OLD 7000/8000 Orion MKII Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

[w-u-2-o]

If pre8 works for you then it is not your PC.

[AG5CK]

If pre8 works for you then it is not your PC.

Thanks. I'll leave well enough alone.

[cLicari]

Just when I thought I FINALLY had P2 and Thetis dialed in I've started experiencing lock-ups again. They are occurring so often I had to go back to P1 and PowerSDR to operate. I ran FW pre8 and Thetis 2.6.9 b6 for SIX WEEKS without a single sec error. I have tried numerous different combinations of FW and Thetis with no luck. P1 and 3.4.9 run flawlessly. I was running FW 2.0b and Thetis 2.6.9 1/22/2020 when the troubles began. I went back to pre8 and b6 but no change. Scratching my head, again.

Carl
NX5T

[w-u-2-o]

Carl,

Not a problem with P2 firmware. Start a new topic under the PowerSDR sub-forum, please.

Thanks,

Scott

[w-u-2-o]

See first post for an update.

73,

Scott

[iw3fvz]

hello,
i connect externa ptt on back ptt in jack.

I enabled PTT ON ìn setup

PTT is ok on lsb, usb, fm, am, digu, digl but no in CW

PTT seems disabled

it's correct or is a bug???

FW 2.0b - Thetis 2.6.9 - anan 7000

[w4cm]

hello,
i connect externa ptt on back ptt in jack.

I enabled PTT ON ìn setup

PTT is ok on lsb, usb, fm, am, digu, digl but no in CW

PTT seems disabled

it's correct or is a bug???

FW 2.0b - Thetis 2.6.9 - anan 7000

Do you not hear a relay engage ?
It will not transmit a carrier with the ptt only

[w2ner]

This is why they have a "KEY" jack on the front. Read the manual..............

[iw3fvz]

This is why they have a "KEY" jack on the front. Read the manual..............

KEY jack is connect to PC and simulate a key

the PTT on mic is fisical connect to back pannel

I read the manual ...the PTT iworks in all mode except cw

Do you not hear a relay engage ?

No ..i hear the "cw sound" but no tx .. no relay tx ....

[w-u-2-o]

Fabio,

Is this only a problem with 2.0b?

[iw3fvz]

Fabio,

Is this only a problem with 2.0b?

No all 2.0* firmware.

perhaps also in 1.9

[n1gp]

Hi Fabio,

I have tried to reproduce this on my 7000DLE running Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0b.rbf
and cannot.

I put a switch on PTT-IN (as per your attached photo) and when I switch it on PTT works
on all modes including CW.

BUT, if the CW QSK is enabled it does not. Could that be the case for you?

-Rick / N1GP

[iw3fvz]

Hi Fabio,

I have tried to reproduce this on my 7000DLE running Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0b.rbf
and cannot.

I put a switch on PTT-IN (as per your attached photo) and when I switch it on PTT works
on all modes including CW.

BUT, if the CW QSK is enabled it does not. Could that be the case for you?

-Rick / N1GP

Hello Rick,
i tried the Thetis 2.7.0 (thanks to DL8LAQ Norbert) and PTT in CW is ok..

back to 2.6.9 and reset db... no PTT

i think is a 2.6.9 problem...no firmware.

What do you think?

[iw3fvz]

Hi Fabio,

I have tried to reproduce this on my 7000DLE running Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0b.rbf
and cannot.

I put a switch on PTT-IN (as per your attached photo) and when I switch it on PTT works
on all modes including CW.

BUT, if the CW QSK is enabled it does not. Could that be the case for you?

-Rick / N1GP

Hi Rick,
found the difference between 2.6.9 and 2.7.0 db....

In Thetis Setup General->Options->Options 1

i checked: "All mode mic PTT"

Now is ok in 2.6.9 too

Now is ok sorry for the inconvenice

73 de IW3FVZ

[w2ner]

FYI, that's enabled by default.

[db8gk]

Hi,

I've been using the 2.0b firmware for a few days now. It seems to be stable for me. In particular it fixes the issues I've been seeing with loss of reception issues (high noise floor) when using PureSignal.

Would it be possible to get access to the .qar file at this stage?

[n1gp]

Sure, here it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mmoa2rmbn7n34i2/Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0b.qar?dl=0

-Rick / N1GP

[db8gk]

Thanks, very interesting! I tried importing the code into github, mainly as an experiment and to help me understand the code. Here's a link to the diff between 2.0b and 1.9:

https://github.com/andreasdotorg/orion- ... b0494f577b

And while I can roughly follow the DHCP fix, I'm completely lost at the timing fixes.

[w-u-2-o]

You want to install Quartus Prime Lite. That is the development environment. Import the project into that.

[db8gk]

Hi Scott,

Yes, I'm aware, thanks! I've successfully used Quartus Prime Lite 19.1on Linux to build the firmware from the qar provided by Rick, both using the UI and also from the command line. It seems to work just fine, and it's currently running on my radio.

73,
Andreas

[db8gk]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is useful to anyone besides me, but just in case it is: I have created a github action that automatically builds the firmware binary file (.rbf) from the sources in the git repository every time the sources change. Here's the result of the run with the 2.0b sources:

https://github.com/andreasdotorg/orion- ... /102575643

There's the Orion-Firmware download link right in the middle of the page. Clicking on "build" on the left and then on the triangle next to "Building Orion firmware" brings up the log view from the compiler.

While it is a bit of a terrible work flow with turnaround times of 30 minutes and no useful highlighting of errors, it is now possible for everyone to clone this repo, change the source code directly on github, and download a modified firmware binary without any local installation whatsoever.

73,
Andreas, DB8GK

[va7qi]

Hi All,

I am the (somewhat) happy owner of a new 7000 DLE MkII, which arrived yesterday. I had it up and running with the default protocol 1 firmware with no problems.

However, today I tried to update to the v2.b firmware using Programmer. No luck there, so I went to Bootloader v. 2.0.4.4. Here is what happens:

1. the MkII has a switch on the bottom (not labeled) which I assume works as the required jumper. This is set and the radio powered up.
2. Bootloader finds the device OK and I could change the IP address.
3. Firmware 2.0b is renamed to Metis.rbf as I understand that the software may choke on it otherwise.
4. It "erases the device"
5. "Programming the device..." does a bit of network traffic, but then seems to stall for a long time (1 hour so far)

One thing of note: the Ethernet speed seems to be stuck on 100 mbps (Orange light on the computer).

I have also briefly tried firmware v.1.9, but it wants a JTAG interface.

What am I doing wrong?

73 de va7qi, ....Erik.

[db8gk]

Hi Erik,

The programming process is very sensitive to all kinds of influences on the network conditions. Here's some of the things I did to make it work:

* Disable all virtual network switches on your machine. Mine was installed by Hyper-V, other virtualization software such as VMWare or VirtualBox might have the same issue.
* Do away with all networking hardware, use a direct cable between your machine and the device. Any attempt to be intelligent on the part of physical network switches might eat packets.
* Either disable all other network connections on your machine, or play with the priority settings of the network interfaces. The former is by far the easiest.

The process should take a few minutes max. If it sits there for an hour, the software is waiting for a packet that was lost and will never arrive anymore.

That the update process uses 100MBit is normal and to be expected. Also, please expect the new firmware to speak GigE only.

73,
Andreas, DB8GK

[Dave30019]

Erik,

W1aex has a very detailed write up on setting up networking, with diagrams. www.w1aex.com.

Dave
k4em

[DH1KLM]

Using the Bootloader with a JTAG Interface is optional. Under normal circumstances you do not need this option.

[db8gk]

Using the Bootloader with a JTAG Interface is optional. Under normal circumstances you do not need this option.

Yes, using JTAG should not be necessary. However, when something fails during the regular firmware update process using "HPSDR Programmer" (different programs for protocol 1 and 2, but similiar name), it is necessary to use "HPSDR Bootloader" via Ethernet to recover.

73,
Andreas

[w-u-2-o]

The various networking problems people often have with Bootloader are because the firmware boots up with an illegal MAC address of 11:22:33:44:55:66 in Bootloader mode. This is hard coded in both the Bootloader firmware and HPSDR Bootloader software application.

MOST, but not ALL, dumb switches will route 11:22:33:44:55:66. NO level 2 or level 3 managed switches will route this. I can't speak to virtual switches such as that used by Hyper-V or the like, but would not be surprised to hear that those are problems as well. In any case it is not the fault of your networking hardware and software but the fault of the design of Bootloader. I happen to use a dumb switch and it works fine, but if you are having problems and haven't confirmed your network configuration is OK with Bootloader then a direct connection without any virtual switch software is a good idea to get back on track.

There are no firmware images that "ask" for a JTAG connection. If you get an error like that simply add "metis" anywhere into the file name. Again, this is an old "feature" of the HPSDR Bootloader software application that was attempting to "help" people back when the ability to program hardware over Ethernet was a new capability. It probably should have been removed but nobody has maintained or updated HPSDR Bootloader in a very long time.

There are also excellent instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2333

However, I no longer recommend using the P2 programmer, only Bootloader. I should probably update those instructions.

[db8gk]

Is there source code for the HPSDR Bootloader available? It might benefit from a bit of a facelift, and maybe a Linux port. Especially the "metis" in the file name requirement is a bit ugly.

FWIW, I've sometimes been able to use the protocol 2 HPSDR Programmer on Linux, compiled from the sources found at https://github.com/TAPR/OpenHPSDR-Protocol2-Programmers . When it works, it works really nice, especially given that it doesn't rely on weird MAC addresses. When it doesn't, it bricks the radio, and it's back to Bootloader.

[w-u-2-o]

Is there source code for the HPSDR Bootloader available? It might benefit from a bit of a facelift, and maybe a Linux port. Especially the "metis" in the file name requirement is a bit ugly.

Of course it is. The source for everything is freely available and publicly posted because it is all open source:

https://github.com/TAPR

The Bootloader source can be found under "openHPSDR-Protocol1-Programmers".

The firmware is also open source and available at that Git repo.

[va7qi]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. It works very well now.

The fix: some sleep, re-installed PCAP and re-booted Windows. Thetis is flying... Now on to getting WSJT-X working with Thetis.

73 de va7qi, ....Erik.