MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

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VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

Hi Folks:

I moved a Pi-Star setup to a remote site this morning. I had the Repeater Builder MMDVM Board, the Master's Communications MUX-25 on soak test at home for close to 2-months, with an identical repeater (TKR-850) - note identical, not the exact same repeater.

After sweltering in the heat for over 3 hours, I was unable to get the MMDVM board to decode my audio from the repeater.

I was able to adjust the gain pot on the MMDVM board to the point where the 'Clip' LED turns off... then I increased the RD (Raw Discrim) audio from the repeater, and the Clip LED lit up again, so this confirms that my wiring is correct (after all, I had it working at home with the exact same Pi-4, and all cabling for ~ 2 months).

Since I am using the Master's Communications MUX-25, I am also using the repeater for Allstar / FM - the FM side is working fine - taking audio off the RD (Raw discrim) pin of the TKR-850 and I am injecting Allstar TX Audio into the TD line - so again, this confirms that the RX and TX audio is good / no issues with the repeater itself.

The issue is with the digital side - the MMDVM board is not decoding any digital audio (D-STAR / YSF / DMR).

lsusb does show the MMDVM Board:

root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0403:6015 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd Bridge(I2C/SPI/UART/FIFO)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub


I am not getting ANY audio out of the MMDVM board. If I connect the repeater to an XLX reflector (using say the DExtra Protocol), I can sniff traffic on port 30001 using tcpdump and I see lots of packets - but NO audio coming out of the repeater.

I somehow suspect a network issue - but even the router is the EXACT same router that I had at home, on soak test, with this setup for ~2 months. I am not sure if this is related, but I do see some IRCClient errors in the ircddbgateway log:


W: 2021-05-23 01:13:33: IRCClient::Entry: SO_ERROR=111
M: 2021-05-23 01:13:39: GATEWAY: OK0HCS G 151.249.107.75
M: 2021-05-23 01:13:40: GATEWAY: F5ZML G 90.30.175.56
M: 2021-05-23 01:13:46: GATEWAY: ZU9DBI G 102.65.22.111
M: 2021-05-23 01:13:52: GATEWAY: DB0LBX G 185.156.156.157
W: 2021-05-23 01:14:07: IRCClient::Entry: SO_ERROR=111


gatewayAddress / hbAddress, etc... in the ircddbgateway config is all set to 127.0.0.1 (same as I had at home) - no changes to the configs.


I checked the loopback address, it's there an ping'able...

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:46 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.5.110/24 brd 192.168.5.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
valid_lft 84632sec preferred_lft 73832sec
3: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0_ap: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.50.1/24 brd 192.168.50.255 scope global wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 169.254.206.91/16 brd 169.254.255.255 scope global noprefixroute wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever


Any ideas guys? - I really hope I don't have to go to site and pull the repeater out to bring the whole lot home to troubleshoot!

Thanks,

Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV, G4PNQ
AF6VN
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:15 am

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by AF6VN »

VA3UV wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 1:33 am The issue is with the digital side - the MMDVM board is not decoding any digital audio (D-STAR / YSF / DMR).
I didn't think any MMDVM board "decodes" digital audio; they don't contain AMBE CODECs -- they do take the data stream and convert from tones to binary and package the binary for network transfer (or take network packets, strip the envelope, and modulate the binary back into tones that can be sent by the radio).
lsusb does show the MMDVM Board:

root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0403:6015 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd Bridge(I2C/SPI/UART/FIFO)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Really? I see three hubs listed, and one FTDI USB<>Serial interface. Just for giggles -- my R-Pi3B with a DV-Mega...

Code: Select all

pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$ sudo lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9514 Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$
... which is not listed either.
I somehow suspect a network issue - but even the router is the EXACT same router that I had at home, on soak test, with this setup for ~2 months. I am not sure if this is related, but I do see some IRCClient errors in the ircddbgateway log:


W: 2021-05-23 01:13:33: IRCClient::Entry: SO_ERROR=111
Socket Error -- Connection Refused...
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:46 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.5.110/24 brd 192.168.5.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
valid_lft 84632sec preferred_lft 73832sec
3: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0_ap: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.50.1/24 brd 192.168.50.255 scope global wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 169.254.206.91/16 brd 169.254.255.255 scope global noprefixroute wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
What is your network connection? I ask as you seem to have the Pi-Star Access Point active -- I though wired connections took priority so wouldn't expect wlan0_ap to show (mine is connected via WiFi so...

Code: Select all

pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether b8:27:eb:1e:5e:80  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 32068831  bytes 1615074683 (1.5 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 32068831  bytes 1615074683 (1.5 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.79  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        ether b8:27:eb:4b:0b:d5  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 46597132  bytes 751412382 (716.6 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 9054261  bytes 1493244550 (1.3 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

... no wlan0_ap

--
AF6VN
Dennis L Bieber
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

KE7FNS -> I did find your post about the use of ethtool and the few lines to add in /etc/rc.local

I also turned 'Auto AP' off in the Configuration menu. My interfaces now look like this:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:46 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.5.110/24 brd 192.168.5.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
valid_lft 61854sec preferred_lft 51054sec
3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

AF6VN wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 5:12 am
VA3UV wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 1:33 am The issue is with the digital side - the MMDVM board is not decoding any digital audio (D-STAR / YSF / DMR).
I didn't think any MMDVM board "decodes" digital audio; they don't contain AMBE CODECs -- they do take the data stream and convert from tones to binary and package the binary for network transfer (or take network packets, strip the envelope, and modulate the binary back into tones that can be sent by the radio).
lsusb does show the MMDVM Board:

root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0403:6015 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd Bridge(I2C/SPI/UART/FIFO)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2109:3431 VIA Labs, Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Really? I see three hubs listed, and one FTDI USB<>Serial interface. Just for giggles -- my R-Pi3B with a DV-Mega...

Code: Select all

pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$ sudo lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9514 Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$
... which is not listed either.
I somehow suspect a network issue - but even the router is the EXACT same router that I had at home, on soak test, with this setup for ~2 months. I am not sure if this is related, but I do see some IRCClient errors in the ircddbgateway log:


W: 2021-05-23 01:13:33: IRCClient::Entry: SO_ERROR=111
Socket Error -- Connection Refused...
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:46 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.5.110/24 brd 192.168.5.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
valid_lft 84632sec preferred_lft 73832sec
3: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0_ap: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP group default qlen 1000
link/ether e4:5f:01:1e:f5:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.50.1/24 brd 192.168.50.255 scope global wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 169.254.206.91/16 brd 169.254.255.255 scope global noprefixroute wlan0_ap
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
What is your network connection? I ask as you seem to have the Pi-Star Access Point active -- I though wired connections took priority so wouldn't expect wlan0_ap to show (mine is connected via WiFi so...

Code: Select all

pi-star@pi-star-3b(ro):~$ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether b8:27:eb:1e:5e:80  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 32068831  bytes 1615074683 (1.5 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 32068831  bytes 1615074683 (1.5 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.79  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        ether b8:27:eb:4b:0b:d5  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 46597132  bytes 751412382 (716.6 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 9054261  bytes 1493244550 (1.3 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

... no wlan0_ap

The interesting thing is that even though I can see the packets using tcpdump (on port 30001), the Pi-Star dashboard is not showing any callsigns - nothing! - so that's why I suspected a networking issue ... but I could be wrong!
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

Adding to the mystery.... I see traffic on the loopback adapter on ports 20010 and 20011 ... but still nothing on the Pi-Star dashboard!

root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# tcpdump -i lo port 20010
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on lo, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
11:53:57.770369 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 49
11:53:57.791403 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 49
11:53:57.791519 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 21


root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# tcpdump -i lo port 20011
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on lo, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes


11:55:31.877559 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 49
11:55:31.893455 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 49
11:55:31.893576 IP localhost.20010 > localhost.isdnlog: UDP, length 21
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

OK, I think we might have a clue...

I restored from back-up; the repeater came back to life... started hearing D-STAR audio :)

BUT only for a couple of minutes and then zip - no TX audio and the Pi-Star dashboard (last heard) callsign list was frozen, meaning it did not keep up with traffic off a reflector.

I noticed this in the MMDVM log file:

root@va3pmo(ro):pi-star# tail -f MMDVM-2021-05-23.log
M: 2021-05-23 16:14:23.738 D-Star, received network header from VA3UV /91AD to CQCQCQ via XRF416 D
M: 2021-05-23 16:15:44.706 D-Star, received network end of transmission from VA3UV /91AD to CQCQCQ , 80.9 seconds, 0% packet loss, BER: 0.0%
M: 2021-05-23 16:15:50.623 D-Star, received network header from VE3KWN /5100 to CQCQCQ via XRF416 D
M: 2021-05-23 16:15:56.993 D-Star, received network end of transmission from VE3KWN /5100 to CQCQCQ , 6.3 seconds, 0% packet loss, BER: 0.0%
M: 2021-05-23 16:16:02.957 D-Star, received network header from VA3UV /91AD to CQCQCQ via XRF416 D
M: 2021-05-23 16:17:18.877 D-Star, received network end of transmission from VA3UV /91AD to CQCQCQ , 75.9 seconds, 0% packet loss, BER: 0.0%
M: 2021-05-23 16:17:26.832 D-Star, received network header from VE3KWN /5100 to CQCQCQ via XRF416 D
M: 2021-05-23 16:17:38.721 D-Star, received network end of transmission from VE3KWN /5100 to CQCQCQ , 11.9 seconds, 3% packet loss, BER: 0.0%
M: 2021-05-23 16:17:46.950 D-Star, received network header from VA3UV /91AD to CQCQCQ via XRF416 D
W: 2021-05-23 16:17:47.548 Received a NAK from the MMDVM, command = 0x11, reason = 5


I have also sent this to Scott, N3XCC, but posting here in case anyone has seen this error with the RB board before.

Thx,

Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV, G4PNQ
AF6VN
Posts: 821
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:15 am

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by AF6VN »

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... XWjLTj0r57
{Bloody Google tracking garbage -- that link is for a PDF file}

Reason 5 appears to be documented as "not enough buffer space". "Incorrect data" is reason #4.

--
AF6VN
Dennis L Bieber
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

AF6VN wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 5:03 pm https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... XWjLTj0r57
{Bloody Google tracking garbage -- that link is for a PDF file}

Reason 5 appears to be documented as "not enough buffer space". "Incorrect data" is reason #4.
I also saw a load of rxbuffer overflow errors in the MMDVM log file.

I attempted to update the firmware this morning using the instructions here: https://www.repeater-builder.com/produc ... USB_v3.pdf

However, I get the following error:

root@va3pmo(rw):pi-star# ./stm32flash -v -w mmdvm_f4.hex -R /dev/ttyUSB0
stm32flash 0.5

http://stm32flash.sourceforge.net/

Using Parser : Intel HEX
Interface serial_posix: 57600 8E1
Failed to init device.


Would have been nice if the f/w could have been completed without the need to visit the site again, but that may be wishful thinking at this point!

Cheers,

Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV, G4PNQ
VA3UV
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:02 pm

Re: MMDVM Not decoding repeater audio

Post by VA3UV »

Just to close this thread...

I was in touch with Scott, N3XCC, of Repeater Builder. The best course of action was for me to head back to site, jumper JP1 on the MMDVM board, power-up and flash new firmware.

Voila - it's alive!!

Cheers,

Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV, G4PNQ
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