Phantom SDR Plus & RX888 - setup

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi All,

I've built up a Unbutu machine, installed Phantom SDR Plus, connected up a RX-888, performed a basic configuration and all seems OK.
 
I'd assumed it would start on boot, but this doesn't seem to be the case.
 
The configuration details on Github are sparse at best, and my Linux skills are limited, can anyone provide a bit more information to get me up and running ?

I've been trying to see if the rx888_stream and & spectrumserver processes are running, but they don't seem to be listed as services.

How do I start the websdr service, and get it to start again on an initial boot ?

Regards,

Martin

[magicint1337]

Hi, i saw that some people already did that. Maybe they can post it here otherwise ill send you the setup instructions myself asap.

Hope you enjoy the software so far!

[Martin G8JNJ]

No response, so I think you may have to email me the information.

Once I get it running, I'll post the method for help to any others who may also be struggling.

I'm using a Gigabyte Brix AMD Celeron N2807 4G DDR 120G SSD running Ubuntu 22.04 with cuFFT and opencl installed.


My only "clues" so far are the following

Config as set.

config-rx888mk2.toml


fft_threads=2
brightness_offset=0 # Waterfall brightness offset. Reduce to negative if you se>
frequency=0 # Baseband frequency
signal="real" # real or iq
accelerator="opencl" # Accelerator: none, cuda, opencl
audio_sps=44100 # Audio Sample Rate
audio_compression="flac" # flac or opus
waterfall_size=2048
waterfall_compression="zstd" # zstd or av1
smeter_offset=0

[input.driver]
name="stdin" # Driver name
format="s16" # Sample format: u8, s8, u16, s16, u32, s32, f32, f64

[input.defaults]
frequency=3645000 # Default frequency to show user
modulation="LSB" # Default modulation

Trying to run spectrumserver

wessex@phantom:~/PhantomSDR-Plus/build$ sudo ./spectrumserver
[sudo] password for wessex:


__                   __ __  __
|__)|_  _  _ |_ _  _ (_ |  \|__) _|_
|   | )(_|| )|_(_)|||__)|__/| \   |

Thank you for using PhantomSDR+, you are supporting the Development of an Open-Source WebSDR Project ♥
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'toml::v3::ex::parse_error'
  what():  File could not be opened for reading
Aborted


Regards,

Martin

Hi, i saw that some people already did that. Maybe they can post it here otherwise ill send you the setup instructions myself asap.

Hope you enjoy the software so far!

[magicint1337]

Hi, try this config:

https://www.phantomsdr.fun/index.php?topic=43.0

[Bas ON5HB]

Hi Martin,

A Celeron is made from Intel

However, it will not run the RX888 very well as the CPU is far to weak.

It can not cope with the ammount of data.

You really need an I5 or I7, quad core at 2GHz or more.

Even the J4050 isn't strong enough, I have tested those, it won't work.

On Amazon you can find cheap refurbished HP Elitedesk machines for less then 200 euro that are more then powerfull enough.

Do not go for Ryzen, it has no OpenCL support for the IGU.

As for starting, there are *.sh scripts, make them exacutable and adjust them to your needs.
They contain everything to get you going.

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi Bas,

OK, how do I make *.sh scripts executable, and which ones should I run for the RX888?

I've tried the methods I know, but without luck.

e.g.

chmod +x start-rx888mk2.sh


./start-rx888mk2.sh


root@phantom:/home/wessex/PhantomSDR-Plus# thread 'main' panicked at library/std/src/io/stdio.rs:1118:9:
failed printing to stdout: Broken pipe (os error 32)
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace



Regards,

Martin

As for starting, there are *.sh scripts, make them exacutable and adjust them to your needs.
They contain everything to get you going.
[/quote]

[Martin G8JNJ]

Yes understood, I had to use the AMD build of Ubuntu 22.04

Celeron is made from Intel

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi Bas,

OK understood, I thought it would be good enough, but clearly not, what model or spec should I be looking for ?

I think it would be useful if preferred or known good machines / models were added to the Github list, and not just benchmarks, as this would allow standardised builds to be made more easily.

Regards,

Martin

On Amazon you can find cheap refurbished HP Elitedesk machines

[John DF4UE]

Hi Martin,

did you already try

sudo ./start-rx888mk2.sh    ?

Regards

John

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply, but yes, I have tried all the variations I can think of.

See post #5 in this thread.

Regards,

Martin

Hi Martin,

did you already try

sudo ./start-rx888mk2.sh    ?

Regards

John

[Bas ON5HB]

Turn off opencl in the toml file, looks like your opencl ins't working or not compiled in the code.

[Bas ON5HB]

OK understood, I thought it would be good enough, but clearly not, what model or spec should I be looking for ?

I think it would be useful if preferred or known good machines / models were added to the Github list, and not just benchmarks, as this would allow standardised builds to be made more easily.

It's impossible to make such a list as there are thousands of models and makes of systems.
Any modern i5 or i7 with with 4 real cores (or more) and 3GHz will do.

I myself use an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500T CPU for my testing machine.

And my online websdr is an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7500 CPU.

These are already pretty old CPU's, but have enough power because of OpenCL that can be used.

Without opencl it will require a fast Ryzen CPU that costs many more to run it.

[Martin G8JNJ]

OK, I did that, a bit of progress, but...

As before, spectrumserver and rx888_stream don't seem to be recognised as services.

root@phantom:/home/wessex/PhantomSDR-Plus# ./start-rx888mk2.sh
spectrumserver: no process found
rx888_stream: no process found

Turn off opencl in the toml file, looks like your opencl ins't working or not compiled in the code.

[Bas ON5HB]

That is not an error, it's just a kill-command to make sure there insn't anything running before you try to start it (again).

After it goes to the background, as you can see with 'top' command.

If you want to see output during running, then start it yourself like this:

Code Select Expand

./rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 58000000 -g 60 -m low -r --pga -o - | build/spectrumserver --config config-rx888mk2.toml


[Martin G8JNJ]

I'm trying, but sorry for me as a non-regular user of Linux type guy, you have to spell stuff out in full for me to be able to understand what commands are meant, and the use of Rust further complicates the matter. Although I'm vaguely familiar with some aspects of C and C++, Rust is new to me.

For example 

"kill-command to make sure there isn't anything running"

OK understood that bit


"before you try to start it (again)."

But what command(s) do I use to start it ? That's what I've been asking since the start of this thread. I just get told to start it - but, start what, and how ?


After it goes to the background, as you can see with 'top' command.

What background and what top command ?

I know I seem stupid, but don't assume what you are saying means the same to me, as it does to you, so please assume I am stupid.


I tried your script and got this response.

root@phantom:/home/wessex/PhantomSDR-Plus# ./rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 58000000 -g 60 -m low -r --pga -o - | build/spectrumserver --config config-rx888mk2.toml

 __                   __ __  __
|__)|_  _  _ |_ _  _ (_ |  \|__) _|_
|   | )(_|| )|_(_)|||__)|__/| \   |

Thank you for using PhantomSDR+, you are supporting the Development of an Open-Source WebSDR Project ♥
thread 'main' panicked at src/main.rs:396:14:
Failed to resubmit transfer: Disconnected
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
[2024-09-24 13:16:23] [info] asio listen error: system:98 (Address already in use)
[2024-09-24 13:16:23] [info] asio listen error: system:98 (Address already in use)
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'websocketpp::exception'
  what():  Underlying Transport Error
thread 'main' panicked at library/std/src/io/stdio.rs:1118:9:
failed printing to stdout: Broken pipe (os error 32)
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
Aborted (core dumped)

Compact i5 6500 3GHz machine on order.

Regards,

Martin

That is not an error, it's just a kill-command to make sure there insn't anything running before you try to start it (again).





If you want to see output during running, then start it yourself like this:

Code Select Expand

./rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 58000000 -g 60 -m low -r --pga -o - | build/spectrumserver --config config-rx888mk2.toml