iC880A (SPI) and RPi shield -> Main process exited, status=1/FAILURE

1

Hi,
I have successfully setup up and run LoRa GW based on a iC880A SPI concentrator + RPi B+ 1v2 since more than a mount. The concentrator is was initially connected to the RPi using jumper cables.

I then bought the Raspberry Pi shield for iC880A Lora Gateway and added headers and jumpers and connected it to the RPi and iC880A. What happens is that the RPi boots ok but the iC880A initiation fails.
The yellow LED is lit continuesly.
Can you please give some pointers what might have gone wrong?
Below is the log:

Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: *** Lora concentrator HAL library version info ***
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: Version: 3.1.0; Options: native;
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: ***
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Little endian host
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: found global configuration file global_conf.json, parsing it
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: global_conf.json does contain a JSON object named SX1301_conf, parsing SX1301 parameters
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: lorawan_public 1, clksrc 1
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Configuring TX LUT with 16 indexes
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: radio 0 enabled (type SX1257), center frequency 867500000, RSSI offset -166.000000, tx enabled 1
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: radio 1 enabled (type SX1257), center frequency 868500000, RSSI offset -166.000000, tx enabled 0
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 0>  radio 1, IF -400000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 1>  radio 1, IF -200000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 2>  radio 1, IF 0 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 3>  radio 0, IF -400000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 4>  radio 0, IF -200000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 5>  radio 0, IF 0 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 6>  radio 0, IF 200000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora multi-SF channel 7>  radio 0, IF 400000 Hz, 125 kHz bw, SF 7 to 12
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Lora std channel> radio 1, IF -200000 Hz, 250000 Hz bw, SF 7
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: FSK channel> radio 1, IF 300000 Hz, 125000 Hz bw, 50000 bps datarate
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: global_conf.json does contain a JSON object named gateway_conf, parsing gateway parameters
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: gateway MAC address is configured to AA555A0000000000
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Found 2 servers in array.
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Server 0 configured to "127.0.0.1", with port up "1680" and port down "1681"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Server 1 configured to "iot.semtech.com", with port up "1680" and port down "1680"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Found 5 system calls in array.
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: System command 0: "df -m"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: System command 1: "free -h"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: System command 2: "uptime"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: System command 3: "who -a"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: System command 4: "uname -a"
Aug 23 13:54:26 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: monitor hostname or IP address is configured to "127.0.0.1"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: monitor port is configured to "2008"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: ghost hostname or IP address is configured to "127.0.0.1"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: ghost port is configured to "1918"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: downstream keep-alive interval is configured to 10 seconds
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: statistics display interval is configured to 30 seconds
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: upstream PUSH_DATA time-out is configured to 100 ms
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with a valid CRC will be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with a CRC error will NOT be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with no CRC will NOT be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: GPS serial port path is configured to "/dev/ttyAMA0"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: SSH path is configured to "/usr/bin/ssh"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: SSH port is configured to 22
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: HTTP port is configured to 80
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: NGROK path is configured to "/usr/bin/ngrok"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference latitude is configured to 10.000000 deg
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference longitude is configured to 20.000000 deg
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference altitude is configured to -1 meters
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: GPS is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Using fake GPS coordinates instead of real.
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: antenna_gain 0 dBi
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Upstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Downstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Ghoststream data is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Radiostream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Statusstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Beacon is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Monitor is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Platform configured to "IMST + Rpi"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Contact email configured to "operator@gateway.tst"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Description configured to "Update me"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: found local configuration file local_conf.json, parsing it
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: redefined parameters will overwrite global parameters
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: local_conf.json does not contain a JSON object named SX1301_conf
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: local_conf.json does contain a JSON object named gateway_conf, parsing gateway parameters
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: gateway MAC address is configured to B827EBFFFE51CC1C
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Found 1 servers in array.
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Server 0 configured to "router.eu.thethings.network", with port up "1700" and port down "1700"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with a valid CRC will be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with a CRC error will NOT be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: packets received with no CRC will NOT be forwarded
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway systemd[1]: ttn-gateway.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference latitude is configured to 59.407651 deg
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference longitude is configured to 17.929408 deg
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Reference altitude is configured to 5 meters
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: GPS is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: antenna_gain 0 dBi
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Upstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Downstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Ghoststream data is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Radiostream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Statusstream data is enabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Beacon is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Monitor is disabled
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Contact email configured to "jerker.gustafson@gmail.com"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Description configured to "ttn-ic880a"
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: Successfully contacted server router.eu.thethings.network
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: INFO: [main] Starting the concentrator
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway ttn-gateway[1396]: ERROR: [main] failed to start the concentrator
Aug 23 13:54:27 ttn-gateway systemd[1]: ttn-gateway.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2

Check if your reset script uses the right pin to reset the ic880 for this new setup. That pin setting is crucial to get the concentrator started.

3

Thx for your quick replay.

I checked /opt/ttn-gateway/bin/start.sh and found “SX1301_RESET_BCM_PIN=25”.
I’ve not made any changes in the SW configuration between the setup with the jumper cables and the setup with the shield.

Is start.sh the correct script or is there yet another script that handles the reset?

4

I checked the pin, and from ic880A-SPI instruction I get this:

iC880A            RPi header pin    GPIO# (Wikipedia)
13 Reset         22                        25

In the schematic for the shield the GPIO pin for the SX reset is labeled GPIO 49/GP5.
I tried both but it fails.
Here I configured GPIO 5 but there is still a failure:

Aug 23 15:27:08 ttn-gateway systemd[1]: ttn-gateway.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
5

Please post a link to the adapter board you are using. There are at least 4 I know of so it is hard to guess what the right setting would be. Also include a link to the software/instructions you are using.

Edit: you might want to try running the gateway startup script a couple of times. I have setups where it takes 5 attempts before it starts.

6

This is for the HW:


And here is the SW:
7

That board uses pin 11 for reset. (Gpio5 is for LinkLabs which is a different concentrator board)

8

Thx a bounch.

Now it is up and running again :slight_smile: