Source

Note: The AppImage file is a far easier method if you're not developing FreeDATA.

Note: Tested with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu for Raspberry 22.04 LTS and Debian 11.

1. Prerequisites (Debian only)

Add current user to sudoers list first:

su root
nano /etc/sudoers

Within the section "# User privilege specification" you should already see an entry for the user root. Add the line with your specific username accordingly:

# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
<username>  ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Save file and

exit

2. Permissions

Ubuntu

Add user to dialout group, to allow access serial devices without root:

sudo adduser $USER dialout
logout / login

Suse

sudo usermod -a -G dialout

3. Installation

Option 1: Fully manual installation (recommended for developers)

Note: This method makes system-wide changes for Python and NodeJS outside of Ubuntu's package management system.

Debian/Ubuntu

sudo apt install git build-essential cmake npm
sudo apt install python3 portaudio19-dev python3-pyaudio python3-pip python3-colorama python3-venv
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
git clone https://github.com/DJ2LS/FreeDATA.git
cd FreeDATA
 ./tools/create_python_env.sh
cd ~/FreeDATA/gui/
npm i
cd ~/FreeDATA/modem/lib/
git clone https://github.com/drowe67/codec2.git
cd codec2
mkdir build_linux
cd build_linux
cmake ..
make

For enabling the virtual python environment run

cd ~/FreeDATA
. .venv/bin/activate

Suse Linux

sudo zypper install git cmake npm
sudo zypper install -t pattern devel_basis
sudo zypper install portaudio-devel python3-PyAudio
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
pip3 install psutil crcengine ujson pyserial numpy structlog

Option 2: Scripted installation (beware - under revision)

starting with the v0.4.4-alpha git tag

sudo apt install git build-essential cmake npm libfuse2
sudo apt install portaudio19-dev python3-pyaudio python3-pip python3-colorama python3-venv
git clone https://github.com/DJ2LS/FreeDATA.git
cd FreeDATA
 ./tools/create_python_env.sh

For enabling the virtual python environment run

. .venv/bin/activate

4. Install Hamlib

Older versions of Ubuntu, like Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or SUSE, sometimes have outdated versions of Hamlib in their repositories - please do not use these.
We recommend installing the latest version from the current github repository (as of January 2023 it´s version 4.5.4).

Please make sure to have older hamlib versions uninstalled prior to reinstalling from git! Use your distro´s packet management or try sudo apt remove python3-libhamlib2!

cd ~
sudo apt-get install automake libtool
git clone https://github.com/Hamlib/Hamlib.git
cd Hamlib
./bootstrap
./configure
make
optional for system wide installation: sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

A reboot may be required to get hamlib to work.