Now safe to Upgrade Portsdown Stretch

[G8GKQ]

Hi

The Raspberry Pi software team have today released an update to the firmware for the hardware (H264) video encoder that breaks the Portsdown build. Specifically, after the upgrade, H264 transmit modes do not work.

I'm investigating if there is a work-round, but for the time being DON'T PRESS THAT UPGRADE BUTTON!

Dave, G8GKQ

[M0DHP]

Hi Dave

Does this also affect building a new card from scratch as per the readme here? https://github.com/BritishAmateurTelevi ... /portsdown

Thanks
Ray

[G8GKQ]

Hi Ray

Yes it does. I have identified a temporary work-around and hope to release it later today or tomorrow.

Dave

[G8GKQ]

Hi

If you have upgraded Stretch and no longer have the H264 Pi camera available, you can get it back by the following procedure. You need to do an update first, then roll-back to an old kernel, then rebuild the video encoder. So, in detail:

1. Do the update (from the update menu on touchscreen Menu 3)

2. Log in to the console and get to the command prompt. then enter:

Code: Select all

sudo rpi-update ec9d84e1d2ba701fd28897809269d8116b31dbf5

sudo reboot now

3. After reboot, log in to console again and enter

Code: Select all

cd /opt/vc/src/hello_pi/

./rebuild.sh

sudo reboot now

When it re-boots, it should all work. If any of the reboots fail to actually reboot, wait 15 seconds and then remove and reapply power.

If you are not confident about what I am referring to above, please wait till I have sorted an automated fix - but it will not be until next weekend at least.

AND DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU ARE USING JESSIE, it only works for Stretch.

Dave, G8GKQ

[G7JTT]

Once again Dave thanks for your hard work in resolving this issue, now have a H264 working again

[G8GKQ]

It is now safe to upgrade Portsdown Stretch software again. See viewtopic.php?f=103&t=5623 for full details.

Dave, G8GKQ

[g0mjw]

Bugs or me?

There seems to be a problem with presets and setting stuff. I just fitted an attenuator board, same one as in the Wiki and it works, Great, but very strange things are now happening in the software.

Testing, the signal generator kept complaining when I tried to set the attenuation level that if I had the attenuator in I needed to take it out. The attenuation level per band wasn't sticking.

I assumed this a bug and upgraded just now. All the presets are blank. I can fix that but very odd things are happening. The attenuation is not saved, but if you set it and save to a preset the attenuation gets set to the frequency, 71 or 146.5 dB. the frequency is reading button second line has T:160 written there, but there is no transverter, other wierdness. The symbol rate presets were all lost too.

I deduce something not quite right in one of the files.

Also, not related, but why does the attenuator require a negative number input? Surely attenuation is positive in dB, you have a 10dB pad, not a -10dB pad.

Mike

Edit, I put it aside for lunch. Powered up again and all the symbol rates I put in have been forgotten again, all set to PM but the frequency button is displaying correctly again. All my presets are gone too. Factory reset? E.g. look at this, somehow 71 has been written to many settings. Some are right but not all.

pi@raspberrypi:~/rpidatv/scripts $cat portsdown_config.txt
modeinput=CAMH264
modeoutput=IQ
freqoutput=71
symbolrate=333
fec=7
band=d1
labelofband=71
attenlevel=71
explevel=71
expports=71
rfpower=7
analogcamname=/dev/video0
analogcaminput=0
analogcamstandard=6
caption=on
audio=no_audio
attenuator=PE43713
pidstart=255
pidvideo=256
pidaudio=255
pidpmt=255
serviceid=1
call=G0MJW
locator=IO91IO
tsvideofile=/home/pi/rpidatv/video/imz-10.jpg
paternfile=/home/pi/rpidatv/video
pathmedia=/home/pi/rpidatv/video
gpio_i=12
gpio_q=13
udpoutaddr=192.168.2.110
display=Waveshare
menulanguage=en
startup=Display_boot
adfref=9999786
vfinder=on
batcoutput= ##Censored##
streamurl=rtmp://servername.com/folder
streamkey=keykey
outputstandard=
numbers=90
psr1=250
psr2=333
psr3=1000
psr4=2000
psr5=4167
modulation=DVB-S
limegain=90


and

pi@raspberrypi:~/rpidatv/scripts $ cat portsdown_presets.txt
d1limegain=90
d2limegain=90
d3limegain=90
d4limegain=90
d5limegain=90
t1limegain=90
t2limegain=90
t3limegain=90
t4limegain=90

pfreq1=71
pfreq2=146.5
pfreq3=437
pfreq4=1249
pfreq5=1310
pfreq6=51.5
pfreq7=
pfreq8=
pfreq9=

[G8GKQ]

OK Mike

Looking at it.

What attenuator do you have selected in the setup menu?
What output mode did you have selected on the Sig-Gen?

I think that we have at least 2 bugs here. Something in the signal generator, and an upgrade bug.
My initial thoughts are that for some reason, the upgrade did not copy your old configuration across. It then tried to create the new bits that might not have existed as they were introduced in an upgrade, not the initial release.

Factory reset is not quite right at the moment. You can recover from this by:

Code: Select all

cd rpidatv/scripts
rm portsdown_config.txt
rm portsdown_presets.txt
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BritishAmateurTelevisionClub/portsdown/master/scripts/portsdown_config.txt
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BritishAmateurTelevisionClub/portsdown/master/scripts/portsdown_presets.txt
cd ~
rpidatv/scripts/scheduler.sh

This should set things back to something nearer to what is required. I'll go and test an upgrade (again) and see if I can reproduce your symptoms.

Dave

[G8GKQ]

OK Mike

I do not think that the Sig Gen problem is a bug - I think that you may have been trying to set the attenuation by pressing the "Atten" button. This button is for selecting whether the attenuator is in or out of circuit. Nothing else.

You select the desired output level on the "Freq" page. This then shows you the approx output level in dBm and the attenuator setting that is being used (white text at the bottom of the screen).

I agree that this behaviour is no longer consistent with the way that the Portsdown transmitter gui is mechanised, but it seemed logical when I wrote it.

The SigGen is due for an overhaul soon, but in the meantime, I have clarified the Wiki entry here https://wiki.batc.org.uk/Portsdown_Sign ... Attenuator.

Now looking at your second bug.

Dave

[G8GKQ]

Mike

Please can you try the code above for a Factory Reset that works and then tell me if the problems are still present?

I have just checked everything that I can think of to reproduce your symptoms (including an upgrade) and not seen any problems. What was the history of the card that you are using?

I'll make sure that factory reset is repaired in the next release.

Dave