Datasheet

Using with LibNFC

Using the PN532 Breakout Boards with libnfc

libnfc (https://adafru.it/aSR) is a mature, cross-platform, open-source NFC library that can be easily configured to work

with the PN532 Breakout Board. While Linux is probably the easiest platform to use libnfc with, it can be configured for

the Mac and Windows as well, though you may need to dig around on the libnfc Community Forums for some specific

details on compiling .dlls for Windows, etc.

If you want to test the PN532 Breakout Board out with libnfc, this simple tutorial should walk you through the absolute

basics of compiling and configuring libnfc, and using some of the canned example SW included in the library.

libnfc In Linux (Ubuntu 10.10 used in this example)

Step One: Download libnfc

Download the latest version of libnfc from Google Code (https://adafru.it/aSS) (ex. "libnfc-1.4.1.tar.gz") and extract the

contents of the file as follows:

Step Two: Configure libnfc for PN532 and UART

libnfc currently only supports communication over UART, using any inexpensive USB to UART adapter like the FTDI

Friend or a TTL FTDI cable. Before compiling, however, you will need to configure libnfc to include support for UART

and the PN532 chipset, which can be done with the following commmand (executing in the folder where the above

archive was unzipped):

Note: If you also wish to include debug output, you can add the '–enable-serial-autoprobe' flag (minus the single

quotes) to the configure options

libnfc is a constantly moving target, and due to the frequent changes from one version to the next we aren't

able to offer libnfc support ourselves for the PN532. We can only guarantee support and working code for

the Arduino codebase that we maintain ourselves. The information below is our best attempt at helping you

get started with libnfc and the PN532 breakout, but it may require a bit of poking and prodding on your own

depending on the library version and platform you are working with. libnfc use is, unfortunately, at your own

discretion.

This is only for using the PN532 breakout with an FTDI cable or FTDI Friend to a proper computer. You

cannot run LIbNFC on an Arduino or other microcontroller

$ wget http://libnfc.googlecode.com/files/libnfc-x.x.x.tar.gz

$ tar -xvzf libnfc-x.x.x.tar.gz

$ cd libnfc-x.x.x

$ ./configure --with-drivers=pn532_uart --enable-serial-autoprobe