It's all about the Software

Hello,

Thanks for accepting me as a member.

I am having an issue with SDR Console 3.2 with the Waterfall and Spectrum "skipping".
This only happens with one specific program called Wavenode which is a Wattmeter USB Device.
None of my other USB Devices or Programs on the computer cause this, Wavenode is the only one.

Note - this anomaly happens even when there is nothing being transmitted i.e. No RF being generated for the wattmeter.

I am running SDR Console Ver 3.2 from September 18th, 2022
API Ver 3.09

My SDR Unit is an SDRPlay RSP2.

The Waveode Wattmeter Unit is called a WN-2.
Here is a link to their website:

https://wavenodedevelop.com/controllers/wavenode-wn-2/

This does not happen with SDRuno Ver 1.42 1014 (API Ver 3.09) at any of its Bandwidth settings from 2Mhz to 10Mz.
SDRuno works fine with the Wavenode program with no skipping.

Here is a link to my server that shows a video of SDR Console skipping when I start the Wavenode Program.
As you can see in the video, it stops skipping and acts normal when the Wavenode program is closed.

Note - This is a 30mB file:

http://www.wz5q.net/images/sdr_console_ ... 6-2023.mp4

My computer is:

Motherboard - ASUS Z77-A
CPU - Intel I7-3770 3.4Ghz, 4 Core, 8 Thread
Memory - 8MB of DDR3 GSkill
Video Card - AMD Radeon HD 6670
Disks - Solid State Samsung
Operating System - Windows 10 64bit with latest updates

I have tried changing all different settings in SDR Console with no effect.
This includes the Bandwidth settings, there is no difference in the skipping between 500Khz and 10Mhz.
No difference in the skipping with changes in Resolution either.
My Video card does not support CUDA, but it is working in OpenCL.
I have reverted it to IPP and the skipping is still there with Wavenode running.

It seems to be an issue with the USB when both programs are running.
It's not a matter of CPU load or other resources as the load on SDR Console never goes over 15% and Wavenode not over 5%.
I have run Prime95 to load all the Cores to 100% and SDR Console is still smooth, until Wavenode is started.

I have read and applied all the info on the USB Page of this website with No change in the skipping.
I have both of these USB Devices on the same USB 3.0 Hub, with nothing else connected.

Power draw and Bandwidth Consumed is not in excess with either USB Device:
SDRplay RSP2 - Power = 100mA -- Bandwidth Consumed = 3%
Wavenode - Power = 98mA -- Bandwidth Consumed = 2%

Please review the information I provided and if anything else is needed let me know and I will provide it.
I like SDR Console and would prefer to use it rather then SDRuno.

Thank You in advance.

Good thing on all the info supply .

Have you tried a usb 2 port or any of those ports individually?

lappydesktop wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:41 am Good thing on all the info supply .

Have you tried a usb 2 port or any of those ports individually?

Yes.
I have tried every way conceivable with the on board USB Ports.
The Asus Z77-A Motherboard has 2x USB 3.0, and 4x USB 2.0 Ports.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I installed a separate 2.0 USB Card into the Motherboard expansion slot using the recommended manufactures Drivers.
Again then trying every way conceivable with the USB Port arrangements.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I then removed the manufacturers drivers and installed the automatic Windows Drivers.
Yet again trying every way conceivable with the USB Port arrangements with no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

The separate 2.0 USB Card was removed from the system.

WZ5Q wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:15 pm

lappydesktop wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:41 am Good thing on all the info supply .

Have you tried a usb 2 port or any of those ports individually?

Yes.
I have tried every way conceivable with the on board USB Ports.
The Asus Z77-A Motherboard has 2x USB 3.0, and 4x USB 2.0 Ports.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I installed a separate 2.0 USB Card into the Motherboard expansion slot using the recommended manufactures Drivers.
Again then trying every way conceivable with the USB Port arrangements.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I then removed the manufacturers drivers and installed the automatic Windows Drivers.
Yet again trying every way conceivable with the USB Port arrangements with no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

The separate 2.0 USB Card was removed from the system.

Well it sounds like you have got it all covered , i somehow still guess it's a usb driver related thing but also maybe a setting in the computer bios as you'll need the MB manual for that , i don't know if it will help but there are free usb sniffers around (to monitor data flow) that might help you diagnose but they are a learning curve to see what it all means , good luck that's all i got .

lappydesktop wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:16 am Well it sounds like you have got it all covered , i somehow still guess it's a usb driver related thing but also maybe a setting in the computer bios as you'll need the MB manual for that , i don't know if it will help but there are free usb sniffers around (to monitor data flow) that might help you diagnose but they are a learning curve to see what it all means , good luck that's all i got .

That is what I am thinking too, USB Issues.
I noticed that there was an API Ver 3.11 Driver, so I installed that.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I checked all the Bios Settings and they are all good.

I am have been diagnosing and investigating the USB tree and devices with different software.
You are correct, there is a fairly steep learning curve involved in that.

I appreciate the responses.
Thanks.

WZ5Q wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:46 am

lappydesktop wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:16 am Well it sounds like you have got it all covered , i somehow still guess it's a usb driver related thing but also maybe a setting in the computer bios as you'll need the MB manual for that , i don't know if it will help but there are free usb sniffers around (to monitor data flow) that might help you diagnose but they are a learning curve to see what it all means , good luck that's all i got .

That is what I am thinking too, USB Issues.
I noticed that there was an API Ver 3.11 Driver, so I installed that.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I checked all the Bios Settings and they are all good.

I am have been diagnosing and investigating the USB tree and devices with different software.
You are correct, there is a fairly steep learning curve involved in that.

I appreciate the responses.
Thanks.

Ok on the bios btw it was just a thought .
As it also seems by your explanation the usb drivers i would look into more specifically is the spectra one as everything else you use is ok except that , there must be a conflict there somewhere OR can you assign a single core of your I7 cpu solely to the spectra process? or even just to the sdr software (visa/versa), apologies just grasping at straws as i use AMD and i could do that if i wanted too , i did say that's all i got the last time but that's what just popped in

lappydesktop wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:35 pm Ok on the bios btw it was just a thought .
As it also seems by your explanation the usb drivers i would look into more specifically is the spectra one as everything else you use is ok except that , there must be a conflict there somewhere OR can you assign a single core of your I7 cpu solely to the spectra process? or even just to the sdr software (visa/versa), apologies just grasping at straws as i use AMD and i could do that if i wanted too , i did say that's all i got the last time but that's what just popped in

Yes, I tried that too on both the Affinity and the Priority using the software called "Process Lasso".
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I installed a few USB programs. One was a Tree Information grabber and the others Sniffer programs that read the packets in real time.
The SDRplay is using an "Isochronous" transfer type and the WN-2 a "Bulk" transfer type.
I was watching the SDRplay packet stream as well as the WN-2 stream.
The "skipping" in the SDR Console Program seems to coincide with the WN-2 data packet transfer stream.
The bigger the packet size in WN-2, the longer the "skip" in SDR Console.

The VID/PID Device Instance Paths between the two devices were confirmed to be non conflicting.
There are also no IRQ Conflicts between the two USB Controllers the devices are connected too.

I am trying to familiarize myself with the software as well as USB protocol to make sense of all the information.
I have been trying to climb the learning curve but keep sliding back down, lol. I must say it is quite steep.
There is a lot to absorb.

WZ5Q wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:53 am

lappydesktop wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:35 pm Ok on the bios btw it was just a thought .
As it also seems by your explanation the usb drivers i would look into more specifically is the spectra one as everything else you use is ok except that , there must be a conflict there somewhere OR can you assign a single core of your I7 cpu solely to the spectra process? or even just to the sdr software (visa/versa), apologies just grasping at straws as i use AMD and i could do that if i wanted too , i did say that's all i got the last time but that's what just popped in

Yes, I tried that too on both the Affinity and the Priority using the software called "Process Lasso".
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

Hi , sounds/looks like your on the 8 ball , there was a sniffer quite a while back i used but can't remember what it was now , that one even analyzed the exact conflict/share but a moot point as the one you have mentioned seems to tackle that and yes what a curve to learn and Steep would be a understatement! imo .

How about other sdr programs do they do the same? i think in SDRuno one can pick the usb mode bulk/Isochronous not sure yet on SDR Console (haven't had a look) , also in the video in the op you have peaks turned on , any effect with it off?

Apart from the transfer modes i was starting to contemplate an actual video driver issue/conflict but the transfer mode just might be the thing now you have mentioned it , good luck (and looking) as it'll be good if you can get it sorted out

lappydesktop wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:20 am Hi , sounds/looks like your on the 8 ball , there was a sniffer quite a while back i used but can't remember what it was now , that one even analyzed the exact conflict/share but a moot point as the one you have mentioned seems to tackle that and yes what a curve to learn and Steep would be a understatement! imo .

How about other sdr programs do they do the same? i think in SDRuno one can pick the usb mode bulk/Isochronous not sure yet on SDR Console (haven't had a look) , also in the video in the op you have peaks turned on , any effect with it off?

Apart from the transfer modes i was starting to contemplate an actual video driver issue/conflict but the transfer mode just might be the thing now you have mentioned it , good luck (and looking) as it'll be good if you can get it sorted out

All the other SDR Programs including SDRuno work just fine at all sampling rate bandwidths with no "skipping" issues at all.
SDR Console is the only one with the issues when the Wavenode program is running.

I have tried SDR Console with the Peaks turned "Off" as well as all other Spectrum and Waterfall configurations turned on and off.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I reduced the video resolution and tried every setting available on the Video Card with no change to the skipping.

Thanks for all your input, it is much appreciated.

WZ5Q wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 5:28 pm

lappydesktop wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:20 am Hi , sounds/looks like your on the 8 ball , there was a sniffer quite a while back i used but can't remember what it was now , that one even analyzed the exact conflict/share but a moot point as the one you have mentioned seems to tackle that and yes what a curve to learn and Steep would be a understatement! imo .

How about other sdr programs do they do the same? i think in SDRuno one can pick the usb mode bulk/Isochronous not sure yet on SDR Console (haven't had a look) , also in the video in the op you have peaks turned on , any effect with it off?

Apart from the transfer modes i was starting to contemplate an actual video driver issue/conflict but the transfer mode just might be the thing now you have mentioned it , good luck (and looking) as it'll be good if you can get it sorted out

All the other SDR Programs including SDRuno work just fine at all sampling rate bandwidths with no "skipping" issues at all.
SDR Console is the only one with the issues when the Wavenode program is running.

I have tried SDR Console with the Peaks turned "Off" as well as all other Spectrum and Waterfall configurations turned on and off.
There was no change to the skipping anomaly as described in the OP.

I reduced the video resolution and tried every setting available on the Video Card with no change to the skipping.

Thanks for all your input, it is much appreciated.

Your op is to far back in memory even though it's just a few posts back as i just saw that you had tried that and mentioned sdruno has no troubles , is any of those api's able to be used fromthe sdruno folder in the sdrconsole folder , it obviously has something to do with it imo (now) , i just looked in the uno folder and they are listed as sdrplay_api.dll , i wonder if one could just rename it? , i would not have a clue but also there is documentation out there somewhere on making up and configuring those api's i saw awhile back , this time it's really all i got , good luck