Dangerous Prototypes Open Source Hardware

open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

December 13, 2012, 02:36:45 pm

Hello,
what are the differences between open logic sniffer and bus pirate ?

Thanks,
Paolo.

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #1 – December 13, 2012, 02:46:01 pm

The logic sniffer is a logic analyzer capable of capturing up to 32 digital signals. The BusPirate is a more versatile tool that also provides logic analyzer functionality, but also is able to talk various protocols, like I2C, SPI and so on.

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #2 – December 13, 2012, 02:47:08 pm

It seems tha bus pirate can do more things than open logic sniffer...or not ?

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #3 – December 13, 2012, 02:57:13 pm

Depends on what you're going to use it for :D

If you want a LA that can handle sample speeds up to 100MHz for up to 32 channels, then the Logic Sniffer might be a good choice. If you want to tinker with various protocols and have a alround debugging tool, then the BusPirate might be a better choice...

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #4 – December 13, 2012, 03:53:22 pm

But I can use logic analyzer like debugging tool too ?

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #5 – December 14, 2012, 09:49:02 am

[quote author="ppatierno"]But I can use logic analyzer like debugging tool too ?[/quote]

Hehe depends on what you are debugging I guess...
The obls, can only listen to lines and record them for you, for this it does an excellent job, much better then BP..
So if you wan't to see what's going on in a digital circuit with up to 32 test points the LS is the tool for you...

The BP on the other hand is more of a Swiss army knife.. It can listen to various different protocols(although at lower speeds then the OBLS) but it can also interact with them, sent stuff over those protocols, read voltages, frequencies, generate PWMs, program stuff etc...

For debugging an entire digital circuit as a whole, as in seeing all the signals there the OBLS is the way to go...
for debugging a single part of the circuit, for example the connection between microcontroller and some SRAM the BP is a better tool

Re: open logic sniffer vs bus pirate

Reply #6 – December 14, 2012, 11:13:01 pm

My quick advice is this:
If you know what protocols are involved, that is, what kind of digital signals are present, and the bus pirate understands them, that's the tool to use.
If you don't know exactly what protocol is being used or it is simply something the bus pirate doesn't understand, obviously you need the obls.

My use is usually I'll look at something first with OBLS, and if I can figure out that a serial protocol is involved, and what sort it is, then Is witch to bus pirate if appropriate.