Error codes from libhackrf are not very legible, and in the case of HACKRF_ERROR_LIBUSB, don't uniquely describe the cause of the error.

Calling hackrf_error_name() provides a human-readable message, and in the case of libusb errors, identifies the actual cause rather than just indicating that the error came from libusb.

This came up whilst trying to diagnose a libhackrf bug which showed up when using libhackrf, via gr-osmosdr, via gqrx: https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf/issues/883 --- lib/hackrf/hackrf_source_c.cc | 6 ++++-- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/hackrf/hackrf_source_c.cc b/lib/hackrf/hackrf_source_c.cc index 03ea3bd..2826924 100644 --- a/lib/hackrf/hackrf_source_c.cc +++ b/lib/hackrf/hackrf_source_c.cc @@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ bool hackrf_source_c::start() hackrf_common::start(); int ret = hackrf_start_rx( _dev.get(), _hackrf_rx_callback, (void *)this ); if ( ret != HACKRF_SUCCESS ) { - std::cerr << "Failed to start RX streaming (" << ret << ")" << std::endl; + const char *msg = hackrf_error_name( (enum hackrf_error) ret ); + std::cerr << "Failed to start RX streaming (" << ret << ": " << msg << ")" << std::endl; return false; } return true; @@ -184,7 +185,8 @@ bool hackrf_source_c::stop() hackrf_common::stop(); int ret = hackrf_stop_rx( _dev.get() ); if ( ret != HACKRF_SUCCESS ) { - std::cerr << "Failed to stop RX streaming (" << ret << ")" << std::endl; + const char *msg = hackrf_error_name( (enum hackrf_error) ret ); + std::cerr << "Failed to stop RX streaming (" << ret << ": " << msg << ")" << std::endl; return false; } return true;