Troubleshooting FAQ

This is a list of commonly occuring problems and questions, in no specific order.

No audio on specific clients, receiver starts to behave odd as soon as specific clients connects

Please check which version of csdr you installed. One of the most common problems is the missing deemphasis_nfm_ff filter for 12kHz audio, which comes into play if your client runs 48kHz audio (or other multiples of 12kHz, other reported cases were using 192kHz).

Please install my modified version of csdr to get rid of the error.

My OpenWebRX installation is missing some / all of the digital demodulation buttons

... and ...

OpenWebRX doesn't show the type of my SDR device on the "New device page", even though it is supposed to be supported

There's probably some dependency missing. Please navigate to the feature report in the settings area and check if all the requirements for the SDR device type / demodulator in question are fulfilled.

My OpenWebRX works fine at first, but stops working when I disconnect and connect again.

This is something that has occured to me when using SDRplay devices, and they seem to be especially prone to this error when connected to a Raspberry Pi. The most probable cause for this is insufficient power supplied to the SDR, so the immediate recommendation is to use a different powersupply and / or a powered USB hub to fix this.

If the error remains, you can add and enable the option "Keep device running at all times" to your SDR device configuration to keep it running continuously. This, however, is just a workaround to avoid the error.

I would like to run additional software / websdrs on my receiver. how can i do that?

There's no universal solution to this, mostly due to the fact that OpenWebRX, like most SDR software, takes full control of the SDR devices in the configuration, and (at least to my knowledge) there's no proper protocol that allows device sharing / interoperability between SDR software.

OpenWebRX allows you to "tap" into the IQ stream in a format that is compatible with rtl_tcp if the device is internally using a so-called "connector". If available, you can enable it by setting the "Port for rtl_tcp compatible data" to a port number that is available on the system. You should probably use this in combination with the "Keep device running at all times" option or a scheduler.

There is some downsides to this:

• The connected software will not be able to control the SDR device, it will only receive IQ data.
• When you switch profiles, the connected software will not be notified of the change (the rtl_tcp protocol does not support this).
• If your SDR is able to provide more than 8 bits per sample, the IQ data will be converted down to 8 bits (again, a limitation of the rtl_tcp protocol).

My E4000 rtlsdr doesn't work

This is a common issue since the the E4000 only supports a limited set of values for the "Device gain" configuration. To make it work, simply set the gaikn to one of the values from the list of supported values for an E4000:

Supported gain values (14): -1.0 1.5 4.0 6.5 9.0 11.5 14.0 16.5 19.0 21.5 24.0 29.0 34.0 42.0

My error is not listed / I tried the suggestions and they didn't work

Feel free to open an issue with a description of the problem you are having right here.