New PyKCS11 1.5.12 available

I just released a new version of PyKCS11, a Python wrapper above the PKCS#11 API.
See "PyKCS11 introduction" or "PyKCS11’s documentation".

The project is registered at Pypi: https://pypi.org/project/PyKCS11/

 

Changes:

1.5.12 - April 2023, Ludovic Rousseau

• add setAttributeValue()
• minor improvements

 

PySCard 2.0.7 released

I just released a new version 2.0.7 of pyscard. PySCard is a python module adding smart cards support (PC/SC) to Python.

The PySCard project is available at:

• pypi
• github
• sourceforge

 

Changes:

2.0.7 (March 2023)

• do not include the generated HTML documentation in the archive

2.0.6 (March 2023)

• handle SCARD_E_NO_SERVICE on Windows (on last reader removal)
• add support of MSYS2/mingw environment on Windows
• improve documentation
• minor changes

FAQ: wintypes.h or winscard.h not found

One of the most popular search requests that bring people on my website https://pcsclite.apdu.fr/ is about wintypes.h not found.

Problem

For example you try to compile something and get the error:

smartcard/scard/helpers.c:28:10: fatal error: winscard.h: No such file or directory
 #include <winscard.h>
          ^~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Solution

The PC/SC header files (winscard.h, wintypes.h and some others) are provided by the development pcsclite package.

• for Debian, Ubuntu or derivatives the package is pcsclite-dev
• for RedHat, Fedora and derivatives the package is pcsc-lite-devel
• for other Unixes, use your favourite search engine 😜

You install the correct package and you try again to build your software.

Conclusion

I hope this blog article will be correctly indexed by search engines to help people find the solution.

New version of libccid: 1.5.2

I just released version 1.5.2 of libccid the Free Software CCID class smart card reader driver. 

Changes:

1.5.2 - 31 January 2023, Ludovic Rousseau

• Add support of
• KAPELSE KAP-LINK
• LDU LANDI
• Sensyl SSC-HV Reader
• TOKEN2 MFA NFC Reader
• TOKEN2 Molto2
• Thales RF Reader
• Alcor Micro AU9560: Remove high speeds since they are not supported
• Hack for AlcorMicro AU9560 and Acos-ID card
• configure.ac: disable the use of --disable-usbdropdir

 

PC/SC tools projects moved to .apdu.fr

For historical reasons some projects I maintain are still hosted at my "personal" page http://ludovic.rousseau.free.fr/ in the My computer programs page.

They are:

• ifd-GemPC: serial GemPC 410 and USB GemPC 430 reader drivers.
• pcsc-perl: wrapper to use PC/SC in Perl.
• pcsc-tools: some tools to be used with smart cards and PC/SC.

Why the change?

My personal pages, hosted by my ISP (Internet Service Provider), are still not using https. I have no access to the web server so I can't change that.

The new pages will be independent from the ISP. The projects will use a DNS name I maintain myself.

According to the Internet Archive the "My computer programs" page exists since August 2001. I don't think the personal pages hosted by Free will disappear soon, but who knows. Maybe Elon Musk will buy Iliad (parent company of Free) and... anything can happen next.

I will be able to get some access statistics, in particular for the file smartcard_list.txt containing the list of ATRs used by the pcsc_scan tool.

Now hosts

The projects are now in subdomains of apdu.fr. They are at:

• https://ifd-gempc.apdu.fr/
• https://pcsc-perl.apdu.fr/
• https://pcsc-tools.apdu.fr/

The old pages redirect to the new web sites.

The URL http://ludovic.rousseau.free.fr/softwares/pcsc-tools/smartcard_list.txt is used by (old) versions of ATR_analysis used by pcsc_scan. This file will be maintained up to date for the next months/years.

Conclusion

I continue my migration to self-hosting. Thanks to all the sponsors that allow me to do that.

New version of pcsc-tools: 1.6.2

I just released a new version of pcsc-tools, a suite of tools for PC/SC. 

I updated ATR_analysis to use the new location of the smart card ATR list.

Changes:

1.6.2 - 22 January 2023, Ludovic ROUSSEAU

• 18 new ATRs
• smartcard_list.txt moved to https://pcsc-tools.apdu.fr/smartcard_list.txt

 

Github sponsor: 2022 status

Since January 2020 I am part of the Github sponsors program. See my previous articles: GitHub Sponsors, GitHub Sponsors: first payment and GitHub Sponsors: US$ 20 per month.

I wanted to update you about the years 2021 and 2022.

Public data

My Github sponsor page is available at Become a sponsor to Ludovic Rousseau.

You can see that I currently have 7 sponsors, and 4 past sponsors. A big thank you to all of them.

The amount of money is not public. That is why I wrote the next chapter.

Private data

In 2022 I received a total of 628 €. Compared to 394 € in 2021 that is an increase of 59%.

The amount I receive monthly is slowly growing since 2021.

To be fully transparent to my sponsors and everybody else (full disclosure?) I publish below the monthly results since the beginning of the experience:

It is far from a full time salary. But that is enough to pay for the infrastructure I use to host my different web sites.

Conclusion

Again a big thank you to my present and past sponsors.

If you want to help and become a sponsor then go to Become a sponsor to Ludovic Rousseau.