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tessl/pypi-pyftdi

Pure Python FTDI device driver for USB-to-serial/GPIO/SPI/I2C/JTAG bridge devices

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PyFtdi

A pure Python library providing user-space drivers for FTDI USB-to-serial/GPIO/SPI/I2C/JTAG bridge devices. PyFtdi enables direct hardware communication without requiring kernel drivers, supporting a wide range of FTDI chips for various communication protocols and GPIO operations.

Package Information

  • Package Name: pyftdi
  • Language: Python
  • Installation: pip install pyftdi
  • Dependencies: pyusb>=1.0.0,!=1.2.0, pyserial>=3.0
  • Python Versions: 3.9+

Core Imports

import pyftdi
from pyftdi.ftdi import Ftdi

Protocol-specific imports:

from pyftdi.spi import SpiController
from pyftdi.i2c import I2cController
from pyftdi.gpio import GpioAsyncController, GpioSyncController, GpioMpsseController
from pyftdi.jtag import JtagController
from pyftdi.eeprom import FtdiEeprom
from pyftdi.usbtools import UsbTools
from pyftdi.serialext import serial_for_url

Basic Usage

from pyftdi.spi import SpiController

# Configure SPI controller with FTDI device
spi = SpiController()
spi.configure('ftdi:///1')  # Use first available FTDI device, interface 1

# Get SPI port for chip select 0
spi_port = spi.get_port(cs=0, freq=6E6, mode=0)

# Perform SPI transaction
response = spi_port.exchange([0x9F], 3)  # Read device ID
print([hex(x) for x in response])

# Clean up
spi.terminate()

Architecture

PyFtdi provides layered access to FTDI devices:

  • Device Layer (ftdi): Low-level FTDI device communication and configuration
  • Protocol Controllers: High-level interfaces for specific protocols (SPI, I2C, JTAG)
  • GPIO Controllers: Specialized GPIO access with different operating modes
  • Utility Layer: USB device discovery, EEPROM management, and debugging tools
  • Serial Extension: PySerial-compatible interface for UART communication

This design enables both simple protocol-specific usage and advanced multi-protocol applications where one FTDI device handles multiple communication types simultaneously.

Device URL Format

PyFtdi uses URL-based device specification for consistent device addressing:

  • Format: ftdi://[vendor[:product[:index|:serial]]]/interface
  • Examples:
    • ftdi:///1 - Any FTDI device, interface 1
    • ftdi://0x403:0x6014:0/1 - Specific FT232H device, interface 1
    • ftdi://0x403:0x6014:12345678/1 - Device with serial number 12345678

Supported Devices

Single Port Devices (UART + GPIO):

  • FT232R (3Mbps)
  • FT230X/FT231X/FT234X (3Mbps)

Multi-Protocol Devices (UART + GPIO + SPI + I2C + JTAG):

  • FT232H (single port, up to 30MHz)
  • FT2232C/D/H (dual port, up to 6MHz/30MHz)
  • FT4232H/HA (quad port, up to 30MHz)

Capabilities

Core FTDI Device Management

Low-level FTDI device access, configuration, and direct communication for custom protocols or advanced usage scenarios.

class Ftdi:
    def open(self, device, interface, direction=None, **kwargs): ...
    def close(self): ...
    def read_data(self, size): ...
    def write_data(self, data): ...
    def set_baudrate(self, baudrate): ...
    def reset(self): ...

Core FTDI

SPI Master Communication

SPI master controller with support for multiple chip selects, simultaneous GPIO access, variable clock speeds up to 30MHz, and non-byte-aligned transfers.

class SpiController:
    def configure(self, url, **kwargs): ...
    def terminate(self): ...
    def get_port(self, cs, freq=6000000, mode=0): ...
    def get_gpio(self): ...

class SpiPort:
    def exchange(self, out, readlen=0, start=True, stop=True, duplex=False): ...
    def read(self, readlen, start=True, stop=True): ...
    def write(self, out, start=True, stop=True): ...

SPI Communication

I2C Master Communication

I2C master controller with support for device addressing, register access, bus scanning, simultaneous GPIO access, and clock stretching handling.

class I2cController:
    def configure(self, url, **kwargs): ...
    def terminate(self): ...
    def get_port(self, address): ...
    def get_gpio(self): ...

class I2cPort:
    def read(self, readlen, relax=True): ...
    def write(self, out, relax=True): ...
    def read_from(self, regaddr, readlen, relax=True): ...
    def write_to(self, regaddr, out, relax=True): ...
    def exchange(self, out, readlen, relax=True): ...

I2C Communication

GPIO Control

Multiple GPIO controller types supporting different operating modes: asynchronous bitbang, synchronous clocked operation, and high-performance MPSSE mode.

class GpioAsyncController:
    def set_direction(self, pins, direction): ...
    def read(self, with_output=False): ...
    def write(self, value): ...

class GpioSyncController:
    def set_direction(self, pins, direction): ...
    def read(self, with_output=False): ...
    def write(self, value): ...

class GpioMpsseController:
    def set_direction(self, pins, direction): ...
    def read(self, with_output=False): ...
    def write(self, value): ...

GPIO Control

JTAG Interface

JTAG controller supporting TAP state machine management, instruction and data register access, chain discovery, and basic debugging operations.

class JtagController:
    def configure(self, url, **kwargs): ...
    def close(self): ...
    def reset(self): ...
    def write_ir(self, instruction): ...
    def write_dr(self, data): ...
    def read_dr(self, length): ...
    def shift_register(self, out, length): ...

JTAG Interface

EEPROM Management

FTDI device EEPROM access for reading configuration, modifying device parameters, and managing device identity information.

class FtdiEeprom:
    def open(self, device): ...
    def close(self): ...
    def read_eeprom(self): ...
    def write_eeprom(self): ...
    def erase_eeprom(self): ...
    def set_manufacturer_name(self, name): ...
    def set_product_name(self, name): ...
    def set_serial_number(self, serial): ...
    def sync(self): ...

EEPROM Management

USB Device Discovery

USB device enumeration, FTDI device detection, URL parsing, and device capability identification.

class UsbTools:
    @staticmethod
    def find_all(vps, nb=0): ...
    @staticmethod
    def get_device(vendor, product, index=0, serial=None, path=None): ...
    @staticmethod
    def show_devices(vendor, product, serial=None): ...
    @staticmethod
    def parse_url(url, scheme): ...

USB Tools

Serial Communication

PySerial-compatible interface for UART communication using FTDI devices, enabling drop-in replacement for standard serial ports.

from pyftdi.serialext import serial_for_url

def serial_for_url(url, **kwargs):
    """Create serial connection from FTDI URL"""

Serial Communication

Types

# Exception types
class FtdiError(IOError): ...
class FtdiFeatureError(FtdiError): ...
class FtdiMpsseError(FtdiFeatureError): ...
class FtdiEepromError(FtdiError): ...
class SpiIOError(FtdiError): ...
class I2cIOError(IOError): ...
class I2cNackError(I2cIOError): ...
class I2cTimeoutError(TimeoutError): ...
class GpioException(FtdiError): ...
class JtagError(Exception): ...
class UsbToolsError(Exception): ...

# Logging utilities
class FtdiLogger:
    log: Logger
    @classmethod
    def set_formatter(cls, formatter): ...
    @classmethod
    def get_level(cls): ...
    @classmethod
    def set_level(cls, level): ...
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pypipkg:pypi/pyftdi@0.57.x
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