We're looking at app_rpt for sites with up to eight radios, all currently controlled by a RLC-3. Our initial approach is to use a PC and try to run all eight radios off of it. For testing we're using modified fobs running on USB 2.0 ports and when we try to use more than four, things break up, sound bad, etc. I've found that CentOS 5 that comes on the ACID disk doesn't support USB 3.0, which we were thinking might offer more bandwidth and handle the added fobs. Has anyone used this PC based approach for 4+ nodes using USB fobs? Or could I get some suggestions as to how to approach the implementation of eight nodes without using fobs or the discontinued 4 port PC card? Or is it a viable solution to use a BBB for every radio and connect them all with Ethernet switches and treat each BBB like a separate server. Any ideas are appreciated Cole AA7RD
We have an asterisk node that runs three USB URI devices and it works well. Getting there was an education. We found that we needed to spread out our USB devices amongst as many Bus¹ as you can. Loading down a single bus will create breaks in the sound. If you want things to work better add USB 2.0 sound cards to increase the USB bus count. Use the lsusb command to see how things are placed. Below is our layout. As you found out, ACID is based on Centos 5.x which does not work with USB 3.0. We still use a blend of RLC-DSP404¹s and Allstar. If you are making the move to a PC-Linux solution, I suggest investment in SSD, UPS for AC, and a remotely controlled AC/DC power switch to control the computer. Thinking along the lines of your BBB solution, you could probably do things with two PC-Linux servers. Cheers Keith VA3YC [root@allstar ~]# lsusb Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 003 Device 003: ID 04b3:4001 IBM Corp. On 1/20/15 1:30 PM, "Cole Cunningham" <colecaz@gmail.com> wrote:
We¹re looking at app_rpt for sites with up to eight radios, all currently controlled by a RLC-3. Our initial approach is to use a PC and try to run all eight radios off of it. For testing we¹re using modified fobs running on USB 2.0 ports and when we try to use more than four, things break up, sound bad, etc. I¹ve found that CentOS 5 that comes on the ACID disk doesn¹t support USB 3.0, which we were thinking might offer more bandwidth and handle the added fobs.
Has anyone used this PC based approach for 4+ nodes using USB fobs? Or could I get some suggestions as to how to approach the implementation of eight nodes without using fobs or the discontinued 4 port PC card?
Or is it a viable solution to use a BBB for every radio and connect them all with Ethernet switches and treat each BBB like a separate server.
Any ideas are appreciated
Cole AA7RD
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-- keith@goobie.org Keith Goobie Richmond Hill, ON, CANADA
Keith, Your setup looks exactly like the test rig I am using except I have four of the C-Media fobs. And yes, I discovered you need no more than two fobs per USB bus. With two busses available in the PC that limits it to four fobs. The goal is eight nodes per server. I've looked at USB 2.0 port cards and they seem to be going out of production. That is a concern for long term availability because we will be making the change over a period of several years. And a lot of them are PCI interface instead of the current PCIe used in newer motherboards. We're hoping to make Asterisk Allstar the replacement for the RLC-3's. I wonder if anybody has gotten Asterisk/app_rpt running on a distro that supports USB 3.0? Cole, AA7RD Phoenix, AZ www.w7ara.org From: Keith Goobie [mailto:keith@goobie.org] Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 1:47 PM To: Cole Cunningham; app_rpt-users@ohnosec.org Subject: Re: [App_rpt-users] More than 4 nodes on a PC We have an asterisk node that runs three USB URI devices and it works well. Getting there was an education. We found that we needed to spread out our USB devices amongst as many Bus' as you can. Loading down a single bus will create breaks in the sound. If you want things to work better add USB 2.0 sound cards to increase the USB bus count. Use the lsusb command to see how things are placed. Below is our layout. As you found out, ACID is based on Centos 5.x which does not work with USB 3.0. We still use a blend of RLC-DSP404's and Allstar. If you are making the move to a PC-Linux solution, I suggest investment in SSD, UPS for AC, and a remotely controlled AC/DC power switch to control the computer. Thinking along the lines of your BBB solution, you could probably do things with two PC-Linux servers. Cheers Keith VA3YC [root@allstar ~]# lsusb Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 003 Device 003: ID 04b3:4001 IBM Corp.
The xipar release supports centos 6.x which supports usb 3.0 there are pros and cons to Xipar. I understand that there are some people that have ACID running on centos 6.x I am awaiting input from a colleague. I would go out and buy a bunch of usb 2.0 cards which add more buses. Keith On 1/20/15 4:04 PM, "Cole Cunningham" <colecaz@gmail.com> wrote:
Keith,
Your setup looks exactly like the test rig I am using except I have four of the C-Media fobs. And yes, I discovered you need no more than two fobs per USB bus. With two busses available in the PC that limits it to four fobs. The goal is eight nodes per server.
I¹ve looked at USB 2.0 port cards and they seem to be going out of production. That is a concern for long term availability because we will be making the change over a period of several years. And a lot of them are PCI interface instead of the current PCIe used in newer motherboards.
We¹re hoping to make Asterisk Allstar the replacement for the RLC-3¹s.
I wonder if anybody has gotten Asterisk/app_rpt running on a distro that supports USB 3.0?
Cole, AA7RD Phoenix, AZ www.w7ara.org <http://www.w7ara.org>
From: Keith Goobie [mailto:keith@goobie.org] Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 1:47 PM To: Cole Cunningham; app_rpt-users@ohnosec.org Subject: Re: [App_rpt-users] More than 4 nodes on a PC
We have an asterisk node that runs three USB URI devices and it works well. Getting there was an education. We found that we needed to spread out our USB devices amongst as many Bus¹ as you can. Loading down a single bus will create breaks in the sound. If you want things to work better add USB 2.0 sound cards to increase the USB bus count. Use the lsusb command to see how things are placed. Below is our layout.
As you found out, ACID is based on Centos 5.x which does not work with USB 3.0.
We still use a blend of RLC-DSP404¹s and Allstar. If you are making the move to a PC-Linux solution, I suggest investment in SSD, UPS for AC, and a remotely controlled AC/DC power switch to control the computer.
Thinking along the lines of your BBB solution, you could probably do things with two PC-Linux servers.
Cheers Keith VA3YC
[root@allstar ~]# lsusb Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 003 Device 003: ID 04b3:4001 IBM Corp.
-- keith@goobie.org Keith Goobie Richmond Hill, ON, CANADA
I agree, buy the multi-port USB2.0 cards now and avoid the issues you may run into trying to run things on USB3. Matthew PittsN8OHU From: Keith Goobie <keith@goobie.org> To: Cole Cunningham <colecaz@gmail.com>; app_rpt-users@ohnosec.org Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 5:03 PM Subject: Re: [App_rpt-users] More than 4 nodes on a PC Re: [App_rpt-users] More than 4 nodes on a PCThe xipar release supports centos 6.x which supports usb 3.0 – there are pros and cons to Xipar. I understand that there are some people that have ACID running on centos 6.x – I am awaiting input from a colleague. I would go out and buy a bunch of usb 2.0 cards which add more buses. Keith On 1/20/15 4:04 PM, "Cole Cunningham" <colecaz@gmail.com> wrote: Keith, Your setup looks exactly like the test rig I am using except I have four of the C-Media fobs. And yes, I discovered you need no more than two fobs per USB bus. With two busses available in the PC that limits it to four fobs. The goal is eight nodes per server. I’ve looked at USB 2.0 port cards and they seem to be going out of production. That is a concern for long term availability because we will be making the change over a period of several years. And a lot of them are PCI interface instead of the current PCIe used in newer motherboards. We’re hoping to make Asterisk Allstar the replacement for the RLC-3’s. I wonder if anybody has gotten Asterisk/app_rpt running on a distro that supports USB 3.0? Cole, AA7RD Phoenix, AZ www.w7ara.org <http://www.w7ara.org> From: Keith Goobie [mailto:keith@goobie.org] Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 1:47 PM To: Cole Cunningham; app_rpt-users@ohnosec.org Subject: Re: [App_rpt-users] More than 4 nodes on a PC We have an asterisk node that runs three USB URI devices and it works well. Getting there was an education. We found that we needed to spread out our USB devices amongst as many Bus’ as you can. Loading down a single bus will create breaks in the sound. If you want things to work better add USB 2.0 sound cards to increase the USB bus count. Use the lsusb command to see how things are placed. Below is our layout. As you found out, ACID is based on Centos 5.x which does not work with USB 3.0. We still use a blend of RLC-DSP404’s and Allstar. If you are making the move to a PC-Linux solution, I suggest investment in SSD, UPS for AC, and a remotely controlled AC/DC power switch to control the computer. Thinking along the lines of your BBB solution, you could probably do things with two PC-Linux servers. Cheers Keith VA3YC [root@allstar ~]# lsusb Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013a C-Media Electronics, Inc. Bus 003 Device 003: ID 04b3:4001 IBM Corp. -- keith@goobie.org Keith Goobie Richmond Hill, ON, CANADA _______________________________________________ App_rpt-users mailing list App_rpt-users@ohnosec.org http://ohnosec.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/app_rpt-users To unsubscribe from this list please visit http://ohnosec.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/app_rpt-users and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Enter your email address and press the "Unsubscribe or edit options button" You do not need a password to unsubscribe, you can do it via email confirmation. If you have trouble unsubscribing, please send a message to the list detailing the problem.
participants (3)
-
Cole Cunningham -
Keith Goobie -
Matthew Pitts