Problem running KrakenSDR on Ubuntu laptop (only port 5001 active, FFT not working)

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Dear KrakenRF Support Team,

I am currently working with a KrakenSDR 5-channel device and attempting to run it directly on my laptop (Ubuntu 24.04) without a Raspberry Pi. I have followed the instructions to build and run the heimdall_daq_fw firmware and gr-krakensdr blocks. The DAQ subsystem starts successfully and opens port 5001 for IQ data, but port 5000 (control) does not start, and as a result no IQ stream is received unless synthetic mode is used.

My current setup and issues:

  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (laptop with dual-boot)

  • SDR: KrakenSDR (5× RTL2838) connected directly via USB

  • Heimdall DAQ builds successfully, and processes (rtl_daq.out, rebuffer.out, iq_server.out) are running

  • Port 5001 is open, but no data stream is produced (nc test returns no bytes)

  • GNU Radio Companion examples (kraken_fft_display) fail with Ethernet Connection Timeout because control port 5000 is not available

  • When using daq_synthetic_start.sh, data flows correctly on 5001, which confirms the pipeline and display path are working

  • Logs showed missing Python dependencies (scikit-rf), which I installed, but port 5000 is still not enabled by the startup scripts

Questions:

  1. Is there an officially supported way to run KrakenSDR directly on a laptop (without Raspberry Pi or dedicated controller)?

  2. How can I properly enable and use the control interface (5000) so that the GRC examples and client scripts function normally?

  3. If direct laptop use is not supported, could you please share the recommended procedure (e.g., is Raspberry Pi 4 with official image the only supported method)?

I would greatly appreciate your guidance on the official and stable way to bring KrakenSDR online in this scenario.

Thank you very much for your support.

Best regards,

Khalid

2

New KrakenSDR user here and had a similar struggle on 24.04. Super frustrating! I don’t have an answer to your question, but 22.04 was a much better experience and the GRC examples (kraken_fft_display) are working on my x86 host. I used the install script, rebooted. Edited /heimdall_daq_fw/Firmware/daq_chain_config.ini changing out_data_iface_type from shmem → eth. I launch the acquisition with the below start.sh script, then can run gr-companion. Good luck, let me know if I can help.


#!/bin/bash

eval "$(conda shell.bash hook)"
conda activate kraken

**# Clear pycache before starting if the -c flag is given**
while getopts c flag

do

    case "${flag}" in

        c) sudo py3clean . ;;

    esac

done

./kraken_doa_stop.sh
#sleep 2

cd heimdall_daq_fw/Firmware

sudo env "PATH=$PATH" ./daq_start_sm.sh
1 Like
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We prefer that people use our ready to use images on the Raspberry Pi, because that is known working hardware. When used on other devices there are many variables that we can’t control, so it is difficult to know if it will work.

But if you can supply the log files that might help.

I suspect that you might already have something on your device using the control port. Are there any other services running?

Also did you remember to set out_data_iface_type to eth in the config?