This has become a problem that has gotten worse. This was an occasional problem a few months ago, and now it happens every time I use the MB1. I'm very frustrated with my MB1 now. It's the best "radio" that I own, but also the one I can not depend on to keep working. The software locks up at random no matter whether you are active in a contest or a QSO... the receiver just stops and the software hangs.

I hope to get your help to diagnose what is happening. When I start up the MB1 it goes through all the normal Windows 10 baggage that any machine tied to the internet does. I actually power on my MB1 and I just come back an hour later in hopes that whatever download-push business has finished by then. Now recently, even this amount of dwell time is not enough. I am being plagued with the ESDR2 software locking up and displaying the message "can't connect to MB1". The application stops.... the 'power' icon goes gray... the receiver ceases. I then click the icon to restart the ESDR2 software but that seldom works... or it just works for a few seconds and then it disconnects again. I'm finding that killing the ESDR2 application and restarting it doesn't help either. I am having to restart the whole physical machine with the Windows O/S "Restart". Even then... it might not fix it. Last night after an additional hour of hassle and three Restarts the MB1 finally worked again. All this didn't really matter because the band was closed by then anyway, but still... what is happening to my multi-thousand dollar machine? Why has my MB1 become such a victim to whatever Windows 10 is pushing?

I'm hoping to learn what is behind that ESDR2 software error message, "can't connect to MB1". Please tell me what internal software-emulated connection is being disrupted? Also, how may I troubleshoot this through Task Manager to identify what process (I'm guessing) may be killing the ESDR2 software? Any advice is appreciated. To be honest, I don't have a lot of Windows O/S knowledge, so please don't assume I'm a software engineer with the arcane knowledge of virtual connections and the like. I'll need to use whatever simple tools are resident in the machine.

Kind regards, Jack

can't connect to MB1 have you checked the SDR adress >Options >device Check page 90 in Eric EI4KF addendum eesdr.com/images/Document/PDF/Expert%20Electronics%20Addendum.pdf

Thank for the link, and I found that page also. I will try this tool tonight or this weekend. I'm hoping that CMD function can conclusively lead me to what other software is fighting for the port address. I will report back what I find.

It seems that there should or could be a more robust way to link the main ESDR software to the MB1. I do hope this dependency is more solid in ESDR3.

Many thanks, Jack

Besides Windows and the EESDR software

Has anything else been installed on your MB1

1) any additional antivirus software- antivirus etc.
2) what version (as in what Windows 10 version is on it currently)

Have you ever used or tried using a 3rd party malware or junkware scanner? some suggestions would be
First running RKILL to terminate anything running in the background that could block an AV from detecting it www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/
Second running after the above www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/

then use a god Antivirus scanner and do a FULL scan-
if you're waiting that long for system boot up and settle down,
either there is crap running in background you are unaware of, or hard drive issues,
Not knowing what model (MB1 as in build year) I would suspect a more recent and should have an SSD (solid State Drive) so it shouldn't be slow to boot, but if it is an older mechanical drive the slow boots and many instances of the application lockup could easily be explained as a drive failure

If you havent used these before there are links describing and how to

Btw wich version of V2 do you use? if i where in your shoes i would do an new instalation of ESSDR V2 its simple (use update 8 ) if you are interested in remote update 9 killed the possibilty to send CW remote.
If you need the filess i have them.

sm4ive wrote:
It may actually be worth him doing a fresh Windows and EESDR install- to rule out any file corruptions

One other thing I should have mentioned, in windows open an administrator command prompt and run SFC/f
www.windowscentral.com/how-use-sfc-scannow-command-fix-problems-windows-10

Hello Team,

Thank you for all your responses. I still have the problem, and I have done some diagnostics today. I have included several screen captures to help answer your questions.

You'll see from the screen captures that my hardware is top notch and very capable. You'll also see that I have ESDR2 Update 8 running. This is what came loaded in the MB1 when I took delivery in January.

I do run Kaspersky antivirus software, and I have had that installed since I first received my MB1 back in January (2021). I doubt that Kaspersky is causing this issue. This summer I installed Acronis True Image to make backup images of the SSD, because once I finally got all of the MB1 configuration setup I didn't want to have to go through that again. It appears to me now that Acronis is running a lot in the Task Manager even though I have it set to Manual mode where I only use it when I choose it. I'm not savvy, but it appears like it is trying to run Acronis security which is a feature that I have turned off... hmmm. I might uninstall Acronis all together and see what happens. It's a dang shame not to be able to trust software to not fight with it's neighbors.

In some of the screen shots you'll see the Task Manager and the Performance tab. Notice that the Network activity is holding steady at 17%. I disconnected the physical Ethernet cable and this activity still persists. I tracked that down to the virtual network connection to the MB1. When I 'disable' this network connection the activity drops to 0% and when I 'enable' it again it runs back up to 17%. Again... the physical house Ethernet cable is unplugged, so this is a burden from the virtual network connection.

I've followed the UMA section 9.14 for "MB1 Fails to Connect to the Computer". I used the CMD window and those two commands to no avail. They yielded nothing. I've included a screen capture. The tasklist /svc command shows that the port address is occupied by the ESDR2 application, but even when ESDR2 locks up suddenly this CMD window tool still only shows that ESDR2 is using the port. I thought (from my interpretation of the UMA) that these commands might let me see that some other software was using the same port besides the MB1. They did not show me this. Is there some update to the UMA that I am missing?

Before I let you go for now.... the MB1 started up fine this morning and I was monitoring 40m early for about 15 minutes. Then without warning (as always) the ESDR2 software tossed the error message "can't connect to MB1" (see screen capture) and I was off the air from then on. I presume that if I power down the MB1 and turn it back on something will reset again and I'll be back on the air. I am hoping through your inquiries that I can track this down.

Best regards, Jack

I have a new finding! I restarted the MB1 (Windows Restart) and as before it came up running fine. I then started ESDR2 and monitored 20m activity. Now while ESDR2 is running I open Task Manager and watch the activity. I see that the Network activity was at 17% and the application causing it was ESDR2. So, I halted the ESDR2 software (software power button in upper left corner of application) and then the Network activity shown in the Task Manager went down to 0%! When I restarted ESDR2 and the waterfall was running again the network activity was back up to 17%! Therefore, when ESDR2 is running properly I can demonstrate the network activity is due to the ESDR2 application.

In my previous post I mentioned that I had found the 17% network activity was due to the virtual network connection with ESDR2. However, at that time the ESDR2 application was not running. At that time ESDR2 was Hung and it was tossing the error "can't connect to MB1". So why was the network activity still running at 17% with the software hung?! Hmmm....

So... my finding is this... even when ESDR2 locks up and says, "can't connect to MB1" it still keeps the network port running activity. This tells me that somehow that port is not connected to the software anymore. The virtual network port needs to be released or reset to make it work again. The only thing I know that makes this happen is Restarting the whole computer with the Windows - Restart.

In my last post I mentioned that the UMA instructions (Section 9.14) don't help me find out if other software may be using this port. Now looking at it... I think those CMD Window tools are actually telling me that ESDR2 still owns that port connection even though the ESDR2 application is locked and is not communicating through it.

Is there something I can do to find out why ESDR2 has stopped / locked / lost it's virtual network port connection? Is there another way to reset that virtual network port without Restarting the whole computer?

I have invested much time in this. I look forward to getting this problem resolved. I really appreciate the help you folks offer me.

Best regards, Jack

Relampago wrote:
Jack as an I/T guy for many years I will say Kaspersky can be a resource hog and I found it not to be all that effective!
my suggestion for a test

Kill Kaspersky (uninstall and run the 3rd party uninstaller) as that program doesn't fully uninstall and leave things running.
uninstall ACRONIS and its added security BS as well. set it up to manually do an image on demand, not on a scheduler and do not let it install its security suite

for time being try it with the built in Windows Antivirus program, it should auto default when windows see no other antivirus is in operation any longer.

One Inage program I can say doesn't have a scheduler issue and works very well is Macrium Reflect, both the home/commercial paid versions and oddly even the free home version works really well- give them a look over, have been using them for years on many of my business clients.

see links below
support.kaspersky.com/common/uninstall/1464 (this is the uninstaller tool)

kb.acronis.com/aticleanup (Acronis removal)

www.macrium.com/reflectfree?x-ca=blog (Macrium reflect 8 Free) scroll down page

and again, I would run the JRT scanner i mentioned earlier in previous post





Once those are uninstalled, shutdown the system (not just a reboot) then power it up and give it a try.

Hello,

I have gone from bad to worse. The ESDR2 application will start but it will not connect to the MB1 at all. No matter if I do a hard reboot or just stop/restart the application... the ESDR2 will not connect to the MB1 (see screen capture attached). I am now completely without a radio. I am ready to sell, so any interested parties please contact me.

To recap, I've spent at least 4 hours on this today in this order:

I uninstalled Acronis True Image
Reboot
I ran the "kb.acronis.com/aticleanup (Acronis removal)" utility to clean up after that.
Reboot
I uninstalled Kaspersky Total Security and Kaspersky Password Manager
Reboot
I ran the "support.kaspersky.com/common/uninstall/1464 (this is the uninstaller tool)" utility to clean up after that
Reboot
I downloaded and ran the "www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/junkware-removal-tool/" utility. It removed a couple of things (see screen captures attached)
Reboot
I turned on Windows Defender and updated the virus definitions
Reboot
I responded to the Windows Defender Firewall alert, and I allowed access for ESDR2 (see screen capture attached)
Reboot

When I first removed Acronis and Rebooted, I ran ESDR2 and the program stayed connected for about 45 minutes. I thought I was home free. Then it disconnected itself for no apparent reason, so I decided that I must continue with uninstalling Kaspersky and etc.

I'll summarize again.... now that the Acronis and Kaspersky applications are removed the ESDR2 application will NOT connect to the MB1 at all. Something in the software is really broken now.

Should I, or Can I reinstall ESDR2? What is the best way to start fresh with re-installing ESDR2?

Very sad... Jack

Relampago wrote:
Nope now you need to add an exception for EESDR to the Microsoft antivirus so that it will allow the application to run.
and also, good ideal to also add the firewall rules for EESDR as well

Then reboot and give it a go.

Thank you. Rick, I understand what you said, and I gave it a try and then powered down and back on again. Unfortunately, that did not help. The ESDR2 still does not connect to the MB1.

Perhaps I am really lost and I have not adjusted the right things in Windows Defender. I have attached two screen shots to show what I did. I can't recognize anywhere else in the security software settings that I should change (it's cryptic for me).

I appreciate your help and patience. Jack

I'm grasping for things. I tried the "netstat -aon | findstr 0.0:50001" command in the CMD window and that did not return anything. I know ESDR2 is running but it is 'not connected' to the MB1.

I've attached a screen capture of the MB1 options settings. You can see the Port address is 50001 (grayed out). There must be some reason why this Port is not working now. How do I get it reactivated?

73, Jack

Relampago wrote:
Jack

if you click discover does the software, see it?
as a quick test if the answer is no

disable firewall and try it,

if it connects then some changes in your firewall need to be made, (Please DO NOT LEAVE IT DISABLED) only for a test
if it does you may need to add a rule to allow port 50001 TCP inbound and outbound

Hi Jack - I'm coming into this discussion a little late but have a few ideas to try. First and foremost - can you check:-

1. What is the IP of your radio? I see from the screenshot above that you have it at 192.168.158.200 - is this correct?
2. What is the IP of the machine you're running EESDR2 from? (and subnet)