Dead lime-mini-sdr board received

Projects LimeSDR
1

Hello,

The lime sdr mini I received seems to not be working at all.
jujun@scsi:~$ LimeQuickTest
[ TESTING STARTED ]
->Start time: Wed Sep 19 22:14:19 2018

Write(64 bytes) failed
Write(64 bytes) failed
->Device: LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 3.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D3C0396B96F4B
  Serial Number: 1D3C0396B96F4B
Write(64 bytes) failed
Write(64 bytes) failed

Also I noticed a soldering problem on the board, there is two components touching themselves.

What can I do ?

Thank you
Julien

2

Hi
Wait tomorow Time to take my limesdr mini photo tout compare with your
It could be hardware or software problème or twice.
Ubuntu version?

:grinning:

3

The version :
jujun@scsi:~$ uname -a
Linux scsi 4.15.0-34-generic #37~16.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Aug 28 10:44:06 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

4

The soldering problem shouldn’t be an issue as in both cases, the capacitor leads that are shorted are both connected to ground. I have a Lime Mini with the same soldering (e.g. caps touching) and it is working fine. I would try updating the gateware using LimeUtil --update, power cycling and then trying again.

5

I successfully upgraded the board with USB2. Also it seems that the board works correctly on USB2.
In USB3 the lime-sdr is well detected as USB3 : LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 3.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D3C0396B96F4B
Serial Number: 1D3C0396B96F4B

But if I access the device, in dmesg I have “Device disconnected”, and nothing works anymore. All the leds are still on. I checked the USB port with other devices too, and tried different cables, and also without cable.

What can I check ?

6

I have seen some posts on this forum suggesting a PCIe card with USB3.0 ports because the USB3.0 port on the motherboard were not working correctly.

7

It’s an USB3 from a pci express card.

8

If your card is based on VL805 or similar chip from VL8xx series trash it. Instead use NEC 72010 or similar cards.

9

My card is a : 05:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)

10

Hi
Sorry for the late ,I coud’nt take picture but may limesdr mini has same capcitor solder like yours
Did you try on other ubuntu computer ,If you have another computer ,make a try with windows 7 just to see results

11

Quick test with USB 3.0 ports: what is the speed of USB 3.0 flash writing? Use quality flash with write speed above 40-50MB/s.
p.s. test is for certified Windows drivers. On Linux performance depend on vendor support which is usualy not high priority :frowning: and open source is the only choice.

12

So I checked the USB3 speed I have :
jujun@scsi:~$ sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sdc

/dev/sdc:
 Timing cached reads:   9364 MB in  1.99 seconds = 4699.03 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 328 MB in  3.01 seconds = 109.12 MB/sec

So it’s quite good, and it work well with anything other than the lime-sdr-mini.

I’am starting to think that was a bad idea to buy this lime-mini-sdr, the soldering of the board looks scarry, and I received it maybe 4 months after my order, (I could see every month the new shipping date, it was very frustrating).
And then when I finally receive it, it dose’nt work.

It’s a very frustrating experience, or maybe I’am too used to high end SDR like USRP.

Is there a way to get a working lime-mini-sdr ?

Thank you

13

@Zack, could you help diagnose, please.

14

Any news ? Infos ?

16

Hi @jujun,

Do you have a chance to check it with another PC which got native USB3 port? I just checked factory test log of your board - it was OK.

18

Thank you for your answer.
Unfortunately, I don’t have access to an another computer with native USB3 port.
I don’t think my USB3 pci-express card is faulty because I use it without problem with differents USB3 devices.