OP25 using VMware Player

[Fizz306]

An update for anyone that finds this useful...

I was looking to set up OP25 on my Windows machine without having to dual boot. Virtualization seemed like a good option. These are the methods I used to get it up and running.

Using VMware Player (free) and Ubuntu 14.04. Hardware is a Win7 Pro box, i5-4690k processor, and 16 GB of memory. The VM has 2 cores and 8GB dedicated to it.

Finding installation instructions for installing OP25 was frustrating, as practical information is scattered all over the internet, and because the Pybombs website's instructions are out of date and don't work. I used this link to install, and was up an running in short order:

http://communications.support/thread...buntu-14-04-03

The next issue I ran into was that OP25 wouldn't recognize my RTLSDR stick, despite the fact that I had connected it to the Linux VM. This fixed that issue:

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Open a terminal and type:

cd /etc/modprobe.d
sudo nano no-rtl.conf

Add the following lines to the new file:

blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
blacklist rtl2832
blacklist rtl2830

Save and exit using CTRL+X then reboot the computer.

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Next issue was major audio underruns. It was unlistenable, and was getting plenty of aUaUaUaU errors in the terminal window. Considering I was using a virtual audio card emulated by VMware, troubleshooting made it even more difficult. After much headbanging, I disabled PulseAudio by following these instructions:

http://kodi.wiki/view/PulseAudio/HO...ALSA_(without_removing_PulseAudio)_for_Ubuntu

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If you still have minor aU (audio underrun) issues, you can try tweaking the gr-audio-alsa.conf file (located in /pybombs/src/gnuradio/gr-audio/lib/alsa). Values of .1 seconds and nperiods of 64 worked well for me.

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I'm sure that this has been posted somewhere in this thread before, but there is a great video out there that walks you through configuring the .tsv files for trunking systems via OP25.

Note: disregard the first half of the video where Matt discusses how to install OP25 and GNUradio. They DO NOT work when using VMware Player and Ubuntu 14.04 (at least for me). Start watching at around the 9 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxQeCzksDi4

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Hope this helps others!

 

[AggieCon]

Howdy, thanks for posting this. I'm going to try it tomorrow. The first link in your post seems to be broken. Would you mind reposing the link?

 

[Fizz306]

Sorry about that. Not sure how it got messed up!

http://communications.support/threads/12199-How-to-Install-OP25-on-Ubuntu-14-04-03

 

[AggieCon]

Not your fault. It has to do with how the forum shortens URLs. Thanks for the update.

 

[AggieCon]

Howdy Rob,

Thank you for the great links and tips. I was able to get OP25 up and running this afternoon.

Below is a copy of your post with additional info for the places I stumbled (this is my first experience with Linux. Total NOOB).

An update for anyone that finds this useful...

I was looking to set up OP25 on my Windows machine without having to dual boot. Virtualization seemed like a good option. These are the methods I used to get it up and running.

Using VMware Player (free) and Ubuntu 14.04. Hardware is a Win7 Pro box, i5-4690k processor, and 16 GB of memory. The VM has 2 cores and 8GB dedicated to it.

I downloaded Ubuntu from this link: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS (Trusty Tahr)
VMWare will install the operating system directly from the ISO file you download.

The commands that follow are inputted in "terminal", which is the Ubuntu version of command prompt. Search "terminal" by first clicking the icon at the top left of the screen or hit "control-alt + t" on the keyboard to open the terminal.

Finding installation instructions for installing OP25 was frustrating, as practical information is scattered all over the internet, and because the Pybombs website's instructions are out of date and don't work. I used this link to install, and was up an running in short order:

How to Install OP25

After inputting the second command in the third box on the above webpage, I clicked "enter" through probably a dozen different prompts for changing options, finally, it started the install (I did not change anything). It took an extended amount of time to complete some of the "building" processes.

After this finishes, complete the steps in the last two boxes at the bottom of the above link... with a few changes... Initially, I was getting the error "ImportError: No module named gnuradio" when I tried to run scope.py. The tips below should resolve this (it took me a long time to figure this out... tried all sorts of stuff)

in Terminal, input:

cd pybombs/
sudo ./pybombs -v env

instead of inputting what it tells you to run, instead follow the instructions from the Celestial Photographer:

Take note of the env output, you’ll need this information next.
Here you have two options, option 1 is simpler but I have experienced problems with it...

Option 1
cd to your home directory and type sudo gedit .bashrc
Scroll to the bottom of your .bashrc file, it will look like this:

AFTER the last fi press enter and type or paste the words between run: “ and the last “ , in this case it is source /usr/local//setup_env.sh
Save the file and exit.
type source ~/.bashrc
This should reload your bash file, type gnuradio-com and press TAB. If the source file took correctly, Ubuntu should append the gnuradio-com to gnuradio-companion

After this, I restarted the Ubuntu operating system. I was then able to run gnuRadio and OP25 as explained in the Youtube video linked to below (I recommend starting from the beginning).

I did not have any problems connecting to my RTL and did not have to follow the steps Rob describes. Amazing how different things can go from one person to the next.

 

[Medziatkowicz35]

I keep trying to install op25 on ubuntu in vmware player but it gets aboyt 80% then I get a few errors and it exits the install. What am I doing wrong?

 

[AggieCon]

See this post: http://forums.radioreference.com/so...ject-run-op25-windows-7-a-33.html#post2593397