Is my KiwiSDR about to fail?

alain_alain_
in Configuration and Operation

Hello,

I have been running my Kiwi for 10 years or more and I recently noticed that reboots sometime fail.

Upon closer inspection I see that the Kiwi doesn't respond to pings at all (it is connected via wired ethernet). Some other times it repeatedly responds to a handful of pings and then stops responding for a minute or so. Either way, the issue has been solved by attempting the reboot numerous times with no other changes.

I am starting to wonder if the Beagle (or the Kiwi?) board is about to fail and if anyone else experienced the same issue. In case it fails, what kind of Beagle board should I get as a replacement?

Thanks!

Comments

  • G8JNJG8JNJ

    I'd suggest checking your power supply, as an initial part of any investigation..

    I've had similar problems, and it's nearly always turned out to be power supply related.

    On particular problem is poor quality electrolytic capacitors that "dry" out over time, and the power supply smoothing and regulation suffer as a result. This is not always immediately obvious, but sometimes becomes more apparent when the KiWi and Beagle draw more current during certain operations.

    Regards,

    Martin

  • jksjks

    Yes, it is possible the Ethernet on the Beagle is beginning to fail. Specifically the Ethernet PHY chip. There was trouble with this some years ago that seemed to be a bad batch of PHY chips, although this was never conclusively proven.

    You could consider replacing the Beagle with a new Seeed BeagleBone Green. Roughly $50 USD + VAT. Be careful not to use any other Beagle type. Specifically not the Seeed BeagleBone Green Wireless. It is not physically compatible with the Kiwi board. If you can find the older BeagleBone Black that will work also. But make sure it is a "rev C" board that has 4 GB eMMC (not 2 GB).

    alain_
  • alain_alain_

    After another long session of failed boot attempts I have some updates on this issue in the hope they might be relevant to other KiwiSDR 1 users out there.

    The Ethernet issue does not happen when the Beagle board is powered up by itself while separated from the Kiwi board (this seems to be ruling out the failed PHY chip hypothesis).

    Moreover, separating the two boards and then putting them together also solves the problem immediately.

    Rebooting the two boards without touching the hardware is the least effective option and could take forever to be eventually successful.

    I wonder if the problem I have extends beyond the Beagle and eventually into the Kiwi.

    Thanks for your help

  • jksjks

    So this sounds like our old nemesis: a marginal power supply (or voltage drop on a marginal power cable) that is causing trouble when there is higher combined current of the two boards together.

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