PPSCHECK(8) GPSD Documentation PPSCHECK(8)

# [NAME](#NAME)

ppscheck - tool to check a serial port for PPS

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**ppscheck** \[-?] \[--help] \[-p] \[--pps] \[--version] \[-h] \[-V]

**ppscheck** \[-m] device

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**ppscheck** watches a specified serial port for transitions that might be PPS. It looks for changes in handshake lines CD, CTS, DSR, and RI by running ioctl(...., TIOCMIWAIT, ...) in a loop. When it sees a state change it emits a timestamped line of output dumping the state of the handshake signals. It’s useful for checking whether a device is emitting PPS.

**ppscheck** can run as a normal user, but that user must have permissions to read the target device. Running under **sudo** may, or may not, work. Running as root will always work.

To check the first serial port do this:

```
# ppscheck /dev/ttyS0
```

As a side effect, **ppscheck** will try to create the matching /dev/ppsX by setting the tty line discipline (ldisc) to N\_PPS (18). You should then have a device /dev/pps0. Note that not all serial devices support ldisc N\_PPS.

You can now use **ppscheck** to see if the KPPS (RFC 2783) interface is working:

```
# ppscheck /dev/pps0
```

**ppscheck** is not intended for routine use, but rather for diagnostic purposes. Once you have verified a particular device can output PPS signals you will never need to use it again on that device.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

The program accepts the following options:

-?, \`-h, \`--help

Print help message, then exit.

-m, \`--match

Find PPS device that matches *device*.

-p, \`--pps

Print active PPS devices, then exit.

-V, \`--version

Dump version, then exit.

**-x SEC**, **--seconds SEC**

Exit after delay of SEC seconds.

# [ARGUMENTS](#ARGUMENTS)

The *device* argument should be the pathname of a device. Such as /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/pps0. It will be the device monitored.

For a tty device, each output line is the second and nanosecond parts of a timestamp followed by the names of the handshake signals then asserted. Off transitions may generate lines with no signals asserted.

For a pps device, each output line will contain the assert and clear times last detected by KPPS.

If you don’t see output within a second, use **cgps**, **xgps**, or some other equivalent tool to check that your device has a satellite lock and is getting 3D fixes before giving up on the possibility of PPS.

Check your cable. Cheap DB9 to DB9 cables such as those issued with UPSes often carry TXD/RXD/GND only, omitting handshake lines such as CD. Suspect this especially if the cable jacket looks too skinny to hold more than three leads!

Most GPS that have built in USB do not support PPS. When in doubt, contact the vendor for confirmation that your device does supply PPS.

# [RETURN VALUES](#RETURN_VALUES)

0

OK

1

if the device could not be opened, or some other failure

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**cgps**(1)](/man/os/gpsd/cgps.1), [**xgps**(1)](/man/os/gpsd/xgps.1), [**gpsd**(8)](/man/os/gpsd/gpsd.8)

# [RESOURCES](#RESOURCES)

**Project web site:** <https://gpsd.io/>

# [COPYING](#COPYING)

This file is Copyright 2013 by the GPSD project  
SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-clause

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Eric S. Raymond

2026-10-09 GPSD, Version 3.27.5

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Document: ppscheck(8) from gpsd 3.27.5-r5 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://gitlab.com/gpsd/gpsd