rbfeeder stopped working -- error 6

[grth]

Feeding to RB has stopped working on one of my Raspberrys a few days ago. All other services (FR24, Flightaware, Planefinder, Opensky) are running as they have been for years, so this should not be a hardware problem.

I have already uninstalled and reinstalled rbfeeder, unfortunately without success.
Currently installed version is "RBFeeder v1.0.11 (build 20241022110000)".

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rtl_test -t
Found 1 device(s):
  0:  Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00000001

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
usb_claim_interface error -6
Failed to open rtlsdr device #0.


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sudo systemctl status rbfeeder
● rbfeeder.service - RBFeeder Service
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/rbfeeder.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-05-15 13:59:35 CEST; 8min ago
    Process: 915 ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir /var/run/rbfeeder (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 922 ExecStartPre=/bin/chown rbfeeder:rbfeeder /var/run/rbfeeder (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 924 ExecStartPre=/bin/touch /var/log/rbfeeder.log (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 928 ExecStartPre=/bin/chown rbfeeder:rbfeeder /var/log/rbfeeder.log (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 929 ExecStartPre=/bin/chown rbfeeder:rbfeeder /etc/rbfeeder.ini (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 931 ExecStartPre=/bin/setfacl -m u:www-data:rwx /etc/rbfeeder.ini (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 932 (rbfeeder)
      Tasks: 9 (limit: 3915)
        CPU: 6.166s
     CGroup: /system.slice/rbfeeder.service
             └─932 /usr/bin/rbfeeder

May 15 14:07:29 raspi11 rbfeeder[8222]: usb_claim_interface error -6
May 15 14:07:29 raspi11 rbfeeder[8222]: rtlsdr: error opening the RTLSDR device: Device or resource busy
May 15 14:07:32 raspi11 rbfeeder[8264]: Thu May 15 14:07:32 2025 CEST  dump1090-rb 1.0.11 starting up.
May 15 14:07:32 raspi11 rbfeeder[8264]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U OEM (Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN 00000001)
May 15 14:07:32 raspi11 rbfeeder[8264]: usb_claim_interface error -6
May 15 14:07:32 raspi11 rbfeeder[8264]: rtlsdr: error opening the RTLSDR device: Device or resource busy
May 15 14:07:35 raspi11 rbfeeder[8296]: Thu May 15 14:07:35 2025 CEST  dump1090-rb 1.0.11 starting up.
May 15 14:07:36 raspi11 rbfeeder[8296]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U OEM (Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN 00000001)
May 15 14:07:36 raspi11 rbfeeder[8296]: usb_claim_interface error -6
May 15 14:07:36 raspi11 rbfeeder[8296]: rtlsdr: error opening the RTLSDR device: Device or resource busy


Any help is greatly appreciated.

edit: OS is latest Pi OS version (Deb12 bookworm based), running on Pi4, no other USB devices connected

[Runway 31]

Can you post your RB ini file with you serail number redacted, some thing/service has already grabbed the stick

Alan

[grth]

I only have this 3 lines in the ini:

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[client]
key=qwertzuioasdfghjklyxcvbnm123456789
sn=EXTRPI684363


[Runway 31]

I dont have much in the way of Linux knowledge but there should be a lot more infro in the rb feeder ini file, see attached as an example

Alan

[grth]

Ok, works again.
I uninstalled rbfeeder again via apt, but this time I deleted the ini manually.
When reinstalling rbfeeder, a complete standard ini was created and then the receiver was re-registered.
The "error 6" error message is still there, but does not seem to affect rbfeeder. My mistake, sorry.

Many thanks for your help.

[Runway 31]

Just happy you got it going

Alan

[abcd567]

Ok, works again.
The "error 6" error message is still there, but does not seem to affect rbfeeder.

If an external decoder like dump1090-fa or readsb + tar1090 is running, it uses the dongle, therefore the dongle is NOT available for use by the rbfeeder's built-in decoder dump1090-rb and it is also not available for rtl_test. As a result the rbfeeder and rtl_test command both give following error message:

"usb_claim_interface error -6
Failed to open rtlsdr device #0."

this situation can be remedied by
Either disabling (or uninstalling) external decoder dump1090-fa  / readsb + tar1090
OR
Disabling built-in decoder dump1090-rb.

The built-in decoder can be disabled by making following setting in file /etc/rbfeeder.ini
network_mode=true

Please see attached screenshot