running_gs_on_ubuntu.md

Running Ground Station software on Ubuntu desktop

This instruction describes steps for running Ground Station software on Ubuntu desktop 22.04 (f.e. old x86_64 notebook or Raspberry Pi or Radxa Zero 3W).

Notebook

External Wifi card which supports monitor mode and injection is still required (rtl8812ua, ar9271).

Internal wifi card may work or may not. It works for me with Intel 6300 AGN card.

If you want to run software on the existing system, just skip following steps untill "Install required packages".

• Download Ubuntu Desktop image https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

• Write image to USB stick. Use at least 12GB flash drive to be able to allocate at least 2GB for persistent storage.

  Use Rufus on Windows https://rufus.ie/

  Set "Persistent partition size" at least 2Gb to enable persistent storage on Live USB image.

  Detailed description: https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-persistent-live-usb/

• Boot from USB stick, Select Try Ubuntu

• Pass initial Ubuntu configuration, setup wifi connection to internet

Raspberry Pi

Follow these steps https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ubuntu-desktop-on-raspberry-pi-4#1-overview to prepare Ubuntu SD card. Then jump to "Install required packages" step.

Radxa Zero 3W

Tested with Ubuntu Desktop which can be downloaded here https://github.com/Joshua-Riek/ubuntu-rockchip/releases/tag/v2.2.1

Steps

• Install required packages: sudo apt install --no-install-recommends -y git libdrm-dev libgbm-dev libgles2-mesa-dev libpcap-dev libturbojpeg0-dev libts-dev libfreetype6-dev build-essential autoconf automake libtool libasound2-dev libudev-dev libdbus-1-dev libxext-dev libsdl2-dev dkms aircrack-ng

• Install rtl8812au driver:

  cd ~

  git clone -b v5.2.20-rssi-fix-but-sometimes-crash https://github.com/svpcom/rtl8812au/

  cd rtl8812au

  sudo ./dkms-install.sh

• Download esp32-cam-fpv repository:

  cd ~

  git clone -b release --recursive https://github.com/RomanLut/esp32-cam-fpv

• Build ground station software:

  cd ~

  cd esp32-cam-fpv

  cd gs

  make -j4

• Check name of Wifi card interface:

  sudo airmon-ng

  Note name of Wifi card Interface, f.e. wlp3s0

• Launch Ground Station software:

  Kill NetworkManager:

  sudo airmon-ng check kill

  OR request NetworkManager to do not manage your adapter:

  nmcli dev set wlp3s0 managed no

  Switch interface into monitor mode:

  sudo airmon-ng start wlp3s0

  (on this step interface may be renamed to wlan0mon. If it does, use wlan0mon in the next steps)

  Run GS software:

  sudo ./gs -rx wlp3s0 -tx wlp3s0 -fullscreen 1

• If it prints "Interface does not support monitor mode", try with -sm 1 parameter:

  sudo ./gs -rx wlp3s0 -tx wlp3s0 -fullscreen 1 -sm 1

Use ./gs -help to see available command line parameters.