Not obtaining IP

[Steven St Germain]

Hermes light 2 got up this morning and turned on and get "Error Starting SDR Hardware is it on. It is on and the clock and IP are blinking. Tried the reset procedure by shorting the cw and ptt pins while turning on and that did not even work. When I start Thetis it shows the default IP but shows Firmware version 0.0.0 and Protocol 2 (v0.0

[Steve Haynal]

Hi,

The flashing LEDs indicate no IP via DHCP. Since you see the same state in regular and recovery mode, I would carefully check your network connection. Make sure both ends of the ethernet cable are firmly plugged in. Try a different ethernet cable.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Steven St Germain]

Tried different cable and even hooked it up to another computer . . . Same issue

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

Are you connecting the HL2 through a switch or router?  Have you tried rebooting the router?  Will other network devices work (get a DHCP address) if plugged in to those same router ports?  Have you tried connecting the HL2 directly to your PC (no router) and pinging the HL2’s self-assigned IP?  

73, Ron, n6ywu

[Steven St Germain]

I am direct connect from computer to HL2. When I try to ping it I get destination host unreachable. Everything else in network works. Computer gets IP on LAN through Ethernet when I hook it up to router. Something with HL2 i believe like maybe a firmware burp. SparkSDR won't find it either.

[Steven St Germain]

Is there a way to reinstall factory "out of box" firmware. If so what do I need to do this??

[Steven St Germain]

Also tried on different computer that it was working on and same issue so I believe something with the Gateware possibly got corrupted.

[radi...@mail.com]

See bottom of this page to force load the factory Gateware image:

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/Updating-Gateware

73

Max

[Steven St Germain]

Tried that already.

[Steven St Germain]

I even tried python to see the HL and this is the error I got

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "C:\Users\WW1SS\Desktop\hermeslite.py", line 2, in <module>

    import shutil, tempfile, urllib.request, netifaces

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'netifaces'

[Steve Haynal]

It looks like you don't have the netifaces module installed with your Python installation. Google pip netifaces. But I don't think hermeslite.py will tell you anything new.

If you want to reflash the gateware, there is the Raspberry Pi method described here:

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/Raspberry-Pi-Test-and-Program

Also, search for "usb blaster" in this group's google gui page:

https://groups.google.com/g/hermes-lite

But I don't think it is a gateware issue. You would not even see LEDs flash, etc., if the gateware was corrupted.

I suspect you didn't put it in recovery mode. Can you try again and make sure to short ring tip and shield of a stereo connector plugged in? Also, please try this connected directly to your PC and also to a router/switch will assign a DHCP address. If this recovers, then you may have a corrupted fixed IP programmed. You'll have to erase or disable the fixed IP. Search this list for "fixed ip" and read through the wiki network troubleshooting guide.

If you can't enter recovery mode, then I suspect something went bad with the network interface on your HL2.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Steven St Germain]

So here is the latest . . . . I appreciate everyone's help.

I hooked the HL2 to my router. I checked the router for connected devices. It showed it as having an IP of 192.168.1.144 but it also said "host unknown"

When I tried to ping it from a computer on the same network also hooked up via ethernet it came back "host unreachable"

Still have the blinking IP light. I assume the run light is blinking because Thetis is not connected to it.

[Steve Haynal]

It really seems like you are being hit by the "fixed IP unintentionally set" issue, which has happened about a dozen times with cause still unknown. The fixed IP is stored in a separate EEPROM and some unrelated action causes it to be set. To solve this, one typically boots the HL2 in recovery mode and then uses SparkSDR, Quisk or hermeslite.py to unset the fixed IP flag. With your attempts to boot into recovery mode, did you short ring/tip/shield on a audio cable plugged into the jack before and during the first few seconds of applying power to the HL2? Can you check the connector on the HL2? Maybe that has a problem which prevents you from entering recovery mode.

Is 192.168.1.144 in the subnet of your network? For example, do other devices obtaining a DHCP address on this network have an IP 192.168.1.X? If not, then that could explain whey you can't access the HL2. As an alternate to recovery mode, you could setup your network (or one other computer with a fixed IP and direct connection to the HL2) to be the 192.168.1.X subnet temporarily and then use SparkSDR, Quisk or hermeslite.py to access your device and unset the fixed IP flag. Then you can go back to the original network.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Steven St Germain]

Any chance I can send this board to you to get it going again . . . Could pay you for your time with this.

Steve . . . WW1SS

[Steven St Germain]

192.168.1.144 is in my subnet. Other devices get the DHCP address fine. Tried the fixed IP with another computer and that did not help. Spark SDR wont find HL2. Tried to run hermes.py but there errors when I try to install it in windows power shell. Says I need netifaces. Tried installing netifaces and it says I need Microsoft visual 14 or greater. Downloaded that and still errors. I could not even figure out how to install Quisk.

[Steven St Germain]

Next step is im gonna try to reflash the HL2 using my PI. Just waiting for header pins to get here tomorrow.

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

Did you try directly connecting the HL2 to your Raspberry Pi, and running hermeslite.py on your Pi?  Maybe boot the HL2 in recovery mode after connecting to the Pi.  Also note that if the HL2's MAC address has been changed, the HL2's self assigned IP address will also change.

73, Ron, n6ywu

[Steven St Germain]

No  I did not try connecting it to the Pi . . . Have to set up the PI with an OS . . . Screw around with getting hl2.py installed. Try that . . . It is not worth the aggravation

Its getting to the point where I'll just throw it in the trash or use it for target practice with my .45.It is just totally ridiculous that I have to go through a week of screwing around with this thing to try to get it to connect. I have never had a piece of hardware that was so friggin difficult. They should have some sort of non volatile memory on there that can be loaded by moving a jumper that will restore this thing to factory default.

can't run this because that needs to be installed .. . .  Can't install that without that . . . Need Python . . . Need PIP . . . Need Idle . . . Need Visual Studio

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

One guess is that, worse case, either the EEPROM, ethernet IC, or ethernet connector on your HL2 became damaged, and that, if you don't want to fix it, you could sell the unit for a nice price (versus trashing it) to someone with the reflashing or soldering equipment required to quickly repair it.  73, Ron, n6ywu

[Steven St Germain]

ethernet connector is good. I see the link and activity light working. I'm waiting for wire jumpers to come in to reflash it with my PI. I won't be able to do anything for a few weeks with it as I'll be heading out in the RV.

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Group,

WW1SS sent his HL2 to me for repair. The unit was programmed with older gateware which does not recognize the KSZ9021 ethernet PHY used in newer HL2 builds. We are not sure when or how that happened, but restoring the latest factory image fixed all issues for me.

As a general warning, if you are programming a HL2 from the distributed Raspberry Pi image, be sure to click on the update icon on the desktop to retrieve the latest gateware images. The Raspberry Pi image includes older gateware by default which does not recognize the KSZ9021. There is no harm done if you accidentally program an older gateware image. You will just need to reflash with the latest. I have updated the Raspberry Pi test and program wiki:

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/Raspberry-Pi-Test-and-Program

Most users will never need to use a Raspberry Pi to flash the gateware. The network gateware update method available in Quisk, SparkSDR and hermeslite.py is all most people will use. This method also always preserves the factory image for recovery.

73,

Steve

kf7o