When something goes wrong

KaikuSDR describes what happened in plain language and offers a way to fix it. The notices you may see:

Notice	What to do
A receiver lost its connection to rtl_tcp	Check that the dongle is connected and that rtl_tcp is running for it on that port (see Your receiver). Then choose Try again.
An Airspy, HackRF, bladeRF or Fobos SDR is not plugged in / is being used by another program	Connect it, or close the other program. Then choose Try again.
An Airspy needs libairspy, a HackRF needs libhackrf, a bladeRF needs libbladeRF, a Fobos SDR needs libfobos	Install the library: on a Mac `brew install airspy`, `brew install hackrf` or `brew install libbladerf`; libfobos from RigExpert. Then choose Try again.
A bladeRF has no FPGA image loaded	Install Nuand's bladeRF software with the FPGA image, or configure the bladeRF to load its image itself. Then choose Try again.
Recording has stopped: nothing can be saved in a folder	The folder may be on a drive that was disconnected, or the app may not have permission to write there. Choose Choose another folder, then switch recording on again.
Recording has stopped: the recordings folder has reached its limit	Free some space, or raise the limit in the recording settings. Then switch recording on again.
On Windows: Speech detection and speech to text need Microsoft's Visual C++ runtime; so does the RTL-SDR Blog's rtl_tcp.exe	Choose Download from Microsoft in the notice, or search Microsoft's website for "Visual C++ Redistributable" and take the x64 version. Run the downloaded installer; Windows asks for permission. Then close KaikuSDR and start it again. The demo and receivers other than RTL-SDR dongles work without the runtime; speech detection, speech to text and rtl_tcp.exe need it.
On Windows: rtl_tcp.exe … Windows cannot start it	rtl_tcp.exe was found, but Windows cannot start it because a file it depends on is missing. If the Visual C++ runtime is missing, install it as above. Otherwise extract the complete Release.zip again, keeping every file next to rtl_tcp.exe. Then choose Look again or Try again.
Something went wrong in this window (in KaikuSDR's own window) / on this page (in a browser)	Scanning and recording continue. In the window, choose Try again; if that does not help, close KaikuSDR and start it again. In a browser, choose Reload the page.
The connection to KaikuSDR was lost	The page reconnects by itself. If KaikuSDR's own window reports that it lost touch with this window, choose Try again, or close KaikuSDR and start it again. In a browser, if KaikuSDR was closed or restarted, choose Reload the page.
KaikuSDR closed unexpectedly the last time it ran / Something went wrong on the page a moment ago	A report of what happened was saved. Choose Send the report so that a later version can fix the problem; the complete text is shown first. Or choose Copy the report for whoever is helping you. Nothing is sent until you choose Send.

Sending a report

When a problem is not solved by the notices, or a receiver KaikuSDR has not been tested with does not work, send a report. Report this problem is next to Try again in a receiver's notice. Report a problem is in Help, under When something goes wrong, and in Settings › About. A dialog opens:

What happened? Describe in your own words what you were doing and what you expected. This is the most useful part of the report.
See what will be sent shows the complete text as it will be sent: the version, this computer, the error, your receivers' models, settings and readings, the USB devices seen, and the last lines of the app's log. It never includes your name, your channels, your recordings or what was heard.
Send sends the report to the developer, once. The dialog then shows the report's number; quote it if you contact support about the same problem.
Copy instead copies the same text to the clipboard. Nothing is sent until you choose Send.

Every report is kept in the app's folder (Reports), whether sent or not. If the developer's server cannot be reached, the dialog says so and the report remains for another attempt.

The app's log files are in the app's folder (on a Mac, ~/Library/Application Support/KaikuSDR/Logs), one file a day for the last week.