[hpsdr] Hermes/Angelia and Ethernet problems

[Mike Tubby]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply.

Firstly the illegal MAC address issue could be resolved by implementing 
a correct "locally administered MAC address":

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

so starting the MAC with 0x02 or 0x06 etc.  an example might be 0x06 
0x06 0x06 0x06 0x06 0x06


Next, I have tried the Angelia in several configurations here's what I 
have found:

     a) single Netgear FS108 switch with SDR PC, Angelia, DHCP server - 
works

     b) single Netgear FS116 switch with SDR PC, Angelia, DHCP server - 
works

     c) multiple Netgear GS724 switch with SDR PC, Angelia, DHCP server 
distributed - doesn't work

     d) single Netgear GS724 switch with SDR PC, Angelia, DHCP server - 
doesn't work

     e) distributed system with PC on one GS724, DHCP server on another 
GS724 (connected via trunk) and Angelia connected to either switch - 
doesn't work

     f) distributed system with PC on one GS724, DHCP server on another 
GS724 (connected via trunk) and Angelia connected to an FS108 that was 
already powered on (before the Angelia) and connected to one of the 
other two switches  - works most of the time (works 7 times in 10)

 From what I can fathom, the Angelia appears to be happy with 
un-manaeged 100Mbps links but either there is a problem with managed 
switches, link attributes or timing ...?

Does the Hermes/Angelia/Orion correctly detect link-down and link-up 
events?  I ask because I am not sure that un-plugging and re-plugging  
the Ethernet on the Angelia causes a DHCP 'DISCOVER' message and 
renegotiation to occur?

I also note that the DHCP request send by Angelia (when it is sent) is 
devoid of options ... it appears to be a "local lan" only implementation 
since it doesn't ask for netmask and default gateway... this suggests 
that the Ethernet and IP stack in Angelia is "minimal" and assumes that 
it is only going to run on a point-to-point on the same network 
segment?  If so then tis is a shame... I have two LANs 192.168.144.0/24 
at my end of the house and 192.168.145.0/24 at the other end of the 
house.  My firewall/server box deals with this.

To use my Angelia fully it needs to recognise if an IP address is 
"outside" the netmask and send it to the default gateway instead ... 
this shouldn't be terribly hard to implement with 32-bit work 
comparisons in modern FPGAs ... just not sure anyone's bothered?


Mike G8TIC



On 9/28/2016 11:22 PM, Scott Traurig wrote:
> Note: I had to trim the history on this reply because the HPSDR list 
> has an antiquated 12KB message size limit before moderation...
>
> ~~
>
> OK, thanks for throwing me under the bus, Bryan--just kidding ;-)
>
> First, a point of clarification: the illegal MAC address problem only 
> happens when Hermes, Angelia or Orion boards are in Bootloader mode. 
> The Bootloader MAC implementation advertises a MAC address of 
> 11:22:33:44:55:66. I believe the intent of the developers was to use a 
> common MAC address in this mode as a conservative measure in case 
> anyone ever "lost" track of their radio on the LAN and needed to find 
> it by that means. Unfortunately, they chose a MAC address that is not 
> legal and hence is refused by any Layer 2 or Layer 3 managed switch 
> that I am aware of. So if you need to use Bootloader mode you will 
> have to make a direct connection to the PC or use an un-managed 
> switch. As, much like Mike, I use all managed switches in my house, 
> this is a huge pain for me as I have to go to the switch and patch the 
> PC directly to the radio when using Bootloader. This can be a frequent 
> affair when testing beta firmware!
>
> Now, when the radio is in a normal operational mode, the MAC address 
> is that associated with the manufacturer of the PHY chip used on the 
> Hermes/Angelia/Orion board, and it is, of course, unique for every 
> radio. It is a completely legal MAC address in every respect.
>
> As for the completeness of the MAC and IP layer implementations in the 
> firmware, I can't say for sure. I can say that it has not failed to 
> successfully negotiate DHCP for me on my network on either the Angelia 
> or the Orion (I've not had the opportunity to try the Hermes). Again, 
> my network is similar to Mike's in that I have a managed L2 Cisco 
> switch in the shack which uplinks to an L2 managed TP-Link switch at 
> my server rack. DHCP comes from my Ubiquiti Edgerouter also at the 
> server rack.
>
> Mike--might I suggest you take a look at the MAC address tables in 
> your switches (they are managed, after all, so you should be able to) 
> and see if the tables are at least populating properly and that the 
> MAC is propagating correctly. You might find some obscure MAC related 
> setting in the switches is preventing this. Another debug step might 
> be to move the radio to the switch near your DHCP server and see if it 
> works there.
>
> Let us know how you make out with those ideas.
>
> 73!
>
> Scott/w-u-2-o
>

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