How to Unbrick a USRP

N210

Do this if the USRP becomes unresponsive to normal commands and cannot be found with uhd_find_devices.

DO NOT DO THIS ON GRID OR WITH ANY OTHER USRP CONNECTED TO THE NODE!!!

1. Load baseline_uhd.ndz onto a node with an extra ethernet card

2. Boot up the node

3. Download the latest firmware/UHD images to the node:

   uhd_images_downloader
   

4. Configure eth2 to be able to talk to the USRP

   ifconfig eth2 192.168.10.1 netmask 255.255.255.0
   

5. Remove lid of USRP

6. Connect the USRP's ethernet to the node

7. Put USRP in safe-mode:
   1. Hold down the S2 button in the middle of the USRP's motherboard while power-cycling the USRP
   2. Keep holding until the D & F status LED lights are stable and the left LED on the ethernet jack is green

8. Check if the node can see the USRP:

   uhd_find_devices
   

   If not, retry step 7

9. Burn new firmware and FPGA images to the USRP:

Normal image:

usrp_n2xx_simple_net_burner --fw="/usr/share/uhd/images/usrp_n210_fw.bin" --fpga="/usr/share/uhd/images/usrp_n210_r4_fpga.bin" --dont-check-rev

Do NOT reboot the USRP when asked.

Safe image:

usrp_n2xx_simple_net_burner --fw="/usr/share/uhd/images/usrp_n210_fw.bin" --fpga="/usr/share/uhd/images/usrp_n210_r4_fpga.bin" --dont-check-rev --overwrite-safe

Allow the USRP to reboot when asked.

10. Check if the node can see the USRP:

    uhd_find_devices
    

    If not, manually power-cycle the USRP back into safe-mode again and proceed to step 11.

If the USRP shows up, proceed to step 14.

11. Write new default ip into EEPROM:

    /usr/lib/uhd/utils/usrp_burn_mb_eeprom --values="ip-addr=192.168.10.2"
    

12. Reboot the USRP into regular mode by just power-cycling it (do not hold down the S2 button)

13. Check if the node can see the USRP:

    uhd_find_devices
    

14. Test image loading (all steps should report "successful"):

    uhd_image_loader --args="type=usrp2,addr=192.168.10.2"
    

15. Check if everything shows up correctly (versions, daughter-boards, etc):

    uhd_usrp_probe