Definitive Windows Installation Method?

[scancapecod]

Hello,

It appears that tomorrow (1/28/14) I'll be receiving my BladeRF. I'm obviously looking forward to this greatly. It'll be Wednesday before I can start to work on getting it installed. When I do I will be installing it on two different machines. One runs Windows 8.1 64 bit and I will attempt to make it work with USB 3.0 via an Intel chipset. The second will be a Windows 7 Pro SP1 32 bit machine that has a Renasys chipset USB 3.0 PCI-E card installed, the one referenced at https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF/wiki/T ... igurations . I have located the Windows Installer .exe file on the Nuand support page. I understand the issues with unsigned drivers and Windows 8.1 and expect I'll be able to work around that. I will ultimately use my BladeRF with Simon's SDR-Radio software at http://v2.sdr-radio.com for spectrum display and signal tuning throughout the device's frequency range.

But of course, until I get the darned thing properly installed that ain't gonna happen....

So my question is as the topic states, is there somewhere a definitive Windows install method for the bladeRF, a sequence of how things should be done in order to meet with success. Simon clearly has SDR-Radio working with it, and the blog at VK4ZXI has some interesting info as well not only about the install but also about using it with SDR-Radio...just not a complete "here's how you do this from A to Z", unless I'm just missing it. I'm guessing the basic procedure is to run the installer, plug in the card, check it at the command line, and load the fpga? Surely it's not that simple....or is it? I've never loaded an fpga, so I don't know what the instructions are to do so. Maybe there's a readme in the folder where the files are installed? I haven't tried running it yet because I wasn't sure if the software should be run first followed by the card being plugged in....or vice versa?

I would also like to help with documenting this procedure so future users have a guideline to follow, by perhaps providing a step by step tutorial with screenshots. Obviously I could provide this for both Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 users. If I can get a definitive hand-hold in the right direction, I'd be very happy to be able to do that. I'm a radio hobbyist, and I can assure you that there are A LOT of radio hobbyists that are cutting their teeth on the RTL dongles that have become available, and some of them like me are looking to replace those $20 gems with a quality piece of gear. Enter bladeRF in my case.

Any help greatly appreciated, as this is turning into the "War and Peace" of postings...I'll stop now.

Thanks,

Scott
Webmaster - Scan New England
http://www.scan-ne.net

[scancapecod]

Interesting, and not a response I expected, given that clearly other end users of the product have it working. Thanks for your input though.

[jynik]

Given that I'm hacking on the code, I usually build from source -- I haven't given the Windows installer a test drive yet.

However, I asked the gentleman that puts together the windows installer to build the latest and greatest, given that there have been firmware, FPGA, and host-side fixes and improvements since the last installer was posted. The v1.2 installer is fresh out of the oven, but not yet tested I believe: http://nuand.com/downloads/

I've asked him to post back here detailing the procedure for using it and getting the device upgraded with the lastest firmware and FPGA image. I'll also do my best to test drive the installer and SDR-Radio installation tonight and post back, if he doesn't beat me to it.

If you'd like to trudge ahead in the meantime, the worst case scenario that I can think of is that you might need re-run a bladeRF installer. (I've also been told that the installer creates a restore point, for what it's worth.)

A common item of confusion for people is which FPGA and FX3 version to use, given the libbladeRF version they have installed. As of late, the comments on the FPGA downloads page and the firmware page try to make this clear. However, if you run into confusion, feel free to ask here. (Or hop on the #bladerf channel on Freenode to ask someone in real-time)

If you go with the latest installer, you'll want FPGA version v0.0.2, and firmware version v1.6.1.

From my understanding, the device does not need to be plugged in when you run the installer. However, I belive it will ask if you want to upgrade your firmware, so I assume there's a prompt to plug the device in when you get to that point.

Sorry that's not quite the answer you're looking for...but we'll get you up and running soon, and get that wiki updated to cover the Windows installer procedure.

[drmpeg]

@scancapecod, I think jowijo may have misunderstood your question a little. He was referring to installing GnuRadio on Windows, while you where asking about installing bladeRF on Windows.

jynik gave you the correct answer. After the bladeRF install, you should be able to install and run SDR-Radio. It's not dependent on GnuRadio AFAIK.

Ron

[scancapecod]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info and I'll go with jynik's recommendations. I do intend to try to properly learn gnuradio in Linux, just not at that point yet. I've been trying to get things going with my rtl dongles on Linux but it's just not happening yet. That's another topic for another thread....probably in another forum.

I will indeed trudge ahead and follow up with results.

Naturally after posting my original message last night I have found this: http://bladerf.blogspot.com/2013/10/the ... aderf.html

I expect this gentleman is a member of this forum as well, and this seems like a helpful guideline. I still would like to provide some help as well for those who will follow in Windows, so I'll do what I can as well.

Regards,

Scott

[scancapecod]

The install is actually quite easy with the new Windows installer. When it comes to USB 2.0 anyway....USB 3.0 appears not to work at all, but this isn't the first time this statement has been made from my research. But I'll figure that out eventually.

As it stands now, I have the BladeRF running in Windows 7 with SDR-Radio version 2.1 build 1640. I did a step by step with screenshots which I will put together and share. Updating firmware and flashing FPGA is a simple process although a bit different (and easier) than what I saw and read about the earlier installer.

Ironically with the USB 3.0 issue, when plugged into a USB 2.0 port, Windows indicates that BladeRF will run faster connected to a USB 3.0 device....ya think? I'm running the PCI-E card that I mentioned in my earlier post, which was part of a known working USB 3.0 configuration. Well, not yet in my case.

But it's a start. Success with Windows 7. Now, on to Windows 8.1. Thanks again.

Scott

[scancapecod]

And...I have it working in Windows 8.1! However...

....I was able to connect right off the bat with USB 3.0. But when I ran SDR-Radio the interference was so bad it was absolutely unusable. I relocated it to a USB port and it seems to be OK now, but about 10 MHz is as wide as I can get. So obviously I have A LOT to learn with this device. As with Windows 7 I did a step by step of screenshots. Unlike Windows 7 bladeRF-cli.exe does not wind up on the start menu and it is necessary to drill down into c:\Program Files (x86)\bladerf\x32 or x64 to find it. I chose the x64 folder as this is a 64 bit machine (despite the fact that the install is in the x86 Program Files folder). I was able to figure out that I had to run bladerf-cli -i to get to the bladerf> prompt, and then everything was fine from there both in USB 3.0 and USB 2.0.

I have read elsewhere that USB 3.0 interference is bad, but THAT bad. Wow, it definitely renders this device unusable. I'm guessing the fact that I have a "naked" bladeRF sitting on the shelf next to the PC can't be helping. I also have a lot to learn about SDR-Radio's settings for the bladeRF, but this is obviously not the forum for that and I'll address it at Simon's Yahoo Group.

But it is definitely reassuring to see just how easy it is to get this running in Windows. I just hope the USB 3.0 issues can be solved. I will get the specifics of my setup in print so they can be added to the working configuration section of the Wiki....if you accept that "working configuration" includes the horrendous interference.

More to follow...

[SDR-Radio.com]

There's USB 3 and there's USB 3. From my side I use the standard interface code provided by NUAND, quite a few people have this radio working. It seems to be an issue with USB 3 hardware and the drivers therein and 'stuff'.

At this moment I'm having more luck with bladeRF than the Ettus B2X0 board.

Also 10MHz is about the max. on USB 2.

[scancapecod]

Well....it would appear that something at home is causing my interference problem, whether it be USB 3.0 or otherwise. I'm at work, and I am running the bladeRF on a Windows 7 64 bit machine with USB 3.0 this morning and looking at 30 MHz of spectrum without any problems at all.

Chipset in this case is an Intel 8 Series/C220 Series USB Enhanced Host Controller

Performance is absolutely flawless.

I guess I'll have to move into work if I want to use bladeRF to the fullest of its capability. So without a doubt now, the device itself is fine, the USB 3.0 cable supplied is fine, and I have some work to do at home to track down my interference issue. I suspect it's the Dell Windows 8.1 PC itself and something is funky with its USB 3.0 connectivity. Unfortunate, but I'll plug away at it. I may try moving the Renesas PCI-E card into the 8.1 PC to see how it does.

Scott