Hi,
I just received my LimeSDR board and am looking forward to getting it up and running. I am very much a Newbie when it comes to Linux. I am currently using PENTOO linux via bootable USB and have found it to work quite well with RTL-SDR.
What I am looking for is some step by step instructions to install LimeSuite and Pothos onto my Pentoo USB stick so as to be able to use my LimeSDR with it.
If anyone can help me out here, it would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins.
Forgot to add my callsign…VK3WWB
Hi Brendan,
If you’d like to use Linux and are new to it, I would strongly recommend using Ubuntu instead, as this way you will get it installed much faster and without having to build Lime Suite, SoapySDR and Pothos etc. from source code. Also, since Pentoo has a security focus and claims to be hardened, this may well make it a particularly bad candidate in that it’s extra secure nature may introduce additional hurdles.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your reply. I do have Ubuntu installed on one of my pc’s and have the pothos and limesuite snaps installed. I have had no joy getting my limesdr to detect in limesuite yet. I know that the board is ok as in windows the device is detected ok in windows device manager (I have not installed limesuite etc to get any drivers installed in windows but it least the board is seen). I will play around with my Ubuntu install some more when I have a little more time. Ultimately, I would like to get it working on Pentoo as it would be a good learning experience.
I might try a fresh install of Ubuntu and try the method of install in the link you provided. I’ll let you know how I go.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB.
Hi Brendan,
If you’ve built from source I’d recommend uninstalling, then configuring the PPA and installing from this as per the wiki instructions. Note that there is also a second PPA you can configure to get GNU Radio packages and the gr-osmosdr blocks that enable you to use this with your LimeSDR.
https://launchpad.net/~myriadrf/+archive/ubuntu/gnuradio
if you could then run the LimeUtil and SoapySDRUtil commands described here and paste the output:
@andrewback Ubuntu is an Linux distribution as Pentoo and many other distributiuons. The best option here should be building the packages from source wich is the same procedure as Ubuntu (Ubuntu also have the apt repositories with the packages but those can be trouble).
Thanks,
Filipe
Hi Filipe, yes, I am aware of the various Linux distributions — been using it since 1994 or so 
However, if someone is experiencing difficulty getting up and running, we would generally advise using packages.
Sorry then . The problem with gnu radio and packages is that many packages require older version of gnu radio and that can get a little messy. I don’t know if this is the case with LimeSDR but I remember last time I tried to install gr-gsm it was an headache.
Hi Andrew,
I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 16.04 and installed limesdr drivers, soapysdr and limesuite using the ppa’s as per your recommendation.
I can now see my LimeSDR in LimeSuite so all is working well there.
I have installed GNURadio and gr-osmosdr but when I try to setup the osmocom source block with soapy=0,driver=lime, GRC crashes. Any thoughts as to what I may be doing wrong here ?
Further to the above, ANY attempted changes to any settings in osmocom source or rtl-sdr source blocks causes GRC to crash.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB.
If it helps at all to solve my problem, this is how I installed everything :-
Fresh install of Ubuntu 16.04 64bit
Installed OS updates.
Installed NVIDIA drivers.
Installed Google Chrome.
Then installed LimeSuite etc using the following commands :-
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:myriadrf/drivers
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install limesuite limesuite-udev limesuite-images
sudo apt-get install soapysdr soapysdr-module-lms7
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:myriadrf/gnuradio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnuradio
sudo apt-get install gr-osmosdr.
Everything seems to have installed ok. GRC works ok other than the osmocom sink/source and rtl-sdr sink/source so I suspect I have a problem with or have incorrectly installed gr-osmosdr.
I’m looking forward to playing around with my LimeSDR in gnu-radio so am hoping someone can help me get it going.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB.
This post was written awhile ago, but still relevant toward installing LimeSDR on Ubuntu. This was done as a Ubuntu image to be used on a Windows PC using a VirtualBox image of Ubuntu preloaded with LimeSDR resources. It’s the method I’ve used for awhile to make the installation straight. Just do a comparison to how I installed LimeSDR and SoapySDR resources to how you did it and you may find the source of the issue - here’s the link:
Running LimeSDR on Win 10 using VirtualBox/Ubuntu - It's possible
Let us know how you did on this and if there’s any further issues getting the Lime running with Ubuntu…
73 de Marty, KN0CK
Thanks for the info Marty,
I might try a fresh install of 15.1 and follow the instructions to see how it goes.
Currently I have Limesuite detecting my LimeSDR and I can connect to it ok.
SoapySDRUtil finds my LimeSDR ok too. Problem seems to be only gr-osmosdr.
I’ll let you know how I go. Linux is a bit of a steep learning curve for a person that has been MS Windows only for over 20 years. Previous CLI OS experience was with Commodore Amiga…Things have changed a LOT since then. I am looking forward to building my Linux knowledge.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB
Hi Marty,
I performed a fresh install of Ubuntu 15.10 and followed the instructions. All went well until I got to the point of searching for SDR in the Ubuntu Software Center. None of the items listed in the instructions show up. Any ideas ?
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB
Hi @brendanthebig,
We currently only maintain packages for Ubuntu releases:
17.04 (Zesty)
16.04 (Xenial)
14.04 (Trusty)
There are also packages for 16.10 (Yakkety), but these date from 30th April and will not be updated.
This is why you cannot find packages for 15.10 after installing the PPA.
Thanks for thT info Andrew. I will try it all again with 16.04
Andrew is correct - the post I made last year was still being supported and I should have written up a new procedure, but you can pick up all the packages in Synaptic Package Handler per the instructions and install them that way - no need to compile (much). Ubuntu 16.1 does work with this same procedure, and don’t feel bad…I’ve had installations where I started with an older version and had to install subsequent versions because I got well into the install and found things aren’t supported anymore, too. You should be good with 16.04 and 16.1 with the same procedural steps.
73 de Marty, KN0CK
I tried following the steps on an install of 16.04 but could not find ANY of the files in Software Center when searching for Lime, Soapy and SDR.
I am currently in the middle of following the steps on an install of 14.04. Should be finished in half hour or so. I’ll let you know how I go.
Regards,
Brendan Jenkins,
VK3WWB
Same result with 14.04. Can’t see any of the files in Software Center.
@brendanthebig
In ubuntu software i believe if you search “SDR” will show cubicsdr and Gqrx but if you looking for lime and soapy wont show there you have to install it by source code , apt-get or by ppa.
I wish there was an up to date set of instructions like the one Marty recommended I follow. Very easy to follow and understand for someone with extremely limited linux knowledge…