OLD 7000/8000 Orion MKII Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

[w-u-2-o]

This topic is for historical reference only and is now locked. Look at "tacked" topics for the latest information.


UPDATE 2.1.18 14 Aug 2021

Numerous bug fixes and timing improvements.
Thetis 2.8.11 build 21f will show the full firmware version number in Setup > General.

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.1.18.rbf

(1.89 MiB) Downloaded 672 times

Quartus project archive file for developers:

Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.1.18.qar

(234.39 KiB) Downloaded 72 times

UPDATE 2.0b 10 Feb 2020

Additional bug fixes including transverter operation, PTT fixes and timing adjustments.

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0b.rbf

(1.65 MiB) Downloaded 764 times

UPDATE 2.0a 27 Jan 2020

Intended to work with the released version of 2.6.9 (from the TAPR Github repository) to fix the PA disable bug. I've also found it to be very stable for my 8000.

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0a.rbf

(1.65 MiB) Downloaded 399 times

UPDATE pre8 26 Dec 2019

pre8 is based on pre7, but it fixes a bug whereby the firmware would often try to process DHCP messages meant for other devices. For me it works the best of all so far, but YMMV, so please give it a whirl and post your results.

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0_pre8.rbf

(1.65 MiB) Downloaded 545 times

UPDATE pre7 20 Dec 2019

Rick has recently had a little time and finally managed to conquer a warning message that the development environment was giving associated with PLL pin assignments. This problem exists even on P1 builds. It's not clear this has improved anything, but it is worth putting out this build to see if it at least runs for more people than pre1, pre2 or pre4 does. Please give it a try and report on it's performance for you.

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0_pre7_52f1.rbf

(1.64 MiB) Downloaded 358 times

Original Post 9 Nov 2019

Rick, N1GP, who has taken the P2 firmware from early alpha to beta to late beta status, depending on your specific SDR platform, has reached a point where work is calming down for him a bit and he may be able to start producing beta versions again.

Given that there haven't been any reports that the faster IF sample rates cause problems, at this point it seems pretty clear that the primary difficulty with the P2 design is achieving timing closure for the Gigabit Ethernet MAC portion of the firmware that works reliably on every serial number of every model hardware. Moving from 100MHz to 1000MHz timing on that interface has proven quite challenging. Rick has made great strides in this area, fixing numerous logic bugs and modifying the thermal model used in the build. More recently, Rick has been looking at changes in the SDC file, which is a file that the Quartus design software uses to set constraints on how clocks and timing are handled in the build process. The first fruit of that labor is the "pre4" version posted below.

We are going to follow Richie's example that he set for Thetis and start a fresh new thread here for discussion of Orion MKII (7000 and 8000) P2 firmware. Each new version will be posted as an update in this first entry. The old topic will be locked. And Rick and I hope to be able to start similar new threads for Orion, Angelia and Hermes, but that won't be for several weeks yet.

Please note that typical symptoms of poor firmware performance include: crashes that require power cycling the actual ANAN hardware, high noise floors on the panadapter, poor, missing or inconsistent PureSignal performance, and poor diversity or RX2 behavior. If your band stacks aren't working that is a Thetis issue

73,

Scott

To begin, here are what people generally found to be the best P2 firmware versions prior to 9 Nov 2019 for their 7000 and 8000, Orion MKII based hardware:

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0_pre1.rbf

(1.65 MiB) Downloaded 374 times

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0_pre2.rbf

(1.65 MiB) Downloaded 374 times

Update 9 Nov 2019, "set_clock_groups -exclusive -group *" on the Ethernet clocks:

Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.0_pre4_6282.rbf

(1.88 MiB) Downloaded 501 times

Earlier versions can be found here:

https://github.com/TAPR/OpenHPSDR-Firmware/tree/master/Protocol%202/Orion_MkII%20(ANAN-7000DLE-8000DLE)

[ea3aqr]

ANAN 7000DLE:

So many SEQ errors on TX after uploading P2 V2.0 pre4 (previous firmware was 2.0 Pre1).

DCC0
s0=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:39:843
s1=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:38:318
s2=0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:37:418
s3=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:34:289
s4=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:33:189
s5=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:32:587
s6=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 11/09 18:59:30:247
s7=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:27:757
s8=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:26:744
s9=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:24:029
s10=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:23:931
s11=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:23:588
s12=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:22:953
s13=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:22:618
s14=0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:20:255
s15=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:19:921
s16=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:18:435
s17=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:15:188
s18=0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:14:773
s19=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/09 18:59:12:278

<huge list trimmed>

[ea3aqr]

No more SEQ errors after going back to P2 v2.0 Pre1

[NC3Z]

So far so good on Pre4, no SEQ errors at all on a 7000DLE.

[w-u-2-o]

My report: pre4 is the best of the bunch on my 8000.

In more detail: Pre2 worked but PS was unstable. Pre1 worked fine. But pre4 is definitely demonstrating superior PureSignal performance and just "feels" smoother overall. No seq errors at all with pre1 or pre4 unless I make the PC sweat by doing a lot of other stuff.

Good point, ea3aqr: seq errors are also a good sign of firmware instability.

[NJ2US]

Although Pre1 was working very well for me, just an occasional SEQ error, Pre4 has been solid after several (6) hours of operation. Just one dropped packet, that I would not have noticed had it not been for the SEQLog alert.

NJ2US
7000DLE 2.6.9 A4, i7 Win 10 GTX1060

[K9RX]

Jeff, NJ2US, I happen to run in to you, W1AEX, NC3Z on 160 last night and heard you mention that PS was working much better, no issues since the last "fix" I believe you said ... was this it - was this what you were referring to? If not could you mention what you were referrring to please?

I've not yet tried Thetis but am encouraged by what you guys were saying last night... I'm looking to move to it after Jan 1.

Gary
K9RX

[cLicari]

My report: pre4 is the best of the bunch on my 8000.

In more detail: Pre2 worked but PS was unstable. Pre1 worked fine. But pre4 is definitely demonstrating superior PureSignal performance and just "feels" smoother overall. No seq errors at all with pre1 or pre4 unless I make the PC sweat by doing a lot of other stuff.

Good point, ea3aqr: seq errors are also a good sign of firmware instability.

Scott...
Loaded up pre4 last night. Ran fine last night and again this morning for 3.5 hrs, mostly listening, then was in QSO with some friends and had a lockup. Without resetting the radio or relaunching Thetis I hit the power button and worked for about ten seconds and locked up again. There were some error messages so I made a screen capture as follows...
Thx
Carl
NX5T

[img]

lockup.JPG

[/img]

lockup.JPG (278.29 KiB) Viewed 28735 times

[w-u-2-o]

Carl: does it work better or worse than pre1 or pre2? Which is best for you? And are you using a 7000 or 8000?

[nico]

Apache Lab Anan 8000DLE with Thetis and version 2.0 Pre4 - when using diversity reception after pressing PTT around 10 times to simulate a QSO the receiver will lock up with 9+60db noise. It works again when Diversity Reception is turned off but the Anan needs a reboot. Have been able to replicate this fairly consistently.

Thanks for all the work

Nicholas - 2E0GKG

[cLicari]

Carl: does it work better or worse than pre1 or pre2? Which is best for you? And are you using a 7000 or 8000?

Scott..

Running an 8000DLE.
I can't say one is any better than another. Once it reaches the point of failing all of them fail again repeatedly after a short amount of time (seconds). Did the error code have any significance to you? Is there something you'd like me to try?
I'm going to run it more to look for a pattern, but I honestly think it's a problem in my system, although quite capable, somewhere.

Carl

[w-u-2-o]

Carl,

There was a problem previously with Thetis where it could crash on certain seq errors. You might cross post this in the 2.6.9 topic.

73,

Scott

[W4WMT]

Carl,

There was a problem previously with Thetis where it could crash on certain seq errors. You might cross post this in the 2.6.9 topic.

73,

Scott

Those crashes were caused by "malformed packets" which Doug fixed by trapping them out in the code (just looked at that code this morning). Hopefully those crashes won't be happening any more.

73

[vk6cpu]

I updated firmware this morning with the pre-4 release and immediately got virtually continuous sequence errors (short log attached).
Radio appeared to be functioning Ok in limited RX & TX tests that I did.
But given the numerous seq errors and flashing red text - I went back to the pre-2 version which is stable and only get occasional SEQ error.
Happy to provide further info or tests if it will help with debugging.

Just updated with addition of log file when running pre-2 for comparison - covers almost 24 hours and only occasional seq err.

[w-u-2-o]

Just the report is all that is necessary. Thanks, Nigel.

[K8JDC]

Thought I would post some data here showing some negative seq numbers. This was taken running 2.6.9 A6_2 and pre-4 on a 7000. I ran several hours yesterday (mostly running WSJT-X) on this load and saw some seq errors but most were positive. I saw one other instance of negative numbers yesterday. I have just loaded A7 to try that out.

Dave
K8JDC

DCC0
s0=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 -4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 13:09:20:479
s1=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 -4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 13:09:20:479
s2=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 13:09:20:479

DCC2
s0=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 131 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 13:06:25:568
s1=0 0 0 0 0 0 439 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12:35:34:615
s2=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12:35:33:114

DCC2
s0=0 0 0 0 0 0 439 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12:35:34:615
s1=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12:35:33:114

DCC2
s0=0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12:35:33:114

[NN3RP]

So I am the 2nd owner of a 7000dle MKII with PC embedded I7, 8Gb RAM, Windows 10 Home, purchased in October 2019. I do not think that it has the current firmware. I have only play with the PSDR that comes with it last night. Upgraded Windows to Pro in a flash.

I would like to use Thetis as I have been doing for the past many months on my other non PC 7000. I suppose I need to install the latest firmware before I can run Thetis?

Rafael / NN3RP
Proud new owner 7000dle MKII

[w-u-2-o]

I suppose I need to install the latest firmware before I can run Thetis?

You need to install the latest, or almost the latest, Protocol 2 firmware to run Thetis.

Protocol 2 explained:

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2380

A warning before you program the firmware:

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3082

Read the "tacked" threads here:

viewforum.php?f=18

I strongly recommend you use the Bootloader method.

And of course read the first post in this topic, too.

If you run into problems loading firmware please start a new topic in the Protocol 2 sub-forum.

[NN3RP]

Thanks. I have read about the issue when the jumper is not there. As soon as I received mine yesterday, I opened it to confirm the chip # / the jumper was in place.

I will proceed with cautiously with bootloader method.

[vu2mb]

[quote="K8JDC"]Thought I would post some data here showing some negative seq numbers. This was taken running 2.6.9 A6_2 and pre-4 on a 7000. I ran several hours yesterday (mostly running WSJT-X) on this load and saw some seq errors but most were positive. I saw one other instance of negative numbers yesterday. I have just loaded A7 to try that out.

Dave
K8JDC

Hi Dave,

Can you please let me know how can we check the seq error log?

Thank you very much.
73
Bhanu
VU2MB

[w-u-2-o]

Bhanu,

It is accessible through Setup > Tests. See this thread, that is where most of the discussion of this log is concentrated:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3189

73,

Scott

[vu2mb]

Bhanu,

It is accessible through Setup > Tests. See this thread, that is where most of the discussion of this log is concentrated:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3189

73,

Scott

Thank you Scott
I will go through it.
I am having some tough time for last 2 days when I formatted my PC and reinstalled it from the image first and then a clean install from the disks.
I would come back after couple of days if I am unable to sort this out myself. Tomorrow I would be out of town.
73
Bhanu
VU2MB

[AA2GF]

Got my hands on the new black edition 7000 DLE MKII. Anyone have any experience with Protocol 2 on this one?

[w-u-2-o]

It should be no different than any other version of the 7000.

[AA2GF]

I appreciate that Scott, my interest is in hearing from someone who is successfully running a P2 version in order to avoid a testing adventure.
Do you happen to know if this new version (Black Box) was just a packaging change or if there are component changes that could impact the firmware behavior. I recall a past component change that required a firmware tweak.

--AA2GF--

[w-u-2-o]

As far as I know it's just a packaging change.

[w-u-2-o]

All,

Please see the update in Post #1 above.

73!

Scott

[dj1yr]

hello,

i´have seq 0,1 errors on ddc2 and ddc3 with pre7, back to pre4, without any errors.


best regards

[NJ2US]

Anan 7000DLE Thetis 2.6.9 release b5_3
Radio dedicated subnet, dedicated NIC
VAC audio
Pre7

Flashed without issue. On first startup, had a flurry of SEQ errors, some negative numbers, but that quickly settled down after about 3 seconds. Subsequent starts and stops, ZERO seq errors, and no other anomalies observed. I will continue to test.

Jeff
NJ2US

[NJ2US]

Nope. Pre 7 not working very well, SEQ errors occurring with regularity. Back to Pre 4, with good stability.

Jeff
NJ2US