PEAK PCAN-USB SocketCAN Setup on Jetson AGX Orin

Overview

This guide explains how to build and install the missing PEAK PCAN-USB SocketCAN driver on a Jetson AGX Orin.

The issue found was that Jetson Linux had:

CONFIG_CAN_PEAK_USB=m

but the actual module:

peak_usb.ko

was not installed.

Tested Environment

Item	Value
Platform	NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin
Jetson Linux	36.4.7
Ubuntu	22.04
Kernel	5.15.148-tegra
GCC	11.4
CAN Adapter	PEAK PCAN-USB
USB ID	`0c72:000c`
Working Interface	`can2`

1. Check the Kernel and Driver State

Check the running kernel:

uname -r

Expected:

5.15.148-tegra

Check whether the PEAK USB driver is available:

modinfo peak_usb

If it is missing, you may see:

modinfo: ERROR: Module peak_usb not found

Check whether the kernel config expects the driver as a module:

grep CONFIG_CAN_PEAK_USB /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build/.config

Expected:

CONFIG_CAN_PEAK_USB=m

Check whether the module file exists:

find /lib/modules/$(uname -r) -name 'peak_usb.ko*'

If nothing is returned, the module needs to be built.

2. Install Build Tools

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y linux-source-5.15.0 build-essential bc flex bison libssl-dev libelf-dev dwarves

3. Extract the Linux 5.15 Source

Check that the source tarball exists:

ls -lh /usr/src/linux-source-5.15.0*

Extract it:

mkdir -p ~/linux-source-extract
tar -xf /usr/src/linux-source-5.15.0.tar.bz2 -C ~/linux-source-extract

Find the PEAK USB driver source files:

find ~/linux-source-extract -path '*/drivers/net/can/usb/peak_usb/*' -type f | sort

You should see files such as:

pcan_usb.c
pcan_usb_core.c
pcan_usb_core.h
pcan_usb_fd.c
pcan_usb_pro.c

4. Create an External Module Build Folder

mkdir -p ~/peak_usb_external
cd ~/peak_usb_external

Copy the PEAK USB driver source files:

cp ~/linux-source-extract/linux-source-5.15.0/drivers/net/can/usb/peak_usb/*.[ch] .

Create a Makefile:

cat > Makefile <<'EOF'
obj-m += peak_usb.o
peak_usb-y := pcan_usb_core.o pcan_usb.o pcan_usb_pro.o pcan_usb_fd.o
EOF

5. Build the Driver Against the Jetson Kernel Headers

make -C /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build M=$PWD modules

If successful, this should create:

peak_usb.ko

Check it:

ls -lh peak_usb.ko

Check that it was built for the correct kernel:

modinfo ./peak_usb.ko | grep vermagic

Expected output should include:

5.15.148-tegra

6. Install the Driver

Create the module directory:

sudo mkdir -p /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/can/usb/peak_usb

Copy the module:

sudo cp peak_usb.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/can/usb/peak_usb/

Update the module database:

sudo depmod -a

Load the driver:

sudo modprobe peak_usb

Verify installation:

modinfo peak_usb

Expected output should include:

description: CAN driver for PEAK-System USB adapters
depends: can-dev
vermagic: 5.15.148-tegra

7. Plug In the PEAK PCAN-USB Adapter

Check that the adapter is detected:

lsusb | grep -i -E 'peak|0c72'

Expected output:

ID 0c72:000c PEAK System PCAN-USB

Check available CAN interfaces:

ip link show type can

Identify which interface is the PEAK adapter:

for i in can0 can1 can2; do
  echo "=== $i ==="
  ip -details link show "$i"
  ethtool -i "$i" 2>/dev/null || true
done

On the tested system:

Interface	Driver
`can0`	`mttcan`
`can1`	`mttcan`
`can2`	`peak_usb`

So the PEAK adapter was:

can2

8. Bring Up the CAN Interface

For a 500 kbit/s CAN bus:

sudo ip link set can2 down 2>/dev/null
sudo ip link set can2 up type can bitrate 500000

Check the interface:

ip -details link show can2

9. Test with can-utils

In one terminal, listen for CAN frames:

candump can2

In another terminal, send a CAN frame:

cansend can2 123#11223344

If another CAN node is connected at the same bitrate, frames should appear in candump.

10. Optional Loopback Test

If there is no physical CAN bus connected, loopback mode can be used for a local test:

sudo ip link set can2 down
sudo ip link set can2 type can bitrate 500000 loopback on
sudo ip link set can2 up

Then run:

candump can2

In another terminal:

cansend can2 123#11223344

Expected output:

can2  123   [4]  11 22 33 44

11. Shut Down Safely

Stop candump with:

Ctrl+C

Bring the interface down:

sudo ip link set can2 down

It is then safe to unplug the PEAK USB adapter.

Troubleshooting

`modprobe peak_usb` says module not found

Check whether the module exists:

find /lib/modules/$(uname -r) -name 'peak_usb.ko*'

If nothing is returned, the module has not been installed.

`CONFIG_CAN_PEAK_USB=m` exists but the module is missing

This means the kernel was configured to build the driver as a module, but the compiled module was not shipped.

The PEAK adapter is not `can2`

The interface number can change. Always check the driver:

ethtool -i can2

The PEAK adapter should show:

driver: peak_usb

If not, check can0, can1, can3, etc.

`dmesg` gives permission denied

Use:

sudo dmesg | grep -i -E 'peak|pcan|can'

Notes

The Jetson AGX Orin also has internal CAN interfaces using the mttcan driver. These may appear as can0 and can1.

The PEAK PCAN-USB adapter appears as a SocketCAN network interface using the peak_usb driver.