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I'm trying to use the Pi4J java library to write data to an IO Expander via i2C. When I create a new instance of the MCP23017GpioProvider class using the following code:

mcp = new MCP23017GpioProvider(I2CBus.BUS_1, 0x21);

I get the following error: Error writing to /dev/i2c-1 at address 0x21. Got -20001

I have confirmed that I have a rev2 board (hence using bus 1) and that my IO Expander is at address 0x21 by using "i2cdetect -y 1"

Does anyone know what could be causing this error?

P.S. The expander I am using is an MCP23017 16-bit

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2 Answers 2

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The first thing to check is the permissions you have to access /dev/i2c-1

ls -l /dev/i2c-1

Typically access is allowed to the root and i2c group.

If you are not a member of the i2c group try

sudo adduser your-user-name i2c

You will need to logout and login for the group change to take affect.

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  • I added my username to the i2c group and rebooted but still have the same problem :/
    – VivaDaylight3
    May 17, 2014 at 14:37
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The same happened to me. adduser did not work. But running as root (sudo) works.

So follow this instructions https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=238003

It worked for me.

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  • What does adduser have to do with Pi4J, and how do you suggest using sudo with class instantiation in Java?
    – Bex
    Aug 16, 2015 at 12:54

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