Hi Mike,

Thanks for the feedback. I’m sure that will be very helpful to anyone installing from the repository. However, I prefer to build from source as radio related applications in the Pi repository are often out of date. Building from source is very quick and easy to follow. I’ve modified the original post to make the requirement clearer.

Thanks,

Mike – G4WNC

Firstly, when you install the package rather than build from source it is not installed in /usr/local/bin but /usr/bin – in that case the script needs altering.

Secondly, with the package, the udev rules are not installed in /etc but in /lib AND they have mode set to 0660 rather than 0666. This mode setting seems to prevent the UDEV rules working unless you modify it to 0666. Devil in the detail literally.

Thirdly – if you are on the internet then chances are you not running the default user “pi” and you need to modify the script accordingly.

Hi Scott, Very useful observation. Thanks Mike – G4WNC

Hi Mike,

IP is correct.
sudo systemctl status rtlsdr throws an error.
Access not possible.

Thx for looking at it.

Kim

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl stop rtlsdr
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ hostname -I
10.10.176.18
2a02:a03f:54ec:5000:a7c8:cdb:5f88:945f
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl start rtlsdr
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl status rtlsdr
? rtlsdr.service – RTL-SDR Server
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/rtlsdr.service; disabled; vendor preset:
Active: activating (start-pre) since Fri 2018-08-24 17:50:25 CEST; 6s ago
Process: 1127 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c ‘/usr/local/bin/rtl_tcp -a $(hostname -I)’
Main PID: 1127 (code=exited, status=127); Control PID: 1130 (sleep)
CGroup: /system.slice/rtlsdr.service
??control
??1130 /bin/sleep 15

aug 24 17:50:25 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Starting RTL-SDR Server…
lines 1-10/10 (END)

Ok. With the Pi running make sure the service is stopped by entering:
sudo systemctl stop rtlsdr
Enter: hostname -I to make sure the Pi has an IP address
Enter: sudo systemctl start rtlsdr
That should start the service
Now enter sudo systemctl status rtlsdr and let me know what you get. If it all appears to be running test access from your SDR software.

Mike – G4WNC

Hi Mike,

That line is included and I have tried different timings.

Regards,

Kim

Hi Kim,

This may be because your Pi doesn’t have an IP address when the rtlsdr service starts. Try updating the unit file to include the following line in the [Service] section:
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 15

This adds a 15 second delay to allow the IP address to be allocated after the network is up.

See the latest instructions for full details.

Regards,

Mike – G4WNC

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl status rtlsdr
? rtlsdr.service – RTL-SDR Server
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/rtlsdr.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: activating (start-pre) since Thu 2018-08-23 16:34:37 CEST; 6s ago
Process: 736 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c ‘/usr/local/bin/rtl_tcp -a $(hostname -I)’ (code=exited, status=127)
Main PID: 736 (code=exited, status=127); Control PID: 745 (sleep)
CGroup: /system.slice/rtlsdr.service
??control
??745 /bin/sleep 15

aug 23 16:34:37 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Starting RTL-SDR Server…

Also You have error in the text to stop the service

you have
sudo systemd stop rtlsdr.service which does not work

Think it should be
sudo systemctl stop rtlsdr.service

The service shows started, it does not actually work at the ‘far end’

In order to get it to work, still must use the command
rtl_tcp -a 192.168.1.49

The remote end reports a ‘network error’ when started as service with:
sudo systemctl start rtlsdr.service

but works fine with:
rtl_tcp -a 192.168.1.49

pi@rtltcp:~ $ sudo systemctl start rtlsdr.service
pi@rtltcp:~ $ sudo systemctl status rtlsdr.service
? rtlsdr.service – RTL-SDR Server
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/rtlsdr.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-07-27 07:13:21 GMT; 4s ago
Main PID: 847 (sh)
CGroup: /system.slice/rtlsdr.service
??847 /bin/sh -c /usr/local/bin/rtl_tcp -a -I)
??848 /usr/local/bin/rtl_tcp

Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp systemd[1]: Started RTL-SDR Server.
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: Found 1 device(s):
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: 0: Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00000001
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: Tuned to 100000000 Hz.
pi@rtltcp:~ $ sudo systemd stop rtlsdr.service
Excess arguments.
pi@rtltcp:~ $ sudo systemctl stop rtlsdr.service
pi@rtltcp:~ $ sudo systemctl status rtlsdr.service
? rtlsdr.service – RTL-SDR Server
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/rtlsdr.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)

Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Jul 27 07:13:21 rtltcp sh[847]: Tuned to 100000000 Hz.
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: Signal caught, exiting!
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp systemd[1]: Stopping RTL-SDR Server…
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: Signal caught, exiting!
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: listening…
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: Use the device argument ‘rtl_tcp=127.0.0.1:1234’ in OsmoSDR (gr-osmosdr) source
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: to receive samples in GRC and control rtl_tcp parameters (frequency, gain, …).
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp sh[847]: bye!
Jul 27 07:13:49 rtltcp systemd[1]: Stopped RTL-SDR Server.
pi@rtltcp:~ $