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Flex 6300 on Linux Mint 17.1 ...

Gary L. Robinson
Gary L. Robinson Member ✭✭
edited June 2019 in SmartSDR for Windows
I had tried SmartSDR and my 6300 on Linux via VMWare (and Virtual Box) virtual machines a few years back and was mostly disappointed.  It was far from stable and not really worth playing with.

I decided to try again tonight since I am running a newer version of Linux than I had a few years ago (Mint 17.1) AND SmartSDR version 1.10.16 has been super for me so far and has had numerous fixes, fine tuning, etc. from 2 years ago..

Anyhow, pretty pleased with running it in my VMWare windows 10 virtual machine.  I am using VMWare Workstation 12 Player.  The video performance could be a bit better but it is definitely acceptable.  And I ran SmartSDR for over 4 hours without a crash, ****, or boom.  Real stable.  Not bad at all!

And the computer is the same one I had used before so it was not a factor.

Nice pleasant surprise!

---Gary WB8ROL

Comments

  • Hermann Fernandes Pais
    edited April 2017
    Great work Gary. Would it be possible to post the VM's image ? Would that be ok?
  • Walt - KZ1F
    Walt - KZ1F Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Workstation is a for sale product of Dell (VMWare). To post artifacts, independent of whether Gary will do that, is more than likely considered illegal by Dell. Gary would need to look at Workstation EUA. Last I knew, the workstation product was in the $125 price range. Further, Microsoft would view that as piracy as it is bootlegging an executable image, Windows 7 or 10,

    You can also run it directly under Linux w/o VMWare or VirtualBox, as Linux natively supports virtualization. Which actually is how I run  Digital Master at the times I run it. FWIW
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Now if we could just run SmartSDR under Linux without having to run any windows OS at all....   I am running Ubuntu 64 on one of my machines and would love to be able to migrate everything over to Linux and do away with Windows altogether.
  • Walt - KZ1F
    Walt - KZ1F Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Well Norm, at this point it's pretty well established IMHO Windows absolutely sucks. I think my last piece of Windows software was written 17 yrs ago. RedHat ported .NET to Linux but WPF (or MPF) can't be and won't be as it is too intertwined with core Win32isms, DirectX and others. So what that means is, yes, FlexLib should natively be able to run on Linux but SSDRfW can't and won't.

    The other advantage of running it in a vm is you can snapshot the entire virtual machine such that should something break or it gets a virus you can run from the snapshot which is way easier than reinstalling the universe.

    Now, the other thing that I serendipitously discovered was DAX need only run with the client. This is how I came to discover Digital Master worked just fine in conjunction with XPSSDR. I haven't gotten terribly far into XPSDigi so, effectively, the only thing I really need the VM for is when I do digital. XPSDigi is not a high priority for me as I don't do digital much at all anymore. (maybe never did TBT).

    But, I am digressing off of the topic of running SSDRfW under Linux. (Mint is just Ubuntu with a more Windows-like UI). I chimed in on the software piracy request. People from software development apparently take software piracy more seriously than the general public. But it is still illegal. So that was merely a PSA of sorts.

    Actually, it wasn't even running SSDRfW under Linux, it was running Windows under Linux.
  • Jonathan W0JS
    Jonathan W0JS Member
    edited June 2019
    Gary, did you also test VirtualBox again? I have been using Arch for years now, and am likely to pull the trigger on a 6300 at Hamvention this year. I am really interested in the integration with the native linux apps (cqrlog, fldigi, wsjtx, etc). Trying to decide if I need a mini PC to run SSDR and use network connections to the Arch machine, or just run SSDR in a Windows virtualization environment. My plan is to use my main box with two displays as it currently is configured, then add a TV (probably 32") on the wall for SSDR (will probably need another vid card).
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Even after a quick Internet search, I still have no idea what SSDRfw, XPSSDR or XPSDigi are.   All Greek to me!
  • Gary L. Robinson
    Gary L. Robinson Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    I have not ran VirtualBox for a long long time.  I might try that again if I have time tonight and can find the space.  Of course I may run into a problem since I only have 4 Windows 10 licenses and they are all in use.  I'll see what I can do tonight and this coming week and play a little with Virtual Box some.
  • Walt - KZ1F
    Walt - KZ1F Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    SSDRfW is what most people refer to as SSDR. SSDR is what FRS calls the application running under Linux in the box (radio). SSDRfM is the software on Maestro. XPSSDR is a portable version of, essentially, SSDRfW but runs on Windows, Linux, in theory Mac (I don't have that) but I'd put money on that it does. XPSDigi is a portable version of Fldigi that directly talks to XPSLib, a portable version of SDRLib or flexlib or whatever it's called. I hope that helps. The differentiation of SSDR grew out of my asking Tim, months (maybe a year or two) ago if SSDR ran the UI what do you call what runs the radio.
  • Jonathan W0JS
    Jonathan W0JS Member
    edited April 2017
    That would be absolutely fantastic if you have the time. Would save me time, headache, and maybe money. Greatly appreciated.
  • Gary L. Robinson
    Gary L. Robinson Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Jonathan,

    Well, so far I am not really happy with what I see using VirtualBox (5.120).   SmartSDR runs and is fairly stable but the video is not very responsive on the waterfall.  And now and then the waterfall stutters or freezes.  It did crash once also but that could have been other factors.   So far, I could not recommend VirtualBox.   I have tried numerous settings changes in video, memory, and other areas.  I will continue to play with it in the next few days and see if I can find any "magic" combination of settings that improve it.  Maybe someone else out there has had better luck than me and might want to chime in.  

    For the record I do have the add-ons and extentions added for the VirtualBox VM, Enabled 2D acceleration, and tried different video memory settings.

    ---Gary
  • Gary L. Robinson
    Gary L. Robinson Member ✭✭
    edited April 2017
    Success!

    Well, I uninstalled VirtualBox in my Linux distro and RE installed it.  And then I created a new Windows 7 virtual machine and SmartSDR is running very very good in it.  The panadapter and water fall look good and responsive.  I am NOW a believer in VirtualBox.  Took a while but I am amazed how well it is running in Mint 17.1 with the VirtualBox VM.

    I have this installation of Mint set up to compile several projects I work on so it has been on here for a long time.  The VirtualBox I installed on it was version 4.3.  I suspect version 5 on a newer distro would be even better. 

    Anyhow, I think this VirtualBox install is running about the same performance as my Windows installation which is real real good.

    I run an old 2.6ghz AMD quad core with 8gb ram -- In the VirtualBox I gave it 2 processors (it sees cores as processors) and 2gb RAM. 

    --- Gary WB8ROL
  • Jonathan W0JS
    Jonathan W0JS Member
    edited April 2017
    That's awesome! I greatly appreciate your effort and plan to use this path to try to get everything up and running once I receive my unit. Hopefully I will find a way to get the interfacing with the native Linux apps over the virtual network adapter in VBox as well. Thanks again! Jonathan, N0JMS

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