@tableofcontents
A more modern approach instead of using hand-crafted Makefiles & configure scripts to build & install software. Please note that these instructions are not needed if you have already installed the library using these older instructions
You can install the library in a few different ways.
- Building and installing the library from source code is preferable since it will include all the latest changes.
- Installing the library (via a package manager) from a pre-built package is mostly for cross-compiling purposes, but it can be useful for environments that don't have all the build-time dependencies (namely CMake).
@warning If you have previously installed the library from source code using the the older instructions, then you will need to uninstall it manually to avoid runtime conflicts.
sudo rm /usr/local/lib/librf24.*
sudo rm /usr/local/lib/librf24-bcm.so
sudo rm -r /usr/local/include/RF24
The librf24-bcm.so file may not exist if you used CMake to install the library.
There is a newer automatic install script that makes use of the CMake approach.
-
Download the install.sh file from https://github.com/nRF24/.github/blob/main/installer/install.sh
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nRF24/.github/main/installer/install.sh
-
Make it executable
chmod +x install.sh
-
Run it and choose your options
./install.sh
@warning
SPIDEV
is now always selected as the default driver because all other Linux drivers are being removed in the future. See RF24 issue #971 for rationale.It will also ask to install a python package named pyRF24. This is not the same as the traditionally provided python wrappers as the pyRF24 package can be used independent of the C++ installed libraries. For more information on this newer python package, please check out the pyRF24 documentation.
-
Try an example from one of the libraries
cd ~/rf24libs/RF24/examples_linux
Edit the gettingstarted example, to set your pin configuration
nano gettingstarted.cpp
Build the examples. Remember to set the
RF24_DRIVER
option according to the one that was selected during the scripted install.mkdir build && cd build cmake .. -D RF24_DRIVER=SPIDEV make
Run the example
sudo ./gettingstarted
-
Install prerequisites if there are any (PiGPIO, WiringPi, MRAA, LittleWire libraries, and enable the SPI bus(es) in the OS).
CMake may need to be installed
sudo apt-get install cmake
@note See the MRAA documentation for more information on installing MRAA.
-
Make a directory to contain the RF24 library and possibly other RF24* libraries and enter it
mkdir ~/rf24libs cd ~/rf24libs
-
Clone the RF24 repo and navigate to it
git clone https://github.com/nRF24/RF24.git RF24 cd RF24
-
Create a build directory inside the RF24 directory and navigate to it.
mkdir build cd build
-
Configure build environment
@note When using these instructions to install RF24Mesh, RF24Network, or RF24Gateway, the following
RF24_DRIVER
option is only needed for the RF24 library and examples as well as the examples for RF24Network, RF24Mesh, and RF24Gateway. TheRF24_DRIVER
option is not needed when installing the libraries for RF24Network, RF24Mesh, and RF24Gateway.Instead of specifying the
RF24_DRIVER
option in the CLI, it is recommended to use a environment variable namedRF24_DRIVER
.export RF24_DRIVER=SPIDEV
These instructions assume you have not set an environment variable.
cmake .. -D RF24_DRIVER=SPIDEV
Instead of using
SPIDEV
driver (recommended), you can also specify theRPi
,wiringPi
,MRAA
, orLittleWire
as alternative drivers.@warning
SPIDEV
is now always selected as the default driver because all other Linux drivers are being removed in the future. See RF24 issue #971 for rationale. -
Build and install the library
make sudo make install
-
Build the examples
Navigate to the examples_linux directory
cd ../examples_linux
Make sure the pins used in the examples match the pins you used to connect the radio module
nano gettingstarted.cpp
and edit the pin numbers as directed in the linux/RPi general documation. Create a build directory in the examples_linux directory and navigate to it.
mkdir build cd build
Now you are ready to build the examples.
cmake .. make
If using the
MRAA
orwiringPi
drivers, then you may need to specify theRF24_DRIVER
option again.cmake .. -D RF24_DRIVER=wiringPi make
Remember that the
RF24_DRIVER
option is needed for the RF24Network, RF24Mesh, and RF24Gateway examples if you specified that option (via CLI or environment variable) when installing the RF24 library and examples. -
Run an example file
sudo ./gettingstarted
The RF24 library now (as of v1.4.1) has pre-built packages (.deb or .rpm files) that can be installed on a Raspberry Pi. These packages can be found on the library's GitHub release page
-
Download the appropriate package for your machine
Go to the library's GitHub release page, and look for the latest release's assets.
For all Raspberry Pi variants using the Raspberry Pi OS (aka Raspbian), you need the file marked for armhf architecture.
For Raspberry Pi variants using a 64-bit OS (like Ubuntu), you need the file marked for arm64 architecture.
Notice that the filenames will include the name of the utility driver that the package was built with. This does not mean that the LittleWire, MRAA, or wiringPi libraries are included in the package (you will still need to install those yourself beforehand).
-
Install the downloaded pkg
If you downloaded the file directly from your target machine using the desktop environment, then you only need to double-click the package (deb or rpm) file, and the OS should do the rest.
If you downloaded the file remotely and want to copy it over ssh, then use the
scp
command in a terminal.scp pkg_filename.deb pi@host_name:~/Downloads
@note You do not need to do this from within an ssh session. Also, you can use the target machine's IP address instead of its host name.
The
scp
command will ask you for a password belonging to the user's name on the remote machine (we usedpi
in the above example).Now you can open up a ssh session and install the copied package from the terminal.
ssh pi@host_name cd Downloads dpkg -i pkg_filename.deb
The RF24 library comes with some pre-made toolchain files (located in the RF24/cmake/toolchains directory) to use in CMake. To use these toolchain files, additional command line options are needed when configuring CMake to build the library (step 5 in the above instructions to build from source).
cmake .. -D CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/toolchains/armhf.cmake
make
If you plan on using the cross-compiled library with your personal cross-compiled project, then it is advised to specify the path that your project will look in when linking to the RF24 library:
cmake .. -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf -D CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/toolchains/armhf.cmake
make
sudo make install
Remember to also specify the RF24_DRIVER
option (via CLI or environment variable) if
not using the auto-configuration feature (see step 5 in the above instructions to build
from source).
To install remotely, you can create an installable package file using CMake's built-in program called CPack.
cmake .. -D CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/toolchains/armhf.cmake
make
cpack
This will create a deb file and a rpm file in a new sub-directory called "pkgs" within the build directory. You can use either of these packages to install the library to your target machine (see the above instructions about using a package manager).