InstantFM

InstantFM

[Ted To]

Hi,

I purchased this device and while the device driver loads and I can set
up gnomeradio to access it, it picks up no radio stations, despite being
the model with an external antenna.  The log output says "software
version 0, hardware version 7".  I'm running Debian Wheezy and the
output from dmesg is:

[66842.724036] usb 2-3: new full-speed USB device number 3 using ohci_hcd
[66842.936144] usb 2-3: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1, idProduct=a155
[66842.936150] usb 2-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
SerialNumber=0
[66842.936154] usb 2-3: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
[66842.936156] usb 2-3: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
[66843.275730] Linux media interface: v0.10
[66843.296811] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[66843.321815] USB radio driver for Si470x FM Radio Receivers, Version
1.0.10
[66843.323136] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff
[66843.326127] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware version 7
[66843.326131] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with
software version 7,
[66843.326135] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software version 0.
[66843.326138] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: If you have some trouble using this
driver,
[66843.326141] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: please report to V4L ML at
linux-media@vger.kernel.org
[66843.338247] usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x
[66843.407477] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio

Any help on what I need to do to get this working would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Ted To

Re: InstantFM

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 05/19/2013 10:18 PM, Ted To wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I purchased this device and while the device driver loads and I can set
> up gnomeradio to access it, it picks up no radio stations, despite being
> the model with an external antenna.  The log output says "software
> version 0, hardware version 7".  I'm running Debian Wheezy and the
> output from dmesg is:
>
> [66842.724036] usb 2-3: new full-speed USB device number 3 using ohci_hcd
> [66842.936144] usb 2-3: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1, idProduct=a155
> [66842.936150] usb 2-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
> SerialNumber=0
> [66842.936154] usb 2-3: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
> [66842.936156] usb 2-3: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
> [66843.275730] Linux media interface: v0.10
> [66843.296811] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
> [66843.321815] USB radio driver for Si470x FM Radio Receivers, Version
> 1.0.10
> [66843.323136] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff
> [66843.326127] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware version 7
> [66843.326131] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with
> software version 7,
> [66843.326135] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software version 0.
> [66843.326138] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: If you have some trouble using this
> driver,
> [66843.326141] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: please report to V4L ML at
> linux-media@vger.kernel.org
> [66843.338247] usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x
> [66843.407477] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
>
> Any help on what I need to do to get this working would be much appreciated.

Can you try with the (console-based) radio app from the latest xawtv release,
xawtv-3.103 ?

gnomeradio is not being actively maintained, so it could be your just hitting
a gnomeradio issue.

Regards,

Hans

Re: InstantFM

[Ted To]

Hi,

On 05/20/2013 02:55 AM, Hans de Goede wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 05/19/2013 10:18 PM, Ted To wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I purchased this device and while the device driver loads and I can set
>> up gnomeradio to access it, it picks up no radio stations, despite being
>> the model with an external antenna.  The log output says "software
>> version 0, hardware version 7".  I'm running Debian Wheezy and the
>> output from dmesg is:
>>
>> [66842.724036] usb 2-3: new full-speed USB device number 3 using ohci_hcd
>> [66842.936144] usb 2-3: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1,
>> idProduct=a155
>> [66842.936150] usb 2-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
>> SerialNumber=0
>> [66842.936154] usb 2-3: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
>> [66842.936156] usb 2-3: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
>> [66843.275730] Linux media interface: v0.10
>> [66843.296811] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
>> [66843.321815] USB radio driver for Si470x FM Radio Receivers, Version
>> 1.0.10
>> [66843.323136] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff
>> [66843.326127] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware
>> version 7
>> [66843.326131] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with
>> software version 7,
>> [66843.326135] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software
>> version 0.
>> [66843.326138] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: If you have some trouble using this
>> driver,
>> [66843.326141] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: please report to V4L ML at
>> linux-media@vger.kernel.org
>> [66843.338247] usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x
>> [66843.407477] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
>>
>> Any help on what I need to do to get this working would be much
>> appreciated.
> 
> Can you try with the (console-based) radio app from the latest xawtv
> release,
> xawtv-3.103 ?

> gnomeradio is not being actively maintained, so it could be your just
> hitting
> a gnomeradio issue.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Hans


I had tried "radio" from the debian repository (version 3.102) but sadly
it did not work.  I also tried 3.103 from the sid repository and I get
the following error:

	Invalid freq '138650000'. Current freq out of range?

I can get it to start if I use the "-s" option but still, nothing plays.
 Moreover, if I give it a specific frequency, it does not start at that
frequency.

Could the problem be that my device does not have version 7 of the
firmware?  Google has not been helpful regarding how this can be upgraded.

Thanks,
Ted

Re: InstantFM

[Ted To]

On 05/20/2013 11:42 AM, Ted To wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 05/20/2013 02:55 AM, Hans de Goede wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> On 05/19/2013 10:18 PM, Ted To wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I purchased this device and while the device driver loads and I can set
>>> up gnomeradio to access it, it picks up no radio stations, despite being
>>> the model with an external antenna.  The log output says "software
>>> version 0, hardware version 7".  I'm running Debian Wheezy and the
>>> output from dmesg is:
>>>
>>> [66842.724036] usb 2-3: new full-speed USB device number 3 using ohci_hcd
>>> [66842.936144] usb 2-3: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1,
>>> idProduct=a155
>>> [66842.936150] usb 2-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2,
>>> SerialNumber=0
>>> [66842.936154] usb 2-3: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
>>> [66842.936156] usb 2-3: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
>>> [66843.275730] Linux media interface: v0.10
>>> [66843.296811] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
>>> [66843.321815] USB radio driver for Si470x FM Radio Receivers, Version
>>> 1.0.10
>>> [66843.323136] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff
>>> [66843.326127] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware
>>> version 7
>>> [66843.326131] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with
>>> software version 7,
>>> [66843.326135] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software
>>> version 0.
>>> [66843.326138] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: If you have some trouble using this
>>> driver,
>>> [66843.326141] radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: please report to V4L ML at
>>> linux-media@vger.kernel.org
>>> [66843.338247] usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x
>>> [66843.407477] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
>>>
>>> Any help on what I need to do to get this working would be much
>>> appreciated.
>>
>> Can you try with the (console-based) radio app from the latest xawtv
>> release,
>> xawtv-3.103 ?
> 
>> gnomeradio is not being actively maintained, so it could be your just
>> hitting
>> a gnomeradio issue.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Hans
> 
> 
> I had tried "radio" from the debian repository (version 3.102) but sadly
> it did not work.  I also tried 3.103 from the sid repository and I get
> the following error:
> 
> 	Invalid freq '138650000'. Current freq out of range?
> 
> I can get it to start if I use the "-s" option but still, nothing plays.
>  Moreover, if I give it a specific frequency, it does not start at that
> frequency.
> 
> Could the problem be that my device does not have version 7 of the
> firmware?  Google has not been helpful regarding how this can be upgraded.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ted

Actually, playing around with it some more (the version in the stable
repository), it appears to be picking something up.  "radio -s" produces
the following:

$ radio -s
baseline at 1.00
Station  0:  88.10 MHz - 4.00
Station  1:  88.90 MHz - 3.00
Station  2:  89.70 MHz - 2.00
Station  3:  91.50 MHz - 2.00
Station  4:  92.35 MHz - 3.00
Station  5:  93.10 MHz - 3.00
Station  6:  95.10 MHz - 3.00
Station  7:  95.90 MHz - 2.00
Station  8:  97.80 MHz - 4.00
Station  9:  99.10 MHz - 2.00
Station 10: 100.45 MHz - 2.00
Station 11: 101.90 MHz - 2.00
Station 12: 102.70 MHz - 2.00
Station 13: 104.25 MHz - 4.00
Station 14: 105.75 MHz - 3.00
Station 15: 106.50 MHz - 5.00
tuned 88.10 MHz

I assume that the last number is a measure of signal strength?

The problem is that no sound is produced.  FYI, gnomeradio gives a
'Could not open "/dev/mixer"!' error.  There seem to be some bugs
reported regarding this problem.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/613809

Re: InstantFM

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 05/20/2013 08:38 PM, Ted To wrote:
<snip>

> Actually, playing around with it some more (the version in the stable
> repository), it appears to be picking something up.  "radio -s" produces
> the following:
>
> $ radio -s
q> baseline at 1.00
> Station  0:  88.10 MHz - 4.00
> Station  1:  88.90 MHz - 3.00
> Station  2:  89.70 MHz - 2.00
> Station  3:  91.50 MHz - 2.00
> Station  4:  92.35 MHz - 3.00
> Station  5:  93.10 MHz - 3.00
> Station  6:  95.10 MHz - 3.00
> Station  7:  95.90 MHz - 2.00
> Station  8:  97.80 MHz - 4.00
> Station  9:  99.10 MHz - 2.00
> Station 10: 100.45 MHz - 2.00
> Station 11: 101.90 MHz - 2.00
> Station 12: 102.70 MHz - 2.00
> Station 13: 104.25 MHz - 4.00
> Station 14: 105.75 MHz - 3.00
> Station 15: 106.50 MHz - 5.00
> tuned 88.10 MHz
>
> I assume that the last number is a measure of signal strength?

Yes, more or less.

> The problem is that no sound is produced.  FYI, gnomeradio gives a
> 'Could not open "/dev/mixer"!' error.  There seem to be some bugs
> reported regarding this problem.

Right, have you also tried with the latest version of radio ? The
3.103 version has digital audio loopbacking support, so it will
read audio from the usb stick (which show up as a usb soundcard)
and then send it to your default alsa device, also see radio -help
output.

About setting the frequency not working, I've just tried with
my own si470x device, and this works fine:
radio -f 97.6

As for the reported hardware / software version, my usb-stick has:

radio-si470x 4-2:1.2: software version 1, hardware version 7

Where as your has:

radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware version 7
radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with software version 7,
radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software version 0.

Since my device works fine, in the latest driver the software version check
has been lowered to version 1. And if we can get yours to work too, we can
lower it even further.

Which kernel version are you using ?

Regards,

Hans

Re: InstantFM

[Ted To]

Hi Hans,

On 05/21/2013 03:35 AM, Hans de Goede wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 05/20/2013 08:38 PM, Ted To wrote:
> <snip>
> 
>> Actually, playing around with it some more (the version in the stable
>> repository), it appears to be picking something up.  "radio -s" produces
>> the following:
>>
>> $ radio -s
> q> baseline at 1.00
>> Station  0:  88.10 MHz - 4.00
>> Station  1:  88.90 MHz - 3.00
>> Station  2:  89.70 MHz - 2.00
>> Station  3:  91.50 MHz - 2.00
>> Station  4:  92.35 MHz - 3.00
>> Station  5:  93.10 MHz - 3.00
>> Station  6:  95.10 MHz - 3.00
>> Station  7:  95.90 MHz - 2.00
>> Station  8:  97.80 MHz - 4.00
>> Station  9:  99.10 MHz - 2.00
>> Station 10: 100.45 MHz - 2.00
>> Station 11: 101.90 MHz - 2.00
>> Station 12: 102.70 MHz - 2.00
>> Station 13: 104.25 MHz - 4.00
>> Station 14: 105.75 MHz - 3.00
>> Station 15: 106.50 MHz - 5.00
>> tuned 88.10 MHz
>>
>> I assume that the last number is a measure of signal strength?
> 
> Yes, more or less.
> 
>> The problem is that no sound is produced.  FYI, gnomeradio gives a
>> 'Could not open "/dev/mixer"!' error.  There seem to be some bugs
>> reported regarding this problem.
> 
> Right, have you also tried with the latest version of radio ? The
> 3.103 version has digital audio loopbacking support, so it will
> read audio from the usb stick (which show up as a usb soundcard)
> and then send it to your default alsa device, also see radio -help
> output.

Unfortunately 3.103 (from the debian unstable repository) does not
appear to work at all for me.  If I set the frequency:

radio -f 88.5

I get:

Tuning to 88.50 MHz
Invalid freq '138650000'. Current freq out of range?

When scanning:

radio -s

produces no output whatsoever before going to the curses interface set
at frequency 138.65.

> About setting the frequency not working, I've just tried with
> my own si470x device, and this works fine:
> radio -f 97.6
> 
> As for the reported hardware / software version, my usb-stick has:
> 
> radio-si470x 4-2:1.2: software version 1, hardware version 7
> 
> Where as your has:
> 
> radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: software version 0, hardware version 7
> radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: This driver is known to work with software version 7,
> radio-si470x 2-3:1.2: but the device has software version 0.
> 
> Since my device works fine, in the latest driver the software version check
> has been lowered to version 1. And if we can get yours to work too, we can
> lower it even further.
> 
> Which kernel version are you using ?

3.2.0-4-amd64

I could try the liquorix kernel (3.8) if you thought it might help.

Thanks,
Ted

Re: InstantFM

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 05/21/2013 02:12 PM, Ted To wrote:
> Hi Hans,

<snip>

>> Which kernel version are you using ?
>
> 3.2.0-4-amd64
>
> I could try the liquorix kernel (3.8) if you thought it might help.

Yes, if you could try that that would be great.

Regards,

Hans

Re: InstantFM

[Patrice Levesque]

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>> I could try the liquorix kernel (3.8) if you thought it might help.
> Yes, if you could try that that would be great.

If I may join the party, I too own an InstantFM USB device and I can't
get it to play radio.  All of this under kernel 3.9.3-gentoo.

dmesg:

	usb 4-2.4: new full-speed USB device number 5 using uhci_hcd
	usb 4-2.4: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1, idProduct=a155
	usb 4-2.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
	usb 4-2.4: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
	usb 4-2.4: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: software version 0, hardware version 7
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: This driver is known to work with software version 1,
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: but the device has software version 0.
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: If you have some trouble using this driver,
	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: please report to V4L ML at linux-media@vger.kernel.org
	usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x
	usbcore: registered new interface driver radio-si470x


xawtv-3.95-r2 (gentoo):

	radio:

	// The interface shows up with 0.00 tuned, and across the screen I
	// see
	VIDIOCGAUDIO: Inappropriate ioctl for device
	VIDIOCSAUDIO: Inappropriate ioctl for device

	radio -f 98.5:
	// The interface shows up with 98.5 tuned, and across the screen I
	// see
	VIDIOCGAUDIO: Inappropriate ioctl for device
	VIDIOCSAUDIO: Inappropriate ioctl for device

	radio -d -i:
	// Seems to scan the proper range, then returns nothing:
	[Stations]
	get_baseline:  min=0.000000 max=0.000000


xawtv3-320b1ab (seemed to be the latest version snapshot yesterday):

	radio:
	// Does not start.
	Invalid freq '127150000'. Current freq out of range?

	radio -f 98.5:
	// Does not start
	Tuning to 98.50 MHz
	Invalid freq '127150000'. Current freq out of range?

	radio -d -i:
	// Starts scanning out of range
	Warning no band specified, scanning band 1.
	scanning: 127.15 MHz - 327675
	// Then still fails
	get_baseline:  min=65535.000000 max=65535.000000
	[Stations]


Is there anything else I can try to help debug this?



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         http://ptaff.ca/
        video4linux.wayne@ptaff.ca
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Re: InstantFM

[Ted To]

On 05/22/2013 04:15 AM, Hans de Goede wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 05/21/2013 02:12 PM, Ted To wrote:
>> Hi Hans,
> 
> <snip>
> 
>>> Which kernel version are you using ?
>>
>> 3.2.0-4-amd64
>>
>> I could try the liquorix kernel (3.8) if you thought it might help.
> 
> Yes, if you could try that that would be great.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Hans

I did a live boot from the most recent Ubuntu (kernel 3.8), installed
radio and it worked!  The signal was pretty weak though so there was a
lot of static.  I suppose the only solution then is to get a better
antenna...

Thanks very much!

Ted

Re: InstantFM

[Patrice Levesque]

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> I did a live boot from the most recent Ubuntu (kernel 3.8), installed
> radio and it worked!

Did you make it work under another well-known proprietary OS first so
that the firmware got updated and kept fresh across the reboot?

In theory if it works for you, I guess it should work for me (the kernel
message says we have the same hardware version), so I'm trying to figure
out what's so different about our setups.


Thanks,



-- 
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        Patrice Levesque
         http://ptaff.ca/
        video4linux.wayne@ptaff.ca
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Re: InstantFM

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 05/22/2013 04:05 PM, Patrice Levesque wrote:
>
>>> I could try the liquorix kernel (3.8) if you thought it might help.
>> Yes, if you could try that that would be great.
>
> If I may join the party, I too own an InstantFM USB device and I can't
> get it to play radio.  All of this under kernel 3.9.3-gentoo.
>
> dmesg:
>
> 	usb 4-2.4: new full-speed USB device number 5 using uhci_hcd
> 	usb 4-2.4: New USB device found, idVendor=06e1, idProduct=a155
> 	usb 4-2.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
> 	usb 4-2.4: Product: ADS InstantFM Music
> 	usb 4-2.4: Manufacturer: ADS TECH
> 	radio-si470x 4-2.4:1.2: DeviceID=0xffff ChipID=0xffff

This, as well as the "Invalid freq '127150000'" and the
"get_baseline:  min=65535.000000 max=65535.000000" messages seem to indicate
that only FFFF is being read from all the registers of the tuner chip, so
somehow the communication between the usb micro-controller and the
si470x tuner chip is not working.

If it does work under $otheros, you can try running $otheros in a
qemu vm with usb passthrough, and then with wireshark on the host catch the usb
traffic, and see what $otheros is doing ...

Regards,

Hans

Re: InstantFM

[Patrice Levesque]

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> This, as well as the "Invalid freq '127150000'" and the "get_baseline:
> min=65535.000000 max=65535.000000" messages seem to indicate that only
> FFFF is being read from all the registers of the tuner chip, so
> somehow the communication between the usb micro-controller and the
> si470x tuner chip is not working.

A disconnect-connect of the USB device reset its internal state and now
I can confirm the device properly works with the 3.9.3-gentoo kernel,
using the 3.103 version of xawtv.

Under the same kernel, the 3.95-r2 xawtv version shipped with gentoo
fails to detect signal: “radio -i -d” outputs no channel and shows
“get_baseline: min=0.000000 max=0.000000”.


Thanks for your good work on this, you know who you are,



-- 
 --====|====--
    --------================|================--------
        Patrice Levesque
         http://ptaff.ca/
        video4linux.wayne@ptaff.ca
    --------================|================--------
 --====|====--
--

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Re: InstantFM

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 05/25/2013 07:18 PM, Patrice Levesque wrote:
>
>> This, as well as the "Invalid freq '127150000'" and the "get_baseline:
>> min=65535.000000 max=65535.000000" messages seem to indicate that only
>> FFFF is being read from all the registers of the tuner chip, so
>> somehow the communication between the usb micro-controller and the
>> si470x tuner chip is not working.
>
> A disconnect-connect of the USB device reset its internal state and now
> I can confirm the device properly works with the 3.9.3-gentoo kernel,
> using the 3.103 version of xawtv.
>
> Under the same kernel, the 3.95-r2 xawtv version shipped with gentoo
> fails to detect signal: “radio -i -d” outputs no channel and shows
> “get_baseline: min=0.000000 max=0.000000”.
>
>
> Thanks for your good work on this, you know who you are,

Good to hear, your device has "software version 0, hardware version 7",
right? If you can confirm then I'll lower the version requirement in
the kernel too match (so that you'll no longer get the warning message).

Regards,

Hans

Re: InstantFM

[Patrice Levesque]

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> Good to hear, your device has "software version 0, hardware version 7",
> right? If you can confirm then I'll lower the version requirement in
> the kernel too match (so that you'll no longer get the warning message).

Yes, software version 0.



-- 
 --====|====--
    --------================|================--------
        Patrice Levesque
         http://ptaff.ca/
        video4linux.wayne@ptaff.ca
    --------================|================--------
 --====|====--
--

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