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PLX Software Development Kit (SDK)

The PLX Technology Software Development Kit, or SDK, is a highly customized software package containing powerful tools to help customers get to market faster when designing in PLX PCI Express and PCI devices. The SDK application offers an easy to use enhanced user interface that includes a variety of new and useful tools as shown below. This SDK is an integral part of the PLX Rapid Development Kit (RDK) which includes both hardware and software.

PLX SDK Features

  1. Supports entire PLX 8500/8600 family of PCIe switches; 8100 family of PCIe bridges; PEX 8311 bridges; as well as PLX 9000 series and 6000 series products.
  2. PEX Device Editor (PDE) GUI utility for PCIe devices
    1. EEPROM programming
    2. EEPROM Diff
    3. Memory Mapped register access
    4. Config register access
    5. Access to all above through I2C port
    6. Search on address and description
    7. Data book register table view from GUI
    8. Offline Mode EEPROM file editing
    9. Active/Inactive status of all lanes
    10. Save screen data to file, and vice-versa
    11. GUI user manual from Help menu
    12. Basic Config space access to non-PLX PCI devices
    New Additions (for PCIe Gen 2 devices only):
    1. Performance Monitoring info including Link Utilization and Average Payload size for all ports
    2. SerDes eye width diagram
    3. Exerciser mode to generate traffic to saturate any port up to 16 lanes
    4. Probe Mode for internal use only
    Other features coming soon:
    1. PDE GUI working on Linux
    2. Tree View of all PCI devices in system
    3. PCI extended capabilities of non-PLX devices
  3. PLXMon GUI for PCI devices
  4. Host-side C/C++ PLX API library and device drivers with source code
  5. Command Line applications (Source Code):
    1. EEPROM programming
    2. Command Line Interface
    3. PLX API test
    4. Hot-Plug demo
    5. Non-Transparent Mode demo
  6. Device Drivers support 32-bit and 64-bit Windows® and Linux kernels 2.4 & 2.6
  7. DOS support
  8. SDK User Manual

Additional Software

PLXmon Demo (v4.40)
This is a demonstration version of PLXMon that allows viewing of PLX chip registers and EEPROM values (sample values). The demo is intended to illustrate the interface and features of the PLXmon software utility. (Membership Required)
Note: The demo will not actually access any devices in the system.
PLX Command-Line Monitor (PlxCm) for DOS (v1.07)
PlxCm for DOS is an updated version of the legacy PLXMon for DOS application that supports newer PLX devices. PlxCm includes complete support for all PLX 9000 parts and limited support for other PLX devices. Some features of the PLXMon SCLU are not implemented, such as scripting, but these may be added in future updates. Basic features include access to any PCI register, I/O ports, memory, and PLX 9000 registers and EEPROM. PlxCm will execute in pure DOS or a Windows 98/Me DOS window. (Membership Required)
Note: PlxCm is still in development and is provided as-is with no warranty or support. Not all features/commands are implemented for all devices, but PLX may periodically release newer versions of PlxCm. Please check back in future for updates.
PLXmon Simple Command Line Utility (SCLU) for DOS
PLXmon SCLU is a non-supported PCI hardware and software development tool that offers engineers unrestricted read/write access to all PCI registers, PCI devices and PCI buses. It also supports PLX chip registers, host and local memory and port I/O access for the PCI 9050, PCI 9052, & PCI 9060 family, and very limited support for other PLX PCI 9000 parts. (Membership Required)