Free software to look at CANbus messages on a Windows PC

Question

I am an Embedded Systems looking for a CAN sniffer software to view CAN messages and debug a CANbus from a Windows PC for development purposes.

The software would need to:

• Display can id and cand data (preferably in hex)
• Run on Windows XP or 7
• Be able to interface with a CANbus via
  1. A CAN port on a CCP XM PC - with CANopen comm protocol
  2. OR a CAN to USB via a Sauer Danfoss CG150 device
• Selectable port

It would be nice if the software also:

• Had display and logging features (similar to RealTerm GUI) as then it could be used to display and store logs of messages.
• Two way communication to interact with the CANbus would also be nice.

Answer 1

You should look at BusMaster: https://rbei-etas.github.io/busmaster

It does not cover all CAN adapters but the most popular ones are there. I was able to work with CG150(Sauer Danfos), IXXAT, PCAN on it.

Answer 2

Well, the king of protocol tracers is WireShark. You can search for WireShark plus CANbus.

Read things like this.

And definitely look into this

I know that you specify Windows, but you could have a fun project with the Raspberry Pi.

I presume that you know that while CANbus has a common core, every manufacturer has their own specific information elements, often varying by model and year.

Answer 3

There is a new software: HUD ECU Hacker for analyzing vehicle ECUs over K-Line and CAN bus. It shows the entire traffic on CAN bus in real time and allows to set filters for specific ID ranges. It has a built in CAN Raw Terminal which allows to manually send CAN bus commands and see the responses.

Apart from the CAN Raw protocol HUD ECU Hacker also implements the ISO 15765 protocol which allows to send longer messages than only 8 bytes.

HUD ECU Hacker is charityware, which means that you can use it unrestricted, but you are asked to give a donation to an NGO of your choice if you use the program frequently.

HUD ECU Hacker runs on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, 11 (32 and 64 bit).

You can use a cheap Chinese J2534 adapter ($30 - $40 USD) to connect to the CAN bus. These adapters connect to any computer via USB. Read the very detailed help file about the different types of adapters. HUD ECU Hacker can also install the drivers that you need for all supported adapters.

Below you see the CAN bus Terminal connected to a DENI E1700 ECU. All data traffic can be logged into a HTML logfile.

Download: https://netcult.ch/elmue/HUD%20ECU%20Hacker