Running SDR# On Ubuntu 20.04 Linux via WINE
SDR# is a very popular Windows SDR program often used with the RTL-SDR and Airspy SDR. One drawback is that it lacks native Linux compatibility. In the past it has been possible to run SDR# via WINE, however some newer updates were thought to have broken that ability. WINE is a Windows emulator that allows some Windows programs to run under Linux.
However, recently on Twitter we've seen a Tweet by @albinstigo indicating that SDR# can indeed run on Ubuntu 20.04 via WINE 5.0. In a Tweet he explains the steps which are quite simple:
- Install WINE via apt.
- Install dotNET 4.8 via winetricks.
- Install the Verdana font via winetricks.
- Enjoy SDR
One limitation is that the emulated SDR# cannot connect to the SDR natively via the USB. So you will need to use TCP server software such as rtl_tcp or SpyServer to get it to work. Basically, run the server on the native Linux environment, then connect to it in SDR# running on the emulated Windows environment.
1. Install wine via apt.
— Albin 🇸🇪🇧🇷🇩🇰 (@albinstigo) November 2, 2020
2. Install dotNET 4.8 via winetricks.
3. Install the Verdana font via winertricks.
4. Enjoy SDR.
I'm using it via spyserver at the moment.
I strongly recommend installing gdiplus via winetricks to improve performance and to avoid font rendering bugs.
I have a github gist with some details on this as well – also explains a bit why you have to use spyserver and cannot go direct to the dongle iirc. You can find it at https://gist.github.com/grahamwhaley/094d62d88575141377f02fa92342fb7e
WINE is Not an Emulator 😉
i was gonna say the same
I can confirm – this process worked on Fedora 32. Note that Fedora 32 packages Wine 5.18 and winetricks complains that dotnet48 is broken under 5.18. I used the –force option and it appears to have worked – at least SDR# starts up. I was able to connect to several spyservers over the internet.