CanCard2: Softing CAN Bus Interface Card

Hello,

I happened to come into possession of a CanCard2 from Softing.
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Besides that, I happen to own a Prius, which also has a CAN bus.

Okay, here are my questions:
Can I read the CAN bus of my Prius with this PCMCIA card without causing any damage?
'How do I connect this part? Do I only need to use the 2 or 3 pins?'
Can I control or read data from the card using LabView?
Is LabVIEW fast enough for a data rate of 500 kbit, or can I only process a fraction of the data?

Just for your information: I actually want to build something similar using LabView: <!-- m --><a class='postlink' href='http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca/'>http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca/</a><!-- m -->

Best regards, MadestCat.

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.

Best regards,
Jens.

How do you even get your hands on a CAN card like that?

How does one even get their hands on a CAN card like that?
How about buying it?

The question that arises for me is rather: Who voluntarily uses these features ?

Best regards,
Jens.

Buying is something I already understand .
That part costs a fortune.

Not more than other professional solutions. That's where my surprise begins; I personally would prefer other products, just like my colleagues. Therefore, I could have such a card – given away by the company because no one wants to deal with it. However, I then joined the ranks of those who gratefully declined.

Thank you very much for all the responses.

What's wrong with the card? Why shouldn't I use it if I can get it for free?

I would also like to use the CAN to USB adapter, but it is currently not available for purchase. And it's also a bit too expensive for me just for testing.

Please don't misunderstand, if the card works for you, that's perfectly fine – no questions asked.

Back then, my focus was on completely different use cases. It was a professional setting, where the drivers for the cards came into play to connect them to both our own software and third-party products. And the problem was precisely the drivers, or rather, their version-independent compatibility. Other vendors were much more 'cooperative' in that regard. With private tinkering, you're independent of all of that; you can do your thing, and that's a good thing.

'Personally, I couldn't make use of the card because I would have had to rewrite or modify a large amount of software specifically for the Softing drivers. That wouldn't make sense. Furthermore, for me personally, implementing it via USB is by far the best solution. This also differentiates my personal use from professionally developed solutions, which all have completely different requirements and applications – but also require a very different budget, which I can't or don't want to match privately.'

Okay, go ahead and play around with the card for now, and be happy that you got a CAN interface card for free. If you have LabVIEW (or other open-source DAQ software), you're already in good shape.

Best regards,
Jens.

Ideally, the interface would simply output everything that arrives on the CAN bus, similar to how a GPS receiver works.

I think the CANUSB adapter does that, right?

Yes, it does – if you configure it that way. The same applies to the Softing card, which can do exactly the same thing.

The Fuchs adapter has the simple advantage of coming with software that can handle it right out of the box. Since you mentioned the price, this makes it practically a steal. Of course, for just one-time use, it's still quite expensive.

With the Softing card, you run into the problem that you first have to find software that supports it. Or, you'll have to write the software yourself – good luck with that...

Best regards,
Jens.

Thank you for your help.

I think I'm going to order a CANUSB adapter eventually...

All the best until then!

I have an EDICcard 2 from Softing here.
It cost €6238.48 including the software bundle for VAG vehicles . However, my employer paid for it.

I've only used them for diagnostic purposes so far. Does anyone happen to know if you can also read out direct CAN messages with them?