Anyone Using GQRX In CentOS-7, For SDR ?

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I gave myself a toy, one of those cheap USB Software Define Radios, and would like to use it on my C7 box. Having wasted some time on it, I gave up and installed Ubuntu on a USB HD so I can boot that to play with SDR. The Ubuntu GQRX installation is well documented and went off without a hitch. but I just hate having to boot something else on my main box (partly because it also runs a mailserver for my personal domain, partly because, well, I just want my box running CentOS, not Ubuntu.)

Searching through SDR info on line I see someone has documented installing all the bits for C6, but I suspect the process is different for C7.

BTW, I installed the various bits I could find from, er, I think some came from li.nux.ro, some perhaps from epel, on C7, but couldn’t get them to properly function.

Worse, when the USB radio is unplugged from the system, it locks up hard.

then a few days ago, I had been playing with it using the UBUNTU install, did a reboot and for kicks fired up the GQRX on CentOS, and lo and behold it worked! I tried running it on CentOS yesterday and it reverted to type, i.e., lock up hard. I suspect that Ubuntu is leaving some hardware in a state that allows it to work on a subsequent CentOS boot (without poweroff), but no clue what.

So, if anyone can point me to how to use it on C7, I’d greatly appreciate it.

thanks in advance!

Fred

4 thoughts on - Anyone Using GQRX In CentOS-7, For SDR ?

  • Is it a Realtek chipset?
    I’ve had problems with it on CentOS as the system will load up the DVB drivers (for TV tuner) thus interfering with the SDR. What worked for me is blacklisting them & reboot. Give it a try.

    cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist_rtl.conf blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu blacklist rtl2832
    blacklist rtl2830

    BTW there’s a new package at http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/tmp/gqrx7/ if you care to test and confirm success so I can move it to the main repo.

  • yes it is.

    Ah, thanks, that’s the trick. works now.

    I’ve installed it and it seems to be working fine (based on about 20
    minutes of use, and note that I”m not an expert yet).

    thanks!

  • Nux, Im still using your gqrx and mostly its fine. but a quirk or two that may be real bugs rather than anything to do with your build:
    1. often when I exit the program after a couple of seconds I’ll get a crash report. I haven’t savedit, but I can if anyone here would like to see it.
    2. occasionally when running it just suddenly stops outputting audio, the spectrum stops showing activity and the waterfall still moves but repeats the same row of pixels forever.

    I can “fix” it by clicking the “start DSP” button twice. it may do it again later, though.

    I also notice that there’s a newer version available in source. Should you ever feel like building it, I’d be glad to give it a try.

    thanks for keeping up your repo!

    Fred