Ubuntu + GNURadio Install

1

Hi, new user here. Just trying to figure out how to setup to simply stream in GNURadio from Kraken SDR with Ubuntu.

  1. Ran the x86 64 bit install scripts:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/krakenrf/krakensdr_docs/main/install_scripts/krakensdr_x86_install_doa.sh
sudo chmod +x krakensdr_x86_install_doa.sh
./krakensdr_x86_install_doa.sh
  1. Installed gr-krakensdr
sudo apt-get install gnuradio-dev cmake libspdlog-dev clang-format

git clone https://github.com/krakenrf/gr-krakensdr

cd gr-krakensdr
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install
  1. Followed gr-krakensdr instructions:
    In the heimdall_daq_fw folder edit your Firmware/daq_chain_config.ini file and change out_data_iface_type to eth.
[data_interface]
out_data_iface_type = eth

What am I missing? Running ./kraken_doa_start.sh gives me a constant stream of “WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)” i.e.

>>./kraken_doa_start.sh 
Shut down DAQ chain ..
Config file check bypassed [ WARNING ]
kernel.sched_rt_runtime_us = -1
WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)
Shut down DAQ chain ..
WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)
Shut down DAQ chain ..
WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)
Shut down DAQ chain ..

However running lsof -i :5000 and lsof -i :5001 says those ports are not being used.

Running the super simple GNURadio block to test and nothing pops up

Screenshot from 2023-12-11 01-21-58

Any suggestions what I’m missing or what I should try? Thanks

1 Like
2

If you’re connecting to GNU Radio, make sure you are following the right instructions. GitHub - krakenrf/gr-krakensdr

Make sure you are running ./heimdall_only_start.sh, not ./kraken_doa_start.sh as the latter will also start the Python DOA code which you do not want running.

3

working with Krakensdr using gnu radio is important and need to be more explained for beginners (like my self). im also facing problems

4

What problems are you having?

5

im trying to use krakensdr on an x86 device via ubuntu. I tried my best following the instructions (im a beginner in these fields) but when I execute any example flow graph on gnu radio I get the following error and gnu radio crashes.
ErrorMsg

6

I fixed it. The main issue was that the krakensdr root directory is krakensdr_doa not krakensdr

7

Thank you, yes that was certainly a problem. However still running ./heimdall_only_start.sh still gives me the same error:

~/krakensdr_doa$ ./heimdall_only_start.sh
Shut down DAQ chain …
[sudo] password for kraken:
Config file check bypassed [ WARNING ]
kernel.sched_rt_runtime_us = -1
WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)
Shut down DAQ chain …
WARN:Ports used by the DAQ chain are not free! (5000 & 5001)
Shut down DAQ chain …

8

Did you run kraken_doa_start at some point before? It seems like the Kraken software stack is still running from a prior run which is why the ports are in use.

You’ll need to shut it down first with kraken_doa_stop, or just restart your PC (assuming you haven’t done anything to make the software autostart).

9

Yeah I thought it might be that but I tried restarting the PC and still got the error after runnning just heimdall_only_start.sh

10

Then there must be some other software using the same ports running on your PC. Can you try:

netstat -ano | grep 5001
netstat -ano | grep 5000

This should show you what program is using these ports.

11

Hi!

I’m trying to set up the Kraken SDR with Ubuntu + GNURadio but I’m struggling with using heimdall_daq_fw.
When I set “out_data_iface_type = eth” in the daq_chain_config.ini and run “sudo ./daq_start_sm.sh”, I see error in the “delay_sync.log”. An because the delay_sync.py is crashing the iq_server is in a blocked state.

Traceback (most recent call last): File “/home/zp/code/krakensdr/heimdall_daq_fw/Firmware/_daq_core/delay_sync.py”, line 41, in import skrf as rf ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘skrf’

How are you using it? I don’t see how it could work when the python modules are installed in the conda environment but the script is running as sudo.

Update 1: Just for the completeness, when I’m running “./daq_start_sm.sh” without sudo I’m getting the following error:
chrt: failed to set pid 0’s policy: Operation not permitted

Update 2: The build looks good in that sense the unit test passes after reverting c525212da63c316169e9b1ef47d6791bba1af202 . (That change removes shared memory unlinking which seems to brake the unit test.)

12

Your install is missing the scikit-rf package.

conda activate kraken

conda install -y scikit-rf
13

Hi,

Thanks — but in my case scikit-rf is already installed in the conda environment, so that alone doesn’t resolve the issue.

The underlying problem seems to be that daq_start_sm.sh (and therefore delay_sync.py) must be run with sudo, which causes it to bypass the current user’s conda environment. As a result, even though scikit-rf is available in conda, it is not visible when the script runs under sudo, since root uses a different Python environment.

So the issue is not simply a missing dependency, but a mismatch between:

  • Python dependencies installed in a conda environment

  • Execution happening under sudo, which does not preserve that environment

This is also why I was asking how daq_start_sm.sh is intended to be run on Ubuntu in your setup. From one side, chrt requires elevated privileges, but on the other side the Python layer expects packages from a user-level conda environment, which becomes inaccessible once the script is executed under sudo.