USRP-2974 (Krypton) driver install and usage

Description

A quick walk thru on how to install the PCIe driver for Krypton and start using the device. The Krypton is a stand-alone SDR with a host controller with radio portion connected to the host via PCIe bus. The specifications for Krypton is ​here.

Installation / Starting of PCIe driver

From the COSMOS console, load an image that has a compatible UHD & kernel driver already installed. The image baseline-uhd.ndz or similar can be used.

console> omf load -i baseline-uhd.ndz  -t sdr2-lg1.sb1.cosmos-lab.org
console> omf tell -a on -t sdr2-lg1.sb1.cosmos-lab.org

Now ssh into the Krypton host and verify it is able to detect the radio on the PCIe bus. Use lspci to list all the devices that are detected.

root@sdr2-lg1:~# lspci 

In the output of lspci, search for Signal processing controller: National Instruments PXIe/PCIe Device. This means the host computer's PCIe controller sees the Krypton radio. Now download and install the PCIe driver so the UHD applications access the radio. Complete details on this driver is ​here.

root@sdr2-lg1:~# wget http://files.ettus.com/binaries/niusrprio/niusrprio-installer-18.0.0.tar.gz
root@sdr2-lg1:~# tar -zxf niusrprio-installer-18.0.0.tar.gz
root@sdr2-lg1:~# sudo niusrprio-installer/INSTALL

After the installation is complete start the driver by loading it into the kernel modules.

root@sdr2-lg1:~# /usr/local/bin/niusrprio_pcie start
Making sure drivers are up to date...
Module nikal is up-to-date
Module nistreamk is up-to-date
Module nibds is up-to-date
Module niusrpriok is up-to-date
Module NiRioSrv is up-to-date
Loading: NiRioSrv niusrpriok
Starting: niusrpriorpc

At this point use uhd_find_devices and uhd_usrp_probe query the radio.

root@sdr2-lg1:~# uhd_find_devices --args="type=x300"
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 7.4.0; Boost_106501; UHD_3.14.0.HEAD-0-g6875d061
--------------------------------------------------
-- UHD Device 0
--------------------------------------------------
Device Address:
    serial: 31557B9
    fpga: HG
    name:
    product: X310
    resource: RIO0
    type: x300

Trouble shooting

If the above commands return with an error message stating an FPGA version mismatch, then we'll need to update the FPGA that is compatible with the current UHD version. The typical error message would be similar to the following:

[ERROR] [0/DmaFIFO_0] Major compat number mismatch for noc_shell: Expecting 5, got 2.
[INFO] [MPM.PeriphManager] init() called with device args `clock_source=internal,time_source=internal,mgmt_addr=10.115.2.1,product=n310'.
[ERROR] [MPMD] Failure during block enumeration: RuntimeError: FPGA component `noc_shell' is revision 2 and UHD supports revision 5. Please either up.
Error: RuntimeError: Failed to run enumerate_rfnoc_blocks()

To update the FPGA following these steps.

root@sdr2-lg1:~#  /usr/local/lib/uhd/utils/uhd_images_downloader.py
root@sdr2-lg1:~# uhd_image_loader --args "type=x300"
root@sdr2-lg1:~# restart 

Note: If the Krypton host is rebooted, the driver modules are NOT automatically reloaded into the kernel. So the command /usr/local/bin/niusrprio_pcie start has to be run on the Krypton host everytime it is power-cycled or rebooted.

root@sdr2-lg1:~# /usr/local/bin/niusrprio_pcie start