Ethernet config for direct connection of HL2 while using Linux Mint 20

[khei...@sbcglobal.net]

In this PC, I have my HL2 direct connected to the ethernet port with a CAT 5 cable.

When booting into the Windows partition,  and starting SparkSDR, the HL2 is found immediately.

When I boot into the Linux partition on this machine and start SparkSDR, the HL2 can't be found by the application.

I am in need of some Linux networking expertise on how to configure the hardware ethernet port under Linux.  I currently have ipv4 and ipv6 both set as automatic DHCP.

I do get an infrequent blinking green network light on the HL2,  but a  "Requesting an ethernet network address for "Wired Connection 1"" message  is shown in the system tray and there is no connection.

Any help appreciated.

Thank you,

Karl - W5QJ

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Hi,

If your HL2 is directly connected to your Linux box, check to see if you can ping the IP address: 169.254.19.221 .  If so, the HL2 is using a self assigned, or IPv4 Link-Local, IP address, since it didn't see a DHCP server running on the directly connected network.  You might be able to connect to it by configuring that IP in settings somewhere.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[khei...@sbcglobal.net]

Thanks Ron, I can ping the HL2.  Have extracted ipconfig info from my Windows 10 partition and now trying to put in the proper pieces into Linux Mint 20.

This is what Windows has:

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection

   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-B3-CC-FA-18-92

   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::e4dc:f9ca:693e:581b%12(Preferred)

   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.88.27(Preferred)

   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 211858380

   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-24-16-03-F7-A0-B3-CC-FA-18-92

   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1

                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1

                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1

   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

 

I've tried a couple of permutations of this without luck.  I've done some looking in the different HL2 and related groups and have not found a solution yet.

I'll post it once I do.

Thanks,

Karl - W5QJ

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Karl,

It looks like Windows is using the APIPA address. Linux setups sometimes have difficulties with APIPA. Search this group for APIPA and Linux as I remember there were some recommendations in the past. If you don't want to use DHCP to assign an IP address, you can also set a fixed IP with Quisk, SparkSDR or hermeslite.py.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Roger Critchlow]

On Ubuntu, open Settings from the menu or the application list.  Open the Network pane.  Choose the applicable ethernet interface and open its Settings.  Select the IP4 panel.  Click "Link-Local Only".

73

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[khei...@sbcglobal.net]

Hello Steve,

Thank you.  Neither Quisk or SparkSDR can find the HL2, so it is the chicken or the egg. I've tried including a fixed IP address in the hosts file and played considerably with the eth0 configuration tool in the Mate panel.

I'll keep plugging away at it.

And this is really a nice little radio.  I spent four hours working CW on yesterday's contest and things worked really well.

Karl - W5QJ

[khei...@sbcglobal.net]

Thank you.  I gave that a try without success.  I'm using Mint, but it has the same application as Ubuntu.  Perhaps I had too much other stuff in there.  I had IP6 turned off, no DHCP, no IP address, DNS, gateway.

I get a intermittent green network status LED and the two LED's immediately left of the RJ45 port are not lit and the two adjacent to them are lit.

I then booted into the latest version of MX Linux and tried that too and with the same results.  If you could send me some screen captures showing what you have selected in each of the four ethernet config panels, I can try them in Mint.

Thank you,

Karl

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Is there a way in Quisk or SparkSDR to configure the HL2 IP address (or address range) to use, and thus without the need to perform a UDP broadcast for discovery?  Sometime UDP broadcast can be a problem, but UDP directed to a known IP address works.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Steve,
oh just apropos the topic of APIPA.
After an interruption of the LAN connection, for example, after a automatic restart of the router caused by a short power outage.
HL2 becomes APIPA. (Two flashing LEDs).
Is there anything already known to solve this problem?

73, Joe

[Alan Hopper]

Hi,

the general settings page in Spark does allow setting an ip address range to scan for HL2.

73 Alan M0NNB

[Karl Heimbach]

Alan, Roger, and Steve,

I'm up and running with SparkSDR on Linux Mint 20 as of this morning.  Roger sent me screen captures of his Ubuntu ethernet setup and I replicated them in Mint.  I then specified an IP range for SparkSDR to search, and it immediately found the HL2.

I am having difficulty configuring CAT control though.  But, I'll post that issue separately.

Thank you for the help.

Karl - W5QJ

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[Steve Haynal]

Hi Joe,

I believe this problem is fixed in the latest gateware. Have you tried the latest and do you still see this problem?

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Steve,
Unfortunately it does not work. After restarting the router, the D3 LED (second from the socket) continues to flash,
although there is no fixed IP and DHCP set.
 But communication with HL2 was established.

Only the HL2 power reset restored the constant glow of the D3 LED.

But a new problem arose.
The problem is bigger. Communication with HL2 is completely blocked.
It happened after changing to a fixed IP address and then returning to DHCP using SparkSDR. Communication with HL2 is completely lost.
HL2 power reset  don`t help.

73, Joe

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi again,
Recovery by shorting the jack contacts restores communication but only until the next HL2 reboot.

Only removing the "last know IP" address in Quisk fixed the problem.

It seems very strange that the IP setting in Quisk  effecting it  because Quisk was not run after restarting the computer.
Will Quisk affect HL2 even if it's not running?

I`m using 20201212_72p8
Ok, so back to the starting point, that is, the lack of connection to HL2 after the LAN break.

After repairing the complete lack of communication with the HL2 (mentioned above) 

The problem still exists.

Still HL2 does not recover connection after a temporary LAN break (plugging the LAN cable or restarting the router)

73, Joe

[Karl Heimbach]

Joe,

I have experienced the same problem since uninstalling Quisk, SparkSDR, deleting the Spark .config directory, etc. and then reinstalling both SparkSDR and Quisk.  Quisk immediately finds the HL2.  If I exit Quisk and then start SparkSDR, Spark usually can't find the HL2.

However, if I exit Quisk, power down the HL2, and power back up, and then start SparkSDR, Spark will usually find the HL2 within 30 seconds to a minute.

I am at the latest revision of both SparkSDR and Quisk.  I have not tried this on my Windows partition, only Linux.

73,

Karl - W5QJ

On 1/29/21 2:20 PM, Joe LB1HI wrote:

Hi again,
Recovery by shorting the jack contacts restores communication but only until the next HL2 reboot.

Only removing the "last know IP" address in Quisk fixed the problem.

It seems very strange that the IP setting in Quisk  effecting it  because Quisk was not run after restarting the computer.
Will Quisk affect HL2 even if it's not running?

I`m using 20201212_72p8
Ok, so back to the starting point, that is, the lack of connection to HL2 after the LAN break.

After repairing the complete lack of communication with the HL2 (mentioned above) 

The problem still exists.

Still HL2 does not recover connection after a temporary LAN break (plugging the LAN cable or restarting the router)

73, Joe

On Friday, January 29, 2021 at 7:47:57 PM UTC+1 Joe LB1HI wrote:

Hi Steve,

Unfortunately it does not work. After restarting the router, the D3 LED (second from the socket) continues to flash,

although there is no fixed IP and DHCP set.

 But communication with HL2 was established.

Only the HL2 power reset restored the constant glow of the D3 LED.

But a new problem arose.
The problem is bigger. Communication with HL2 is completely blocked.
It happened after changing to a fixed IP address and then returning to DHCP using SparkSDR. Communication with HL2 is completely lost.

HL2 power reset  don`t help.

73, Joe

On Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 7:29:02 AM UTC+1 softerh...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Joe,

I believe this problem is fixed in the latest gateware. Have you tried the latest and do you still see this problem?

73,

Steve

kf7o

On Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 7:10:54 PM UTC-8 wj.sz...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Steve,
oh just apropos the topic of APIPA.
After an interruption of the LAN connection, for example, after a automatic restart of the router caused by a short power outage.
HL2 becomes APIPA. (Two flashing LEDs).
Is there anything already known to solve this problem?

73, Joe

On Monday, January 25, 2021 at 12:06:20 AM UTC+1 softerh...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Karl,

It looks like Windows is using the APIPA address. Linux setups sometimes have difficulties with APIPA. Search this group for APIPA and Linux as I remember there were some recommendations in the past. If you don't want to use DHCP to assign an IP address, you can also set a fixed IP with Quisk, SparkSDR or hermeslite.py.

73,

Steve

kf7o

On Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 2:47:15 PM UTC-8 khei...@sbcglobal.net wrote:

Thanks Ron, I can ping the HL2.  Have extracted ipconfig info from my Windows 10 partition and now trying to put in the proper pieces into Linux Mint 20.

This is what Windows has:

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection

   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-B3-CC-FA-18-92

   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::e4dc:f9ca:693e:581b%12(Preferred)

   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.88.27(Preferred)

   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 211858380

   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-24-16-03-F7-A0-B3-CC-FA-18-92

   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1

                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1

                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1

   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

 

I've tried a couple of permutations of this without luck.  I've done some looking in the different HL2 and related groups and have not found a solution yet.

I'll post it once I do.

Thanks,

Karl - W5QJ

On Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 2:19:22 PM UTC-6 ron.ni...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi,

If your HL2 is directly connected to your Linux box, check to see if you can ping the IP address: 169.254.19.221 .  If so, the HL2 is using a self assigned, or IPv4 Link-Local, IP address, since it didn't see a DHCP server running on the directly connected network.  You might be able to connect to it by configuring that IP in settings somewhere.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

On Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 10:10:36 AM UTC-8 khei...@sbcglobal.net wrote:

In this PC, I have my HL2 direct connected to the ethernet port with a CAT 5 cable.

When booting into the Windows partition,  and starting SparkSDR, the HL2 is found immediately.

When I boot into the Linux partition on this machine and start SparkSDR, the HL2 can't be found by the application.

I am in need of some Linux networking expertise on how to configure the hardware ethernet port under Linux.  I currently have ipv4 and ipv6 both set as automatic DHCP.

I do get an infrequent blinking green network light on the HL2,  but a  "Requesting an ethernet network address for "Wired Connection 1"" message  is shown in the system tray and there is no connection.

Any help appreciated.

Thank you,

Karl - W5QJ

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[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Can you determine which version of gateware your HL2 is running?

The python script hermeslite.py is one utility that can report the IP address and the version.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[John Peterson]

One thing to look into is your firewall settings on the Linux machine.

I had this same problem, and it was because I had configured my firewall to block everything coming from IP addresses in the ranges that my router would assign to DHCP clients. I configured my router to assign the same IP to the HL2 and made the appropriate tweaks to my firewalls.

Unfortunately, I can't offer you much in the way of specific  advice because I am not familiar with the Mint distribution. But even if I were, there are multiple options for firewall front ends on any given distribution.

A quick test would be to completely disable your firewall, and see if SparkSDR or other SDR client can communicate with the HL2. Of course, I strongly discourage that as a permanent solution as running with no firewall is a huge security risk.

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Karl,

Here the problem to find HL2 by any software is fixed by clearing the box (marked in the attached screenshot).

Of course, after the earlier recovery procedure by shorting the jack pins (CW / PTT socket) while turning  power ON.
After that HL2 is easily found by any control software.

But if I disconnect and reconnect the LAN cable for a while, unfortunately HL2 is not found  by any control software anymore.

The LED diode D3 (the second one from the LAN RJ45 socket) is off. But the lack of D3 lighting can signal either one of the two states. APIPA or static IP address.

73, Joe

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Operation hints:

Some operating systems may require that you log in to an account with administer or super-user privileges to open up access to local IP addresses through a firewall or other network filters, or to allow any UDP broadcasts.

If you are not running gateware 72p8 (or later), disconnecting the ethernet cable will disable the HL2 (on most networks) until the HL2 is power cycled.   So either have a 100% reliable network connection and never disconnect the HL2, or update your HL2 gateware to 72p8 (or later).

If your HL2 is connected to a router, then, when powering up the HL2, you should wait until LED 3 stops blinking before starting any SDR software.  That indicates a DHCP address has been assigned, which allows most software to discover the HL2 immediately on app startup, instead of guessing when Discovery will succeed.

If you directly connected an ethernet cable between your PC to the HL2 (no router in between), then try Pinging 169.254.19.221 .  If that succeeds, your HL2 has self assigned that IP address, and you might be able to configure that IP directly in some SDR apps.  If you reconnect through a router, then you should remove the self assigned IP address from the app settings.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for you constructive post.
.....If you are not running gateware 72p8 (or later), disconnecting the ethernet cable will disable the HL2 (on most networks) until the HL2 is power cycled.

This even happen with latest one 72p8

.. So either have a 100% reliable network connection and never disconnect....
The most reliable network will not help in the event of a power outage from the power grid. Router reset can also occur as a result of internal watch dog. Unless an alternative power system (eg UPS etc) is implemented as a component of network reliability.
Probably is easier to have HL2 working in such a way that it just obtains the address from DHCP again. Instead, thinking about upgrading your backup power system to increase reliability.

I use a way around in form of remotely controlled Relay. It allow remotely power cycle the HL2 . But this is  only not so elegant  way around. :-)

Regards,
73, Joe
lb1hi 

[khei...@sbcglobal.net]

Thank you.  I will give it a try this morning.

Karl

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Hi Joe,

Not sure what's different about your setup.  But I just unplugged the network cable from my HL2 with 72p8, waited 10 seconds, plugged the cable back in, hit "start" on my SDR app, and the HL2 started right back up streaming UDP from the same IP address.  Then I power cycled the router.  Again the HL2 started right back up at the same IP address.  I did not have to power cycle my HL2 to get it to work after the network interruptions.  I did verify that my HL2 was actually running 72p8 by using the hermeslite.py utility:

python3 -i hermeslite.py

>>> r = hl.response();

>>> print(r);

which resulted in:

Response(type=2, mac='00:1c:c0:a2:13:de', gateware='72.8', radio_id=6, ...

BTW, for network reliability during short power outages, I have my HL2, router, and Raspberry Pi, running from the same UPS.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Ron, thank you for testing. hmm I have not idea what`s difference are between your and my setup. Are you using Win 10 ? DHCP or static IP ?
Here power outages are rarely but as usual's they are  also another reasons to reset the router  eg. after reconfiguration or automatic reset generated by watch dog. 

I just unplugged the network cable from my HL2 one more time for test (actually still have it at home location) HL2 no more accessible. D3  change from constant to flashing light.

73, Joe   

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi again,

In fact, what operating system you use doesn't really matter.
This error happens even when all PCs are turned off.
It is a DHCP issue between Router and HL2.
After restarting the router All home equipment an PC`s  get IP from DHCP - Only HL2 not.

With static IP address set for HL2 via SparkSDR  those error don`t occur. 

With static IP  there is only a risk of losing communication with HL2 as a result of a conflict with Quisk.

To avoid this risk of Quisk conflict, we just need to clear, delete any entry in the "Hermes known IP" field. Screenshot in one of the previous post above.

So  fixed IP address can be used to avoid loosing connection after router reset or LAN cable unplug. 
But the problem of getting an address from DHCP still remains.
DHCP is often useful and even sometimes obligatory necessary in various situations of network topology. Eg. changing the location of use the  HL2 and the like and so on.

Resignation from DHCP because it can works with a via Spark programed fixed IP seems similar to the statement "why do you need a remote control for opening the car? You can also open it manually with the key" :-)

Joe

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

I did one more experiment using a direct connection between my MacBook and the HL2 (no router, no DHCP). I did not configure a static IP assignment.  My MacBook connected to the HL2 using the default self assigned IP address 169.254.19.221 for the HL2.  I then unplugged the ethernet cable.  UDP data from the HL2 stopped.  I plugged the cable back in.  I noticed that I needed to wait about 25 seconds before I could start UDP to the HL2 again.  But I did NOT need to power cycle the HL2.  If I tried to start the HL2 before around 25 seconds after the cable was plugged back in, nothing happened.  This is different behavior from when I connected to the HL2 through a router.  When connected through a router, I could restart the HL2 immediately after a connection interruption.  Not so with a direct connection.  So maybe the software needs to wait a bit before deciding the connection to the HL2 is permanently down when using a direct connection?

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Roger Critchlow]

Aren't you just seeing the normal HL2 network startup?  Unplugging the cable means there is no link, so the HL2 waits for a link to be established.  Having found a link, the HL2 looks for DHCP.  Having failed to find DHCP, the HL2 makes a link-local connection with the self assigned IP address.

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[Joe LB1HI]

Ron,
If you reconnect unplugged cable back to router is the D3 is lit continuously or is blinking?

Joe

[Joe LB1HI]

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/External-Connections#leds

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

When using a router and unplugging the cable, LED D3 on the HL2 goes out, and comes back on around one second after I plug the ethernet cable back into the HL2.  IP address stays the same and software can (re)start the UDP streaming at that IP.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Joe LB1HI]

The problem is another.
LED 3 comes back but blinking (should be steady ).

No any UDP packet because none of software like Quisk, Spark, PowerSDR, Console ca even see HL2 . No hardware present 

73, Joe

[Joe LB1HI]

Ron,
If you reconnect unplugged cable back to router  the D3 lit continuously or is blinking?

On Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 11:24:08 PM UTC+1 ron.ni...@gmail.com wrote:

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Joe,

I just tried here and see the same behavior as you. After removing the ethernet cable for a short time and reconnecting, the HL2 defaults to APIPA instead of using DHCP. D3 comes back but is blinking. I thought this was fixed, but possibly not for every setup. I will have to take a look and have reopened the github issue:

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/issues/148

73,

Steve

kf7o

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

D3 was continuously on around one second after I reconnected the ethernet cable from the router to the HL2 (72p8).

On Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 4:51:50 PM UTC-8 wj.sz...@gmail.com wrote:

[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for reacting to this problem.

I double-checked with the use of the two latest  of gateware versions:  20201212_72p8  - main and cicrx.

The error was reproducible.

It's nice that there is hope that getting the IP address from the network DHCP will work correctly in the future.

In some circumstances, DHCP is the only tool that can be used. (e.g. in not own network`s).

Regards,

73, Joe

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Joe,

Is this a major issue for people? I use DHCP. Just don't unplug and plug the ethernet cable. Do any openhpsdr radios behave the same way?

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Reid Campbell]

Hi Steve,

I have seen issues where I have locked PowerSDR up or shutdown the computer with PowerSDR still active. When I try to reconnect to the HL2, it has gone to APIPA addressing according to the LEDs. It does happen that often now but did happen a lot in the early days. I haven't tried a static IP address, so don't know if that would solve the issue, showing it was a DHCP issue.

Cheers

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT 

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[Joe LB1HI]

Hi Steve,

• Hard to say. One would assume that there are probably more than the 12 cases reported on the forum.

There can be many more reasons for the disconnection of the network. Failure to reconnect HL2 can be very troublesome and especially when the shack is located in another room, in the another shack building, and at worst, for example, in a camping cottage far away from home.

It's good when there is someone where the Radio is.  Or we can go there personally to reset in case of error.
However, it would be much better if there will be no need to reset in the future.

 

• The unplug and plug of the cable served solely for the purpose of simulating the error.

• This behaviour only occurred with HL2.

In earlier posts I mentioned (not only me) that one`s of the possible cause may be installing and using different control software on the same PC.

As a result, entries in the network settings fields of these software can affected other software. As well as the change of network parameters settings, which made it impossible to find HL2.
Which consequently results in need for HL2 factory reset.

Some eg.: IP fields filled with zeros instead of blank in Spark. Or the IP related fields in QUISK.

More detailed descriptions are available here on the forum.

I like to use OpenHPSDR software, among others because of the sensational and very good possibilities of audio parameter settings in DSP CFC, Post-CFC EQ, Phase Rotator, Leveller in ALC / AGC, Standard TX equalizer and finally a well-functioning DEXP-Denoise Gate.

But I also like to use and test/experiment with other software like Quisk or Spark e.t.c. To be able to give feedback to software developers in order to further their positive development.

I dealt with the HL2 network issues problem very easily.
The normally used software  just using  on a different hard drive. And the software for testing is on a different hard drive with its own operating system on another hard drive.

When you boot your computer in a shack, you simply choose which system you want your PC to start on.

Of course, it could alternatively be a third separate PC. But the solution with an additional disk with its own operating system turns out to be more convenient due to the fact that my computer screens have only two inputs DVI for connecting only two PCs at the same time.

73, Joe 

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

I personally have not lost connection to my HL2 due to a network interruption or computer glitch.

However... 

Murphy's law says that a remote digital system will find a way to crash when no one is around to reboot it and/or do a power cycle.

So I purchased a remote power switch for situations where I want to leave my HL2 and Pi 4 setup running when I'm far away from it.

An option to consider.

73,

Ron

n6ywu

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Joe and Group,

There are several issues related to networking being discussed, so I will just summarize each:

** Disconnecting/reconnecting the ethernet cable causes some HL2s to end up using the AIPIA address instead of keeping the existing address or using DHCP. This is a bug which I still need to look at. Although it may be annoying, I don't see it as a showstopper issue. I have never experienced it, even with a remote system up at my Sister's house for months now. The workaround is to keep you HL2 well connected to your home network and don't unplug/plug the device.

** Fixed IP addresses are being set unintentionally. This is the problem I think we've seen ~12 cases now. I don't know how this is happening and am still looking for a good explanation. The best explanation I have is that there must be some SDR software with some option or tab which is accidentally setting a fixed IP. It has to be the SDR software, not software which connects to the SDR software, as the only way to set a fixed IP is via the HL2 protocol. The workaround is to boot with the factory image and then clear any fixed IP with SparkSDR, Quisk or hermeslite.py.

** Network setup is challenging for some. Fortunately, someone just volunteered to help with this. I'm looking forward to better documentation here. I really think it should be a user who writes the documentation as I will tend to focus on some technical detail or assume other technical details.

73,

Steve

kf7o