[Hackrf-dev] HackRF in a Virtualized Environment (Windows7>VmWare>Pentoo\Kali\Ubuntu)

Thu Sep 4 21:26:40 EDT 2014

Hi,

  On Windows:
    VMWare will stuck because USB driver
    VirtualBox works.

  On Mac:
    VMWare works.
    VirtualBox works.


On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 8:55 PM, Sohil Shah <magicianss64 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Paul,
> When I tried the HackRF in the VM. It recognized my HackRF. When I connect
> the HackRF to the VM and run dmesg it shows at the end that a HackRF is
> connected. However when you run the hackrf_info command, the USB LED goes
> off and it gets stuck (does not show the info as listed on the website over
> here
> https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf/wiki/Getting-Started-with-HackRF-and-GNU-Radio)
> the only way then is to press the reset button and disconnect and reconnect
> the HackRF to the VM. What I am confused about is that if the HackRF gets
> detected in the dmesg that means it is connected to the VM. But I suppose
> running the hackrf_info command either puts it in some state that messes
> with the USB connection or it is sending some signal over USB that is not
> properly virtualized by VmWare. Again these are just guesses. Hopefully
> someone else will have a better idea as to why the USB LED turns off and why
> the process gets stuck.
>
> Best Regards,
> Sohil
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 8:33 AM, Paul Jones <paul at pauljones.id.au> wrote:
>>
>> I tried getting my HackRF working with vmware workstation 10 but I
>> couldn't get the usb pass-through working. I think because it doesn't have a
>> "proper" device driver that vmware recognises it doesn't show up in the
>> list. I've had the same issue with other devices before. I would love to
>> know how to solve it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>
>> From: HackRF-dev [mailto:hackrf-dev-bounces at greatscottgadgets.com] On
>> Behalf Of Sohil Shah
>> Sent: Thursday, 4 September 2014 7:36 PM
>> To: hackrf-dev at greatscottgadgets.com
>> Subject: [Hackrf-dev] HackRF in a Virtualized Environment
>> (Windows7>VmWare>Pentoo\Kali\Ubuntu)
>>
>>
>>
>> Background:
>>
>> I received my HackRF this Tuesday and tried running it under Pentoo, Kali
>> and Windows. It did not work on either. I installed the latest Zadiag
>> drivers on Windows and got the latest version of SDR#. As far as Kali and
>> Pentoo go I followed the guide online except that I was running it from
>> within a VM using VmWare. I have not dared to update my firmware. I will
>> wait till Zero releases the Pentoo build with all the necessary tools and
>> Mike posts his lesson on firmware flashing.
>>
>> My question today is has anyone tried using the HackRF in a Virtualized
>> environment [Windows7>VmWare_WorkStation10>Pentoo/Kali/Ubuntu]
>>
>> I am aware of there being limits over USB in a virtualized environment,
>> but for a lot of reasons I would like to use the HackRF on my Windows box
>> using VmWare Workstation 10 as the  virtualized environment on either
>> Kali/Ubuntu or Pentoo (Zero's latest build when its released).
>>
>>
>>
>> I can understand that there may be a lot of people who will say, use it on
>> bare metal and that is fine, but I really want to see if it is possible to
>> use the HackRF in a virtualized environment. I have used the RTLSDR in a
>> virtualized environment for over a year now and it seems to be doing just
>> fine with a lot of applications. I am not sure what the limitations of using
>> the HackRF in a virtualized environment are. I do not intend to use it at
>> its maximum sample rate as I am sure a lot of applications don't require
>> that high a samp_rate, E.G everything running on the RTLSDR is running at
>> under 3.2MSPS.
>>
>>
>>
>> My crude understanding is that more the MSPS more the I/O demand or
>> bandwidth required on the USB bus and the driver that shuttles the samples
>> between Windows through VMware to the Virtual Machine. I don't know what the
>> max_limit for such a setup is in terms of MSPS but I'd like to know if
>> someone has been able to do a calculation of the amount of lost USB packets
>> when going from 0MSPS to 22MSPS in a virtualized environment or if someone
>> is willing to give me an idea as to how one would go about doing that as I
>> am not sure if there is any existing way to calculate that. My goal is to
>> figure out an ideal MSPS at which the HackRF is ideally useable in a Virtaul
>> Machine running on Windows7 inside VmWare Workstation 10. As far as hardware
>> goes I have the Lenovo ThinkPad T430 (Intel Chipset) which based on what I
>> have read is one of the good performers on the hardware side, hence any
>> losses or limitations would really be a software/virtualization issue as
>> opposed to a hardware issue.
>>
>>
>>
>> If someone still can't wrap their head around the fact that why I would
>> want to use Virtualization let me explain.
>>
>> 1)    1)  I only have one computer (laptop).
>>
>> 2)     2) I really need to have windows installed on it and can't have
>> dual boot on it with any Linux flavor.
>>
>> 3)     3) This limits me to using a live CD/USB
>>
>> 4)     4) I would like to watch Mike's videos and refer to online guides
>> while doing the exercises in GRC.
>>
>> 5)    5)  All Live CD's may not have all the required tools, codecs etc.
>> to watch video files and or video content online. (I know this is a lame
>> argument but there are certain limitations and not everything will run
>> straight out of the box on all platforms, plus it adds noise on the link in
>> the next point)
>>
>> 6)    6)  Coming to the most important point. I want to simulate an
>> environment where I have one host (think drone or remote computer) to which
>> the HackRF is physically connected and another host that is actually
>> commanding and getting responses from the first host. All Signal processing
>> etc. is happening on the drone/remote machine. Only basic periodic updates
>> (command and control) are being transmitted between the two hosts. To
>> simulate this I need to use virtualization on my laptop.
>>
>>
>>
>> If you had the patience to get so far in my post, I thank you. I would
>> really appreciate if someone can shed some light on running the HackRF in a
>> virtualized environment, maybe Mike can do a follow up to the Mysteries
>> Video to see what kind of anomalies we see while using the HackRF in a
>> virtual environment as opposed to running on bare metal. I am sure others
>> may also have specific needs to run the HackRF in a virtualized environment.
>> If not for anything else just to be able to say it's not impossible is the
>> simple motivation for my quest.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you for your time.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Sohil Shah.
>>
>> Nothing is Impossible, Never Undermine the Potential of the Human Spirit =
>> My Life's Motto!!
>>
>> Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish - Steve Jobs
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sohil Shah.
>
> Nothing is Impossible, Never Undermine the Potential of the Human Spirit =
> My Life's Motto!!
> Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish - Steve Jobs
>
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