Windows 8.1 + USB 3.0 = EXTREME Frustration

[scancapecod]

Hello,

I bought the bladeRF because of its capability to view wide chunks of radio spectrum at a time, up to just under 40 MHz worth when interfaced to a PC via USB 3.0. The following two .jpg files show the results on two different Windows 8.1 PC's, one Dell and one Gateway (specs to follow). The bladeRF is of course connected via USB 3.0 ports on both PC's. I am able to communicate with the bladeRF from the CLI with both PC's and load the FPGA. I have version 1.6 of firmware and the latest FPGA image (1/28/14 I believe). The first .jpg below is a narrow view of spectrum, the second a wide one, and this is the result I get across the entire frequency coverage of the bladeRF, on both PC's.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/360 ... owview.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/360 ... deview.jpg

I have tried different antennas. I have tried shutting down equipment to see if it is causing some type of interference. I have run the bladeRF connected to a USB 2.0 port on both machines and had absolutely no issues, but of course I can't use it to look at more than 10 MHz of spectrum at a time.

Machine #1: Dell - Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz, 8.00 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 64 bit. USB controller is an Intel 8 Series/C220 Series, USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft).
Machine #2: Gateway - Intel Core i5-4440 CPU @ 3.10 GHz 3.10 GHz, 8.00 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 64 bit. On board USB controller is again the Intel 8 Series/C220 Series, USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft). I also installed a PCI-E USB card with the Renasas USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0096 (Microsoft). It produces nearly the exact results, although the display is a "little" clearer.

In all cases if I'm lucky enough to even see something remotely resembling a signal, the demodulated voice (FM Narrow) sounds like it is in "slow motion".

Naturally the PC I use at work handles the bladeRF via USB 3.0 perfectly. It is a Dell Optiplex 9020, Intel Core i5-4570 @ 3.20 GHz. It uses the EXACT same Intel USB 3.0 as listed in the two above. The difference? It runs Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. With it I had no trouble at all looking at 30 MHz of spectrum.

I originally bought the above Renasas card for use in an older Windows 7 32 bit PC I had here, running an AMD Phenom Processor at I think 3 GHz, but the card would not even see the bladeRF when operating the CLI.

I am not prepared to switch to Linux in order to use the bladeRF.

Can anyone comment on the screenshots and shed some light as to what is going on? I'm extremely frustrated, and moving forward, if I can't use this device to its fullest extent I will be extremely disappointed.

Thank you.

Scott

[scancapecod]

No performance difference but I did find that I was not using the latest firmware or FPGA; I downloaded them both from http://hoopycat.com/bladerf_builds/ and updated the bladeRF. Tried it again in a USB 3.0 port and I noticed that despite being plugged into a 3.0 port bladerf-cli is showing that I'm plugged into a 2.0 port when I run the "probe" command. "USB Bus: 2".

Same results as in the pic's in the original post.

Edit: if it helps any, more info:

bladeRF-cli version: 0.10.3-git
libbladeRF version: 0.12.1-git
Firmware version: 1.6.1-git-bc88a82-buildomatic
FPGA version: 0.0.3

[scancapecod]

That is a FANTASTIC response, jynik, and I greatly appreciate it. I will work on this during the week; I'm in Super Bowl mode right now even though my team (New England, don't hate) is not in it this year.

Many thanks, and I'll report back with results!

[LazyDodo]

If you're able to compile stuff your self (and really know what you're doing, not 'what button do i press?') my cypress backend code is available here, it's all rather experimental, and due to way sdr-radio works i'm fairly sure it won't work with this new backend. also Rx only for now...

[SDR-Radio.com]

That is a FANTASTIC response, jynik, and I greatly appreciate it. I will work on this during the week; I'm in Super Bowl mode right now even though my team (New England, don't hate) is not in it this year.

Many thanks, and I'll report back with results!

I thought Super Bowl was yesterday? I'll look at the bladeRF code I have and see if I can make this setting an option. Will report back or something...

[SDR-Radio.com]

From the bladeRF side of things, windows-specific alternatives to libusb are also in the works.

That would help, Windows seems to be the poor relation here and with another SDR manufacturer. In the end it's the Console programmer who gets it in the neck .

[scancapecod]

I can't guarentee it will work, but I've posted a x64 release build of libbladeRF (bladeRF.dll) with the aforementioned change up here: http://nuand.com/~jon/bladeRF-git-bc88a ... rspeed.dll
(You'll want to rename that file to bladeRF.dll -- the wacky name is just a reminder for me.)

Hi Jynik,

I tried your method above with the bladeRF plugged into a USB 3.0 port. First I switch to the \Program Files (x86)\bladeRF\x64 folder. I rename the existing bladeRF.dll to oldbladeRF.dll, and then replace it with your file. When I run bladeRF-cli -i at the command prompt I get a pop up error:

"bladeRF-cli.exe - System Error
The program can't start because MSVCR110.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."

So then I deleted your bladeRF.dll file and renamed the old one back to bladeRF.dll. I unplugged, replugged, and tried to reload the FPGA. It appears to load and then I hear the familiar USB disconnect noise from my speakers. If I then type "info" at the bladeRF prompt it tells me "file or device I/O failure". A reboot did not solve the problem either, same result. So I remove the bladeRF from a USB 3.0 port and plug it into a USB 2.0 port, load the FPGA and it's fine again. Bizarre behavior, to me anyway.

On another somewhat related note, before I tried the above, just for laughs I tried a USB 3.0 6' extension cable connected to the cable Nuand supplied when I purchased the bladeRF. I obviously plugged that into a USB 3.0 port. And it worked normally with a 10 MHz bandwidth, but started to exhibit similar but not quite as bad behavior as shown in my above screenshots when I tried to increase to 30 MHz and then even 20 MHz bandwidth. At the bladeRF prompt it the probe command was showing "USB Bus: 3" but listed it as "high speed".

Ironically after completing the file changes noted above, just now even plugged into a USB 2.0 port it is showing now as "USB Bus: 3". So uh....I'm confused! I expect at the very least I should probably re-run the Windows installer and start fresh.

Thanks to all for the continued help; of all of this I find the increased length of the cable causing different results when plugged into a USB 3.0 port of the most interest....

Scott

[scancapecod]

Code: Select all

bladeRF -i -v verbose
bladeRF> version
bladeRF> info
bladeRF> load fpga <path to your FPGA rbf file goes here>

Hi Jynik,

Here's the results for the above commands after the update to the Visual Studio 2012 C++ Runtime and using your bladerf.dll as copied into the \Program Files (x86)\bladerf\x64 folder, which is where I'm running bladerf-cli.exe from:



Everything starts out dandy, but as soon as I try to load the fpga the USB disconnect sound comes across the speakers and the error shown appears. To be sure it wasn't random, I unplugged the bladeRF, replugged, and re-ran the procedure with the same results. Unfortunate as USB speed for the first time ever is actually showing SuperSpeed.

Note that "USB Bus: 3" is not saying that your device is connected to a USB 3.0 bus. The "USB speed" field denotes this, as you've seen.

I should have known better than that. Ugh....

I'd be interested to see how that long 2-cable setup performs on your work machine...something tells me you might just see the same thing...

When you say "the same thing" do you mean the disconnect when trying to load the fpga? I took it to work with me today but only brought the supplied cable, and as before it performed flawlessly.

Thanks,

Scott

[scancapecod]

There is absolutely NO need to apologize! I appreciate the help and I expect that those that follow will as well, especially if we can work towards getting this working. In the interim I DO have a working bladeRF, just at 2.0 speeds. Honestly, it's not every day that I'd be trying to look at 30 MHz of spectrum, but the bottom line is if it CAN, I want it to, obviously. I should be the one apologizing. I think I know my fair share about PC's and radios, but you folks that have taken the lead with cutting edge technology and made it work through your know-how, patience, and trial and error run circles around me. You surely have my appreciation.

Thanks.

Scott

[scancapecod]

I win!

I installed the Startech PEXUSB3S400 PCI-e x4 USB 3.0 card in my Gateway i5 Windows 8.1 machine this evening. At first it didn't work with the Microsoft (Microshaft?) drivers installed and exhibited the same behavior that the Intel chipset did, to include the CLI still showing the bladeRF being connected to a "highspeed" USB port. I had nothing to lose at that point so I tried installing the Windows 7 drivers for the card, and lo and behold it worked.

So I'm happy and somewhat relieved to say I have a fully working bladeRF. I will add this working configuration to the Wiki. As I type this I'm looking at just under 40 MHz of spectrum between 460-500 MHz using SDR-Radio software. The CPU is running at anywhere from about 43-50%.

So, it seems to me that any Windows drivers for any USB 3.0 chipset just won't cut it. If you can, find the actual drivers and use them. In the case of my Intel 8/C220 series on board chipset, Intel doesn't have a Windows 8 driver "because Windows has a native driver".....thanks, chumps!

So this saga mercifully for all involved comes to an end....now to wait for the HF/VHF transverter....that's going to be a fun addition.

Thanks again to all for the help!

Scott