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uhd-host

USRP Hardware Driver — host tools and firmware images for Ettus USRP radios

What it does

The driver, utilities and udev rules for the USRP family: uhd_find_devices, uhd_usrp_probe, and uhd_images_downloader which fetches the FPGA images a given board needs.

Why you would want it

It is the only way to drive USRP hardware, and it is what GNU Radio and SoapySDR use underneath. uhd_find_devices is the first diagnostic.

Before it will work

USRP hardware, plugdev membership, and a network connection the first time, because the FPGA images are not all shipped in the package.

How it installs

  • apt: uhd-host

Known problems

The first-use image download surprises people, particularly on a field machine with no connectivity — fetch them before you leave. Debian 13 and Parrot ship 4.8.0.0 while Kali ships 4.9.0.1, and UHD is strict about matching FPGA image versions to the host library, so a cross-distribution image cache will not work.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Source: catalog/packages/uhd-host.yaml