How-to Serialize Dongles for ES1090 + UAT978

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
21

I think you’re right. See below. Thank you for your tips and help with this!

Apr 16 10:16:58 piaware piaware[413]: no new messages received in 3805 seconds, it might just be that there haven't been any aircraft nearby but I'm going to try to restart everything, just in case...
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware piaware[413]: faup978 exited with SIG SIGHUP
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware piaware[413]: attempting to restart dump978..
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10718]:  piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d --query dump978-fa restart
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10718]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10718]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware piaware[413]: attempting to restart dump978-fa using 'systemctl --no-block try-restart dump978-fa.service < /dev/null'...
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10729]:  piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl --no-block try-restart dump978-fa.service
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10729]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware sudo[10729]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Apr 16 10:16:59 piaware piaware[413]: dump978 restart appears to have been successful
Apr 16 10:17:09 piaware sudo[10814]:  piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --numeric
Apr 16 10:17:09 piaware sudo[10814]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Apr 16 10:17:09 piaware sudo[10814]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Apr 16 10:17:09 piaware piaware[413]: ADS-B data program 'dump978-fa' is listening on port 30978, so far so good
Apr 16 10:17:10 piaware piaware[413]: Starting faup978: /usr/lib/piaware/helpers/faup978 --connect localhost:30978
Apr 16 10:17:10 piaware piaware[413]: Started faup978 (pid 10822) to connect to dump978-fa
Apr 16 10:17:10 piaware piaware[413]: faup978(10822): Connecting to localhost:30978
Apr 16 10:17:10 piaware piaware[413]: faup978(10822): Connected to [::1]:30978
22

System ran fine most of the day. Noticed that it lost 1090 late afternoon approx 21:21 logtime. Didn’t have a chance to look at it until this evening and 1090 was back up.

I noticed the following. Could this be caused by a inadequate power supply? current one is 5V not 5.2. Have a original raspberry 5.2V arriving Thursday.

Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: rtlsdr: rtlsdr_read_async returned unexpectedly, probably lost the USB device, bailing out

journalctl -eu dump1090-fa
-- Logs begin at Thu 2016-11-03 17:16:42 UTC, end at Wed 2019-04-17 02:43:17 UTC. --
Apr 15 11:26:53 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 15 11:26:53 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: Mon Apr 15 11:26:53 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 15 11:26:53 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 15 11:26:53 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 15 11:26:54 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 15 11:26:54 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: cb transfer status: 1, canceling...
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: rtlsdr: rtlsdr_read_async returned unexpectedly, probably lost the USB device, bailing out
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware dump1090-fa[406]: Tue Apr 16 21:21:26 2019 UTC  Waiting for receive thread termination
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 16 21:21:26 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 16 21:21:56 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 16 21:21:56 piaware systemd[1]: Stopped dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:21:57 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:21:57 piaware dump1090-fa[15288]: Tue Apr 16 21:21:57 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 16 21:21:57 piaware dump1090-fa[15288]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 16 21:21:57 piaware dump1090-fa[15288]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 16 21:21:57 piaware dump1090-fa[15288]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 16 21:21:58 piaware dump1090-fa[15288]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
Apr 16 21:34:34 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Main process exited, code=killed, status=11/SEGV
Apr 16 21:34:34 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 16 21:34:34 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Failed with result 'signal'.
Apr 16 21:35:04 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 16 21:35:04 piaware systemd[1]: Stopped dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:35:05 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:35:05 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: Tue Apr 16 21:35:05 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 16 21:35:05 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 16 21:35:05 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 16 21:35:05 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 16 21:35:06 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
Apr 16 21:43:10 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: cb transfer status: 1, canceling...
Apr 16 21:43:10 piaware dump1090-fa[15503]: rtlsdr: rtlsdr_read_async returned unexpectedly, probably lost the USB device, bailing out
Apr 16 21:43:10 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Apr 16 21:43:10 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 16 21:43:10 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware systemd[1]: Stopped dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 21:43:41 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 16 21:43:41 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 16 21:43:42 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 16 21:43:42 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
Apr 16 22:50:56 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: weirdness: rtlsdr gave us a block with an unusual size (got 0 bytes, expected 262144 bytes)
Apr 16 22:50:56 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: weirdness: rtlsdr gave us a block with an unusual size (got 0 bytes, expected 262144 bytes)
Apr 16 22:50:57 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 22:50:57 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged
Apr 16 22:51:58 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 22:51:58 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged

## Same Message repeated about every second- removed entries between

Apr 16 23:50:16 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 23:50:16 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged
Apr 16 23:51:17 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 23:51:17 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged
Apr 16 23:51:59 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 23:51:59 2019 UTC  Caught SIGTERM, shutting down..
Apr 16 23:51:59 piaware systemd[1]: Stopping dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization)...
Apr 16 23:51:59 piaware dump1090-fa[15693]: Tue Apr 16 23:51:59 2019 UTC  Waiting for receive thread termination
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: State 'stop-sigterm' timed out. Killing.
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Killing process 15693 (dump1090-fa) with signal SIGKILL.
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Main process exited, code=killed, status=9/KILL
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: Stopped dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Tue Apr 16 23:53:29 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 16 23:53:29 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 16 23:53:30 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 16 23:53:30 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 16 23:53:30 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
Apr 16 23:53:30 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: weirdness: rtlsdr gave us a block with an unusual size (got 0 bytes, expected 262144 bytes)
Apr 16 23:53:30 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: weirdness: rtlsdr gave us a block with an unusual size (got 0 bytes, expected 262144 bytes)

## Same Message repeated about every second- removed entries between

Apr 16 23:53:33 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: weirdness: rtlsdr gave us a block with an unusual size (got 0 bytes, expected 262144 bytes)
Apr 16 23:53:33 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Tue Apr 16 23:53:32 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged

## Same Message repeated about every second- removed entries between

Apr 17 00:55:50 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Wed Apr 17 00:55:50 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged
Apr 17 00:56:50 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Wed Apr 17 00:56:50 2019 UTC  No data received from the SDR for a long time, it may have wedged
Apr 17 00:57:00 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Wed Apr 17 00:57:00 2019 UTC  Caught SIGTERM, shutting down..
Apr 17 00:57:00 piaware systemd[1]: Stopping dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization)...
Apr 17 00:57:00 piaware dump1090-fa[16704]: Wed Apr 17 00:57:00 2019 UTC  Waiting for receive thread termination
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: State 'stop-sigterm' timed out. Killing.
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Killing process 16704 (dump1090-fa) with signal SIGKILL.
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Main process exited, code=killed, status=9/KILL
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: Stopped dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: dump1090-fa.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware systemd[1]: Started dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization).
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware dump1090-fa[17308]: Wed Apr 17 00:58:30 2019 UTC  dump1090-fa 3.7.0.1 starting up.
Apr 17 00:58:30 piaware dump1090-fa[17308]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U (Realtek, RTL2832U, SN 00001090)
Apr 17 00:58:31 piaware dump1090-fa[17308]: Detached kernel driver
Apr 17 00:58:31 piaware dump1090-fa[17308]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 17 00:58:31 piaware dump1090-fa[17308]: rtlsdr: enabling tuner AGC
23

Yes, the hardware is very unhappy there.

24

Im trying to upgrade the serial number on my orange flightaware stick but seeing some odd behaviour. Ive tried on two machines and see the same error on both.

root@flightaware:/etc/lighttpd# rtl_test
Found 2 device(s):
  0:  Realtek, RTL2832U, SN: 00001090
  1:  Generic, RTL2832U, SN: 77771111153705700

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U
Detached kernel driver
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Supported gain values (29): 0.0 0.9 1.4 2.7 3.7 7.7 8.7 12.5 14.4 15.7 16.6 19.7 20.7 22.9 25.4 28.0 29.7 32.8 33.8 36.4 37.2 38.6 40.2 42.1 43.4 43.9 44.5 48.0 49.6
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Sampling at 2048000 S/s.

Info: This tool will continuously read from the device, and report if
samples get lost. If you observe no further output, everything is fine.

Reading samples in async mode...
lost at least 179 bytes
^CSignal caught, exiting!

User cancel, exiting...
Samples per million lost (minimum): 26
Reattached kernel driver
root@flightaware:/etc/lighttpd# rtl_eeprom -d 1 -s 00000978
Found 2 device(s):
  0:  Generic RTL2832U
  1:  Generic RTL2832U

Using device 1: Generic RTL2832U
Detached kernel driver
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner

No EEPROM has been found.
Reattached kernel driver

Any idea what I need to do to be able to update the serial number from the crazy 16 digit one?

25

Try with only a single dongle connected and see if anything changes?

26

Once I had some difficulty changing Serial # of one of my ProSticks. I used the Windows software “RTLTool” with success. Use it carefully, see note below.

Go to
https://www.sdr-radio.com/Radios/RTLDongles

Scroll down to “The Files”, under which you will find “hosted on Google Drive Link” where the files are hosted. One of the files on Google Drive is “RTLTool”. Download it.

This software is portable i.e. does not require installation, and runs directly when RTLTool.exe is double-clicked.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
This tool can modify many parameters. Take care while using it that you do NOT modify anything other than the Serial Number. Modifying other parameters, without fully understanding what are you doing, may result in bricking your Dongle.

image
image981×517 26.6 KB

1 Like
27

I actually tried with only a single stick first, on both machines, and got the same results.

28

That SN seems unique enough.

Why not just use it? Or does it change when you take it out and plug it in again?

30

@obj
@UcGytY223PdAy36f
I also faced exactly same problem, and later fixed it by Windows software “RTLTool”

Please also see item 3.8 & 3.9 of the post quoted below. It gives problem, but not the solution, as I found the solution later:

31

the number is unique in my infrastructure but that number does appear to be a generic serial number. I haven’t been able to get my dump978 working yet to verify if it connects to the correct stick though.

32

Is this a good test or is there something wrong. I’m not getting feed from 978 mhz.
pi@raspberrypi:/ $ rtl_test -t
Found 2 device(s):
0: Realtek, RTL2832U, SN: 00001090
1: Realtek, RTL2832U, SN: 00000978

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U
usb_claim_interface error -6
Failed to open rtlsdr device #0.

33

Just means that most likely the dongle is already used by one of the dump programs.

1 Like
34

I renamed both devices and got this error:
pi@piaware:~ $ rtl_test -t
Found 1 device(s):
0: Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00001090

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
usb_claim_interface error -6
Failed to open rtlsdr device #0.

35

Something using the dongle is still running (dump1090-fa or dump978)

36

So what do I do? Not sure what that means. I’m a newbie

37

This ^^.

If it is still gives the same error after stopping these services, it means you likely installed fr24 and didn’t configure it properly.

38

.

If you read the first post, you will see the solution (quoted below)
.

39

I ran that to rename both antennas. Then rebooted with both connected and then ran the test

40

Rebooting starts the two dumps.
If you want to test again, stop them again

41

Actually that looks bad.
It should say “Found 2 devices”.

Did you unplug them both after changing the serial?
Maybe one isn’t properly in?

Could also be that you don’t have enough power available to use two dongles reliably.