LimeSDR Mini completely unresponsive after srsRAN "TransferPacket: Write failed" on Raspberry Pi

Projects LimeSDR
1

Hello everyone,

I am experiencing a critical issue with my LimeSDR Mini, and I am looking for some guidance to see if the board is bricked or if it’s a recoverable USB/firmware state.

My Setup:

  • Hardware: LimeSDR Mini

  • Host: Raspberry Pi (ARM64) connected via USB 3.0

  • Software: srsRAN (srsenb) / SoapySDR

Context & Symptoms: Initially, the board was working perfectly. I tested it successfully using SDRangel in full-duplex (RX was working, and TX was outputting a signal properly using the NCO).

The issue started when I tried to run srsenb to set up a 4G cell. The software connected to the Soapy device, but immediately threw an endless loop of USB connection errors:

[ERROR] TransferPacket: Write failed (ret=0) [ERROR] TransferPacket: Read failed (ret=0)

After restarting the software and the board, the errors changed slightly to:

setSampleRate Rx fail: SoapyLMS7::setSampleRate() failed setSampleRate Tx fail: SoapyLMS7::setSampleRate() failed Rx antenna set to NONE

Current Status: Following these crashes, the LimeSDR Mini no longer works at all. The LED does not blink, the board is completely unresponsive, and it seems to have crashed at the hardware or firmware level after the srsRAN attempt.

Troubleshooting I have already done:

  1. Unplugged the board, waited, and plugged it back in.

  2. Tried different USB 3.0 ports on the Raspberry Pi.

  3. Checked the temperature (it is not overheating).

  4. Tried running LimeUtil --find and LimeUtil --FX3reset.

Could the “Write failed” loop (potentially caused by a USB power brownout from the Pi when TX was initiated) have corrupted the FX3 firmware or the FPGA? Is there a specific hardware reset or flashing procedure I should attempt to bring the board back to life?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!