It's all about the Software

SDR Console version 3.3 build 3236.
I have a new Adlam Pluto just out of the box last week.
I am having problems with stopping and re-starting the Console.
On startup, "Select Radio > Definitions > Search Pluto SDR"
produces 3 instances. One with an IPv4 (192.168.2.1), one with an IPv6 (fe80::205:f7ff:fea0:3628), and one with URI=usb:x.x.x
I "Save", then I select the 192.168.2.1 instance since that is the Pluto default.

Console starts, and all is well...until I stop Console (Stop button in the Home Tab).
When I try to restart (Start button in the Home Tab), I get a failure with the message "Failed to enumerate available contexts"
Closing SDR Console and re-opening does not fix the issue. The only way is to again "Select Radio > Definitions > Search Pluto SDR"

Interestingly, the instances shown at failure, and those that replace them after a search and replace appear to be identical.
Attached Capture1.jpg = at failure.
Attached Capture.jpg = after search and replace.

A post on the Groups.io <https://sdr-radio.groups.io/g/main/topi ... 2#msg62316>
Suggests insufficient power to the Pluto SDR. I have tried powering from a USB3 port, adding an additional 1 amp supply to the 2nd USB port, and using a powered Belkin High speed USB hub (Belkin F5U233) between the USB3 port and the radio (with the extra power supply), all to no avail.

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve, k5dog

OK, mine is a very old Pluto and I've not fiddled with it lately. I should but....

When did the Pluto grow an actual Ethernet port? If it hasn't then your primary and best connection (faster) is via USB 2.0. A USB 3 port should work just fine. Any network port that appears with Pluto and is not a USB to Ethernet converter connected to the USB port is a synthetic inside the PC driver module on your computer. I use USB here and get nearly 5 times the throughput talking to the Pluto compared to installing an external network port on the Pluto.

Your definitions leave me wondering about your connections. Are you running the SDR-Radio server and connecting to that? If the server and console are on the same machine you can run into problems if you accidentally connect from console directly to the Pluto's IP address. It won't work, or at least it should not. If dual connections are achieved then you can get conflicting commands to the Pluto. That is a BAD thing. The same problems can exist of they are on different machines. Dual IP connection would lead to conflicting masters, as noted a BAD thing, and mass confusion. It's hopefully not allowed. One connection per Pluto is the rule. It really looks like you are trying for two or more.

{^_^}

Note that the "Select Radio" window you see is showing the "All" tab, which includes both Local and Server connections. The server listed is on another machine on my network that is located remotely over a wifi link. It has nothing to do with this issue. The FUNcube 2.0 definition is not used at the moment because the FUNcube is not plugged into the machine.

As for the other seemingly ethernet connections, I will quote you from the Adlam Pluto wiki:
<https://wiki.analog.com/university/tool ... rs/windows>

"USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget (Remote Network Driver Interface Specification (RNDIS) is a Microsoft proprietary protocol used mostly on top of USB. It provides a virtual Ethernet link to most versions of the Windows, Linux and OS X operating systems. To the host, the usb device acts as an external Ethernet card)"

My understanding is that a powered USB to ethernet adapter can be used to make the Pluto available over ethernet, but the SDR-Radio definition must be added manually because it cannot be "discovered" automatically. <https://www.sdr-radio.com/network-access>. I am not using it in that way and only connect by USB.

I have successfully used all three of the definitions listed to connect to the Pluto, but all three fail in the same way as I describe with a stop and restart, and after the failure, none of the three will reconnect without "re-discovering" them.

I would also note that when the failure happens, Task Manager typically shows CPU at 40%, Memory at 65% and GPU at 25%. This is Windows 10 Pro. v22H2.

I also did a "discovery" of the Pluto SDR, but saved only the USB definition, so that only one Pluto definition appears, but the issue continues as before.

Off topic a little - do not use WiFi to connect to a remote server. WiFi is not a real-enough-time protocol for streaming RF. People walking around in the house can upset the WiFi connections. (It is amusing to watch it happen. We have a couple WiFi related connections here. Everything else is wired for over 40 objects of various sorts.)

Now, nothing is grabbing onto the Pluto if all you have to do is remake the definition. I presume the definition is getting saved because I believe it must be saved before SDRC allows you to connect to it. But, you say you must refresh the definition if you merely stop the DSP and restart it without closing SDRC. Take a picture of the select radio panel just before you connect. Then compare what it shows to what you see when you bring up the select radio panel but before you refresh. Are they the same? Then refresh the definition and check against the saved data. Are these the same? It almost sounds like the Pluto's firmware is giving you different numbers every time or somehow you are not having the definition properly saved. That should not happen. And in a dual Pluto station that could make it impossible for you to consistently open the desired Pluto.

Another dumb thought - what happens if you unplug then plug in the Pluto? That COULD mean something is grabbing hold of the Pluto when SDRC disconnects from it when the DSP is stopped.

{^_^}

The remote server is at the end of a 5.8 ghz Ubiquity link. I is not my home wifi, but it is ethernet from here to the first Ubiquity radio on the chimney.
It is a 2-hop link as I have to go around an intervening pile of dirt, so it is about 10 miles as the RF flies. My throughput is "usually" about 60 Mbps.
I use it to work 23 cm CW EME from the remote station, and it works very well for that.

I think I have resolved my issue by creating a network definition to connect to the Pluto at "ip:192.168.2.1"
I have deleted the USB definitions, and kept only the "network" connection.
This seems to work reliably even though I am connected by USB. I do have to have the powered high speed hub in between.

Thanks for your help.

73
Steve, k5dog