Actions

Software Setup For Linux

From The RadioReference Wiki

Linux Scanner Applications Tested

Uniden

BCProgTool

Cross platform scanner application and the easiest to set up in Linux. No Wine required by Linux.

Radio Shack

None

Windows Scanner Applications Working / Worked Using Wine

The following applications do connect to the scanner and will allow upload and downloads. Additional features may be affected with the use in Wine as noted below.

Uniden - Updated 12/22/2023

ARC-XT-Pro

  1. Slow to authenticate to RR.com. Need to answer no / continue as Ubuntu wants to close it down.
  2. Also receives HTTP timeouts while connecting.

FreeScan

  1. Functions as intended.

ScanControl

  1. Functions as intended. Also compatable with some Radio Shack Models.

ProScan

  1. Doesn't find its User Manual from the toolbar.
  2. Unable to use FTP to connect to SDS series.

Uniden Sentinel

  1. Must change SDS to a floppy disk in order for Sentinel to see it as a mass storage device.

Radio Shack- Worked

PSREdit300

Details on this linked page go back to Ubuntu 8.10, support ending 2010, so it was probably written around then. There is a very good chance it, or other versions of PSREdit work with a current installation of Wine as described below. Last but current release was 2013. This user has no RS scanners to test it with.

Win500

Details on this linked page go back to .NET Framework v1.1 (Year 2003). There is a very good chance it will work with a current installation of Wine as described below, just need someone with the hardware to test it and report back. Last release was 2015 and is current in 2016.

Wine Installation Process - Ubuntu - (Updated 4/9/2016)

Note: Tested on Ubuntu Studio 15.10 & 16.04 Beta 2.

Install Wine 1.6

1) Install Wine 1.6 from your package manager.
Notes:
  • Wine 1.7 isn't available for Willy. During one of the tests got it to load and at that point FreeScan was able to communicate to the RR.DB. Subsequent tests on a clean OS was not able to install Wine 1.7.
  • These applications will not currently run with Wine 1.8. Tests also showed the only way to revert back to 1.6 was to reload the OS. If one wants to test 1.7 or 1.8 it is recommended to do it on a Virtual Machine.

Create a 32-bit Wine Prefix

Run each line below separately to:
1) Delete the directory ~/.wine (if still present from a previous installation) and
2) Create the new 32-bit prefix.
rm ~/.wine

WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine winecfg
3) Close the Wine Configuration window at any time by selecting “OK”.

Prerequisites for .NET Framework 4.5

Create 2 Folders

1) ~/.cache/winetricks/dotnet30/
2) ~/.cache/winetricks/msxml3/

Download and Copy 2 Files

1) Download .NET Framework 3.0 from:
http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/net-framework-3-0
2) Copy netframework3.exe to ~/.cache/winetricks/dotnet30
3) Download MS XML Parser 3.0 SP 7:
http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-XML-Parser-MSXML-3-0-Service-Pack-7-SP7/3000-7241_4-10731613.html
4) Copy msxml3.msi to ~/.cache/winetricks/msxml3/

Install .NET Framework 4.5

1) Run:
bash winetricks -q dotnet45 corefonts


Note: Installation take about 35 minutes but your milage may vary

Check the .NET Framework v4.5 Install

1) Download the tool from here:
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/astebner/2008/10/13/net-framework-setup-verification-tool-users-guide/
2) Run the tool:
wine ~/Downloads/netfx_setupverifier_new/netfx_setupverifier.exe
3) In the "Product to Verify" pull down select ".NET Framework 4.5"
4) Press "Verify Now"
5) When complete press "View Log"
  • You should see the following line. If so the hard part is over, good job! Exit the window.
[DATE,TIME] Install state for .NET Framework 4.5: installed with no service packs.

Wine Installation Process - Arch - (Updated 12/22/2023)

Install Wine

1) Enable 32-bit repositories by uncommenting the following two lines in /etc/pacman.conf:
[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
2) Update pacman:
# pacman -Syu
3) Install wine, winetricks, and lib32-gnutls (for .NET support):
# pacman -S wine-mono winetricks lib32-gnutls

Create a 32-bit Wine Prefix

Run each line below separately to:
1) Delete the directory ~/.wine and create a new 32-bit prefix:
$ rm -fr ~/.wine
$ WINEARCH=win32 winecfg
3) Close the Wine Configuration window at any time by selecting “OK”.

Install .NET Framework 3.0 SP1

1) Run:
$ winetricks dotnet35sp1

Serial Port Setup

Port Permission

Any applications requiring access to the serial port(s) must have the current user added to the "dialout" user group.
1) Copy and Paste the following in a Terminal window. Replace <Your_User_Name_Here> with your user name:
sudo adduser <Your_User_Name_Here> dialout
2) Logout then back in to complete the user group addition.

Port ID

  • RS-232 connections will be identified as ttyS0-3 and will be assigned to Com 1-4 later.
  • USB / RS-232 Adapters will be identified as ttyUSB0-3 and will be assigned to Com 1-4 later.
PL2303 type adapters work very well on Linux and don't require drivers like Windows.
See details here about about different models available
For the purpose of this testing a TRENDnet TU-S9 was used.


1) Connect Your Scanner to the Computer
2) Copy and Paste the following in a Terminal window to detect your port:
dmesg | grep tty


Example of a RS-232 connection showing that you will be linking ttyS0 to Com1 in the next step:
[    1.058530] 00:06: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4, base_baud = 115200) is a 16550A


Example of a USB to RS-232 connection showing that you will be linking ttyUSB0 to Com1 in the next step:
[32499.503662] usb 9-5: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
  • If you have another connected device and either ttyS1 or ttyUSB1 display as your new device you will want to link it to Com2 below instead of Com1. The same holds true when adding it to the registry.
  • Now we can assume you have figured out how to Run a command using "Copy and Paste into a Terminal window".

Create Symbolic Link To The Port

1) For RS-232 Run:
ln -s /dev/ttyS0 ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1
OR
1) For USB to RS-232 Adapter Run:
ln -s /dev/ttyUSB0 ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1
2) Reboot

Adding The Port To The Registry

1) Open the file with:
gedit ~/.wine/system.reg
2) Add the following 2 lines at the beginning of the file right under “#arch=win32”:
[Hardware\\Devicemap\\Serialcomm] 1131331688
"COM1"="COM1"
Note: The above lines were found in this article as an example of what worked for that author. While it also worked for this author it may not work for you. Other examples are referenced, if needed.
3) Save and close the file.


Select an Application

Select a link to one of the Windows applications above and install. Happy scanning. BTW, love that ProScan.