EtherREGEN: Installation, Usage, Difficulty, Questions thread

[cat6man]

for android, i recommend the app "fing" for ipscanning

for linux, the 'angry ip scanner'

[cat6man]

18 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

To any users who have experienced loss of connection:

 

We have fully figured out the issue and by the end of this week will be releasing a firmware update to eliminate the problem.

 

It is all an 'A'-side issue having to do with "Energy Efficient Ethernet" (EEE) and our main switch chip's poor support of such (discovered in an errata sheet for it released well after we had designed in the part). John thought he had already set the registers right in the firmware, but his deeper inspection last night revealed that his code was not setting the registers he thought it was. 

 

We certainly do not want anyone to become frustrated with use of their EtherREGEN, so if you are experiencing connectivity problems, please just set aside your EtherREGEN for a few days until we release the update.  

 

Of course we will explain everything and make the process simple.  The only tools required will be a Torx T10 screwdriver (or just bit tip) to remove one end panel of the case, and a standard USB 'A' to microUSB cable.  The actual process beyond that will be silly-simple.

 

The vast majority of EtherREGEN users are not experiencing any problems (their connected devices are not trying to use EEE), so those users will not need to update their firmware.

 

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

--Alex C.

 

alex,

can you tell us what devices you've seen so far that try to use EEE?

[cat6man]

36 minutes ago, vortecjr said:

My guess is that they are experiencing the effect of galvanic isolation. I have been hearing about the benefits of optical isolation since the early days of the mR. Anyway, I’ll make sure Adrian and Barrows get to try it out as well. 

 

well, i have multiple generations of products from both of you guys, so let me make one comment here.

 

when i replaced my ultraRendu with an opticalRendu and ran fiber from my netgear switch, i heard a small improvement in SQ.

when i replaced the SFP in the netgear with an opticalModule, the SQ improvement was large.............so, it is not just galvanic isolation even if we don't know exactly what it is.

 

heck, why does running audiolinux in ramroot sound better than running it on a usb stick?  why does the power supply at the NUC server make a difference with all the other stuff between the server and DAC?  we just don't know everything that needs to be measured, therefore not measuring a difference is well short of conclusive evidence that something cannot be working.

 

i'm REALLY looking forward to understanding the mechanisms involved here.  reducing known measurable noise sources is a good step in the right direction though.

 

also looking forward to eR in January batch

[cat6man]

16 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

'A'-side only.  The 'B'-side PHY is part of an entirely different Ethernet logic chip.

But 'A'-side flows to 'B'-side...  And I am assuming that what John reported to me was listening to a device that was connected to the 'B' side. But we have not spoken today so I don't know that for certain.  But if the register change (to the main 'A'-side switch) is from a technical performance standpoint improved--enough for it to called out in the manufacturer's errata document for the part, then I see no down side to it.

 

re: A side flows to B side

 

for those of us with opticalRendus, it would be interesting if the register change benefit accrued to the A side optical when used downstream.

are any of your early testers running B==>A and able to look at that direction?

[cat6man]

On 12/12/2019 at 7:53 AM, spotforscott said:

Hi Alex, thanks for the call/ support. I have not had a chance to address audiolinux situation yet. In terms of firmware, I received in second batch so I don't need to update, correct?

 

i'm in 3rd batch but curious about where the referenced audiolinux NUC setting (that needs to be 100mb/s) resides?

[cat6man]

forgive me but i haven't read every post since getting my eR.

has the white paper been released?