation needs an internet connection once. Afterwards the app works offline.

Quick Start

Connect to a bus

1. Plug in the adapter and connect it to the bus (CAN_H, CAN_L and ground, with termination at both ends of the bus).
2. Choose USB adapter as the interface, pick its port, set the bus bit rate (and the CAN FD data rate, if the bus uses it), then Connect. Turn on listen-only if the adapter must not acknowledge or send.
3. The Monitor tab shows one row per identifier with its count, period and the bytes that changed. The Trace tab shows the frames in order, with a filter.
4. Load a DBC file to decode messages into signals, or pick J1939, CANopen or OBD-II to label the frames.

Without an adapter

1. Choose Virtual as the interface and Connect, or open a candump log file.
2. Start the bus simulator (Pro) and choose Monitor it. Load the simulator's DBC to decode its signals.

Configuration

On Linux, bring a SocketCAN interface up before connecting, for example sudo ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 500000.

Free and Pro

Everything not listed below stays free, including connecting to one bus, the monitor and the trace, DBC decoding, J1939, CANopen and OBD-II labels, sending single frames, opening candump logs, the bus load estimate, log export and one saved interface profile. Pro adds cyclic transmit, sending a DBC message by its signal values, live signal trends, recording to a candump file, trace export as candump or CSV, replay of candump logs (speed, loop and ID filter), the bus simulator, and unlimited saved profiles.

Bus simulator (Pro)

A diesel genset on the virtual bus: a J1939 engine ECU (source address 00) sending EEC1 every 20 ms, ET1, EFL/P1, HOURS and DM1; a generator controller on 0x321 and 0x322 (Motorola byte order); a multiplexed pump drive on 0x410; a CANopen I/O node 0x11 (heartbeat 0x711, TPDO1 0x191, SDO answers for 1000, 1017 and 1018); and OBD-II answers on 0x7E8 for PIDs 00, 04, 05, 0C, 0D, 11 and 2F. You can start and stop the engine, move the throttle, close the breaker, raise a fault, set the pump, and change the message rate. The simulator comes with a DBC file for its signals. Its identifiers and values are made up, not recorded from a real machine.

Troubleshooting

• No port in the list: SLCAN adapters show up as a serial port; check the cable and that the adapter runs slcan firmware. CANable boards with candleLight firmware show up as gs_usb adapters instead.
• No frames, or error frames: the bit rate must match the bus. Check CAN_H and CAN_L are not swapped and the bus has termination (120 ohm at each end).
• Frames stop when you connect: the adapter acknowledges frames unless listen-only is on. On a bus with only one other node that is what you want; on a bus you do not own, turn listen-only on.
• Signals decode wrong: check the DBC matches the bus, and the byte order of each signal. Multiplexed messages decode only the signals of the current multiplexer value.
• Licence key rejected: enter it with its dashes, with internet access for the first activation. See Support.

Support

Email [email protected] or see the support page. CANopen is a registered trademark of CAN in Automation e.V.; CAN Explorer is not affiliated with or endorsed by CiA, SAE or the adapter makers.