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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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BLE RX/TX only working when charging or TCXO is disabled #2059

Open rwardd opened 3 months ago

rwardd commented 3 months ago

Describe the bug.

I have recently purchased a PortaPack H2 from OpenSourceSDRLabs, flashed it with the lastest firmware, added the required SD card loaded with the latest application release. When using BLE RX mode, the device does not receive any packets, unless it is either plugged in (charging), or the 10 MHz TCXO is disabled. The same happens on TX/BLE spam - nothing gets sent when the device's TCXO is enabled. It can receive AIS, audio etc when the TCXO is on, it just seems to be BLE that isn't receiving anything. I have updated the CPLD too.

Reproduction

  1. Turn device on
  2. Navigate to Receive -> BLE RX
  3. No packets are received when TCXO is enabled and the device is unplugged

Expected behavior

  1. Would expect the BLE Rx to start receiving packets (there is BLE activity in the vicinity)

Environment/versions

Mayhem firmware v2.0.0, r4 H2 PortaPack, r9 HackRF.

Anything else?

No response

NotherNgineer commented 3 months ago

What is the charge level on the battery (how many blue LEDs are on when unplugged)? I think I've heard mention of some TXCO's not working properly when the battery is very low.

rwardd commented 3 months ago

@NotherNgineer Battery is full/near full (all 4 LEDs are lit) when unplugged.

NotherNgineer commented 3 months ago

I'm guessing it's a hardware issue (TCXO may be requiring more voltage than the regulator is delivering).

You might want to try running the Looking Glass app with preset BL/WIFI 2.4GHz in F-LEVEL-V mode and compare what you see with TCXO on versus off.

Perhaps someone else will have an idea.

rwardd commented 3 months ago

I agree I think that might be the case too. Will try the Looking Glass test, thanks for the suggestion. I have contacted the manufacturer, and it seems like others might be experiencing something similar.

gullradriel commented 3 months ago

Which TXCO are you talking about ? The internal should be disabled, and the external one enabled.

gullradriel commented 2 months ago

The same happens on TX/BLE spam - nothing gets sent when the device's TCXO is enabled.

As it can not be clear about which settings you're talking (internal or external one ?) I can give you a simple thing to check: In Settings/Radio, nothing should be checked and it should use external 10MHz TXCO.

If it's not working properly except when plugged in, then your TXCO must be one of those who need more power to function properly.

Anyway it's not a Mayhem/Firmware bug.

I can confirm it's working all good on my 3 devices.