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#QDX Hamlib Error
#qdx
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Hi
I have been struggling with this for a few days without success and was wondering if someone can provide some guidance.? I have had a good troll around the previous posts but have not found any that give me a clue to what the problem is. I am trying to use the QDX on a laptop for portable use.? I have had it working on a desktop so am reasonably happy that the QDX is working correctly though it took a few attempts to get it operational on the desktop.? Mostly changing the USB ports that it was connecting to.? I was able to upgrade the QDX firmware to the latest version and also use PuTTY to look at all the new screens that Hans has added in the latest version of the firmware. I am using an ASUS ZenBook14 with a NOV8 TECH? 13 device HUB.? The QDX is connected to one of the USB3 ports on the hub which has a USBC connection to the ZenBook. The problem on the laptop seems to be that when a first attempt is made to open the COM port using WSJT-X (latest version installed) that the port gets locked up or is maybe blocked in some fashion.? Any further attempts just get rejected and I get the following error message: Hamlib error: 1:rig.c(1409):rig_close returning(-1) Invalid parameter ? 1:rig.c(817):rig_open entered rig_settings_get_path: path=.hamlib_settings rig_settings_load_all: settings_file (.hamlib_settings): No such file or directory rig_open: cwd=C:\WSJT\wsjtx rig_open: C:\WSJT\wsjtx/hamlib_settings does not exist rig_open: async_data_enable=0, async_data_supported=0 serial_open: COM5 serial_open(229): open failed#1 serial_open(229): open failed#2 serial_open(229): open failed#3 serial_open(229): open failed#4 serial_open: Unable to open COM5 - No such file or directory port_open: serial_open(COM5) status=-6, err=No such file or directory rig_open: rs->comm_state==0?=0 1:rig.c(1023):rig_open returning(-6) IO error ? IO error IO error while opening connection to rig ? Timestamp: 2023-02-09T05:03:40.626Z In Device Manager I have made visible all of the hidden COM Ports and deleted all of these and then switched on the QDX which comes up with a COM port number.? Switching on the QDX brings up USB Serial Device (COM5) as the active port.? Using PuTTY and selecting Serial and COM5 and clicking the Open button gives the following popup: I assume that this indicates that the port is locked?? Trying to run WSJT-X gives a Rig Control Error as follows: Hamlib error: rig_token_lookup called for no_xchg rig_confparam_lookup called for no_xchg 1:rig.c(817):rig_open entered rig_settings_get_path: path=.hamlib_settings rig_settings_load_all: settings_file (.hamlib_settings): No such file or directory rig_open: cwd=C:\WSJT\wsjtx rig_open: C:\WSJT\wsjtx/hamlib_settings does not exist rig_open: async_data_enable=0, async_data_supported=0 serial_open: COM5 serial_open(229): open failed#1 serial_open(229): open failed#2 serial_open(229): open failed#3 serial_open(229): open failed#4 serial_open: Unable to open COM5 - No such file or directory port_open: serial_open(COM5) status=-6, err=No such file or directory rig_open: rs->comm_state==0?=0 1:rig.c(1023):rig_open returning(-6) IO error ? IO error IO error while opening connection to rig ? Timestamp: 2023-02-09T05:23:03.879Z Does anyone have an idea of what may be causing this problem? Any help or suggestions as to what to try would be greatly appreciated. Regards Greg VK4GRM |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýYet another hamlib struggle.My suggestion is to load up FLRig and tell FLRig you are running a Kenwood TS480. ?Then tell ?WSJIT that your transceiver is ¡°FLRig¡±. ?Think of FLRig as a HAL (hardware abstraction layer) that is *way* ?better at understanding how to talk to rig hardware
than Hamlib.
Also if you are OK with compiling your own FLRig from source the latest (test) bits include native support for the QDX . ?So you can tell FLRig that you are running a QDX not a Kenwood TS480.
I had nothing but trouble with hamlib and was very very happy to ¡°just say no¡± to it . ?FLRig rocks : its ?well documented, well supported and frequently updated to add support for new rigs (e.g the QDX will soon be supported in release builds). ? Hamlib
on the other hand is frequently the subject of emails such as yours :-(
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On 09/02/2023 05:31, Greg - Gmail wrote:
The problem on the laptop seems to be that when a first attempt is made to open the COM port using WSJT-X (latest version installed) that the port gets locked up or is maybe blocked in some fashion.? Any further attempts just get rejected and I get the following error message:Greg, If the COM port is blocked for some reason Hamlib will not work and give the error messages. Does the terminal work on this laptop? If not then all I can suggest is trying various combinations with the USB connection. Have you tried changing the COM port number? 73 Alan G4ZFQ |
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Hi Alan, JIm and John
I realised that I did not say I was running Windows 10 in my original post. I have tried several COM port numbers with no success. I have also tried connecting directly to the Laptop via its own USB port.? There is only one.? No luck there either. I will try FLRig tomorrow and see if I have any success with it. I have also tried Omnirig with no success either.? It fails to open the port. Thanks for your help so far.? I will let you know how I get on. Greg VK4GRM |
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On 09/02/2023 10:16, Greg - Gmail wrote:
I have also tried Omnirig with no success either.? It fails to open the port.Greg, If one software will not open the port then no software will open this port. What does Device Manager say about it? Presumably Windows has installed the driver? Have you checked the power saving settings? I do not know about how USB3 may handle the dual-purpose QDX or, if your hub is compatible with a dual purpose USB device. You do know that with Windows the QDX does not work like a normal USB device? It requires a power cycle each time you plug it in. 73 Alan G4ZFQ |
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ve3ega
Greg,
Greg, I missed this at first when I was reading your post : NOV8 TECH? 13 device HUB <--- probably the issue! Try WITHOUT the HUB and then maybe install this Virtual Com-Port driver: Generally, if I have had any issues with PC not seeing any Ports for QDX I have used the 'Silabs USB-UART Drivers', See Below - which always fixes missing COM Port issues for me, and it should not harm anything else because it just creates Virtual Com Ports, which different applications can make use of as needed! ? - Use this Driver - d/l : (Disclaimer: As always, in these try-this fix-it-situations - It's 'Your PC/Your Risk' -? these scenarios are suggestions and not instructions! Hi)Hope this helps? 73 Terry |
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Hi Terry and Alan
Thanks for your replies. Alan, can you please clarify your comment: "You do know that with Windows the QDX does not work like a normal USB device? It requires a power cycle each time you plug it in." Do you mean you need to shut down the QDX and then power it up again?? I usually have power off on the QDX before plugging it in. I have got it working and this is what happened. 1.? I uninstalled some NetGuard software that monitors the UPS that is feeding power to the HUB which then feeds the PC.? I had problems with this software on the Desktop PC which were removed when I uninstalled the software.? The problem here was that the transmitters that I had controlled from the PC would randomly go into transmit.? With no audio there was no actual emissions but it was very annoying as it would stay in transmit for a minute or so blocking reception on FT8.? this occurred over time on a FTDX101D and also a Genesis G59.? Two completely different technologies but bot using a COM port to connect to the PC. 2. I disconnected the HUB and connected the QDX to the Laptops only USB-A? port.? No power applied yet. 3. I downloaded the?? and installed it. 4. I powered up the QDX and used Device manager to identify the COM Port number as COM6.? The original one from the HUB was COM5 5. I changed the driver for COM6 to I assume the?? ?There were two options, One already selected and another but both were labelled the same so a bit hard to tell the difference. 6. I powered up WSJT-X and changed the COM Port to COM6 and also reset the Audio inputs and outputs.?? 7. The QDX now worked and i had full control to transmit into a dummy load. 8. I then shut down completely and reconnected the HUB 9. The QDX was now connected to the HUB (same USB port as used previously) and powered up. 10. Used Device Manager to see that COM5 was now the active COM port 11. Updated the drivers in COM5 as per previously for COM6. 12. Changed the COM ports in WSJT-X and also the Audio inputs 13. QDX now works on this HUB. So not 100% sure what the fix was but I am a bit suspicious about the NetGuard software that was uninstalled given the problems I had with it previously.? I have a feeling that it polls all of the open COM ports with messages and may leave them blocked or something. Alternatively, I suspect that the??has helped as well.?? ? Thank you all for your help.? It is most appreciated.? I have some more experimenting as I have another HUB I need to test this fix on as it will be the one used in the field but from a different manufacturer. Kind Regards Greg VK4GRM |
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On 10/02/2023 02:53, Greg - Gmail wrote:
clarify your comment:Greg, Yes, Normally a USB device is seen whenever it is plugged in or immediately after a reboot of the PC. But a QDX only tells the Windows PC once, then it needs to be shut down and re-powered. 1.? I uninstalled some NetGuard software that monitors the UPS that is feeding power to the HUB which then feeds the PC.? I had problems with this software on the Desktop PC which were removed when I uninstalled the software.? The problem here was that the transmitters that I had controlled from the PC would randomly go into transmit.? With no audio there was no actual emissions but it was very annoyingThis looks like the problem. It must have been sending signals to cause the transmit. They would have been on COM ports so for some reason NetGuard was taking over the COM ports. 3. I downloaded the CP210x Universal Windows DriverA pity you are not sure about this. Terry has pushed this before as a COM port cure. I very much doubt it actually works on anything other than SiLabs chips but as he says it does no harm, might even save you a job one day if you ever use an adaptor with a CP210x chip. Anyhow, glad you got it working! 73 Alan |
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Hi Alan
Thanks for the reply. I have sorted the COM Port issue out, but now have no output power. :( Maybe I have forgotten to have a load fitted at some stage with all of my testing. I did find one thing that was strange.? With firmware version 1_08a transmit was disabled even if it was shown as enabled in the Band Configuration page.? I was never able to get transmit to work. I ended up having to reinstall 1_05 to get the transmit function to work using PuTTY.? I could have tried 1_08 I suppose but thought that going back to an earlier known working value should get me there and at least I was able to press "t" to get it to transmit.? Output power was about -3dBm to -6dBm on the 5 bands when fed into a spectrum analyser via a 24dB coupler. I will review some of the posts to try to understand where to have a look.? I suspect from past reading on this forum I will need to replace the the output transistors so it may be a while before I get this working. thanks again for your help Kind Regards Greg VK4GRM |
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ve3ega
Greg,
I'm glad you have got your QDX kinda/sorta functioning again. There are various BS-170 PA Cooling suggestions (search) on here - I just add a small heatsink (that also uses the top case/cover) instead of the 'cheesy washer' and I ensure ensure that the supply voltage is below the build spec (example 11.3V instead of 12V - 8.2 instead of 9V) rather than 12.8V, 9V - which are rarely accurate, lol Until folks figured out 'why' the BS170's were failing at an abnormal rate and started to realize that overvoltage and bad-swr were primary causes of failure, it was customary to have a good supply on hand! - coupled with there being absolutely no PA protection (other than common sense!) it always made for a fun Weekend of intermittent 'QRP-DXing' and Soldering! Alan's comment regarding ('me pushing CP210X as a Com Port cure') is irrelevant here, as we are using the 'Silabs Universal VCP Driver' to primarily just create/open a Port (handle) and as your device is using the generic WINUSB as its driver; Silabs then recognizes this as a 'Certified' Driver.? The UVCP is not looking for 'specific' Silicon Labs Chipsets - if it were you would have gotten a 'message'!!?(I could could have suggested a VCP from Prolific or FTDI - which I also use outside of here - but I know that the Silabs VCP 'Just Works' fine for fixing most 'Com Port' problems.? It did its job! - you now have Com Ports, I was happy to help! 73 |
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Hi all Please note, the cheesy washer is not the heatsink, contrary to popular belief.?The PCB is. The cheesy washer is only intended to push the flats of the BS170 against the PCB. The PCB is the heatsink. The copper groundplane spreads out the heat and takes it away from the transistors.? My QDXs run here for months without issue. I think you have to treat them well, and they'll treat?you well. Remember that if you push for "maximum smoke"... then you might indeed get maximum smoke. There's no sense pushing?them past 5W output, or past 12V supply. Be nice to them. Make sure your connectors are decent and your antenna is well matched. Then there shouldn't be any issue.? I don't believe an additional heatsink is a much use as some people think it is. The thermal resistance of a BS170 package is already enormous. So already the temperature of the MOSFET junction is way higher than the external plastic surface of the transistor. Whether you get the heat away from there using a copper-plated PCB plate, or a heatsink, probably makes only a few degrees C difference in the end. Heatsinks are a law of diminishing returns, and where you can get on that curve depends on how you start - in this case we start with little TO92 transistors with big thermal resistance. As another example - the 50W PA kit - if you bolt those IRF510s to the supplied heatsinks, or if you ripped the radiator out of an old car and bolted the IRF510s to that instead - it would make precious little difference to the end result.? There's probably an IKEA effect going on. You made the effort to put on an additional heatsink. Putting in effort tends to increase your love for something. Now you love it better, you're nicer to it (don't push it too hard, careful about always connecting a dummy load or a reasonable antenna). Even Terry says the same - he put the heatsink, and he runs it at 11.2V instead of 12V. I bet that 0.8V drop has 10x the effect of the heatsink :-D Just my opinion. Standard T's and C's apply. Your mileage may vary. Etc. 73 Hans G0UPL On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 3:40 PM ve3ega <ve3ega@...> wrote: Greg, |
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