Airspy in Macos

[loewal]

Airspy HF+ and Discovery don't work in Macos, neither selfcompiled nor DMG.
Windows and Linux work fine.

[loewal]

May I express my disappointment for not having recieved any reaction on my problem?

The Airspy's are found, but do NOTHING

[lawendel]

I'm observing the same (lack of) behavior on a MacBook Air M1 under Monterey. I've downloaded the i64 DMG and installed flawlessly. The program opens with no error messages, it then recognizes the HF+ as an input device, it can even switch between HF and VHF, but nothing happens in the Spectrum window. Before reading your issue, I thought I made something wrong. Maybe it's that... Is there a mailing list or a group where we can ask directly to f4exb? SDRangel is indeed complex but highly attractive as a cross-platform app. I'm also using GQRX and SDR++ with no such issues.

[lawendel]

Sorry, it's the recent "macx64" DMG...

[justfalter]

I have an Airspy r2 on an M1, compiled for arm64.

A single breakpoint set in AirspyWorker::rx_callback would never hit after starting the input.

After some debugging, I found I could get the Airspy input working properly by:

1. Setting a breakpoint right before the m_airspyWorkerThread is started here
2. Starting the input
3. Hit the breakpoint
4. Wait a couple seconds
5. Continue execution

My guess is that there is some kind of timing issue in the worker thread startup sequence.

The effective sequence is:

• m_airspyWorker->startWork()
  • airspy_stop_rx(...)
  • (on success): airspy_is_streaming(...)
• m_airspyWorkerThread.start()

I'm unfamiliar with the mechanics of a QThread, as that is how m_airspyWorkerThread is defined.

sdrangel/plugins/samplesource/airspy/airspyinput.cpp

Lines 236 to 247 in d1a4fca

	bool AirspyInput::startWorker()
	{
	if (m_airspyWorker->startWork())
	{
	m_airspyWorkerThread.start();
	return true;
	}
	else
	{
	return false;
	}
	}

sdrangel/plugins/samplesource/airspy/airspyworker.cpp

Lines 45 to 62 in d1a4fca

	bool AirspyWorker::startWork()
	{
	airspy_error rc;
	rc = (airspy_error) airspy_start_rx(m_dev, rx_callback, this);
	if (rc == AIRSPY_SUCCESS)
	{
	m_running = (airspy_is_streaming(m_dev) == AIRSPY_TRUE);
	}
	else
	{
	qCritical("AirspyWorker::run: failed to start Airspy Rx: %s", airspy_error_name(rc));
	m_running = false;
	}
	return m_running;
	}

[justfalter]

Note

After some debugging, I found I could get the Airspy input working properly by:

1. Setting a breakpoint right before the m_airspyWorkerThread is started here
2. Starting the input
3. Hit the breakpoint
4. Wait a couple seconds
5. Continue execution

Note: this seems to only work with a debugger breakpoint, so far. I've tried sleeping just before the m_airspyWorkerThread.start() call and it does not result in the airspy working. I tried with both QThread::msleep(2000); and std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::seconds(2)), and neither resulted in the airspy r2 working.

I'm thinking that the issue might exist in a separate thread, as pausing on a breakpoint results in all threads being paused.

[srcejon]

I just tried the airspyhf_rx example program that is included with airspyhf library, and that doesn't work for me on MacOS (Big Sur). Does it work for anyone else?

[loewal]

Gave it a try as well. Indeed, no recording all.

…

On 20 Sep 2022, 18:02 +0200, f4exb/sdrangel ***@***.***>, wrote: airspyhf_rx

[srcejon]

Do you have a USB 2 hub to plug it in to? I remember a previous issue where it wouldn't work with Linux with USB 3 ports, but would with USB 2.

[loewal]

I have. Tried: • First session with BWFM: nothing • Second session: cannot start sample source Why does it work with GQRX and SDR++……?

…

On 21 Sep 2022, 17:50 +0200, srcejon ***@***.***>, wrote: Do you have a USB 2 hub to plug it in to? I remember a previous issue where it wouldn't work with Linux with USB 3 ports, but would with USB 2. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[srcejon]

Well, SDR++ doesn't work for me either. Haven't tried GQRX yet.

[srcejon]

Have opened an issue for airspyhf airspy/airspyhf#42

[loewal]

Airspy HF+ doesn’t work with the usb-2 hub, but works when plugged in directly in one of the Mac-ports.

…

On 21 Sep 2022, 18:02 +0200, srcejon ***@***.***>, wrote: Well, SDR++ doesn't work for me either. Haven't tried GQRX yet. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[loewal]

Sorry, it works on SDR++ with usb-2, when I give it some power ….duh…. Not on SDRangel.

…

On 21 Sep 2022, 18:06 +0200, Loe Walter ***@***.***>, wrote: Airspy HF+ doesn’t work with the usb-2 hub, but works when plugged in directly in one of the Mac-ports. On 21 Sep 2022, 18:02 +0200, srcejon ***@***.***>, wrote: > Well, SDR++ doesn't work for me either. Haven't tried GQRX yet. > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. > You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>