SDRplay and Mac OS, installation questions

[DVE]

Hi guys,

I'm new in SDRplay software, now trying to install all stuff on my Mac mini
What I did:
a) install Mac driver from the sdrplay website
b) install CubicSDR: it works ok, but ... its beta and features are limited.
c) So, I would like to use gnuradio and Gqrx, and there are some problems.

I used the manual from here: http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/GrOsmoSDR
My steps:
- git clone git://git.osmocom.org/gr-osmosdr - done
- cd gr-osmosdr/ - done
- mkdir build - done
- cd build/ - done
- cmake ../ -DENABLE_NONFREE=TRUE - done
- make - done
- sudo make install - done
- sudo ldconfig - ldconfig: command not found

But it seems, version was build and installed succesfully.
But... Now I type "osmocom_fft" and get the error

gr-osmosdr v0.1.x-xxx-xunknown (0.1.5git) gnuradio 3.7.9.1
built-in source types: file fcd rtl rtl_tcp uhd hackrf bladerf rfspace airspy
FATAL: No supported devices found to pick from. I've build the library with SDRplay support, why it is not here?

Wtf, sorry, why it cannot see my sdrplay device?

What I'm doing wrong?
Thanks.

PS: Btw, why SDRplay library is closed and not distributed like other open source as hackrf or airspy? I'm disappointed a bit with this problems.

[DVE]

I did it

The key should be
cmake ../ -DENABLE_NONFREE=TRUE CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/local

Than the path is correct, and all works:
osmocom_fft -s 5e6 -f 100e6

osmocom_fft_sdrplay.png (90.28 KiB) Viewed 43695 times

gqrx

gqrx_srdplay.jpg (90.79 KiB) Viewed 43695 times

One problem: the bitrate more than 1.5M is not working. I hope, the SDRplay team can fix it sometimes.

I think SDRplay guys should update the mac os manual.

PS: Update-2: I get tons of errors in console while running gqrx:
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
mir_sdr_ReadPacket: called before mir_sdr_Init()
...

[drewhaninger]

Hi, I am getting the compile error:

ImportError: No module named Cheetah
make[2]: *** [grc/rtlsdr_source.xml] Error 1
make[1]: *** [grc/CMakeFiles/osmosdr_grc_xml_blocks.dir/all] Error 2
make: *** [all] Error 2
~/Documents/aaGnuRadio/gr-osmosdr/build --


I am surprised that no one has updated the drivers for Mac SDRPlay

thanks

[VE1LEB]

I'm also having problems with the last mile of this install process.

I've done the stupid simple MacPorts install of gnuradio, also rtl-sdr, osmosdr, sox and gqrx, all using MacPorts.

gnuradio-companion works fine with the rtl-sdr source (connecting to my rtl-sdr dongle), but when I replace that with SDRplay and osmosdr, it fails to perform as expected. I can input "sdrplay" as a device argument in the osmosdr source, but it still doesn't work.

Is there a further step that I'm missing?

[MiamiC70]

Should installing software really be this complicated in 2016?
I gave up on the other programs and just use CubicSDR and even that one has some glitches but for now is the best of the bunch.

[RichardG]

Should installing software really be this complicated in 2016?
I gave up on the other programs and just use CubicSDR and even that one has some glitches but for now is the best of the bunch.

\

No it should't. I've just purchased an sdrplay on the basis that it's fully supported by gnu-radio as advertised but that's a weak claim because of the closed driver. If I can't get it working on my Mac then I'll be returning it. There needs to be a clear guide on how to do this.

Richard

[sdrplay]

Building gr-osmosdr can be tricky depending on where you get the source from. If you follow the Gnu Radio web pages then you have to install Gnu Radio and gr-osmosdr together because if you install gr-osmosdr independently then Gnu Radio is a dependency.

Anyway we support the SoapySDR interface on non-Windows platforms. This will be updated soon when the latest API is released. gr-osmosdr has support for SoapySDR. If SoapySDR is installed prior to building gr-osmosdr then it should find it and build support it.

So the sequence should be to install the API/Driver from our website. This will install a version of SoapySDR/SoapySDRPlay as well.

Then obtain the gr-osmosdr source and build that as per the gr-osmosdr instructions. Then when using Gnu Radio, please a gr-osmosdr source and it should find the SoapySDR interface.

We did originally support the NON_FREE path as described above, but it wasn't working very well, MacPorts didn't want to adopt it and better support for the RSP came along in the form of SoapySDR, so that's the flow we recommend.

Although CubicSDR is still in alpha it has a very active developer and it's being tested a lot on both Mac and Linux platforms so I think it's working very well.

Hope that helps,

Best regards,

SDRplay Support

[RichardG]

Thanks for the reply, that's good news, any ideas on a timescale, is it weeks or months away?

Thanks

Richard

[sdrplay]

The API will be this month, so the SoapySDRPlay update should happen shortly after.

Sorry I can't be more specific, there's a lot in development at the moment.

Best regards,

SDRplay Support

[RichardG]

Someone created a patch file for MacPorts https://trac.macports.org/ticket/48451 However, this no longer works as the version numbers have moved on plus the repository for the sdrplay software no longer seems to be valid http://sdrplay.com/software/ Can you provide the latest version numbers and repository so the script can be modified?

Alternatively could you provide a guide for building on MacOS using Macports until the new method is live?

Thanks

Richard