Install rbfeeder arm64 on Ubuntu / Debian AMD64 PC with QEMU Support

[abcd567]

List of Contents

• (A) INTRODUCTION
• (B) INSTALLATION SCRIPTS
• (C) EXPLANATION (Please Scroll Down to Next Post)

(A) INTRODUCTION:
The Radarbox24 feeder on first run sends information to Radarbox Server which identifies the rbfeeder's architecture, computer's MAC address, and the CPU Serial.

The Radarbox24 server sends back the sharing key and station number which is saved in file /etc/rbfeeder.ini

For unknown and unfortunate reason, the key and station number supplied by Radarbox24 Server are INVALID if it is a non-RPi installation (i.e. the installed rbfeeder package does not have architecture arm64). Since Ubuntu and Debian installed on a PC have architecture AMD64, these cannot cannot run rbfeeder for RPi (arm64), and can run rbfeeder only with architecture AMD64, which runs perfectly well, but fails to get a valid Sharing-Key.

This problem is overcome by first installing qemu-user-support packages on Ubuntu / Debian AMD64 PC, after which rbfeeder package for RPi (64-bit  arm64) can be installed and runs successfully on Ubuntu / Debian AMD64 PC. The arm64 RPi package gets a valid Sharing-Key from RB24 server.

Just run the following bash script on your Debian / Ubuntu AMD64 PC, and the rbfeeder:arm64 will be installed, a valid Sharing-Key will be obtained, and rbfeeder will run successfully.


(B) INSTALLATION SCRIPTS:

NOTE: These scripts install rbfeeder as  well as mlat-client.

(B.1) For Debian 12 & 13 (Bookworm & Trixie)
This script is very long, and it's right-most part may not be visible directly.
Please scroll right to view and copy it in full

Code Select Expand


sudo bash -c "$(wget -O - https://github.com/abcd567a/rbfeeder-debian-ubuntu-amd64-i386/raw/master/install-rb24-debian-amd64.sh)" 




(B.2) For Ubuntu 22, 24, & 26 (Jammy, Noble, & Resolute)
This script is very long, and it's right-most part may not be visible directly.
Please scroll right to view and copy it in full

Code Select Expand


sudo bash -c "$(wget -O - https://github.com/abcd567a/rbfeeder-debian-ubuntu-amd64-i386/raw/master/install-rb24-ubuntu-amd64.sh)" 




(B.3) Installation of Decoder (dump1090-rb or dump1090-fa)

OPTION-1:
Activating rbfeeder's built-in decoder dump1090-rb
Use this option if you have NOT yet installed, or do NOT want to install any external decoder like dump1090-fa or readsb etc.

The rbfeeder has an integral decoder dump1090-rb, but by default it is kept inactive toi allow use of external decoders like dump1090-fa or readsb etc. However it isvery easy to activate it by a simple setting change as follows:

(a) Open file rnfeeder.ini for editing

Code Select Expand


sudo nano /etc/rbfeeder.ini


(b) In this file, you will see the first line at top as follows:
network_mode=true
replace 'true' by 'false', so the line becomes like below:
network_mode=false
Save file

(c) Restart rbfeeder

Code Select Expand


sudo systemctl restart rbfeeder


check status

Code Select Expand


sudo systemctl status rbfeeder


You will see following output:

Code Select Expand


debian-13 rbfeeder[992]: Sun Jul 12 17:22:41 2026 EDT  dump1090-rb 1.0.15 starting up.
debian-13 rbfeeder[992]: rtlsdr: using device #0: Generic RTL2832U OEM (Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN 00000001)
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: Detached kernel driver
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: adaptive: using 50% duty cycle
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: adaptive: enabled adaptive gain control with gain limits 0.0dB (step 0) .. 58.6dB (step 29)
Jul 12 17:20:11 debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: adaptive: enabled dynamic range control, target dynamic range 30.0dB
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: adaptive: enabled burst control
debian-13 rbfeeder[918]: Allocating 4 zero-copy buffers



OPTION-2:
Installing Flightaware's decoder dump1090-fa
This requires building dump1090-fa package from Flightaware's source code. I have written a script which makes this process automatic, making it very easy and simple.
Run the following command to run the automated installation script:
NOTE: The script is very long and it's right-most part may not be visible. Please scroll right to see and copy the script in full

Code Select Expand



sudo bash -c "$(wget -O - https://github.com/abcd567a/piaware-ubuntu-debian-amd64/raw/master/install-dump1090-fa.sh)"



NOTE: The sript installs necessary build-tool pacages and dependecies packages, then clones source-code from Flightaware then builds & installs the dump1090-fa package. This takes some time. Please be patient and let the script finish it's work.


(B.4) Future Upgrading to Newer Version of rbfeeder
User of Ubuntu and Debian PC can upgrade to any new version released by RB24 by issueing following commands:

Code Select Expand


sudo apt update 

sudo apt upgrade rbfeeder:arm64


[abcd567]

(C) EXPLANATION:
QEMU (Quick Emulator) is a fast machine emulator, and can be run in following modes:

• User Mode Emulation: Runs programs compiled for one CPU architecture (e.g., RPi's rbfeeder arm64 or armhf) on another (e.g., Linux amd64 x64 machine)


• System Emulation: Emulates a complete machine, including a CPU, memory, and peripherals.


• Virtualization (KVM/Xen): When paired with a hypervisor like KVM, QEMU enables near-native performance by running the guest code directly on the host CPU.

The "User Mode Emulation" is simplest and lightweight and does not make any changes to the Linux PC except installing 3 qemu-user support packages from apt repository of Linux OS (e.g. Ubuntu / Debian)

I have prepared two scripts, one for Debian amd64 PC, other for Ubuntu amd64 PC, which use the simpler and lightweight "User Mode Emulution".

These scrips automate the entire process of installation, and can be run by bash command.

These scripts do following:

• Installs QEMU support (simply by installing packages qemu-user, qemu-user-binfmt, and binfmt-support)
• Adds architecture ARM64 to system
• Ubuntu only: adds apt sources.list "ubuntu-ports-arm64.sources" for arm64 (debian does not require user to add separate sources list for arm64)
• Installs necessary ARM64 library (libc6:arm64)
• Adds rb24 repository by adding /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rb24.list and /etc/apt/keyrings/rb24.gpg
• Installs rbfeeder:arm64 using command sudo apt install rbfeeder. The QEMU emulates arm64 / aarch64 environment.
• Installs mlat-client.

The QEMU install is NOT a Docker install.

Installation and use of any app using QEMU is simple. It uses same commands as normal install on RPi. The user is not required to learn anything new. On the other hand DOCKER has its own syntax and commands, and users are required to learn how to use it, and it is confusing and painful for those who have not used Docker before..

Installation of rbfeeder package on amd64 computer with QEMU support has a big advantage that it does NOT require / use spoofing of any kind (such as spoofing cpu serial, spoofing mac address) to get a Valid Sharing Key.

[Cassinworth]

Have you tested whether Radarbox might change their server side validation in future updates, which could potentially break this method?

[abcd567]

Have you tested whether Radarbox might change their server side validation in future updates, which could potentially break this method?

(1) I have tested the method just before posting it here, and it worked OK then.

(2). I have again tested it today and it is still working ok.

(3) You have asked me if I have tested this method for possible future changes by Radarbox24 for their server side validation.

Sorry, I cannot test something which may occurre in future, but which does not exist now.

If you know this technique, please go ahesd and perform this test yourself.