Can't get SoapySDR input to open the RedPitaya

[obones]

Hello,

I'm trying to use a RedPitaya with RTL_433 and have copied rtl_433-rtlsdr-soapysdr.exe inside the C:\Program Files\PothosSDR\bin folder as recommended.
And then I use this command:

rtl_433-rtlsdr-soapysdr.exe -d driver=redpitaya,addr=1.2.3.4

Sadly, the only result that I get is this:

rtl_433 version 25.12 branch  at 202512121350 inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR SoapySDR
[SoapySDR] SoapyVOLKConverters: no VOLK config file found. Run volk_profile for best performance.
Using device redpitaya:
Found 0 antenna(s):
Found 0 gain(s):
Found 1 frequencies: RF
Found 1 frequency range(s): 50000 - 60000000 (step 0)
Found 6 sample rate range(s): 20000 50000 100000 250000 500000 1250000
Found 0 bandwidth range(s):
Found current bandwidth 0
Found 1 stream format(s): CF32
Found native stream format: CF32 (full scale: 1.0)
[sdr_open_soapy] Failed to setup sdr device

Note that if I give a deliberately wrong IP address, I get the same result.

I must surely be missing something here, but I can't figure out what just yet.
Do you have any suggesiton ?

[zuckschwerdt]

Can you test SoapySDRUtil --make="driver=redpitaya,addr=1.2.3.4"

[zuckschwerdt]

The converters are an optional support module for Soapy modules. The SoapyRedPitaya module really only supports CF32 and none of the converters.

We do have CF32->CS16 support for input files: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/blob/master/src/rtl_433.c#L1811
We would need to copy that conversion to the frame handler https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/blob/master/src/rtl_433.c#L1122 or the frame processing.

[zuckschwerdt]

For now, I think you could run the stream through SoapyRemote, that should have converters.

[obones]

Oh ok, I thought the converters were a "layer" that SoapySDR would run in front of a module if asked for a format that said module does not support.

I tried SoapyRemote and here is what I did:
First, I started SoapySDRServer.exe --bind=127.0.0.1 in a first CMD command window
Then, I started SoapySDRUtil.exe --args="driver=remote,remote=127.0.0.1, remote:driver=redpitaya, remote:addr=1.2.3.4" --rate=1250000 --direction=RX
It gives this output:

######################################################
##     Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library     ##
######################################################

←[1m←[33m[WARNING] SoapyVOLKConverters: no VOLK config file found. Run volk_profile for best performance.←[0m
[INFO] SoapyRemote::setupRxStream(remoteFormat=CF32, localFormat=CF32, scaleFactor=1, mtu=1500, window=44040192)
[INFO] Client side stream bound to 127.0.0.1:60443
[INFO] Client side status bound to 127.0.0.1:60444
[INFO] Server side stream bound to 127.0.0.1:60445
[INFO] Server side stream connected to 127.0.0.1:60443
[INFO] Client side stream connected to 127.0.0.1:60445
[INFO] Server side status connected to 127.0.0.1:60444
[INFO] Configured receiver endpoint: dgram=1452 bytes, 178 elements @ 8 bytes, window=43008 KiB
[INFO] Configured sender endpoint: dgram=1452 bytes, 178 elements @ 8 bytes, window=43008 KiB
Stream format: CF32
Num channels: 1
Element size: 8 bytes
Begin RX rate test at 1.25 Msps
Starting stream loop, press Ctrl+C to exit...
1.24882 Msps    9.99054 MBps
1.24947 Msps    9.99576 MBps

So I moved to rtl_433 with this command: rtl_433-rtlsdr-soapysdr.exe -d driver=remote,remote=127.0.0.1,remote:driver=redpitaya,remote:addr=1.2.3.4

Which gave me this log:

rtl_433 version 25.12 branch  at 202512121350 inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR SoapySDR
[SoapySDR] SoapyVOLKConverters: no VOLK config file found. Run volk_profile for best performance.
Using device redpitaya: remote:version=0.6.0-gc09b2f10
Found 0 antenna(s):
Found 0 gain(s):
Found 1 frequencies: RF
Found 1 frequency range(s): 50000 - 60000000 (step 0)
Found 6 sample rate range(s): 20000 50000 100000 250000 500000 1250000
Found 0 bandwidth range(s):
Found current bandwidth 0
Found 1 stream format(s): CF32
Found native stream format: CF32 (full scale: 1.0)
[sdr_open_soapy] Failed to setup sdr device
[SoapySDR] SoapyLogAcceptor::shutdown(tcp://127.0.0.1:55132) FAIL: SoapyRPCPacker::send() FAIL: send() [10093: Soit lÆapplication nÆa pas appelÚ WSAStartup, soit WSAStartup a ÚchouÚ.
]

Not much luck here either. I tried adding ,remote:format=CU8 at the end of the device string, but this did not change the outcome, it seems completely ignored

[zuckschwerdt]

Sorry, I though there was some conversion available in SoapyRemote.

I think I can add CF32 support tomorrow.

[zuckschwerdt]

There is now a nightly with CF32 support, s.a. #3705

[obones]

Thanks for that, it now goes a bit further, but still no luck:

rtl_433 version unknown inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR SoapySDR
[SoapySDR] SoapyVOLKConverters: no VOLK config file found. Run volk_profile for best performance.
Using device redpitaya:
Found 0 antenna(s):
Found 0 gain(s):
Found 1 frequencies: RF
Found 1 frequency range(s): 50000 - 60000000 (step 0)
Found 6 sample rate range(s): 20000 50000 100000 250000 500000 1250000
Found 0 bandwidth range(s):
Found current bandwidth 0
Found 1 stream format(s): CF32
Found native stream format: CF32 (full scale: 1.0)
[soapysdr_read_loop] sync read failed. -1
[Input] Input device start failed, exiting!
[soapysdr_read_loop] sync read failed. -1

Note that the first sync read failed. -1 message is repeated hundreds of times, I removed it from the log here for clarity.
If I use Soapy remote, the log does not go past Found native stream format: CF32 (full scale: 1.0)

Note: I'm writing this for search engines to find about it, but the more I think, the more it seems the RedPiyata is ill suited for use with rtl_433. I mean, if I read documentation correctly, it won't support anything above 60MHz which is way below anything usable with rtl_433.

[zuckschwerdt]

The read loop is here https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433/blob/master/src/sdr.c#L1046
Not sure why it would fail at that point. It did open and configure the stream without errors.

I wasn't able to test all the new code as I don't have any CF32-only device. I think I'll modify SoapyRTLSDR to test this further. But there might be quirks like minimum bandwidth or band limits, like you say.

[zuckschwerdt]

I removed all formats but CF32 from SoapyRTLSDR and did a successful test. Some RedPitaya specific thnig must be breaking the stream setup.