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portapack-mayhem / mayhem-firmware

Custom firmware for the HackRF+PortaPack H1/H2
GNU General Public License v3.0
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I was trying to turn on my HackRF and it is a blank screen with the dill flashing. #1718

Closed BeatboxT closed 7 months ago

BeatboxT commented 8 months ago

Before creating this issue, do the following:

Describe the issue A clear and concise description of what the issue you are facing is.

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Go to '...'
  2. Tap on '....'

My Hardware Please specify what PortaPack hardware version you are using. You can find the list of versions here: https://github.com/eried/portapack-mayhem/wiki/PortaPack-Versions

Affected versions Please tell us what version you are running. If your device is still functional, try the latest nightly release before submitting this. You can find the latest nightly version here https://github.com/eried/portapack-mayhem/releases

Were you able to update the firmware before? Things might be confusing the first time, please check the video available on the link above.

Can you try the upgrade with a different PC/Portapack/HackRF? If is possible, swap hardware and try again. Also, try different USB cables, even if the one you are using works fine for other purposes.

Additional If the issue is difficult to explain, additionally to the text please include images and videos.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

Not sure what "dill" flashing means, but if you power it off by pressing the encoder button twice, does it power up correctly the next time the encoder button is pressed? Perhaps a duplicate of #1693 ?

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

Hi Mayhem team, I don't want to start a new thread and I think that the author of this issue meant what is in the attached video. https://github.com/portapack-mayhem/mayhem-firmware/assets/156543080/35d03e53-e4d7-4bca-a822-fe75c55c60d6

I have been using HackRF & PortaPack for 5 years and I used Sharebrained firmware for PoprtaPack, later I updated to Mayhem v1.2 and for a long time I stayed that way without problems until version 1.8.0.

My hardware specification:

Great Scott Gadgets HackRF One r4 (original) & SHAREBRAINED PortaPack H1 R2 (original blue PCB) LCD 2.4" with touch rotary jog wheel with arrow keys and select button Altera 5M40Z CPLD QFP64 AK4951 audio

Tested firmware:

v1.2 | v1.4.3 | v1.4.4 | nightly release - 2022-04-03 | 2022-04-04 without problem

nightly release - 2022-04-05 without problem The last version that boots with my HW at 100%

Nightly Release - 2022-04-06 | v1.5.0 boot randomly 3/10 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 7/10 3V3, 1V8, RF, RX - black screen 1/10 3V3, RX - black screen 1/20 when 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen and does not boot many times in a row, to fix it you need to press and hold the up button for LCD driver. Press and hold the down button for LCD driver is white screen.

v1.5.1 boot randomly 3/10 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 7/10

v1.5.3 boot randomly 4/10 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 6/10 3V3, 1V8, RF, RX - black screen 2/10 boots randomly into the receive menu - does not respond to pressing the button, after touch control, it starts responding to the buttons 2/10

v1.5.4 | v1.6.0 boot randomly 8/10 (not booting 2/10) 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 2/10

v1.7.0 boot randomly 6/10 (not booting 4/10) 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 4/10 3V3, 1V8, RF, RX fast flashing - black screen 2/10

v1.7.1 | v1.7.2 | v1.7.3 | v1.7.4 | n_230828 without problem The reset button almost always solves it. I attribute it more to a power supply error.

n_230901 | n_230902 boot randomly (not booting 7/10) 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 7/10 The reset button almost solves it.

n_230905 |n_230913 | v1.8.0 to 1.9.1 and later nightly releases boot randomly 2/10 (ever 2/20) 3V3, 1V8, RF - black screen 4/10 (state 1) 3V3, 1V8, RF, USB & RX & TX flash fast - config menu, black screen 4/10 (state 2) State 1 and state 2 usually alternate until it boots normally.

I have tested various power banks, USB cable, Windows, Linux. Button test did not reveal any error. With the latest firmware I can double press reset for the Config Menu, but whatever I set doesn't help. Probably the inclusion of the Config menu in the firmware makes my hardware almost unusable with the new firmware. The last stable firmware is 1.7.4 or Nightly Release - 2023-09-02, but the last firmware that booted at 100% is 1.4.4 or nightly release - 2022-04-05.

Thank you for your time.

jLynx commented 8 months ago

@mike-cca you are in the bios. @bernd-herzog can you please post the link to it as I can't seem to find it

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

I realize that the hardware combination I use is not the most used, nor is it the cheapest, but it is very accurate for my use, and has been working without major changes for 5 years. Pressing the reset button in FW 1.7.4 after connecting is not annoying. For power supply I use a powerbank tested by Fluke scopemeter for power supply faults. Some powerbanks have terrible power supply.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

@mike-cca Nice testing report. Does your PortaPack have an internal battery, or does "booting" in your case always mean turning on or plugging in an external power supply?

It seems that a lot of us are having an intermittent issue since n_230905 where Config Mode is entered intermittently when the USB cable is plugged in as well, which could be related.

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer I don't have internal battery, I have PortaPack H1 R2 without modifications. You could certainly add a battery, but it would require PCB intervention and it would still be just a hard power on. I currently use a Li-Ion powerbank without various fast charges, it has a button to turn off and on USB power. I have verified the whole process of turning on HackRF and PortaPack with Fluke Scopemeter and the process is clean without any spikes in the power supply. Of course it boots every time you turn on the power.

Portapack H2 with built-in functionality for internal battery power supply and integrated charging does not boot at every start ? Does the PortaPack H2 have any standby mode ?

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

Portapack H2 with built-in functionality for internal battery power supply and integrated charging does not boot at every start ? Does the PortaPack H2 have any standby mode ?

@mike-cca Thanks for the info. In my case I have two H2+ Portapacks, both of which have the internal LiPo batteries. When the USB is disconnected, a single press of the encoder button turns it on (seems to always work), and a double press turns it off (it cannot be turned off when USB is connected). I suppose you could refer to the "off" state as "standby" mode. But on either unit, if I start from an off state and accidentally double-click the encoder button then it will enter Config Mode instead of starting up correctly using n_230905 firmware or later (noted in issue #1693). Secondarily, on one of my two units I have an issue that sometimes it will also enter Config Mode when the LiPo is fully charged and I plug in the USB cable, which I am guessing could be due to power glitches when the cable is attached.

The "Config Mode" code also stores a flag in persistent memory to determine how to behave on the next power-up. Can you tell me if you have a working coin-cell battery (which is used to retain settings in persistent memory)?

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer otherngineer It is questionable how the standby state is defined from the HW and SW side for the portapack H2. Does the H2+ boot when powered from the internal battery at one press ? I have tested the last firmware and by double pressing the reset button I enter Config Mode also on my HW. But even with controlled power on via USB, every second attempt is to enter Config Mode and only a few attempts is to boot into the MAYHEM menu. I have checked the CR2032 battery for persistent memory and time data backup but also replaced it with a new one. I have also tested the backup power supply by measuring if there are any transients or discharges when the power is supplied from the backup battery to the persistent memory. Everything is fine.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

Does the H2+ boot when powered from the internal battery at one press ?

Yes

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer otherngineer I have read almost all the relevant trains and #1693, It's definitely a common problem. I've tried all the advice in Won't boot.

I'm an electronics engineer for a couple of decades but only a basic programmer :-) PortaPack H2+ has additionally power and charging circuits of Li-Pol battery and by double pressing the battery is switched off and keeps only the charging circuit and power part but HackRF is off.

Is there a PortaPack H2+ wiring somewhere ? Maybe there are differences. With no battery the Portapack is powered by the HackRF, and with an internal battery it is the other way around, the PortaPack H2+ provides the power for the HackRF.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

@mike-cca Sorry I don't have an H2 or H2+ schematic either. Your observations regarding the power make sense.

If every second boot goes into Config Mode, perhaps you could try an experiment and remove the coin cell battery (so that the Config Mode code can't save any flags) just to see what happens.

I'm starting to think that perhaps we could use a new setting in persistent memory to disable Config Mode...

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

Attached is a test version of firmware that adds a "Config Mode" app to the Settings menu (see PR #1781). The app can be run to disable Config Mode via a persistent memory setting (this test firmware version is currently the only one that looks at the persistent memory setting BTW)

portapack-h1_h2-mayhem.bin.zip

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer Hi, which firmware is modified by adding disabling Config Menu ? I will test the firmware. And I'll test the self management with the CR2032 battery removed, it may not be the same.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

@mike-cca You can unzip the test firmware I attached above and flash it, or use tonight's nightly firmware build n_240118. Both have support for disabling Config Mode (look for Config Mode app on the Settings page).

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer I have tested the firmware with Config Mode disabled. This fixes the problem of crash booting directly into Config Mode. It does not fix the unreliable booting itself.

I also tested the Nightly Release - 2024-01-17, with the CR2032 backup battery removed. With the battery in place, booting to Config Mode is invariably with invalid boot. Without the battery, the reset is still invalid boot and Config mode, which is logical because the persistent memory is still powered. When the power is disconnected and reconnected, Config Mode is disabled, which will be caused by the fact that there will be no record of invalid boot in the persistent memory.

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer Why is there a significant difference in boot reliability in new firmware ? For example 1.9.1 ( all newer than 1.4.4) as in the video : https://github.com/portapack-mayhem/mayhem-firmware/assets/156543080/e5a9e7f8-ee73-4ace-910b-aa2fce0c4c09

And this is how HackRF One R4 & Portapack H1 R2 boot in firmware version 1.4.4, absolutely 100% : https://github.com/portapack-mayhem/mayhem-firmware/assets/156543080/12b93004-fc53-4896-9dbd-4775ac0bd7f6

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

If an issue started occurring in a specific release, it would help if someone could test the nightly releases leading up to that, to determine the precise date when the issue was introduced.

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer The last version that boots with my HW at 100% is Nightly Release - 2022-04-05. Nightly Release - 2022-04-06 is the first release when HackRF One R4 & PortaPack H1 R2 does not boot reliably.

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

A big thank you to the developers for the ability to disable Config Mode in the Nightly Release menu - 2024-01-18.

NotherNgineer commented 8 months ago

@NotherNgineer The last version that boots with my HW at 100% is Nightly Release - 2022-04-05. Nightly Release - 2022-04-06 is the first release when HackRF One R4 & PortaPack H1 R2 does not boot reliably.

As you try out nightly versions to determine the point where the instability began, keep in mind that there might be multiple ranges of version that work or don't work, as issues get resolved and new ones introduced.

I reviewed the code changes in the 2022-04-06 nightly release and it looks mainly like some of the power-up code was reordered, which could possibly have introduced a timing issue. I'll keep thinking about it.

mike-cca commented 8 months ago

Thank you for your time. Yes there may be a problem in the timing, that's why the correct boot is random.