14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

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tok2010
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Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby tok2010 » Thu Nov 24, 2022 2:31 am

Hi All,

I received a special production Hermes 14 bit board yesterday.

The firmware installed is Protocol 1 Hermes v1.5. With this firmware, PowerSDRmrx3.4.9 as well as Thetis v.2.8.11 are working apparently. But Thetis v2.9.0.6 does not work.

So, to change the firmware of this board(10E) to Protocol 2, I've searched related topics in the Discussion.

Scot indicated in 2019 the new firmware:
Protocol 2 ANAN-10E&100B v10.4_pre2
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3077&p=7408&hilit=hermes+14bit+protocol+2#p7408

with the following notice about this firmware v10.4_pre2:
1. DHCP is not supported, in which case you need to use a fixed IP address,
2. ICMP (ping) is not supported,
3. You must use the Bootloader to load new FPGA code.

I've not used so far a fixed IP address of ANAN Orion-MKII/TAPR Hermes 16 bit.

My question is the procedure to change the firmware considering no DHCP firmware.

The steps I suppose are:
1) Set a fixed IP address, e.g., 192.168.2.1, to Hermes 10E 14bit with Protocol v1.5 using HPSDRBootloader.
2) With this dedicated network of subnet 192.168.2.x, change the firmware to Protocol 2 v10.4_pre2 by using again HPSDRBootloader.

Are the above steps working?

73,
Tokio
JA1CCA
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w-u-2-o
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Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby w-u-2-o » Thu Nov 24, 2022 12:53 pm

tok2010 wrote: The firmware installed is Protocol 1 Hermes v1.5. With this firmware, PowerSDRmrx3.4.9 as well as Thetis v.2.8.11 are working apparently. But Thetis v2.9.0.6 does not work.

There should be no problem with Thetis 2.9.0.6. What symptoms are you having when trying to run it?

So, to change the firmware of this board(10E) to Protocol 2, I've searched related topics in the Discussion.

You should not have to do this to run Thetis 2.9.0.6.

Nevertheless, if you do want to change to P2 (and it probably won't fix your Thetis problem)...

The steps I suppose are:
1) Set a fixed IP address, e.g., 192.168.2.1, to Hermes 10E 14bit with Protocol v1.5 using HPSDRBootloader.
2) With this dedicated network of subnet 192.168.2.x, change the firmware to Protocol 2 v10.4_pre2 by using again HPSDRBootloader.

Are the above steps working?

Bootloader does not care about the IP address of anything, it uses raw Ethernet packets to communicate with the board. Therefore there is no need to worry about IP addresses as a first step.

Steps:

1. Use Bootloader to load the P2 firmware.
2. Use Bootloader to change the Hermes IP address. Example: 192.168.2.100.
3. Change the IP address on the network interface used with the Hermes on your PC to be in the same /24 subnet. Example: 192.168.1.200.
4. Run Thetis.
tok2010
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:18 pm

Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby tok2010 » Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:15 am

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your input.

As for Thetis 2.9.0.6 with 10E, please look at the following screenshot.
Thetis 2.9.0.6 is dumb without any response, no spectrum.
thetis2906_10e_resized.png
thetis2906_10e_resized.png (224.78 KiB) Viewed 8595 times


On the contrary, Thetis 2.8.11 is working.
thetis2811_10e.PNG
thetis2811_10e.PNG (226.39 KiB) Viewed 8595 times


As for the MAC address, both Thetis show a strange MAC address. PowerSDR displays the correct one.
mrx_10e.PNG
mrx_10e.PNG (213.36 KiB) Viewed 8595 times


I'll try the firmware update to Protocol 2 of my Hermes 14 bit 10E.

73,
Tokio
JA1CCA
tok2010
Posts: 36
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Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby tok2010 » Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:41 am

Hi group,

I have done test( only for receiving) here in my environment. The result is the following:

<<10E Firmware ver10.4_pre2>>
Thetis 2.8.11 works apparently fine .
Thetis 2.9.0.6 works, but VAC not. This is the same as the firmware10.3.

<<10E Firmware ver10.3>>
Thetis 2.8.11 works apparently fine.
Thetis 2.9.0.6 works but VAC not.
One thing very strange is the IP address. 10E shows IP address APIPA like, 169.254.156.224. Please look at the screenshot. This firmware is very unstable as a whole.

My conclusion is the following:
Anan 10E 14 bit, long awaited by many enthusiasts of OpenHPSDR, works fine with the protocol 2 firmware 10.4 pre2 only with Thetis v2.8.11 HERE at the moment. This test is only for receiving. I did not any test of Pure Signal.

I hope there will be some good results for the Anan Hermes 14 bit.

73,
Tokio
JA1CCA
Attachments
Thetis_2906-10e-v10_3.PNG
Thetis_2906-10e-v10_3.PNG (356.88 KiB) Viewed 8570 times
thetis2811_10e_10_4.PNG
thetis2811_10e_10_4.PNG (329.29 KiB) Viewed 8570 times
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w-u-2-o
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Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby w-u-2-o » Fri Nov 25, 2022 12:02 pm

tok2010 wrote:Hi group,

I have done test( only for receiving) here in my environment. The result is the following:

Tokio,

The conclusions you are drawing from your results are incorrect.

The reason you are having problems with P1 and Thetis 2.9.0.6 are almost certainly because of Windows firewall problems on your PC. Use the Firewall Check button in Setup > General > H/W Select.

Problems with VAC can have nothing to do with firmware or hardware. VAC functionality does not extend outside of Thetis. Many hundreds or even thousands of users are using VAC with 2.9.0.6 with no difficulty. You must have a configuration problem in Thetis or elsewhere in your system.

However, the one thing you did get correct is that P2 firmware on the Hermes 14-bit platform is extremely unstable. It will not work on all serial numbers. But 2.9.0.6 with P1 firmware does work 100% fine.

73,

Scott
tok2010
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Re: 14-bit Hermes (10E and 100B) Protocol 2 Firmware Topic

Postby tok2010 » Fri Nov 25, 2022 11:47 pm

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your comments.

Just after reading your comments, I realized Roaming data path was incorrect. For the test, I use a different PC from my ordinary PC for QSO.
I corrected the path for database and binary file. Running different versions on a PC requires this attention.

Then, I can have audio output of VAC using Thetis v2.9.0.6 and P2 firmware 10.4.

thetis2906 10e p2 10-4 latest.PNG
thetis2906 10e p2 10-4 latest.PNG (337.83 KiB) Viewed 8529 times

Now, HERE Protocol 2 10.4 of 10E are working with both Thetis v2.8.11 and v2.9.0.6 apparently.
However, sometimes SEQ ERROR appears on the panel. This is rare rather than frequent. The board 10E is directly connected to the PC by using a dedicated IP address set up by HPSDRBootloader. This SEQ ERROR may be related to your comment "unstable"

Anyway I would like to proceed to test Pure Signal in this configuration.

Thank you again for your input, and the firmware 10.4 will be improved in due course in terms of "unstableness".

73,
Tokio
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w-u-2-o
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14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:41 am

Moved this to it's own thread as it was a user configuration problem and not directly related to 14-bit Hermes P2 firmware.
tok2010
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby tok2010 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:09 am

Hi Group,

I have a problem about DC Supply to Hermes board.
The default is 13.8 V to pin 1 and pin 2 of J10 of the board.

According to the Hermes manual Revision 1.8, page 10 and page 12, the following jumper setting explained with the input DC Supply:

DC Supply
(case1)13.8V
(case2)12V
(case3)12V and 5V
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DH1KLM
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby DH1KLM » Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:15 am

And what is the question?

We need more informations.
How is it powered?
Voltage?
Which jumpers have you set?

Actually, everything is described in detail in the manual. What exactly is your problem?
73 de Sigi / DH1KLM
tok2010
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:18 pm

Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby tok2010 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:30 am

Hi Group,

I have a problem about DC Supply of Hermes 14-bit board.
The default is 13.8 V to pin 1 and pin 2 of J10 of the board. DC12V and DC5V can be also fed to this connector:
pin1 : 12V, pin 4: 5V in the manual.

According to the Hermes manual Revision 1.8, page 10 and page 12, the following jumpers setting explained about the DC Supply.

There are 3 cases explained.

DC Supply Jumpers
-------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Case1)13.8V J17: 2-3 fitted, J18: jumper placed, J21: jumper placed, J26: 2-3 fitted
(Case2)12V J17: 1-2 fitted, J18: no jumper removed, J21: jumper placed, J26: 2-3 fitted
(Case3)12V and 5V J17: 1-2 fitted, J18: removed, J21: removed, J26: 1-2 fitted

The result is the following:
Case1 is OK: The board and Alex attached by 10 ribbon cable, both are working.
Case2 is NG: The board is OK, but Alex not.
Case3 is NG: The board doesn't work, nor Alex.

I have a plan to use 12V or 12V/5V.
Could you anyone explain the above and give a remedy ?

This is a serious problem for all of those who bought this board.

73,
Tokio
JA1CCA
tok2010
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby tok2010 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 11:33 am

Hi Sigi,

I submitted the question hastily.
Sorry about that.

Tokio
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DH1KLM
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby DH1KLM » Sun Nov 27, 2022 12:18 pm

Have you looked at the Hermes schematic? https://apache-labs.com/downloadsfiles/ ... MATICS.pdf
This might help narrow down the problem.
73 de Sigi / DH1KLM
tok2010
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby tok2010 » Mon Nov 28, 2022 7:52 am

Hi Sigi,

Thank you for your input and reminding me of the schematic.

Would you like to say that the manual about DC Supply jumpers setting is incorrect?
The question is which is correct, the manual or the schematic.
In case that the schematic is right, then how do we put the jumpers in order to make use of 12V, or 12V/5V, instead of 13.8V(default)?
All of us are not electronic circuits experts, in the way that we do not fully understand Thetis program written by the experts.

73,
Tokio
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w-u-2-o
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Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby w-u-2-o » Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:46 pm

The schematic should always be trusted more than the manual. I don't know what manual you are using, but if you are quoting from it verbatim that manual is clearly wrong.

I am using the schematic found here: https://community.apache-labs.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2549

And the manual found here: http://openhpsdr.org/documents.php. Refer to page 10.

The reason you are having trouble with Case 2 is because you did not follow the J17 note about using Alex whereby J17 must see pins 1, 2 and 3 all tied together. I believe the direction to jumper J18 is wrong. However, there is another way to do this. If you don't mind powering Alex from the LDO then jumper J18 and jumper J17 pins 1 and 2.

The reason you are having trouble with Case 3 is because the correct setting is that of Case 2 as discussed above plus J26 pins 1 and 2 jumpered. Removing J21 is flat wrong.

You should become familiar with reading schematics so that you can make your own judgements with regard to proper jumper settings.

Disclaimer: I'm just reading the documentation. I don't own a Hermes of any type and have never configured one.
tok2010
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:18 pm

Re: 14-bit Hermes Setup Problems

Postby tok2010 » Tue Nov 29, 2022 11:10 am

Hi Scott,

Thank you very much for your comments as usual.

I've read User Manual of Hermes V1.8 as described in my previous message.
I had to pay attention to the latest manual V1.18.

The schematic and the contents of the manual regarding DC Supply Jumpers has no discrepancy.

Thank you again.

73, Tokio

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