Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
My sBitx can be left for hour after hour & never crashes. ?So NEW CODE for the ZBitx might be the hunting ground & display code probably changed¡
Gordon kx4z?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On May 14, 2025, at 21:59, Ron Carr via groups.io <rcarr@...> wrote:
? What causes a crash??? Typically pointers to zero, buffer overruns, memory leaks, pointers to auto class variables.? Others?
My C skills are very rusty but this function looks suspicious to me as it seems to return a pointer to an auto class.? It is in sbitx_gtk.c
?
static struct font_style * set_style(cairo_t *gfx, int font_entry){
? ? struct font_style *s ?= font_table + font_entry;
? ? ? cairo_set_source_rgb( gfx, s->r, s->g, s->b);
? ? cairo_select_font_face(gfx, s->name, s->type, s->weight);
? ? cairo_set_font_size(gfx, s->height);
? ? return s;
}
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
What causes a crash??? Typically pointers to zero, buffer overruns, memory leaks, pointers to auto class variables.? Others?
My C skills are very rusty but this function looks suspicious to me as it seems to return a pointer to an auto class.? It is in sbitx_gtk.c
?
static struct font_style * set_style(cairo_t *gfx, int font_entry){
? ? struct font_style *s ?= font_table + font_entry;
? ? ? cairo_set_source_rgb( gfx, s->r, s->g, s->b);
? ? cairo_select_font_face(gfx, s->name, s->type, s->weight);
? ? cairo_set_font_size(gfx, s->height);
? ? return s;
}
|
Going to wait for the SBITX V4.
?
Barely used for SWL plus 4 batteries and a 2-cell charger.
?
$230 shipped within USA.
?
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
I have been compiling right on the xBITX device.? I use SSH and Putty to login as? ?pi / hf12345? ?and get a terminal window.? ? Then I do a? ?cd? sbitx.? ?There is a build script there - just execute? ?./build.? ?That will create a new sbitx application in the same subdirectory which auto-starts whenever the zBITX device is powered up.? You can manually shut down the running sbitx application that was auto=started? and run it manually from there with? ./sbitx? ? The second RasPi processor that runs the LCD GUI remains running and it all reconnects whenever manually starting sbitx.?
?
I have never used the zBITX remote web interface feature.? When you use that, It looks like that is a separate web interface task that then connects to the zBITX's sBitx application.? ?If your remote web interface. connection; is being terminated, is is probably the? sbitx? program crashing, which probably causes the the web interface program to revert back to its login page.? ?Just my guess.
?
Finding memory leaks? is difficult.? I do not have any silver bullets for that.? If it is my program, I am better at it because I have ideas about where I might have gotten careless or took shortcuts.? And I always suspect my latest revision(s) .? With someone else's program, I generally trace all of the activity associated with every variable.? One thing I look at very closely is global variables .? And I look for same named local variables in functions..? Some compilers will catch that - some will not.? And simple variable names being reused for different purposes in many different places are suspicious.? (for example, in sbitx_gtk.c,? the variable name? f? is heavily used for many different purposes). ?There are tools to do this time consuming job, but I don't have any of them.
?
Watching available memory diminish in a program like this one that is busy doing many things while in Receive Mode will not help you figure out why.? Probably will need to turn off one of the 'things' that are active and let it run for a few hours to see if? the memory is no longer being diminished and if it no longer crashes.? If that didn't cure it, then move on to stopping the next active 'thing'. and do it again.? One generally needs a good understanding of the program to figure out how to stop just one 'thing' from running.? And a of of time.
?
Forgive me if I ramble on - I tend to think and expand as i type.? Short stories become long stories.
?
72,
Jody - K3JZD
|
Re: Update On Shipping Delays from HF Signals
I am 3926 so when I hear I will post.
?
Thank you
Jim
KE0VVU
|
HELP! - FT8 - 25Khz drift between RX & TX frequency
Hello Team,
?
Can anyone explain and assist as to why there is a defecit on FT8, a 25Khz drift between RX & TX frequency
?
If I set my RX to 14.059 on 20M and then track on PSKreporter I can track everything going out, but there is nothing on the RX because I assume it is totally wrong.
?
If I set my RX to 14.074 I can hear all the traffic, but nobody can hear me :-(
?
I have found 1 site in Romania that reports me on 14.101~ so out of band.
?
Is it something obvious that I have done wrong ?
?
I have tried with and without my ATU-10-0A and it makes no difference.
?
I have had similar offset issues with 10M & 15M respectively.
?
Just looking for a little guidance.
I'm very happy getting ~2500KM at 2W on a VSWR of ~1.0 - 1.1
But the config needs a little tweak me thinks!
?
Many thanks for any help.
?
73,
Jonn, G8DVB
?
?
|
I have a problem with the timestamps of the zBitx logbook. They are 8 hours ahead of UTC. And yes, I changed the country and timezone. The web interface shows the correct UTC and local time but still log times are 8 hours ahead. Suggestions anyone?
73 Frank PA3CNO?
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
Jody, I see something similar, though the sbitx program seems to keep running. After a while (anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour) the tcp connection dies. I had the web interface running and an open ssh session, and the web interface reverted to the login page and the ssh session terminated. Rebooting brought everything back to normal. This has happend a couple of times. Receiving was still OK though.
73 Frank PA3CNO?
After letting my zBITX sit unattended in Receive Mode for a while, the main RasPi CPU crashes.? I have never timed it because I'm not just sitting there watching it.? But it seems like it only takes about an hour or so to crash.? I am not able to get a SSH connection to the main CPU at that time.? The display CPU is still running at that time.
?
While the device is warm whenever this occurs, I do not think that it is a thermal issue because if I disconnect and reconnect the power it reboots and runs fine.
?
I have never stopped the sbitx application to see if something else on the RasPi could be causing it.? I have SSH and VNC enabled, but I am not using either of those connections.? I do not have anything else running on the RasPi.? So, I really do not think that it is some other RasPi appllication.?
?
I think that it is probably a sbitx application memory leak.? ?Don't see how something like a character array overflow would occur after just sitting there unattended for that period - nothing is being done on the GUI during that time.
?
This crashing occurred whenever I had version 3.021 installed,? And it is still occurring with version 3.052 installed.
?
If you are running on batteries, the batteries may be depleted before this crash occurs.? You will never see it.? I am using a 7.5vdc power supply.??
?
72,
Jody - K3JZD
?
|
Re: New zBitx - New User - CW operation
Hi Gordon, yes I have been following Jody¡¯s efforts pretty closely. As someone who worked in real time embedded systems for most of my career, I have no doubt the CW timing issue is fixable. Jody has a good latest approach, I think. I am not sure when the right time to try that code personally is.?
Perhaps a more serious issue is how insensitive the receiver is. It¡¯s pretty bad even for being a simple receiver. Not sure that software can fix that.?
Also I really want to be able to touch a signal on the waterfall and have the frequency jump there¡ just a matter of software.?
Steve AK0M
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
|
I have used htop and top to track memory usage. ?The original 32bit software would have memory usage grow and then reset back to the minimum. ?I did that monitoring, not writing to a file. ?I believe it is possible to pipe the output to a file.?
73
Evan
AC9TU
|
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
I wondered why the zBitx crashed after some time... Makes sense, because the PI Zero 2W would NOT work as a 'normal' internet browsing setup, after a few minutes and some websites past, the memory would be filled 100%.
Good luck!
Martin, PD0ZZ
|
is there a list we can get on? do we have a round about cost? want to get in and hopefully get these before the 90 day pause is lifted
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
My go-to for debugging this sort of thing is valgrind, but that's likely to be really slow when running on the actual hardware (and may have memory issues given the small headroom?).
I've been meaning to ask - have people been compiling this on the device, or does anyone have a cross-compilation environment set up? It's on my list to figure out, but if anyone already has something put together that might speed up development.
On Wed, May 14, 2025 at 1:57?PM Gordon Gibby KX4Z via <docvacuumtubes= [email protected]> wrote:
I¡¯m not sure how One tests for this?
Do you write a small program that every five minutes asks for various amounts of space and reports which ones it was able to be given?
And then just watch it? Or does that only report the heap? I don¡¯t know a lot about the different ways Memory is handled
But sounds like you¡¯re definitely onto something that can get fixed!
Gordon?
? After letting my zBITX sit unattended in Receive Mode for a while, the main RasPi CPU crashes.? I have never timed it because I'm not just sitting there watching it.? But it seems like it only takes about an hour or so to crash.? I am not able to get a SSH connection to the main CPU at that time.? The display CPU is still running at that time.
?
While the device is warm whenever this occurs, I do not think that it is a thermal issue because if I disconnect and reconnect the power it reboots and runs fine.
?
I have never stopped the sbitx application to see if something else on the RasPi could be causing it.? I have SSH and VNC enabled, but I am not using either of those connections.? I do not have anything else running on the RasPi.? So, I really do not think that it is some other RasPi appllication.?
?
I think that it is probably a sbitx application memory leak.? ?Don't see how something like a character array overflow would occur after just sitting there unattended for that period - nothing is being done on the GUI during that time.
?
This crashing occurred whenever I had version 3.021 installed,? And it is still occurring with version 3.052 installed.
?
If you are running on batteries, the batteries may be depleted before this crash occurs.? You will never see it.? I am using a 7.5vdc power supply.??
?
72,
Jody - K3JZD
?
|
Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
I¡¯m not sure how One tests for this?
Do you write a small program that every five minutes asks for various amounts of space and reports which ones it was able to be given?
And then just watch it? Or does that only report the heap? I don¡¯t know a lot about the different ways Memory is handled
But sounds like you¡¯re definitely onto something that can get fixed!
Gordon?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On May 14, 2025, at 14:47, Jody - K3JZD via groups.io <k3jzd.jody@...> wrote:
? After letting my zBITX sit unattended in Receive Mode for a while, the main RasPi CPU crashes.? I have never timed it because I'm not just sitting there watching it.? But it seems like it only takes about an hour or so to crash.? I am not able to get a SSH connection to the main CPU at that time.? The display CPU is still running at that time.
?
While the device is warm whenever this occurs, I do not think that it is a thermal issue because if I disconnect and reconnect the power it reboots and runs fine.
?
I have never stopped the sbitx application to see if something else on the RasPi could be causing it.? I have SSH and VNC enabled, but I am not using either of those connections.? I do not have anything else running on the RasPi.? So, I really do not think that it is some other RasPi appllication.?
?
I think that it is probably a sbitx application memory leak.? ?Don't see how something like a character array overflow would occur after just sitting there unattended for that period - nothing is being done on the GUI during that time.
?
This crashing occurred whenever I had version 3.021 installed,? And it is still occurring with version 3.052 installed.
?
If you are running on batteries, the batteries may be depleted before this crash occurs.? You will never see it.? I am using a 7.5vdc power supply.??
?
72,
Jody - K3JZD
?
|
zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
After letting my zBITX sit unattended in Receive Mode for a while, the main RasPi CPU crashes.? I have never timed it because I'm not just sitting there watching it.? But it seems like it only takes about an hour or so to crash.? I am not able to get a SSH connection to the main CPU at that time.? The display CPU is still running at that time.
?
While the device is warm whenever this occurs, I do not think that it is a thermal issue because if I disconnect and reconnect the power it reboots and runs fine.
?
I have never stopped the sbitx application to see if something else on the RasPi could be causing it.? I have SSH and VNC enabled, but I am not using either of those connections.? I do not have anything else running on the RasPi.? So, I really do not think that it is some other RasPi appllication.?
?
I think that it is probably a sbitx application memory leak.? ?Don't see how something like a character array overflow would occur after just sitting there unattended for that period - nothing is being done on the GUI during that time.
?
This crashing occurred whenever I had version 3.021 installed,? And it is still occurring with version 3.052 installed.
?
If you are running on batteries, the batteries may be depleted before this crash occurs.? You will never see it.? I am using a 7.5vdc power supply.??
?
72,
Jody - K3JZD
?
|
mine was order #3783 placed on April first.? I received it May 12th without and import/tariff issues to the USA.??
|
Yes. My bad. Time goes by so quickly when getting older - except waiting for radio delivery.
?
# 3869 (from April 2) is scheduled for DHL delivery on Fri 16 MAY.
|
Re: Z bitx poor sensitivity
I got my zbitx 2 days ago and only had about an hour to play with it.? I thought I understood receiver sensitivity, but not I'm questioning myself.? I tried to contact my dad on 80, 40, and 20 meters yesterday daytime.? We are at about 75 miles so often only one band will work on any given daytime.? 80M is NVIS at night is very reliable.? ?The really strange thing was he could hear me on 40M, but I couldn't hear him on any band.? ?And he was running 500W at the end.??
?
He's got a 160M horz loop, and I 80M horz loop.? Receive of a antenna is reciprocal of transmit, right?? It is a little hard to tune my antenna as I had to put another tuner ahead of my tuners for the lower scale SWR meter.??
?
I guess the basis of my question is, even if the receive isn't sensitive on the zbitx, how can a receive be sensitive enough to have a high noise floor but not receive a signal that should be well over a the noise I hear very well. Or is this an SDR thing?? This is my first ham radio that isn't a old tube rig.??
?
An education is appreciated
|
Assume you meant may 16th...
?
?
"POWER, WE DONT NEED NO STINKIN' POWER" - Every KX2 Owner?
Always respect the air waves,?
73 de KI7PBR, Gary
?
?
|
Update On Shipping Delays from HF Signals
I ordered my zBitx on April 3rd, 6 weeks ago.? I sent sales an email and got this response?
?
"Right now, we expect your order(#3941) to ship by early next week. We ran into some unexpected hiccups with sourcing some components which slowed us down a bit"
?
Fingers crossed I should have mine next week.? That will be 7 weeks from order date.? Clearing a spot on my work bench to bring it up.? Got a road trip in a couple weeks that I hope to have it ready for?
?
Excited and anxious,?
73 de KI7PBR Gary
|
Cory Lytle KO4SWI
A Kiddoo
Gary-KI7PBR