# LimeSDR Mini on ubuntu 16.04

**URL:** <https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [11 February 2020 09:05 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752 "2020-02-11T09:05:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wisaam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/59ef9b/32.png) [@Wisaam](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/u/Wisaam)\
**Post date:** [11 February 2020 09:05 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752/1 "2020-02-11T09:05:11Z")

</div>

Hello, I’m relatively new to the SDR concept, and have been trying to install and get the Lime SDR mini working on a ubuntu vm.

So far I’ve tried multiple ways to install, yet for some reason at the end even with SoapySDR, the necessary dependencies and Lime Suite installed, my vm cannot detect the device, although my windows Lime Suite installation does detect it.

example steps followed: [https://en.dlyang.me/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu/](https://en.dlyang.me/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu/)

Any help on this would be great.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![andrewback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@andrewback](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/u/andrewback)\
**Post date:** [11 February 2020 11:05 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752/2 "2020-02-11T11:05:17Z")

</div>

The first step would be to confirm that the USB subsystem in the VM can actually see the hardware. So if you run “lsusb” before and after plugging the board in — while also making sure that the VM is configured to pass through the LimeSDR Mini — do you see any difference? If not, it’s not passing through the device and it doesn’t matter what software you install, it’s never going to work and you’ll need to first get past this initial VM configuration step.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wisaam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/59ef9b/32.png) [@Wisaam](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/u/Wisaam)\
**Post date:** [11 February 2020 11:16 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752/3 "2020-02-11T11:16:22Z")

</div>

Thanks Andrew.

So lsusb shows only the same 2 devices when the device is plugged in or not, i.e. it’s not registering.

I read that linux doesn;t require and drivers for the lime usb devices, so what other reason could there be that it is not reading it?

 ![Capture](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/myriadrf/original/2X/3/3a63c9cd0fe967508f6196764c53aa6ee674a31a.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wisaam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/59ef9b/32.png) [@Wisaam](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/u/Wisaam)\
**Post date:** [11 February 2020 11:19 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752/4 "2020-02-11T11:19:53Z")

</div>

I’ve figured it out, turns out I had to select the hardware allowed to interact with VirtualBox. Below picture for future reference.

Thanks anyway.

 ![capture%202](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/myriadrf/original/2X/3/30a786c6d825ce1d28f92f4deec83f2d23d340e0.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![andrewback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@andrewback](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/u/andrewback)\
**Post date:** [11 February 2020 11:27 UTC](https://discourse.myriadrf.org/t/limesdr-mini-on-ubuntu-16-04/5752/5 "2020-02-11T11:27:07Z")

</div>

That’s right, VirtualBox has to “pass through” the device from the host machine to the virtual machine. You can also configure USB device filters to do this automatically.