Source for updated file system image for E310

[billschell]

I've just started developing a GNU radio application on an E310.   I noticed that the software on it is OLD (over five years) and the GNU radio blocks I want to use are not present.  I'd like to update it to the latest UHD and GNU radio. 

However, the file system images available at https://files.ettus.com/e3xx_images/e3xx-release-4/ettus-e3xx-sg3/ are VERY OLD (the latest is 2016).  Is there another place to get them?  I'd like an alternative recompiling UHD, gnuradio, etc. in a cross-compilation environment.  The C compiler and other development tools on the E310 are too old to compile the latest gnuradio on the unit itself. 

I noticed that the release notes for the latest UHD (https://github.com/EttusResearch/uhd/releases) advertise "Updated embedded OS on file system images for E3xx, N3xx, and X4xx devices to Yocto 4.0 (kirkstone)", but I can't find those images anywhere.

Any advice on how to update this older device?

Thanks, Bill

[GDEV · Accepted solution]

Hi Bill,

the latest release of UHD includes the stated upgrade of the file system. Upgrading the embedded file system usually starts by installing or updating UHD on the host (since new images also requires using a new UHD host version) and then follow the steps outlined at https://uhd.readthedocs.io/en/latest/page_usrp_e3xx.html#update_sdcard.

If you only use the device as an embedded device, you may find the latest filesystem image at https://files.ettus.com/binaries/cache/e3xx/meta-ettus-v4.7.0.0. This filesystem  also incl. a default GNU radio installation alongside UHD 4.7.

Regards,

[billschell]

Thanks very much!  I was able to update both my host and the E310 to UHD 4.7 and gnuradio 3.10, using the links you provided. I also updated the FPGA to the latest (with uhd_image_laoder).  There is so much outdated information on the Ettus site, it's hard to find anything current.

I'm able to run gnuradio flows locally on the E310 now, but there is an MPM version conflict when I try to run a flow on the host using the E310. Lots of google searching shows many other people with this issue, but I don't see solutions.  It seems odd that with everything updated to the latest, that there is still the MPM issue.  If you've got any insights, please let me know?   I'll also try over on the gnuradio forums.

Looks like the gnuradio version of MPM (its compat number) is older than what Ettus is bundling with UHD 4.7.

INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 11.2.0; Boost_107400; UHD_4.1.0.5-3
[INFO] [MPMD] Initializing 1 device(s) in parallel with args: mgmt_addr=192.168.2.182,type=e3xx,product=e310_sg3,serial=317938F,name=ni-e31x-317938F,fpga=n/a,claimed=False,addr=192.168.2.182
[ERROR] [MPMD] MPM major compat number mismatch. Expected: 4.0 Actual: 5.3. Please update the version of MPM on your USRP device.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/bill/amsat/gnuradio/fm_rcvr_newstyle.py", line 169, in <module>
main()
File "/home/bill/amsat/gnuradio/fm_rcvr_newstyle.py", line 147, in main
tb = top_block_cls()
File "/home/bill/amsat/gnuradio/fm_rcvr_newstyle.py", line 74, in __init__
self.uhd_usrp_source_0 = uhd.usrp_source(
RuntimeError: RuntimeError: MPM major compat number mismatch. Expected: 4.0 Actual: 5.3. Please update the version of MPM on your USRP device.

[billschell · Accepted solution]

OK, I thought I'd post the solution to this, since I haven't seen one elsewhere.

The python gnuradio package that is part of Gnuradio 3.10 as provided in Ubuntu 22.04 is linked against libuhd version 4.1.  This isn't compatible with the latest UHD 4.7 provided by Ettus/NI (which is installed on the E310).  My solution was to update the UHD on the host to 4.7 via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ettusresearch/uhd
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libuhd-dev uhd-host

(I'd already done that part before)

And then build and install (on the host) gnuradio from source as described here:

https://wiki.gnuradio.org/index.php?title=LinuxInstall#From_Source

Remote use of the E310 from the host works now with UHD 4.7 and Gnuradio 3.10/11.