I’ve followed the setup instructions including getting the GPU working which was successful. The radio unit itself doesn’t appear to be functioning. I’ve tested with rtl_test and no device is detected. I attempted to upgrade all of the system packages with dist upgrade to latest kernels/etc. and re-enabled the GPU afterwards and still no rtl-sdr device is appearing. The encoders and buttons seem to work so the board is definitely working, just no radio loaded. Was trying to troubleshoot with lsusb in case it’s a usb device passed over the minipcie/mkey connection. It doesn’t appear in lsusb or anything in lspci. What steps should I be looking at for troubleshooting?
Tuning to 20mhz seems to have loaded the board somehow.
Please make sure to connect power supply to the USB-C port on the Extender, and tap the button aside it to turn on the device. This make sure the extender gets powered properly.
After boot up, you can see only one I2C device when running "sudo i2cdetect -y 2":
vivid@vivid-unit:~$ sudo i2cdetect -y 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f
00: -- -- 0a -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The device with address 0x0a is the Vivid Unit Extender.
After you run the GPSDR++ application (via Application menu or run command "gpsdrpp"), the VU GPSDR board will be powered, and then you will see 4 I2C devices in total:
vivid@vivid-unit:~$ sudo i2cdetect -y 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f
00: -- -- 0a 0b -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- 42 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: 60 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
They are:
- 0x0a: the Vivid Unit Extender
- 0x0b: the STM8 MCU on VU GPSDR
- 0x42: the M8N GPS module on VU GPSDR
- 0x60: the Si5351 on VU GPSDR
And you can also see the RTL USB device now:
vivid@vivid-unit:~$ lsusb
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bda:2838 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2838 DVB-T
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
If those I2C and USB devices do not show up after running GPSDR++, double check the connection of the board. Sometimes even a reboot can solve the problem.
BTW, after quiting the GPSDR++ application, the RTL USB device stays functional, and you can use other applications to access it.
Thank you for the detailed troubleshooting steps. I hadn’t realized the devices didn’t activate until after the application is loaded for some time. This is a really cool board combo in general though. The main feedback I would provide is that the usb-c for the expansion board should be on the bottom or side instead of right next to the antenna input which makes it difficult to attach antennas without extension cables and even then they are often touching.
Since the expansion board came out first, I would imagine this wasn’t considered.