RPi 4B 4GB first time

[ajkoren1959]

My setup:

• Raspberry Pi 4B, 4GB with a fresh Dragon OS
• Downloaded cariboulite code:

git clone...

• Following issue MODEM Version: not AT86RF215 IQ capable modem #137, I changed the following:
  I replaced line 1319 in cariboulite/driver/build/smi_stream_dev.c as follows:
  //smi_stream_class = class_create(THIS_MODULE, DEVICE_NAME);
  smi_stream_class = class_create(DEVICE_NAME);

• Following instructions + issue Raspberry Pi 34B SMI error #135, I edited file /boot/firmware/config.txt. Changed [all] to:
  [all]
  # Enable the audio output, I2C and SPI interfaces on the GPIO header. As these
  # parameters related to the base device-tree they must appear before any
  # other dtoverlay= specification
  dtparam=audio=on
  #dtparam=i2c_arm=on
  dtparam=i2c_arm=off
  #dtparam=spi=on
  dtparam=spi=off

  # CaribouLite
  dtparam=i2c_vc=on
  dtparam=spi_vc=on
  dtoverlay=spi1-3cs
  #enable_uart=0
  #arm_freq=550
  #core_freq=250
  #gpu_mem=4
  

My issue:
sdrpp doesn't receive signals. A quick search found that SoapySDRUtil also shows errors. Please see "shm_open: No such file or directory" and following errors below:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~/projects/cariboulite$ sudo SoapySDRUtil --probe
[sudo] password for ubuntu:
######################################################

Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Probe device
[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
02-02 18:48:22.334 4482 4482 I CARIBOU_PROG caribou_prog_configure_from_buffer@caribou_prog.c:260 Sending bitstream of size 32220
02-02 18:48:23.893 4482 4482 I CARIBOU_PROG caribou_prog_configure_from_buffer@caribou_prog.c:292 FPGA programming - Success!

Printing 'findCariboulite' Request:
shm_open: No such file or directory
[ERROR] sdrplay_api_Open() Error: sdrplay_api_Fail
[ERROR] Please check the sdrplay_api service to make sure it is up. If it is up, please restart it.
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 11.3.0; Boost_107400; UHD_4.1.0.5-0-unknown
[ERROR] SoapySDR::Device::enumerate(sdrplay) sdrplay_api_Open() failed
[INFO] Initializing DeviceID: 0, Label: CaribouLite S1G[66b1825c], ChannelType: S1G
[INFO] Creating SampleQueue MTU: 131072 I/Q samples (524288 bytes)

Also, it might be unrelated, but it's suspicious: I seem to be running out of space in the root partition (96% full):
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 380M 3.5M 376M 1% /run
/dev/mmcblk0p2 15G 14G 630M 96% /
tmpfs 1.9G 0 1.9G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 4.0K 5.0M 1% /run/lock
/dev/mmcblk0p1 253M 193M 60M 77% /boot/firmware
tmpfs 380M 104K 379M 1% /run/user/1000

Any help with either issue will be greatly appreciated.

[ajkoren1959]

I ran install.sh again (on a fresh DragonOS). This time I noticed earlier errors:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~/projects/cariboulite$ ./install.sh > install.txt
[sudo] password for ubuntu: 
E: Unable to locate package raspberrypi-kernel-headers
E: Unable to locate package raspberrypi-kernel-headers
warning: the compiler differs from the one used to build the kernel
  The kernel was built by: aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.2.0-4ubuntu3) 13.2.0
  You are using:           gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.1.0-8ubuntu1~22.04) 13.1.0
[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
Opening rpi in /dev/gpiomem: Permission denied
[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
Opening rpi in /dev/gpiomem: Permission denied

Is this the easiest thing to do to start from Raspberry Pi OS rather than from DragonOS?

[ImDroided]

Ok first things first get a bigger sd card lol. 16gb is nothing with updates and such. I'd do 64gb min

I have a writeup at https://radiomenace.com/2023/03/20/getting-cariboulite-working-in-dragonos-on-a-raspberry-pi/ but you still need to edit the THIS_MODULE thing.

This is what your config.txt should look like.

[all]
# Enable the audio output, I2C and SPI interfaces on the GPIO header. As these
# parameters related to the base device-tree they must appear *before* any
# other dtoverlay= specification
dtparam=audio=on
dtparam=i2c_arm=off
dtparam=spi=off
dtparam=i2c_vc=on
dtoverlay=spi1-3cs

I would get rid of all that entire section and try this. if this works then add back one by one to see what breaks it.

next do

sudo usermod -a -G root,dialout ubuntu

Edit /etc/rc.local and directly above the ‘exit 0’ line, insert a new line with this: chmod g+rw /dev/gpiomem

then reboot with

sudo reboot

You can run chmod g+rw /dev/gpiomem in a terminal and rerun your software and it should work as you are getting

[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
Opening rpi in /dev/gpiomem: Permission denied

You will need to edit rc.local as per above because it resets the permissions on gpiomem on boot for some reason.

Hope this helps let me know.

[ajkoren1959]

Thanks for the advice, ImDroided.

Bigger SD Card: Right on! :-)
config.txt file: That's my file too.
I'm back to using DragonOS. Raspberry Pi OS requires installation of SoapySDR which comes with Dragon, but otherwise, since I got errors the move didn't help.

I implemented your other tips:

1. sudo usermod -a -G root,dialout ubuntu

2. Edit /etc/rc.local and directly above the ‘exit 0’ line, insert a new line with this: chmod g+rw /dev/gpiomem

After reboot, I got:
`ubuntu@ubuntu:~/projects/cariboulite$ sudo SoapySDRUtil --find
######################################################

Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
02-07 19:45:35.995 31274 31274 I FPGA caribou_fpga_program_to_fpga@caribou_fpga.c:209 FPGA already operational - not programming (use 'force_prog=true' to force update)
02-07 19:45:35.995 31274 31274 E CARIBOU_SMI caribou_smi_init@caribou_smi.c:539 couldn't open smi driver file '/dev/smi' (No such file or directory)
02-07 19:45:35.995 31274 31274 E CARIBOULITE Setup cariboulite_init_submodules@cariboulite_setup.c:288 Error setting up smi submodule
02-07 19:45:35.997 31274 31274 I CARIBOU_PROG caribou_prog_release@caribou_prog.c:122 device release completed
02-07 19:45:35.997 31274 31274 E FPGA caribou_fpga_close@caribou_fpga.c:246 caribou_fpga_close: dev not initialized
[ERROR] cariboulite_init_driver() failed

and:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~/projects/cariboulite$ sudo SoapySDRUtil --probe
######################################################

Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Probe device
[INFO] SoapyCaribouliteSession, sessionCount: 0
02-07 20:37:36.856 99227 99227 I FPGA caribou_fpga_program_to_fpga@caribou_fpga.c:209 FPGA already operational - not programming (use 'force_prog=true' to force update)
02-07 20:37:36.857 99227 99227 E CARIBOU_SMI caribou_smi_init@caribou_smi.c:539 couldn't open smi driver file '/dev/smi' (No such file or directory)
02-07 20:37:36.857 99227 99227 E CARIBOULITE Setup cariboulite_init_submodules@cariboulite_setup.c:288 Error setting up smi submodule

I see in your write-up that you used RPi 3, not 4. Is there a compatibility issue with RPi 4?

[ImDroided]

looks like your stuck where I am now. I have a 4 I dont know where I put I had a 3. check @unixpunk responce and see if that helps. #185

[ajkoren1959]

@ImDroided, In your writeup you say it's a RPi 3. Your pic of the RPi also matches a 3, not a 4, in my opinion.

[ImDroided]

@ImDroided, In your writeup you say it's a RPi 3. Your pic of the RPi also matches a 3, not a 4, in my opinion.

Ah yes I remember that now lol the 3 wasn't fast enough and got switched for a 4 almost instantly. I did a fresh install following my writeup and editing the smi stream file the line of code has moved down a few lines as someone added to the file but didnt fix that. I can run CubicSDR but gqrx still has mem access error

[ajkoren1959]

I have a partial solution. It turns out that the solution to this:

shm_open: No such file or directory
[ERROR] sdrplay_api_Open() Error: sdrplay_api_Fail

is to run the corresponding service:
sudo systemctl start sdrplay

Who knew? ;-)
Now, sudo SoapySDRUtil --find doesn't return errors,.
Also, sudo sdrpp seems to work. However, it doesn't receive any real stations., only static noise at the selected carrier frequency. I run it (and listen) at 98-102 MHz, where I should see multiple FM radio stations...

[ajkoren1959]

I'll document a bit more, for the benefit of anyone else who might have the same issues:

• I resolved FM reception, even though the confusing audio write error, underrun. shows. I think it's mainly an issue of setting the correct parameters, i.e. enough AGC Gain and, in FM, a bandwidth of 200KHz.
• It's still not clear how to switch the CaribouLite into transmit mode and how to set its frequency and modulation. Do I have to understand its API code? (which I assume is open code...) Did anyone write an interface for the API in order to make it easier to operate?

[ajkoren1959]

I'll answer my own question again:

• The utility examples/python/soapy_synth.py seems to be designed for CW signal transmission.
• I assume that I'll find ways to better control it by using the SoapySDR API directly.
• The following link offers documentation and whole applications which use SoapySDR:
  https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki