How To Install The Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Inspired Linux Lubuntu Distro Called “DragonOS_Focal” Onto An Old Windows 10 Laptop

I have an old HP ProBook that is not qualified for an upgrade to Windows 11. Some readers may remember I have been dabbling in Linux over the years. And by dabbling, I mostly mean clenching my jaw, hands, and toes, waiting for something to install, and fretting over how badly I broke my computer this time. An attempt to figure out how to use VIM / GCC instead of the Arduino IDE destroyed the Linux Mint OS I had installed on my cheapo computer. I have yet to reinstall.

Luckily time and a poor memory heal all wounds, and learning about GNU Radio tickled my desire to once again pretend I was a bad a$$ hacker that could type away at the command line and figure out all of the secrets of the universe. Like what files are actually in the “Stupid Stuff” directory I created once and no longer can remember why.

But really the flames of my RF obsession have been stoked again, this time thanks to my toe-dipping into radio control. Believe it or not, my first ham radio – purchased about six years ago now – was actually the SDRplay RSP2. Just ask Dave up at the Salem NH HRO if you don’t believe me. The problem with it though was that it ran poorly on Windows 10 using SDRuno software. I figured my computer was too slow, and pretty much gave it up after getting a real transceiver. At the time, I did not know Linux existed.

I dug out the SDRplay and decided to try it out with GNU Radio on a Windows 10 machine. I was able to get it to work, but with a lot of trial and error. And it ran about as well as SDRuno had run on that same computer a half a decade ago, i.e., not well. Queue the Linux distro DragonOS_Focal. This is a Lubuntu-based operating system that has abundant SDR software preinstalled in it. Most importantly, it has GNU Radio preconfigured to operate with SDRplay receivers.

The bottom line? Like all things Linux, the installation process is finicky. But once it is working, the software (including GNU Radio) seem to work flawlessly with my SDRplay RSP2. I have had some pain points with the installation, including losing wireless connectivity and problems with the system starting on a reboot. But overall it works. Below are my notes on how to install DragonOS_Focal (or probably any version of Linux) cleanly on a laptop. Keep in mind these notes ERASE the original Windows operating system and replace it with Linux…there is no going back if you follow these instructions. And there is no guarantee that it will work for you either. I suggest reading them all before you start. I ran in to some major problems (for me!) along the way…

Also, I found this video very helpful in figuring out how to get a Linux OS in general (not specific for DragonOS_Focal onto a laptop.

How To Install Linux (Particularly DragonOS_Focal) On A PC

[I recommend using two separate computers. A regular, everyday computer. And a sacrificial to-become-Linux computer.]

ON THE EVERYDAY COMPUTER:

1) Download a Linux Ubuntu Distro from a reputable source. This file is called an .iso image file.

[If you are downloading DragonOS_Focal, find the program files by starting here at the creator’s website: https://cemaxecuter.com/. This will redirect to: https://sourceforge.net/projects/dragonos-focal/ and starts to automatically download]

2) Go to https://etcher.balena.io/ and download Balena Etcher to your PC. Choose the correct operating system that you are using.

3) Plug the an empty USB device (around 16Gb or more) into the everyday computer.

4) Open up Balena Etcher. Using the Etcher’s prompts: Choose the .iso file for the Linux distro you downloaded. Choose the target to be the USB device. Choose “Flash”. The Linux distro image will now be flashed onto the USB drive. Wait until it is done.

5) Eject/remove USB drive from everyday computer. You may be asked if you want to format the disk; choose no. We now no longer need the everyday computer…except to look up what we are doing on the interwebs…

GO TO THE TO-BECOME-LINUX COMPUTER:

6) Plug in the USB device while the to-become-Linux computer is powered off.

7) While powering on the to-become-Linux computer, select the option to launch the computer into the BIOS environment or to change the boot order instead of booting up as usual. This is usually one of the “F” keys for “Boot options”.

[On my computer, I needed to hit ESC as the computer was just starting up. Then I chose F9 for “Boot Device Options”.]

8) One of the boot options should be the name of your USB device.

[“Boot options” for me led to a list that included the option to boot from “USB Hard Drive 1 – USB Disk 2.0” and I chose this. The name of your USB drive will be different.]

9) You should now be able to choose to boot into a live system of your chosen Linux distro.

[I was able to choose to “Boot DragonOS FocalX R37.1 Live System”. A scary amount of time on a black screen then passed. A “Powered by lubuntu screen” started to boot. Another scary amount of time on a black screen with an indecipherable message appeared. And then the circuit board wallpaper of the DragonOS FocalX appeared (yay!)]

THINGS MAY BE SPECIFIC TO THE DRAGON OPERATING SYSTEM FROM HERE!!!

10) On the live DragonOS desktop, there is an icon that says “Install DragonOS_FocalX”. I clicked this. It then gave me a message and a choice to execute which I clicked.

11) Next it asks about language and keyboard layout (English). Hit continue for both.

12) Then it asks to install 3rd party hardware and media formats. Click this box and leave the other one blank. Hit continue.

13) Installation type is next. I chose “”Erase disk and install Dragon OS”. I did not choose any advanced features. I then clicked “Install Now”. A warning box comes up, and I hit continue.

14) A map with time zone shows up next. Choose yours.

15) A screen asking for name, computer name, username, and password comes up next. Choose yours. The installation process now begins…

16) After quite a while, it will ask to restart the computer. Click on that.

17) It will ask to remove the startup disk (USB drive). Do so. The system will then attempt to boot up in the new operating system.

UH OH!!!

[I am getting an error: “Please install an operating system on your hard disk…”]

Things start getting a little sketchy here. Apparently the computer has no idea that I just installed an operating system on it. And Windows 10 is now permanently gone. Not good. My first thought is to repeat all of the steps that I already described. I am able to reach Step 10 again without any problem. On the live DragonOS desktop, I again click the “Install DragonOS_FocalX” icon. Things change here. The pop up window tells me that DragonOS_Focal is indeed installed on this computer. And would I now like to DragonOS instead? I could not tell if there was a difference between DragonOS_Focal and DragonOS; so I aborted and did a little more homework.

After a fair bit of time researching the issue, it seemed like the problem may lie in the BIOS of the computer. The BIOS apparently is the bit of firmware that is responsible for starting your computer up. This is what you are actually accessing when you hit ESC or one of the F keys as instructed in the start up process. The BIOS environment will look different for each computer manufacturer, so all I can do is tell you what worked for me. After hitting the ESC key on the startup page, I followed the prompts to “BIOS Setup”. Under the “Advanced” tab of the BIOS Setup, I established the settings shown below.

Importantly, if an item is crossed out, it means that I DID NOT check it off. If an item is shown in red, I consider it an important item to note. If an item is not crossed out, then this item is selected (i.e., checked off).

BOOT OPTIONS:

• Audio alerts during boot
• Custom Logo
• Display Diagnostic URL
• Custom Help and URL message
• Require acknowledgment of battery errors
• Fast boot
• CD-ROM boot
• SD card boot
• Floppy boot
• PXE Internal NIC boot
• PXE internal IPV4 NIC boot
• PXE internal IPV6 NIC boot
• USB device boot
• Upgrade Bay Hard Drive boot
• HP Application
• Customized Boot
• Defined Customized Boot Option (“Add” checked)
• SecureBoot
• Clear SecureBoot Keys
• User Mode (“HP Factory Keys” checked)
• Boot Mode (“UEFI Native (Without CSM)” checked)
• UEFI Boot Order:
  • OS Boot Manager
  • Dock Upgrade Bay (UEFI)
  • Optical Disk Drive
  • USB Hard Drive
  • Notebook Ethernet IPV4
  • Noteboot Ethernet IPV6
  • SD Card
  • Generic USB Device
  • Customized Boot

DEVICE CONFIGURATIONS

• Fn Key Switch
• USB legacy support
• Parallel port mode (“ECP” is checked)
• Fan always on while on AC Power
• SATA Device Mode (“AHCI” checked)
• USB Charging Port: Disable charging port in all sleep/off states below (%) 010
• Wake on USB
• Virtualization Technology (VTx)
• Smart Card Reader Power Setting (if present) (“Powered on if card is present” checked)
• Power on unit when AC is detected
• NumLock on a boot

BUILT-IN DEVICE OPTIONS

• Wireless Button State
• Embedded WLAN Device
• Embedded Bluetooth Device
• Embedded LAN Controller
• LAN/WLAN Switching
• Wake on LAN (“Boot to Network” is checked)
• Optical Disk Drive
• Fingerprint Device
• Audio Device
• Microphone
• Speakers and Headphones
• Wake unit from sleep when lid is opened
• Power on unit when lid is opened
• Boost Converter

The most important parts of the BIOS settings is that FastBoot and SecureBoot are turned off, that the boot mode is “UEFI Native (Without CSM)”, and that “AHCI” is checked under SATA Device Mode.

I saved my choices and this time redid steps 1 through 17 above. Instead of booting into DragonOS_Focal, my computer entered into the start-up process (including offering “ESC” as a way to get to the BIOS) over and over and over again. Once I hit ESC, I could now choose “Boot Device Options”. This led to a “Boot Options” page where I could see “ubuntu” was a choice. I went ahead and selected “ubuntu”.

WOO HOO!!! DragonOS_Focal started right up!!! I was able to plug my SDRplay into a USB port and it worked flawlessly! I built an FM receiver to test it (this YouTube video), but using the SDRplay RSP2 as the source instead of the Osmocom source described in the video. The code compiled and ran without issues, and my little software homebrew FM radio started right up!

Now there are some problems…

First off, every time I start it up I have to enter into the BIOS and select “ubuntu” from the “Boot Options”. I have no doubt a real computer guru knows how to fix this, but I do not. Small potatoes…I will keep hitting ESC on startup.

Next, my computer is not recognizing that it has wireless capability. I was able to run some sort of command that showed that sure enough the wireless network card is in the computer and that Linux recognizes its presence. However, only the wired ethernet option shows up under the Network Manager. No wireless networks (including mine or my dozens of neighbors) are seen at all. I tried fixing this about fifty different ways, and none of them worked. I was able to directly wire in my computer to an internet source and it worked perfectly. Another little quirk I will just deal with.

What about updates?

After I was able to get the computer online, a pop-up suggested a full system install and upgrade. I hoped that it would not break everything, but I held my breath, and and hit ok. It is now up and running and I am checking out the various software. Incredibly, it all is working so far, although I have only checked a few of the applications such as GNU Radio, SDR++, and cubicSDR. All of these instantly recognized the presence of my SDRplay. And they all worked nearly flawlessly so far.

All in all I am quite amazed! My fingers are crossed that this system will remain stable. This is a treasure trove of SDR applications that the ham radio enthusiast should find fascinating.

Back to signal hunting!

KM1NDY