Running more than 2 SDRs under Ubuntu?

[ryanbytes]

I've been trying to run 4 dongles (1 Nooelec smart v5 and 3 v3 RTL-SDR) under Ubuntu server on a mini PC with little long term success. Eventually one or two dongles will die and not become available until a reboot. Sometimes it takes a couple days and sometimes it takes a couple minutes but one or two will die. I run them on a powered USB hub so it's not a power draw problem. I also turned off USB suspend with no luck on that front. I increased the USB memory available on the off chance that mattered. I just can't figure out why anything more than two dongles is a problem.

 

[PDXh0b0]

I run 4 24/7 three nesdr v4's & and radarbox flight stick. v4/radiosonde_auto_rx , v4/ais-catcher, v4/dumpvdl2 , flight stick/dump1090

Only issue I've noticed in in radiosonde_auto_rx every now and then, I'll get
Warning:rtl_sdr test call resulted in return code of 124.

Info:rtlsdr - attempting to reset: /dev/bus/usb/002/012

It successfully resets and begins scanning again


I do have one nesdr v4 & one blog v3 (both about 3 yrs of of 24/7 service running with unitrunker(2020-2023) shortly after they wouldn't run 24/7 be it dsd+, sdrtrunk or just playing fm radio. I did test the blog v3 with rtl_test ran 1 1/5 days with no sample drops then dropped sample now an then. Tried awhile later and it dropped samples shortly after starting then ran fine for a couple days...so those two I only use for short term runs like listening to radio, running rtl_433 , etc

 

[ryanbytes]

The problem I'm having is with radiosonde_auto_rx. It goes through the reset attempts and fails if I have anything more than two radios. Two or one radio and it runs happy as a clam.

 

[PDXh0b0]

The problem I'm having is with radiosonde_auto_rx. It goes through the reset attempts and fails if I have anything more than two radios. Two or one radio and it runs happy as a clam.

Maybe add a second usb hub to another USB port, split the sdrs up

Are all your sdr's stock, or have to edited them with rtl_eeprom?
Mine have different SN except the flight stick
00000101
00000102
00000103

I ran 3 sdr's with radiosonde_auto_rx for a few days , a reset now and then, other then that is ran fine, but I was getting far less captures , my fault using a catv 3 way splitter, drop in signal strength, I may try again this summer , add an lna at the antenna or buy a proper splitter 😀

 

[boatbod]

Over the years I've experienced all sorts of RTL failures ranging from insufficient power, to wobble usb connectors, to outright hardware failure. You can minimize a lot of the "wobble" problems by running the dongles with short USB2/USB3 pigtails, and as you observed, use a decent powered hub to take the load off the computer board. (RPI are notorious for not supporting more than one or two dongles).

Hardware failures are often attributable to overheating, which is another good reason not to plug a stack of them in close together.

From the linux command line, 'lsusb' and/or 'dmesg' are good commands to find out if the kernel can see the device or if it disconnected.

 

[ryanbytes]

Maybe add a second usb hub to another USB port, split the sdrs up

Are all your sdr's stock, or have to edited them with rtl_eeprom?
Mine have different SN except the flight stick
00000101
00000102
00000103

I ran 3 sdr's with radiosonde_auto_rx for a few days , a reset now and then, other then that is ran fine, but I was getting far less captures , my fault using a catv 3 way splitter, drop in signal strength, I may try again this summer , add an lna at the antenna or buy a proper splitter 😀

I tried using two hubs last night and one radio just dropped. :/ All have their own serial. I might try changing to alphanumeric serials to see if that does anything. Maybe change Linux distributions as well. I'm using a monoprice catv splitter and I'm getting excellent reception results.

 

[boatbod]

I tried using two hubs last night and one radio just dropped. :/ All have their own serial. I might try changing to alphanumeric serials to see if that does anything. Maybe change Linux distributions as well. I'm using a monoprice catv splitter and I'm getting excellent reception results.

Give each a unique serial and then you'll know for sure which one keep dropping. I'm betting it's bad hardware.

 

[ryanbytes]

Give each a unique serial and then you'll know for sure which one keep dropping. I'm betting it's bad hardware.

All have unique serials. I thought it was a hardware problem but everything comes back after a reboot.

 

[boatbod]

All have unique serials. I thought it was a hardware problem but everything comes back after a reboot.

Open a terminal window and run "dmesg -w" then wiggle your usb connectors and see if you start seeing device disconnect/reconnect messages. Figure out if it's always the same device or different ones.

 

[ryanbytes]

I got no disconnect messages unless I physically disconnected them so the connections seem good.

 

[boatbod]

I got no disconnect messages unless I physically disconnected them so the connections seem good.

That's good. Now, while running the same dmesg command in a terminal, start and run the app that you're having problems with, and see if any disconnect messages appear.