Troubleshooting

Table of contents

1. Application logs
2. Funcube Dongle Pro+ source is not launching on Arch
3. RTL-SDR source is not launching
4. Signal source - permission denied
5. SSB-USB audio in on Fedora/OpenSuse issue

Application logs

Each time the application runs it creates a log file in logs directory:

Funcube Dongle Pro+ source is not launching on Arch

Run the software in terminal:

./PW-Sat2_Ground_Station

If you see similar problem with access to audio_alsa_source:

/home/gregg/pwsat/test/ham_app/pw-sat2-gs/main/app/../grc_linux/grc_part -s "fcd+"
Funcube Dongle Plus
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "grc_part.py", line 46, in <module>
  File "grc/source/funcube_source/funcube_source.py", line 281, in main
  File "grc/source/funcube_source/funcube_source.py", line 195, in __init__
  File "fcdproplus/fcdproplus_swig.py", line 105, in make
RuntimeError: audio_alsa_source
[8981] Failed to execute script grc_part

Try running application with superuser privileges (root):

sudo ./PW-Sat2_Ground_Station

RTL-SDR source is not launching

1. Run the software in terminal:

./PW-Sat2_Ground_Station

2. Choose "RTL-SDR" in Signal Source and click "Run Source". Observe terminal and look for similar debug output:

/home/pwsat2/pw-sat2-gs/main/app/../grc_linux/grc_part -s "rtl-sdr"
RTL-SDR
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
gr-osmosdr v0.1.4-127-g4d83c606 (0.1.5git) gnuradio 3.7.12.0
built-in source types: file fcd rtl rtl_tcp uhd rfspace redpitaya 
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 5.4.0 20160609; Boost_105800; UHD_3.14.0.0-62-g3b42e6f0
Using device #0 Generic RTL2832U OEM
usb_open error -3
Please fix the device permissions, e.g. by installing the udev rules file rtl-sdr.rules
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "grc_part.py", line 49, in <module>
  File "grc/source/rtl_sdr_source/rtl_sdr_source.py", line 333, in main
  File "grc/source/rtl_sdr_source/rtl_sdr_source.py", line 166, in __init__
  File "osmosdr/osmosdr_swig.py", line 962, in make
RuntimeError: Failed to open rtlsdr device.
[1397] Failed to execute script grc_part

the most important part is:

usb_open error -3
Please fix the device permissions, e.g. by installing the udev rules file rtl-sdr.rules

3. To add udev rules follow next steps.

4. Run sudo lsusb, look for similar line: Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0bda:2838 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.. The important parts are 0bda (the vendor id) and 2838 (the product id).

5. Create a new file as root named /etc/udev/rules.d/20.rtlsdr.rules that contains the following line: SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bda", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2838", GROUP="adm", MODE="0666", SYMLINK+="rtl_sdr" With the vendor and product ids for your particular dongle.

6. Make sure that normal user has rights to access the file /etc/udev/rules.d/20.rtlsdr.rules

7. Run sudo service udev restart and restart machine

Signal source - Permission denied

1. Problem:

/home/pw-sat2-gs/main/app/../grc_linux/grc_part -s "fcd+"
Funcube Dongle Plus
Xlib:  extension "XInputExtension" missing on display ":1.0".
Funcube Dongle Pro+ found as: plughw:1,0
Dongle sucessfully initialized
Result of Action :+++++
FCDAPP 20.03
 Lna gain enabled
 Mixer gain enabled
If gain set to: 0
Set Frequency to: 4.35295e+08 Hz, corrected to: 435295008 Hz
iq_data_from_current_session: Permission denied
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "grc_part.py", line 51, in <module>
  File "grc/source/funcube_source/funcube_source.py", line 382, in main
  File "grc/source/funcube_source/funcube_source.py", line 261, in __init__
  File "gnuradio/blocks/blocks_swig0.py", line 932, in make
RuntimeError: can't open file
[2914] Failed to execute script grc_part

2. Solution: run application in directory where it has rights to create files (or change permissions of current directory).

SSB-USB audio in on Fedora/OpenSuse issue

The problem:

ALSA lib dlmisc.c:254:(snd1_dlobj_cache_get) Cannot open shared library /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "grc_part.py", line 121, in <module>
  File "grc/source/ssb_audio_source/ssb_audio_source_main.py", line 64, in application
  File "grc/source/ssb_audio_source/ssb_audio_source_main.py", line 43, in run_grc
  File "grc/source/ssb_audio_source/ssb_audio_source.py", line 216, in main
  File "grc/source/ssb_audio_source/ssb_audio_source.py", line 144, in init
  File "gnuradio/audio/audio_swig.py", line 133, in make
RuntimeError: audio_alsa_source
[8543] Failed to execute script grc_part

Solution

1. Make sure that you have alsa and alsa-plugins-pulseaudio installed
2. Issue following commands:

mkdir -p /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/
cp /usr/lib64/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_pulse.so