Re: gnuradio permission problems?

[Chris Vine]

On Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:33:08 +0000
Chris Vine <vine24683579@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 18 Jan 2023 13:03:53 +0000
> "Beckmann, Niklas" <niklas.beckmann1@rwth-aachen.de> wrote:
> > Hi everybody,
> > 
> > I have somehow a general question, and even after days of trying
> > (and also googling), I did not found a solution for my problem. So
> > maybe anyone here can help me out. Im on Ubuntu 20.04 and gnuradio
> > 3.10, python 3.8.
> > 
> > I am working with an evaluation kit antenna, which is controlled via
> > the python OOT block, that I wrote. In gnuradio, during the antenna
> > initialization process, my python block tells me, that the connection
> > to the eval-kit failed:
> > 
> >   Connecting ...
> >   MB1 device channel connection failed!
> >   Make sure the device cable is connected.
> >   Make sure you run the connection script with sudo.
> >   Make sure the MB1 has been programmed with the correct descriptor.
> >   Device initialization failed!
> > 
> > On the other hand, when I open sudo python in a terminal, give the same
> > commands as in the python block, the initialization process ends
> > sucessfully. So my guess was, that it has something to do with the
> > permissions of gnuradio (even tho I do not get an Errno13). Am I on
> > the right track? And if so, how can I give gnuradio the needed
> > permissions to connect with the eval-kit or let it run the scripts with
> > higher permissions without using sudo gnuradio?
> > 
> > Since the question is pretty general, I did not provide anything of
> > code. If certain parts of the code or something else is needed, I can
> > give it.
> 
> If your "evaluation kit antenna" comprises a hardware device which has
> a linux driver supplied for it (or uses a generic USB interface for
> which the linux kernel already supplies a driver), so that it is
> represented by a device file in the /dev directory, this looks more
> like a permissions issue concerning the device file rather than with
> gnuradio itself.  If that is the case you may need to write a udev rule
> for your hardware (http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html).
> 
> Having said that, if you have a linux driver for your hardware you
> would have expected it to come with an appropriate udev rules file in
> the first place.

As an addendum, note that if your device driver does already come with a
udev rules file, it may be just a matter of you making yourself a
member of a relevant group.  Examining whether you have a rules file
for your device, which may variously be installed
in /lib/udev/rules.d, /usr/lib/udev/rules.d or /etc/udev/rules.d (I
don't use Ubuntu), should tell you more.