This project demonstrates the concept of using the Display Data Channel (DDC) lines present on many graphics cards as frugal method of interfacing with I²C peripherals.

I²C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) is a two-wire serial bus typically used in computers for low-level communication between internal components, but is also seen in robotics and hobbyist electronics for interfacing a variety of sensors, displays and actuators. I²C connections are often readily available on microcontrollers and esoteric embedded systems, but there’s little call for it on mainstream personal computers…unless you happen to be among the aforementioned robotics and electronics hobbyists, in which case a USB to I²C adapter device is typically used, often at considerable expense.

DDC — supported by most graphics cards and monitors produced within the past several years — is a communication channel within a video cable that allows the computer and display to negotiate mutually compatible resolutions and permit software control of monitor functions normally accessed with physical buttons on the display.

DDC is, in fact, simply an implementation of an I²C bus with a few established rules. By tapping into this connection between the computer and monitor (or making use of the DDC lines on an spare unused video port, such as the external monitor connection on a laptop), one can interface with many I²C devices at virtually no expense, bypassing the usual need for an adapter device entirely.

Commercial USB to I²C adapters can cost $100, $250, sometimes even more, and driver support is spotty for systems outside the popular Windows fold. Homebrew alternatives exist, but assume a prior investment and knowledge in microcontroller development. The method outlined here requires only a modified video cable…I just bought one at a garage sale for 50 cents, and that’s enough to make two such adapters!

Being a quick and dirty hack, there are some limitations to this approach:

Most significantly, it does not work in Windows and probably never will. Honest, this is not just asinine OS bashing, I’ve really busted a nut trying! While it’s possible in theory, this would entail such a Herculean and technically deep development effort that, given the other limitations of the scheme and the modest value returned, there’s just no sense in it. The most suitable Windows software implementation I’ve found is Nicomsoft’s WinI2C/DDC developer library, whose documentation details some of the hoops they had to jump through. Given the complexity of the task they’ve solved and the thoroughness of their implementation, the $495 license cost is quite a justifiable bargain for big PC graphics hardware OEMs, but the hobbyist who’s just fiddling around with a few I²C sensors on a Windows system will be better served with a USB to I²C adapter (or getting the hang of Linux).
Even among Mac and Linux systems, the compatible range of hardware is limited. Whether or not application code is allowed access to the DDC lines at all is entirely at the whim of whomever wrote the system’s video driver. On the Mac, it appears that systems with Intel integrated graphics or ATI chipsets support this scheme, while those with NVIDIA graphics are out of luck. I’ve had few opportunities to test with Linux systems thus far, but ATI and NVIDIA graphics seem to show solid support while Intel integrated was a no-go.
The compatible range of I²C devices is limited, and this occasionally varies by operating system. There’s inevitably some variation in the allowable range of serial timings sent or received by both the host and I²C device, and in some combinations these ranges won’t overlap. For example, a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk controller will work with Linux but not Mac OS X.
This is limited to being a “single-master” I²C bus — one can poll devices for their state, but there’s no means for the computer to respond to events that originate elsewhere on the bus. And available power is limited to 5 volts at a scant 50 milliamps.
There’s always the possibility of damage by incorrect wiring, so tread forth carefully and always mount a scratch monkey!

There are still plenty of fun projects that can be attempted, so with those caveats out of the way, let’s proceed! All that’s required is a modified video cable, or, if tapping an unused video port, simply the appropriate end connector (though it’s often cheaper to buy the full cable and cut it in half). If the port will still be used for a monitor connection, it’s necessary to create a “Y” or “hydra” cable that allows one’s I²C device(s) and the monitor to be attached at the same time (sharing the DDC lines). When modifying an existing cable, after removing just the outer shielding, the DDC wires are usually visible at this point, while the lines carrying video signals are wrapped into further-shielded bundles. A multimeter or continuity tester will help correlate wires to pins. DDC establishes four wires: +5VDC, ground, serial data and serial clock, the pin numbers of which will vary depending on the type of video port used. Refer to pinouts.ru, Wikipedia or other sources if you need more help than the diagrams below can provide.

The DDC clock and data lines correspond directly to I²C clock and data. Pull-up resistors are not required — that’s already implemented in the graphics card — so it’s just the cable, your I²C device(s) and a bit of wire.

For a 15-pin VGA cable, the pins of interest are:

Pin	Description
5	Ground
9	+5VDC
12	Data
15	Clock

Note that on some VGA cables (perhaps even a majority), pin 9 is not present (occasionally others as well). Just examime the male end connector to see if it’s even worth dissecting — the missing pins are quite apparent. You’ll want to use a cable with the full complement of pins, or work from just a bare D-sub 15 connector (if scrounging at the local swap meet for cheap cables is not your style, these connectors can be found at Radio Shack for $1.99).

For a DVI cable:

Pin	Description
6	Clock
7	Data
14	+5VDC
15	Ground

For an HDMI Type A cable:

Pin	Description
15	Clock
16	Data
17	Ground
18	+5VDC

Connect the corresponding I²C lines to one’s device as required, and the other end of the cable to the desired video port. Keep in mind that if using a “hydra” cable with a monitor connected, one’s power budget should be trimmed by a few extra milliamps to ensure enough power for the DDC device within the display. There should be enough current to drive a microcontroller and an LED or possibly two…but if the I²C device(s) to be connected are going to use any substantial amount of current, it may be wise to power the device(s) externally and use a I²C buffer or — if the device operates at a different voltage — a logic level converter circuit (such as SparkFun part BOB-08745). Also, if using with a display connected, two I²C addresses are reserved for the monitor and should not be used: 0x37 and 0x50.

While the low-level details of the I²C protocol are taken care of by the i2c.o library and the OS-specific libraries on which it in turn depends, the message sequence required by any given device must be implemented within one’s own code and will vary from one device to the next. Manufacturers’ datasheets will document the specific I²C messages needed, and the amount of code required is not onerous. Several short example programs are included: reading a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk controller accessory (currently Linux only), reading a Microchip TCN75A temperature sensor, writing to a Microchip 256 Kbit serial EEPROM, flashing a BlinkM “smart LED,” and another that interfaces with a Mindsensors I2C-SC8 8 channel servo controller.

Installation

A link to the source code is at the bottom of this page. No special procedure is required for Mac systems, aside from having the Apple Developer Tools installed in order to compile the code. If you have a supported video card and one of the compatible I²C devices attached, simply compile (“make all”) and run (e.g. “./temperature”).

While the source code for Linux is simpler, the setup procedure unfortunately is not. You’ll need root access. Frequently. This is how I install it under Ubuntu 7.04 and later:

Install the lm-sensors package:
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors
Enable kernel modules for I²C and the specific video driver:
sudo modprobe i2c-dev
sudo modprobe radeonfb
The above is for an ATI Radeon. You might need a different module specific to your system. Use the command “sudo modprobe -l” (that’s a lowercase L, not a one) for a full list of kernel modules, and try to locate one that matches your graphics chip vendor.)

Alternately, to load the I²C modules automatically at boot-time, edit the file /etc/modules and add these lines:

i2c-dev
radeonfb

Again, assuming Radeon graphics here; put your actual module name there.

Once the kernel modules are loaded, the files /dev/i2c-* will then correspond to each I²C bus on the system. Not all of these relate to video out though; some may correspond to internal I²C buses in the computer (e.g. system health, RAM controller, etc.). The i2cdetect program (installed as part of lm-sensors) will list and briefly describe each I²C interface present. Look for the one that matches the desired video port. On the ThinkPad I used for development, /dev/i2c-2 corresponds to the VGA port. If the output of i2cdetect does not mention any video ports (VGA, DVI, or HDMI), then it’s probable that the driver does not support I²C and this hack will not work, or a different video card module may simply need to be loaded.
Edit the Makefile, commenting out the Mac-specific lines and enabling the Linux-related flags. Then “make all” to build the library and example programs.
Access to the /dev/i2c-* devices is normally available only to the root user, so there are a few options for invoking the example programs. The most sensible and controlled is to run each with the sudo command, e.g. “sudo ./nunchuk”. If you’re on a personal system and can afford to be less pedantic about security, other options include logging in and running the programs as root, chown/chmod-ing the executables to root and enabling the setuid bit, or chmod-ing the /dev/i2c-* files to enable read/write access for all users (which would need to be reapplied after each reboot).

Using the Library

The C API is super-basic, with just three functions:

I2Copen()

Opens the I²C (DDC) bus for subsequent communication. As some systems may support multiple “heads” and thus have multiple DDC interfaces, the code in i2c-osx.c or i2c-linux.c may to be adapted to your specific situation. On Macs the code is currently rigged to use the last connection found; on a single-head system (e.g. Mac mini), this would be the single video out port, while on a potentially two-headed system (e.g. MacBook, late-model iMac) this would be the video out port, regardless of whether there’s a monitor attached. Multi-headed systems (e.g. Mac Pro) may require some tweaks to the code to access a specific graphics card and port. For Linux, the code is rigged to open /dev/i2c-2, which corresponds to the VGA connector on my ThinkPad system used during development, but you’ll probably want to change this for your particular situation. Review the notes above regarding Linux installation.

I2Cmsg(short address, unsigned char *sendBuf, int sendBytes, unsigned char *replyBuf, int replyBytes)

Issues an I²C request and/or reads response over the previously-opened I²C bus. The address of the device is often factory-defined, and the size and content of the request data are entirely device-dependent (see the example code for several practical cases). You’ll need to work with the datasheet provided for your specific device.

This example from a Microchip datasheet shows an 8-bit I²C address byte that includes a ‘write’ bit. But other documents (and this API) follow the convention of calling addresses by the 7-bit component only.

An important point should be made here regarding the first parameter: there is some disagreement as to just what constitutes a valid I²C address. The I²C protocol defines data packets in 8-bit chunks, with the first byte of an I²C message containing a 7-bit device identifier and one bit indicating whether this is a read or write operation. Most presume the 7-bit value to define the address, but in some implementations they’ll include the read/write bit in referring the address, or — because the R/W flag is the least signficant bit — document the device as having two sequential addresses (one each for reading and writing). Linux and OSX disagree here; this API follows the 7-bit convention and adjusts the value passed as needed for the host operating system. If a device does not seem to be responding at the address given in the datasheet, try dividing the number by two, which shifts off the R/W bit to produce a 7-bit address.

I2Cclose()

Closes the previously-opened I²C bus.

Return values, defined in i2c.h, are currently very limited. All of the functions will return a value of zero (or I2C_ERR_NONE) on successful completion. The I2Copen() function may return I2C_ERR_OPEN if no available DDC bus can be found (or, on Linux, if not running as root). On the Mac, I2Cmsg() may return various error values defined in /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Headers/IOReturn.h (e.g. 0x2c0 or kIOReturnNoDevice).

Neither version of the library is especially comprehensive; there are quite a few limitations and assumptions made at present (for example, only one I²C bus can be open at a time). You might want to look inside and use this as a starting point for your own code. The core meat-and-potatoes of opening and communicating over the bus can be distilled to just a couple dozen essential lines of code, the rest being error handling, packaging and comments.

Download C Source Code (tar.gz)

Acknowledgments

Much thanks to Benny Hsieh for donating development hardware which made the Linux port possible, the authors of ddcci-tool (now ddccontrol) for Linux I²C programming insights, and Tod Kurt of ThingM for entrusting me with one of his BlinkMs for testing at the 2008 Bay Area Maker Faire.

Installation

Using the Library

Download C Source Code (tar.gz)

Acknowledgments

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