libiio-utils¶
Command-line tools that find and talk to IIO devices such as the PlutoSDR and ADALM2000
- Version recorded: 0.26
- Categories:
electronics,sdr-hardware - Upstream: https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio
What it does¶
The command-line tools of libiio, Analog Devices' library for Industrial I/O devices. iio_info lists the contexts it can reach and every device, channel and attribute inside one; iio_attr reads and writes a single attribute (a Pluto's LO frequency, gain or sample rate); iio_readdev and iio_writedev stream raw samples to and from a file or a pipe; iio_reg reads and writes device registers.
Why you would want it¶
The PlutoSDR and the ADALM2000 are IIO devices, reached over USB or the network through libiio rather than through a /dev node. When SDR software does not see a Pluto, iio_info -S answers the first question -- does libiio see it at all, and at which URI -- before any application is involved. It is the Pluto's equivalent of rtl_test and hackrf_info.
Before it will work¶
An IIO device, attached over USB or reachable on the network (a Pluto answers at ip:192.168.2.1 over its USB network interface by default, per Analog Devices' documentation; not checked here). USB access needs a udev rule, which the plutosdr hardware entry does not yet carry: its identifier is unconfirmed.
How it installs¶
- apt:
libiio-utils
Known problems¶
Unmeasured with hardware here: the maintainer owns no PlutoSDR and no ADALM2000, so no scan has been run against a device. The archives carry the 0.x tools while upstream has tagged v1.0.0; whether a command written for 1.x runs unchanged on the packaged 0.x tools is unmeasured, so check iio_info --help when an example fails. Ubuntu 24.04 and Mint 22.3 carry 0.25, the others 0.26 (measured 2026-09-30).
Keeping it current¶
- probe: apt policy
- strategy: apt_upgrade
- Upstream is active and has moved to a 1.x series with a changed API; the archives carry 0.25 and 0.26. A 1.x tools package would arrive through the distribution.
Where to get help with the software itself¶
Analog Devices. GitHub issues on the repository above, and the Analog Devices EngineerZone forums for the Pluto and the ADALM2000.