make qspectrumanalyzer usable again, as the souroundings changed

[sayboltm]

A WIP -vvv Attempt to Document Envrionment

with hopes to merge a modern environment/setup instruction into the readme/docs

xmikos#115

I see this PR has many changes I just merged,

Man we got all the mikes in here: self, M. Krenek @mikos, M. Walters, M. OSSman, I swear I saw another.

lets sync this thing.

[sayboltm]

From my un-posted work in 2015 -> 2025:

XP.software.Python: n00b # XP lvl -> XP.software.Python: expert

Python --version : 3.5 -> Python --version : 3.13
Changes?

virtual envs have become a staple in my cross-platform environments, I use Conda, but then still use pip within conda for consistency and more intuitive latest versions, though Conda shines for reproduce-ability and offline support which may be important for SDR stuff.

Documenting environments used here:

[sayboltm]

Create 'shell env' for SDR dev: just Python

$ conda create -n sdr-dev python
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done

...

The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

  _libgcc_mutex      pkgs/main/linux-64::_libgcc_mutex-0.1-main 
  _openmp_mutex      pkgs/main/linux-64::_openmp_mutex-5.1-1_gnu 
  bzip2              pkgs/main/linux-64::bzip2-1.0.8-h5eee18b_6 
  ca-certificates    pkgs/main/linux-64::ca-certificates-2025.2.25-h06a4308_0 
  expat              pkgs/main/linux-64::expat-2.6.4-h6a678d5_0 
  ld_impl_linux-64   pkgs/main/linux-64::ld_impl_linux-64-2.40-h12ee557_0 
  libffi             pkgs/main/linux-64::libffi-3.4.4-h6a678d5_1 
  libgcc-ng          pkgs/main/linux-64::libgcc-ng-11.2.0-h1234567_1 
  libgomp            pkgs/main/linux-64::libgomp-11.2.0-h1234567_1 
  libmpdec           pkgs/main/linux-64::libmpdec-4.0.0-h5eee18b_0 
  libstdcxx-ng       pkgs/main/linux-64::libstdcxx-ng-11.2.0-h1234567_1 
  libuuid            pkgs/main/linux-64::libuuid-1.41.5-h5eee18b_0 
  ncurses            pkgs/main/linux-64::ncurses-6.4-h6a678d5_0 
  openssl            pkgs/main/linux-64::openssl-3.0.16-h5eee18b_0 
  pip                pkgs/main/linux-64::pip-25.0-py313h06a4308_0 
  python             pkgs/main/linux-64::python-3.13.2-hf623796_100_cp313 
  python_abi         pkgs/main/linux-64::python_abi-3.13-0_cp313 
  readline           pkgs/main/linux-64::readline-8.2-h5eee18b_0 
  setuptools         pkgs/main/linux-64::setuptools-75.8.0-py313h06a4308_0 
  sqlite             pkgs/main/linux-64::sqlite-3.45.3-h5eee18b_0 
  tk                 pkgs/main/linux-64::tk-8.6.14-h39e8969_0 
  tzdata             pkgs/main/noarch::tzdata-2025a-h04d1e81_0 
  wheel              pkgs/main/linux-64::wheel-0.45.1-py313h06a4308_0 
  xz                 pkgs/main/linux-64::xz-5.6.4-h5eee18b_1 
  zlib               pkgs/main/linux-64::zlib-1.2.13-h5eee18b_1 

Where pip will start out with:

$ pip freeze
numpy==2.2.3
pyqtgraph==0.13.7
QSpectrumAnalyzer @ file:///home/user/git/xmikos/qspectrumanalyzer
Qt.py==1.4.1
setuptools==75.8.0
SimpleSoapy==1.5.1
SimpleSpectral==1.0.0
soapy_power==1.6.1
types-pyside2==5.15.2.1.7
wheel==0.45.1

surrounded by Conda:

$ conda list
# packages in environment at /home/user/miniconda3/envs/sdr-dev:
#
# Name                    Version                   Build  Channel
_libgcc_mutex             0.1                        main  
_openmp_mutex             5.1                       1_gnu  
bzip2                     1.0.8                h5eee18b_6  
ca-certificates           2025.2.25            h06a4308_0  
expat                     2.6.4                h6a678d5_0  
ld_impl_linux-64          2.40                 h12ee557_0  
libffi                    3.4.4                h6a678d5_1  
libgcc-ng                 11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libgomp                   11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libmpdec                  4.0.0                h5eee18b_0  
libstdcxx-ng              11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libuuid                   1.41.5               h5eee18b_0  
ncurses                   6.4                  h6a678d5_0  
openssl                   3.0.16               h5eee18b_0  
pip                       25.0            py313h06a4308_0  
python                    3.13.2          hf623796_100_cp313  
python_abi                3.13                    0_cp313  
readline                  8.2                  h5eee18b_0  
setuptools                75.8.0          py313h06a4308_0  
sqlite                    3.45.3               h5eee18b_0  
tk                        8.6.14               h39e8969_0  
tzdata                    2025a                h04d1e81_0  
wheel                     0.45.1          py313h06a4308_0  
xz                        5.6.4                h5eee18b_1  
zlib                      1.2.13               h5eee18b_1  

[sayboltm]

Adapted from https://github.com/sayboltm/qspectrumanalyzer/blob/master/README.rst?plain=1#L141-146 :

If you want to install QSpectrumAnalyzer directly from Git master branch, you can use this procedure:

git clone https://github.com/xmikos/qspectrumanalyzer.git
cd qspectrumanalyzer
pip3 install --user .

give it what it asks for and test it before installing other dev tools.

$ pip install --user .
Processing /home/user/git/sayboltm/qspectrumanalyzer
  Preparing metadata (setup.py) ... done
Requirement already satisfied: soapy_power>=1.6.0 in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (1.6.1)
Requirement already satisfied: pyqtgraph>=0.10.0 in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (0.13.7)
Requirement already satisfied: Qt.py in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (1.4.1)
Requirement already satisfied: numpy>=1.22.0 in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from pyqtgraph>=0.10.0->QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (2.2.3)
Requirement already satisfied: simplesoapy>=1.5.0 in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from soapy_power>=1.6.0->QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (1.5.1)
Requirement already satisfied: simplespectral in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from soapy_power>=1.6.0->QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (1.0.0)
Requirement already satisfied: types-PySide2 in /home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages (from Qt.py->QSpectrumAnalyzer==2.2.0) (5.15.2.1.7)
Building wheels for collected packages: QSpectrumAnalyzer
  Building wheel for QSpectrumAnalyzer (setup.py) ... done
  Created wheel for QSpectrumAnalyzer: filename=QSpectrumAnalyzer-2.2.0-py3-none-any.whl size=71635 sha256=c365ba141df470e674adb0df5827bd1fc8cf634e8711058809bbd92813c42b44
  Stored in directory: /tmp/pip-ephem-wheel-cache-yer34pgr/wheels/a0/9f/5b/b323c0388f67755f0d45f149b3f918c352e5e917aa49512c8d
Successfully built QSpectrumAnalyzer
Installing collected packages: QSpectrumAnalyzer
  Attempting uninstall: QSpectrumAnalyzer
    Found existing installation: QSpectrumAnalyzer 2.2.0
    Uninstalling QSpectrumAnalyzer-2.2.0:
      Successfully uninstalled QSpectrumAnalyzer-2.2.0
Successfully installed QSpectrumAnalyzer-2.2.0

So now we have:

$ conda list
# packages in environment at /home/user/miniconda3/envs/sdr-dev:
#
# Name                    Version                   Build  Channel
_libgcc_mutex             0.1                        main  
_openmp_mutex             5.1                       1_gnu  
bzip2                     1.0.8                h5eee18b_6  
ca-certificates           2025.2.25            h06a4308_0  
expat                     2.6.4                h6a678d5_0  
ld_impl_linux-64          2.40                 h12ee557_0  
libffi                    3.4.4                h6a678d5_1  
libgcc-ng                 11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libgomp                   11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libmpdec                  4.0.0                h5eee18b_0  
libstdcxx-ng              11.2.0               h1234567_1  
libuuid                   1.41.5               h5eee18b_0  
ncurses                   6.4                  h6a678d5_0  
openssl                   3.0.16               h5eee18b_0  
pip                       25.0            py313h06a4308_0  
python                    3.13.2          hf623796_100_cp313  
python_abi                3.13                    0_cp313  
readline                  8.2                  h5eee18b_0  
setuptools                75.8.0          py313h06a4308_0  
sqlite                    3.45.3               h5eee18b_0  
tk                        8.6.14               h39e8969_0  
tzdata                    2025a                h04d1e81_0  
wheel                     0.45.1          py313h06a4308_0  
xz                        5.6.4                h5eee18b_1  
zlib                      1.2.13               h5eee18b_1  

And pip:

pip freeze
numpy==2.2.3
pyqtgraph==0.13.7
QSpectrumAnalyzer @ file:///home/user/git/sayboltm/qspectrumanalyzer
Qt.py==1.4.1
setuptools==75.8.0
SimpleSoapy==1.5.1
SimpleSpectral==1.0.0
soapy_power==1.6.1
types-pyside2==5.15.2.1.7
wheel==0.45.1

Worth noting: my path contains:

$ echo $PATH

...

/home/user/.local/bin/qspectrumanalyzer:/home/user/.local/bin/soapy_power

per https://github.com/sayboltm/qspectrumanalyzer/blob/master/README.rst?plain=1#L138-139

qspectrumanalyzer and soapy_power executables will be then placed in ~/.local/bin directory, you can add it to your PATH in ~/.bashrc.

I don't think this will cause any issues?

[sayboltm]

using diff to compare strings inline like so: (more on: does your shell support process substitution)

$ diff <( printf '%s\n' "hey" ) <( printf '%s\n' "hi" )`
1c1
< hey
---
> hi

...

$ export string1="hey"
$ export string2="hi"
$ diff <( printf '%s\n' "$string1" ) <( printf '%s\n' "$string2" )

(yields same results)

conda:

? ?

pip:

$ diff <( printf '%s\n' "$string1" ) <( printf '%s\n' "$string2" )
3c3
< QSpectrumAnalyzer @ file:///home/user/git/xmikos/qspectrumanalyzer
---
> QSpectrumAnalyzer @ file:///home/user/git/sayboltm/qspectrumanalyzer

So basically, nothing has changed in my Conda sdr-dev environment (it is probably in the ~/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/qspectrumanalyzer/ argh!)
I wanted to

... install QSpectrumAnalyzer directly from Git master branch, you can use this procedure:

and use Git

[sayboltm]

qspectrumanalyzer
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/user/.local/bin/qspectrumanalyzer", line 5, in <module>
    from qspectrumanalyzer.__main__ import main
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/qspectrumanalyzer/__main__.py", line 5, in <module>
    from Qt import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/Qt.py", line 2036, in <module>
    _install()
    ~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/Qt.py", line 1984, in _install
    raise ImportError("No Qt binding were found.")
ImportError: No Qt binding were found.

not surprised, ran into this before.

Don't see a requirements.txt in the project folder, rusty in my setup.py Xperience Points these days, and weak in Qt, but do see some Qt stuff including building it and Qt.py

Can repro easily:

(sdr-dev)$ python -c 'import Qt' Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    import Qt
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/Qt.py", line 2036, in <module>
    _install()
    ~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/Qt.py", line 1984, in _install
    raise ImportError("No Qt binding were found.")
ImportError: No Qt binding were found.

From README

# Install basic dependencies
sudo apt-get install python3-pip python3-pyqt5 python3-numpy python3-scipy soapysdr python3-soapysdr

But its all python and we probably want to put any unmet deps in the Conda env because this machine is my daily driver

[sayboltm]

pip install pyqt5
Collecting pyqt5
  Using cached PyQt5-5.15.11-cp38-abi3-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl.metadata (2.1 kB)
Collecting PyQt5-sip<13,>=12.15 (from pyqt5)
  Using cached PyQt5_sip-12.17.0-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.whl.metadata (472 bytes)
Collecting PyQt5-Qt5<5.16.0,>=5.15.2 (from pyqt5)
  Using cached PyQt5_Qt5-5.15.16-1-py3-none-manylinux2014_x86_64.whl.metadata (536 bytes)
Using cached PyQt5-5.15.11-cp38-abi3-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl (8.2 MB)
Using cached PyQt5_Qt5-5.15.16-1-py3-none-manylinux2014_x86_64.whl (61.1 MB)
Using cached PyQt5_sip-12.17.0-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_5_x86_64.manylinux1_x86_64.whl (281 kB)
Installing collected packages: PyQt5-Qt5, PyQt5-sip, pyqt5
Successfully installed PyQt5-Qt5-5.15.16 PyQt5-sip-12.17.0 pyqt5-5.15.11

[sayboltm]

And we are running/visible! (minus some warnings)

Put TODOs in commit on a main branch? [No! ](Add pyqt5 to setup.py and/or requirements.txt)

But this was cool because we've all seen it :

git alias to find TODOs added to current branch: git --no-pager diff --color-words --no-color --diff-filter='AM' master | grep TODO | git grep -f - -F 2> /dev/null – bimlas

TODO: Add pyqt5 to setup.py and/or requirements.txt

Discuss: license issues regarding Qt (non-free for commercial use) vs PySide (free/used/"endorsed" by Qt)

History of PyQt5 vs PySide2
TL;DR there is none.

• [ ] Add pyqt5|pyside2 to setup.py and/or requirements.txt

^^ I've def used this feature. Discussions are new, maybe truly need to open an issue for a full overhaul.

TODO

[sayboltm]

Warnings:

Warning: Ignoring XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland on Gnome. Use QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland to run on Wayland anyway.
libGL error: MESA-LOADER: failed to open iris: /usr/lib/dri/iris_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri:\$${ORIGIN}/dri:/usr/lib/dri, suffix _dri)
libGL error: failed to load driver: iris
libGL error: MESA-LOADER: failed to open swrast: /usr/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri:\$${ORIGIN}/dri:/usr/lib/dri, suffix _dri)
libGL error: failed to load driver: swrast

More on this:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69828508/warning-ignoring-xdg-session-type-wayland-on-gnome-use-qt-qpa-platform-wayland

They may be able to be ignored, I get the same things running Spyder (or other Qt python programs) and it works fine.

[sayboltm]

Issue: Clicked 'Start' on the controls:

Starting backend:
soapy_power -f 87.0M:108.0M -B 10.0k -T 1.0 -d  -r 2560000.0 -p 0 -F soapy_power_bin --output-fd 15 -g 37.0 -c --even --fft-window boxcar --remove-dc

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/user/.local/bin/soapy_power", line 5, in <module>
    from soapypower.__main__ import main
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/soapypower/__main__.py", line 5, in <module>
    import simplesoapy
  File "/home/user/.local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/simplesoapy.py", line 5, in <module>
    import SoapySDR
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'SoapySDR'

[sayboltm]

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    import SoapySDR
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'SoapySDR'

Ыуат. It is in the deps, but using dpkg (apt-get). If:

.. install QSpectrumAnalyzer directly from Git master branch, you can use this procedure:

So I can use Git and do dev, want it in the portable Conda Python env.

From Windows 🤢 part of the readme:

https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki

There is a cool image to get a lay of the land (the libs and deps):

Which shows it does have python bindings.

No pip install soapysdr 😞

pothosware/SoapySDR#240

not planned (2020~2022). 😢

But it (the python support) says: Ubuntu: merely sudo apt-get install python-dev swig ok. apt install general dev stuff. even python?? Yes, because its one of those C libs...
what-is-python-dev (/u/bernhard:)

python-dev contains the header files you need to build Python extensions.

[for] Python C-API extension that is compiled when you do pip install []. The [] sources have at least >something like #include <Python.h> in the code. The compiler looks for the header file Python.h during compilation, hence those header files need to be on your system such that they can be found.

-dev packages on Linux
On Linux typically, the binary libraries and header files of packages like Python are separate. Hence you can have Python (e.g. package python) installed and everything works fine. But when you want to build extensions you need to install the corresponding -dev package.

Always wondered this stuff tinkering with hardware projects using Python. cool!

[sayboltm]

[sudo] password for user: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package python-dev is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
  python2-dev:i386 python2:i386 python2-dev python2 python-dev-is-python3

E: Package 'python-dev' has no installation candidate

Gonna take a SWAG (Scientific Wild-Ass Guess) we want python-dev-is-python3
TODO++;
nope

[sayboltm]

Gah. computer did not have enough rams and crashed, losing volatile tmp notes : (

after previously having to clear all history/cache to get a 2FA to work. Only history is open tabs.

Idk what I did.

Best guess:

got python-dev resolved,

followed the correct build instructions for soapySDR NOt the SoapyRTLSDR from a link somewhere

bunch of C/build options, ended up having to build from source

• there seems to not be adequate support for latest Python 3.13, so recommend Python 3.10 in your env

• questioning where it installed

• should have installed docker on this machine to have multiple test envs since it won't go in the conda env

Uses compiled python or something but not as seamless as youd expect (e.g. installing numpy)

this might help:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55850748/how-to-properly-install-soapysdr-with-limesdr-usb

Last issue was:
$ soapy_power --info

no devices found

despite hackrf_info showing the device

SoapySDRUtil --info also showing the device

google: soapy_power --info no devices found hackrf one

But using hackrf_sweep, so don't need this anyway.

Tried to update readme 🤷

Finishing up merging old PRs, time to open issues

[sayboltm]

Some useful links:

https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/PythonSupport

NOT

https://github.com/pothosware/SoapyRTLSDR/wiki

If you forgot how to signal process/radio oper8:

https://www.gqrx.dk/doc/practical-tricks-and-tips#more-229