[Linux-ham] netrom

[Linux-ham] netrom

[folkert]

Hi,

I'm trying to get netrom working.
Somehow it always fails:

root@savannah:~# modprobe netrom
root@savannah:~# nrattach nr0
nrattach: cannot find free NET/ROM device

Before that, no nrattach was running and also the netrom module was not
loaded.

/etc/ax25/nrports contains:
nr0      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom

/etc/ax25/nrbroadcast contains:
ax0	5	192	100	1

and /etc/ax25/axports contains:
ax0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	1	AX.25 over LoRa

dmesg says:
[ 8780.389979] NET: Registered protocol family 6

ifconfig of ax0:
root@savannah:~# ifconfig ax0
ax0       Link encap:AMPR AX.25  HWaddr FH2LOR-1  
          inet addr:192.168.5.2  Bcast:192.168.5.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING  MTU:254  Metric:1
          RX packets:925 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:343 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:10 
          RX bytes:36408 (35.5 KiB)  TX bytes:22806 (22.2 KiB)

after the netrom module was loaded I get 4 'nrx' devices:
nr0       Link encap:AMPR NET/ROM  HWaddr   
          UP RUNNING NOARP  MTU:236  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
... upto nr3

any ideas?


Folkert van Heusden

-- 
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Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[David Ranch]

Hello Folkert,

> /etc/ax25/nrports contains:
> nr0      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom

Don't use a name like "nr0" as this device name will be used and shown 
in the output of "ifconfig -a".  In the nrports file, I recommend to 
name it say "netrom" or "netrom0".  Anything will do really.



> /etc/ax25/nrbroadcast contains:
> ax0	5	192	100	1

This is your problem.. this needs to point to the AX25 interface name 
and NOT the device name.  This will be something like "vhfdrop" or 
whatever as defined in your /etc/ax25/axports file.  Btw, unless your 
machine is going to be a high level netrom node, I don't recommend you 
send out Netrom beacons to have stations route traffic THROUGH you.  As 
such, change the last parameter (called verbose) to 0.


> and /etc/ax25/axports contains:
> ax0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	1	AX.25 over LoRa

Don't use a name like "ax0" as this device name will be used and shown 
in the output of "ifconfig -a".  In the axports file, I recommend to 
name it say "vhfdrop" or "d710".  Anything will do really.

--David
KI6ZHD

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[folkert]

Hi,

> >/etc/ax25/nrports contains:
> >nr0      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom
> 
> Don't use a name like "nr0" as this device name will be used and shown in
> the output of "ifconfig -a".  In the nrports file, I recommend to name it
> say "netrom" or "netrom0".  Anything will do really.

Ah I thought it was actually the network-devicename that you needed to
put in there!

So now I have:

netrom      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom

> >/etc/ax25/nrbroadcast contains:
> >ax0	5	192	100	1
> 
> This is your problem.. this needs to point to the AX25 interface name and
> NOT the device name.  This will be something like "vhfdrop" or whatever as
> defined in your /etc/ax25/axports file.  Btw, unless your machine is going
> to be a high level netrom node, I don't recommend you send out Netrom
> beacons to have stations route traffic THROUGH you.  As such, change the
> last parameter (called verbose) to 0.

axport0	5	192	100	0

> >and /etc/ax25/axports contains:
> >ax0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	1	AX.25 over LoRa
> 
> Don't use a name like "ax0" as this device name will be used and shown in
> the output of "ifconfig -a".  In the axports file, I recommend to name it
> say "vhfdrop" or "d710".  Anything will do really.

axport0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	8	AX.25 over LoRa

Unfortunately it still fails:

root@savannah:~# modprobe netrom
root@savannah:~# nrattach netrom
nrattach: cannot find free NET/ROM device

This is after a reboot.

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[David Ranch]

Hello Folkert,



> Ah I thought it was actually the network-devicename that you needed to
> put in there!

Yeah... I agree this is NOT obvious nor intuitive


> netrom      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom

/etc/ax25/nrports Looks ok.


> axport0	5	192	100	0

/etc/ax25/nrbroadcast looks ok but maybe try renaming this to say 
"axport".  Maybe the trailing 0 is messing things up. Be sure to update 
the /etc/ax25/axports file with the same name too


> axport0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	8	AX.25 over LoRa

Looks ok though what is the RF link speed you're using?  I've seen some 
funny buffering problems in the past so I actually use 9600 baud to the 
TNC for a 1200baud RF link


> Unfortunately it still fails:
>
> root@savannah:~# modprobe netrom
> root@savannah:~# nrattach netrom
> nrattach: cannot find free NET/ROM device

What do you have in /etc/ax25/nrbroadcast



Are you sure the netrom module is loaded? Check:

$ lsmod | grep netrom
netrom                 47709  2
ax25                   65384  16 netrom,mkiss


The way I load my system via my packetrig.sh startup script, I use:

$NRATTACH -i $AMPRIP -m 236 $VHFD710NRPORT


I would also recommend you to show each of the commands you're using to 
load up your stack:

    - Are you using the mkiss approach with PTYs or using kissattach 
directly?

    - Are you seeing any errors when you run each command?


See

http://www.trinityos.com/HAM/CentosDigitalModes/usr/local/sbin/packetrig.sh

for the script but it is a pretty complex script for new Linux users.

--David
KI6ZHD

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[folkert]

On Fri, Apr 01, 2016 at 02:20:47PM -0700, David Ranch wrote:
> >netrom      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom
> /etc/ax25/nrports Looks ok.
> >axport0	5	192	100	0
> /etc/ax25/nrbroadcast looks ok but maybe try renaming this to say "axport".
> Maybe the trailing 0 is messing things up. Be sure to update the
> /etc/ax25/axports file with the same name too

Problem is that there are multiple ax25 ports. I'll replace it with an
'l' (for lora).

> >axport0	FH2LOR-1	115200	254	8	AX.25 over LoRa
> Looks ok though what is the RF link speed you're using?  I've seen some
> funny buffering problems in the past so I actually use 9600 baud to the TNC
> for a 1200baud RF link

The rf-link is lora and I think it is around 300bps. The speed to the
tnc is 115k2 because of overhead and practical reasons.

> >Unfortunately it still fails:
> >root@savannah:~# modprobe netrom
> >root@savannah:~# nrattach netrom
> >nrattach: cannot find free NET/ROM device
> 
> What do you have in /etc/ax25/nrbroadcast

axports: axportl FH2LOR-1        115200  254     8       AX.25 over LoRa
nrports: netrom      FH2LOR-2        svnnah   235     netrom
nrbroadcast: axportl 5       192     100     1

> Are you sure the netrom module is loaded? Check:
> $ lsmod | grep netrom
> netrom                 47709  2
> ax25                   65384  16 netrom,mkiss

root@savannah:/etc/ax25# lsmod  |grep netrom
netrom                 40573  0 
ax25                   60033  4 mkiss,netrom

root@savannah:/etc/ax25# nrattach -i 192.168.6.2 -m 236 netrom
nrattach: cannot find free NET/ROM device

> The way I load my system via my packetrig.sh startup script, I use:
> $NRATTACH -i $AMPRIP -m 236 $VHFD710NRPORT
> I would also recommend you to show each of the commands you're using to load
> up your stack:
>    - Are you using the mkiss approach with PTYs or using kissattach
> directly?

Kissattach directly:

/usr/sbin/kissattach -l /dev/ttyUSB0 axport0 192.168.5.2
sleep 5
/usr/sbin/ax25d -l
/usr/sbin/beacon -t 1 -l axport0 'AX.25 over LoRa - contact mail@vanheusden.com for info'
/sbin/modprobe netrom
/usr/sbin/nrattach -i 192.168.6.2 -m 236 netrom
/usr/sbin/netromd -i -l -t 20
/usr/bin/nohup /usr/bin/axlisten -a -r -8 -t >> /home/folkert/ax25-lora.log &
/usr/sbin/mheardd -l -n 1000

>    - Are you seeing any errors when you run each command?

Something odd happened: now it suddenly works!
What I did different is axportl instead of axport0.
But on the other system axport0 runs fine? Puzzling.


Folkert van Heusden

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Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[David Ranch]

Hello Folkert,

> Something odd happened: now it suddenly works!
> What I did different is axportl instead of axport0.
> But on the other system axport0 runs fine? Puzzling.

There are only two things I can think of that might cause this... an 
issue with the kernel or an issue with the ax25 apps/tools you installed.

What distro version and kernel version are you running?
Are you using the Official AX.25 tools or VE7FET's version?


Btw, I've been thinking about your LoRa project and that seems really 
pretty cool to me.  I think I'll have to give it a try!  Thanks for 
posting all that Arudino KISS code, etc.  I wonder how hard it would
be to add some additional RF power to those units.

--David
KI6ZHD

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[folkert]

> >Something odd happened: now it suddenly works!
> >What I did different is axportl instead of axport0.
> >But on the other system axport0 runs fine? Puzzling.
> 
> There are only two things I can think of that might cause this... an issue
> with the kernel or an issue with the ax25 apps/tools you installed.

My script is as below. If I remove the modprobe/nrattach and then do
that manually afterwards, then it does not work.

/usr/sbin/kissattach /dev/ttyAMA0 axportr 192.168.45.8
sleep 30
/usr/sbin/ax25d -l
/usr/sbin/ax25rtd -c /etc/ax25/ax25rtd.conf
/root/bin/start-ax25-tunnel.sh
/usr/sbin/beacon -l -t 15 axportu 'some text'
/usr/sbin/beacon -l -t 15 axportr 'some text'
#
/sbin/modprobe netrom
/usr/sbin/nrattach -i 192.168.32.1 -m 236 netrom
/usr/sbin/netromd -i -l -t 20
#
/usr/bin/screen -d -m -S 'axdigi (AX.25 digipeater)' /usr/local/sbin/axdigi
/usr/bin/screen -d -m -S 'aprsdigi' /root/bin/aprsdigi.sh
/usr/bin/nohup /usr/bin/axlisten -8 -t >> /home/folkert/ax25.log &
/usr/sbin/mheardd -l -n 1000
(sleep 60 ; /root/bin/axlisten_to_mqtt.sh) &
/usr/sbin/kissattach /dev/ttyUSB0 axportl 192.168.45.8
/usr/sbin/beacon -l -t 15 axportl 'some text'


/root/bin/aprsdigi.sh:
---------------------
/usr/sbin/aprsdigi --verbose \
                --kill_dupes \
                --kill_loops \
                --int ax25:FH1GOU-1:RELAY,WIDE,FOO,TRACE \
                --interface udp:172.29.0.40/9978/5 \
                --interface udp:cbaprs.de/27235/5 \
        | tee -a /var/aprsigi.log


Maybe it has to do with the axlisten running in the bg. If Im right it
opens the interfaces in promisquous mode, maybe that blocks nrattach.

I'll test that some other day.

> What distro version and kernel version are you running?

4.1.12+ raspberry pi, raspbian
ii  ax25-apps                             0.0.8-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        AX.25 ham radio applications
ii  ax25-node                             0.3.2-7.4 armhf        Amateur Packet Radio Node program
ii  ax25-tools                            0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-3 armhf        tools for AX.25 interface configuration
ii  ax25-xtools                           0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-3 armhf        tools for AX.25 interface configuration -- X11-based
ii  libax25                               0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        ax25 library for hamradio applications
ii  libax25-dev                           0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        ax25 library development files

4.1.17+ dito
i  ax25-apps                   0.0.8-rc2+cvs20130510-4    armhf AX.25 ham radio applications
ii  ax25-node                   0.3.2-7.4                  armhf Amateur Packet Radio Node program
ii  ax25-tools                  0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-4   armhf tools for AX.25 interface configuration
ii  libax25                     0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-3   armhf ax25 library for hamradio applications
ii  libax25-dev                 0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-3   armhf ax25 library development files

4.1.6+ dito
ii  ax25-apps                             0.0.8-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        AX.25 ham radio applications
ii  ax25-node                             0.3.2-7.4 armhf        Amateur Packet Radio Node program
ii  ax25-tools                            0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-3 armhf        tools for AX.25 interface configuration
ii  libax25                               0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        ax25 library for hamradio applications


> Are you using the Official AX.25 tools or VE7FET's version?

The one included in debian.

> Btw, I've been thinking about your LoRa project and that seems really pretty
> cool to me.  I think I'll have to give it a try!  Thanks for posting all
> that Arudino KISS code, etc.  I wonder how hard it would
> be to add some additional RF power to those units.

Thanks!



Folkert van Heusden

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Phone: +31-6-41278122, PGP-key: 1F28D8AE, www.vanheusden.com

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[David Ranch]

Hey Folkert,


> My script is as below. If I remove the modprobe/nrattach and then do
> that manually afterwards, then it does not work.

That's strange but to be honest, I would recommend you to do all your 
base infrastructure commands first (kissattach, netrom, ax25d, mheard, 
etc) FIRST.  Then start some of your AX.25 applications (axdigi, 
aprsdigi, etc) next and then your beacons last.


> /usr/sbin/kissattach /dev/ttyAMA0 axportr 192.168.45.8

Btw, after you run this command, check out the output of "ifconfig -a" 
and check the subnet mask.  I bet it's wrong.  You'll need to manually 
correct this with ifconfig after the fact.  This is what my packetrig.sh 
script does.



> /usr/sbin/aprsdigi --verbose \
>                  --kill_dupes \
>                  --kill_loops \
>                  --int ax25:FH1GOU-1:RELAY,WIDE,FOO,TRACE \
>                  --interface udp:172.29.0.40/9978/5 \
>                  --interface udp:cbaprs.de/27235/5 \
>          | tee -a /var/aprsigi.log


Please do not use the legacy RELAY syntax.  Only use WIDE and maybe 
TRACE.  I'm not very familiar with aprsdigi but have you seen Aprx?


> Maybe it has to do with the axlisten running in the bg. If Im right it
> opens the interfaces in promisquous mode, maybe that blocks nrattach.

That's possible but that would be a bug in my book.


> 4.1.12+ raspberry pi, raspbian
> ii  ax25-apps                             0.0.8-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        AX.25 ham radio applications
> ii  ax25-node                             0.3.2-7.4 armhf        Amateur Packet Radio Node program
> ii  ax25-tools                            0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-3 armhf        tools for AX.25 interface configuration
> ii  ax25-xtools                           0.0.10-rc2+cvs20120204-3 armhf        tools for AX.25 interface configuration -- X11-based
> ii  libax25                               0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        ax25 library for hamradio applications
> ii  libax25-dev                           0.0.12-rc2+cvs20120204-2 armhf        ax25 library development files

Yeah.. that's OLD code (2012).  If you want to run the Official AX.25 
tools (not always the most current btw), I recommend you use the most 
current code in Git - http://www.linux-ax25.org/wiki/GIT

More recommended, try building VE7FET's version of the tools: 
https://github.com/ve7fet/linuxax25


> The one included in debian.

Not recommended (see above) as you are missing some key fixes 
(especially if you're going to be doing AMPR / IPIP net stuff)

--David

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[Miroslav Skoric]

On 04/01/2016 09:37 PM, David Ranch wrote:

>
>
>> and /etc/ax25/axports contains:
>> ax0    FH2LOR-1    115200    254    1    AX.25 over LoRa
>
> Don't use a name like "ax0" as this device name will be used and shown
> in the output of "ifconfig -a".  In the axports file, I recommend to
> name it say "vhfdrop" or "d710".  Anything will do really.
>

David, in the past I used 'non-ifconfig'-like names (as you suggest) in 
axports and elsewhere. But for the simplicity, some few years ago I 
switched to using the names Folkert uses. And I did not notice any 
functional difference ... Both approaches work for me. Is there any 
requirement or constraint in the kernel, related to that?

Misko

Re: [Linux-ham] netrom

[David Ranch]

Hello Misko,

> David, in the past I used 'non-ifconfig'-like names (as you suggest) 
> in axports and elsewhere. But for the simplicity, some few years ago I 
> switched to using the names Folkert uses. And I did not notice any 
> functional difference ... Both approaches work for me. Is there any 
> requirement or constraint in the kernel, related to that?

Names like "ax0", nr0", "rose0, etc. are all reserved names in Linux 
ax.25 land and they have very specific meanings and connotation. 
Overloading those names with the user facing interface will confuse you 
to what should be used for various applications, etc.   I'm not exactly 
sure WHY the LInux AX.25 stack was built this way but it IS and I don't 
recommend anyone do this though, to your very point, it does work.

--David
KI6ZHD