LimeSuite: LimeSDR-MINI LimeQuickTest Self-Test FAILED
@JanBeh’s unit (new unit with metal casing) was at the latest firmware verison (1.30 or 30) and sometimes fails one of the RF loopback tests as follows. What OS do you run this LimeQuickTest
@JanBeh - is it Linux or FreeBSD?
% ./LimeQuickTest
[ TESTING STARTED ]
->Start time: Thu Dec 24 14:28:52 2020
->LimeSuite version: 20.10.0-unknown
->Device: LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 3.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D589769035A75, HW=3, GW=1.30
Serial Number: 1D589769035A75
Chip temperature: 45 C
[ Clock Network Test ]
->REF clock test
Test results: 54133; 1794; 14991 - PASSED
->VCTCXO test
Results : 6711044 (min); 6711207 (max) - PASSED
->Clock Network Test PASSED
[ FPGA EEPROM Test ]
->Read EEPROM
->Read data: 13 0A 17 13 0A 17 02
->FPGA EEPROM Test PASSED
[ LMS7002M Test ]
->Perform Registers Test
->External Reset line test
Reg 0x20: Write value 0xFFFD, Read value 0xFFFD
Reg 0x20: value after reset 0x0FFFF
->LMS7002M Test PASSED
[ RF Loopback Test ]
->Configure LMS
->Run Tests (TX_2 -> LNA_W):
CH0 (SXR=1000.0MHz, SXT=1005.0MHz): Result:(-20.7 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - FAILED
->Run Tests (TX_1 -> LNA_H):
CH0 (SXR=2100.0MHz, SXT=2105.0MHz): Result:(-19.5 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - PASSED
->RF Loopback Test FAILED
=> Board tests FAILED <=
Elapsed time: 2.30 seconds
The same problem seems to occur on @cederom device:
# LimeQuickTest
[ TESTING STARTED ]
->Start time: Tue Dec 29 01:57:42 2020
->LimeSuite version: 20.10.0-unknown
Warning: Multiple devices detected, connecting to the first device
->Device: LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 3.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D5897C7837267, HW=3, GW=1.30
Serial Number: 1D5897C7837267
Chip temperature: 62 C
[ Clock Network Test ]
->REF clock test
Test results: 61409; 9070; 22267 - PASSED
->VCTCXO test
Results : 6711061 (min); 6711222 (max) - PASSED
->Clock Network Test PASSED
[ FPGA EEPROM Test ]
->Read EEPROM
->Read data: 13 0A 17 13 0A 17 02
->FPGA EEPROM Test PASSED
[ LMS7002M Test ]
->Perform Registers Test
->External Reset line test
Reg 0x20: Write value 0xFFFD, Read value 0xFFFD
Reg 0x20: value after reset 0x0FFFF
->LMS7002M Test PASSED
[ RF Loopback Test ]
->Configure LMS
CGEN: Freq=61.44 MHz, VCO=2.33472 GHz, INT=57, FRAC=385875, DIV_OUTCH_CGEN=18
CGEN: Freq=61.44 MHz, VCO=2.33472 GHz, INT=57, FRAC=385875, DIV_OUTCH_CGEN=18
CGEN: Freq=61.44 MHz, VCO=2.33472 GHz, INT=57, FRAC=385875, DIV_OUTCH_CGEN=18
CGEN: Freq=122.88 MHz, VCO=2.21184 GHz, INT=54, FRAC=310378, DIV_OUTCH_CGEN=8
CGEN: Freq=122.88 MHz, VCO=2.21184 GHz, INT=54, FRAC=310378, DIV_OUTCH_CGEN=8
->Run Tests (TX_2 -> LNA_W):
CH0 (SXR=1000.0MHz, SXT=1005.0MHz): Result:(-20.9 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - FAILED
->Run Tests (TX_1 -> LNA_H):
CH0 (SXR=2100.0MHz, SXT=2105.0MHz): Result:(-21.0 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - FAILED
->RF Loopback Test FAILED
=> Board tests FAILED <=
Elapsed time: 3.28 seconds
# uname -a
FreeBSD 0xCFMX4 12.2-RELEASE-p1 FreeBSD 12.2-RELEASE-p1 GENERIC amd64
Problems to solve:
LimeQuickTest
needs documentation improvement [1] - it is unclear what test are performed, why, and what is their outcome. Also no information if test envronment needs some specific setup in order for some tests to pass.- Should testing stop at first fail or continue with other tests? Performing all tests even some of them can fail would produce more detailed and useful results.
- Does
LimeQuickTest
depend on OS and/or Firmware? May some tests fail because of OS issues or the old firmware missing some new functionalities? LimeSuite version: 20.10.0-unknown
probably needs an update toLimeSuite version: 20.10.0-FreeBSD-12.0-RELEASE-p1
.
About this issue
- Original URL
- State: closed
- Created 4 years ago
- Comments: 15 (12 by maintainers)
This is something that’s been discussed previously and following which, I had thought text had been added to instruct using a cold board with no RF cabling attached. However, just running LimeQuickTest on my laptop here, I didn’t see anything. Let me discuss with the team.
Thanks @9600 I am calmer now 😃 Shall we use some sort of rf cable on rx-tx line to make sure test environment is correct? My lab is full of interferences what may be causing the problems? Also the temperature seems to impact test results - all around above 45C seems to fail? Shall we change test-pass criteria in
LimeQuickTest
, or introduceWARNING
level insteadFAILED
? 😃@JanBeh can you please retry your tests with cold device (below 45C) and antennas disconnected to confirm this issue was caused by board temperature above 45C?
Update:
Actually, looking back at those earlier failures, if it was just with e.g.:
A loopback test with results just very slightly out of spec and just a dB or two lower than when it passes, I don’t think there is anything to worry about and any differences between this and testing under Linux/Windows must be either coincidental or involve other external factors, such as the board was a bit warmer when the test failed. In terms of communicating with the board and configuring it, everything looks good.
As to USB reset, I don’t know, but perhaps @ztamosevicius or someone in his team could advise.
If you have the latest gateware/firmware loaded it should not be some issue related to this and as noted, would imagine it is either a problem with the SDR hardware, else using it (or probably rather Lime Suite) with FreeBSD.
In addition to the gateware there are two firmwares: one for the NIOS II soft processor implemented in the FPGA, and another for the MCU in the LMS7002M RFIC. The former configures the transceiver etc. and implements LMS64C protocol for control over USB, while the latter runs calibration routines on the RFIC. I doubt the issue is with either, provided that you have the latest Lime Suite (and hence RFIC MCU firmware) and LimeSDR Mini gateware (and hence NIOS II firmware).
The best place to get support debugging potential board issues is the forums.
For your questions 1 and 2, depending on what you mean by “firmware”, the answer might be in LimeSDR-Mini_GW, which contains the VHDL project for the FPGA image, or in the mcu_program folder in LimeSuite, which I think that contains the source for the programs that run on the LMS7002M MCU (but I’m not so familiar with it).