CHIRP

# Running CHIRP on Linux

This page describes how to get the newer python3-based CHIRP-next running on Linux.

## Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Raspbian, etc

Install prerequisite packages:

```

$ sudo apt install git python3-wxgtk4.0 python3-serial python3-six python3-future python3-requests python3-pip

```

You should be able to install either the wheel or the tarball using `pip`:

```

$ pip3 install chirp-next-20230114.tar.gz

```

> **_NOTE:_**  Your system may install `pip` as `pip3` like above, or just `pip`

If you run the above command as a regular user, the `chirp` executable will be installed into `~/.local/bin/chirp`. If you run it as root, then it will be in `/usr/local/bin/chirp` as you might normally expect.

### Create a desktop (menu) entry

A desktop entry can be placed in `/usr/share/applications/chirp.desktop` to have a menu entry added. Or it can be placed on the desktop itself to add an icon.

See the template desktop entry distributed with chirp: https://github.com/kk7ds/chirp/blob/master/chirp/share/chirp.desktop

If you have installed chirp for your user only, then update the paths for your home directory: `~/.local/share/applications/chirp.desktop`

```

[Desktop Entry]

Name=CHiRP-next (user install)

Comment=Program radios using CHiRP

Keywords=ham radio

Exec=.local/bin/chirp

Icon=.local/lib/python3.9/site-packages/chirp/share/chirp.ico

Terminal=false

StartupNotify=true

Type=Application

Categories=HamRadio

```

### (Optional) Newer `wxPython`

You may want to install a newer wxPython, depending on what your distro ships. For Debian-derived distros (including Ubuntu and Mint) you can do that with a command like:

```

pip3 install -U -f https://extras.wxpython.org/wxPython4/extras/linux/gtk3/ubuntu-20.04 wxPython

```

Check the [directory listing](https://extras.wxpython.org/wxPython4/extras/linux/gtk3/) for other distro versions and use the closest match to what you're on. **NOTE** that this will not work for non-x86_64 machines (like the Raspberry Pi) as there are no binary builds for those platforms.

## Python 3.11 issues

Right now (as of 9-March-2023), testing and released builds are based on <=3.10. If you want to run chirp on a distro with 3.11 you'll likely have to do some work on your own.

For issues with `attrdict` see [this github issue](https://github.com/wxWidgets/Phoenix/issues/2296).

## Serial port permissions

Note that you may need to add your users who want to use CHIRP to the group that owns the serial ports. This issue is often indicated by an "access denied" error when accessing serial port. Determine the group ownership of your serial port like this (assuming `ttyUSB0`):

```

$ stat -c %G /dev/ttyUSB0

dialout

```

Now you need to add your user to that group. On most Linux distros this is accomplished with:

```

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

```

Be sure to use whatever group the above `stat` command reported.

You will then need to log out and back in for it to take effect.

**This is the installation procedure for use with Fedora 37 running Python 3.11**

This was performed and tested on a clean installation of fedora 37 that was fully updated before installing chirp.

First install certain system level packages

`sudo dnf install python3-pip python3-devel gtk3-devel`

Now use pip to install the following packages as your regular user.

`pip install wheel attrdict3`

`pip install wxpython`

The installation of wxpython may take some time to complete so be patient while it is running.

Once the steps above have completed download and use pip to install the packages from the download site.

I tested this with chirp-20230319.tar.gz and chirp-20230319-py3-none-any.whl.

Download both the .tar.gz file and the py3-none-any.whl file then install them one at a time with 

`pip install chirp-20230319-py3-none-any.whl`

`pip install chirp-20230219.tar.gz`

When this is complete you can test the operation.

First make certain that your user is a member of the dialout group with the command `groups`.

If necessary add your user to the dialout group with `sudo usermod -aG dialout <username>` as noted above.  To have that take effect you must log out then back in.

Again verify with the `groups` command.

Now you can test it from the command line with `chirp`.  The executable is installed in ~/.local/bin.

when this works you can add the desktop file with 

`$ cp .local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/chirp/share/chirp.desktop .local/share/applications/` which gives you the icon on the activities menu to launch chirp.

You might choose to edit the desktop file in .local/share/applications and change the path to the icon to read 

`/home/<username/.local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/chirp/share/chirp.ico` so it properly shows the chirp icon image.

If the command `chirp` does not work please check your path to verify it is complete as mine is. The command `echo $PATH` should show `/home/<username>/.local/bin:` at the beginning.  If not that can be fixed by editing the ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile to add that to the existing $PATH.  If the path is configured properly then the desktop file should be able to launch chirp for your user.

Note that the device used as the comm port may be either /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACM0 so the user might need to verify which port is available.  Chirp does not seem to automatically detect the /dev/ttyACM0 device so the user may need to use the 'custom' device and enter it manually.

Following the steps above installs the app as a user level app and it will only be accessible to that user.

Once installed upgrades to newer versions are done simply.

1. download the newer .tar.gz file.

2. `pip install --upgrade chirp-<version>.tar.gz`