Installing

The recommended way to install RadioFoundry, update it, back up a radio and restore it is the web installer on the project's web site, radiofoundry.org. It runs in a Chromium-based browser (Chrome, Edge) and needs nothing installed. The files you load into it never leave your computer. Nothing here changes the radio's calibration.

The command line tool rfoundry does the same from a terminal. It is the advanced option: use it for scripts, for a browser that can't talk to a radio, or for a local build (Advanced: rfoundry).

What differs from radio to radio (the stock firmware file, the keys that start the bootloader, the install route) is in your radio's "Installing" section of the Radio reference. A radio that runs a manufacturer's stock firmware and has a migration chapter is covered in Moving from the stock firmware.

What you need

The release firmware has everything except the AMBE codec. The installer either keeps the codec already in your radio, or takes it out of the stock firmware file on your computer and writes it to the radio. The stock file also gives the installer the key the radio's bootloader expects. Once the radio runs RadioFoundry, the installer reads the key from the radio instead. Files are checked by SHA-256, and unknown files are refused.

Back up the radio's current codeplug before you flash, with the program you use now (the manufacturer's CPS, or qdmr). RadioFoundry uses a different codeplug layout from the stock firmware. If you go back to stock later, you need that backup. The web installer's own backup (below) holds it too.

Install with the web installer

Open the web installer, choose Install, and follow the steps (a radio that runs RadioFoundry already: Updating RadioFoundry):

1. Radio. Pick your radio.

2. Build. Pick Full (every feature the radio supports), Amateur, Commercial, or Custom to choose features one by one. Features the radio can't have are marked. A custom build is made when you continue and takes under a minute. When your browser asks for a language the radio can show but the build leaves out, the page offers to include it (Settings > Display > Language on the radio, Settings). Radio language picks the language the radio starts in, preset to the page's language when the build has it. Picking a language the build leaves out adds it to the build. You can change it on the radio later. A build too big for the radio says by how much: turn some features off in Custom, or pick a smaller build, and build again.

3. Current firmware. Say what the radio runs now:

   Choice	When
   RadioFoundry	Connect the radio and turn it on. The installer reads the installed version.
   Original firmware	The firmware installed at the factory.
   Another open firmware	Another open firmware project, such as one of the OpenGD77 family.
   Other / Not sure	Any other firmware, or you don't know what the radio runs.

   The installer asks for the stock firmware file only when it needs it for the codec or the key. If you choose RadioFoundry and the radio runs an OpenGD77-family firmware, the installer says so and offers Another open firmware instead. A RadioFoundry build without the debug link answers the same way.

   On some radios, Original firmware and Other / Not sure also offer Back Up Now before anything is written (recommended). Connect the radio switched on normally and pick Everything (several minutes) or Channels and settings only (under a minute). The installer reads the radio's factory data, the start of its program memory and its memory chip, saves them as a .zip on your computer and restarts the radio. Nothing is written to the radio and nothing is sent anywhere. In update mode the radio gives less (part of the memory chip); the installer says so, and the installation can go on from there. Keep the file, and keep it private: it holds your radio's calibration.

   Some radios come in hardware revisions that RadioFoundry can't tell apart, while the version of their original firmware does. On such a radio, Original firmware and Other / Not sure offer Read Firmware Version: connect the radio switched on normally (not in its bootloader) and select it. Reading changes nothing on the radio. After the installation the installer stores the revision on the radio, so you don't have to pick it. If the radio already holds a different one, the installer shows both and keeps yours (Settings > Advanced > Hardware). The step is optional: without it the radio uses its own choice until you set the revision there.

4. Back up. The installer saves a backup file (a .zip) on your computer: the firmware, the channels and settings and the calibration. Keep it. Where the original firmware can't be read first, the installer backs the radio up right after the installation, before anything else changes.

   On a radio installed over its programming cable the cable is slow, so the installer shows how long each part takes. The program memory is required, unless you use a stock file instead (below). All channels and settings is optional and off by default: the installer never changes them, and the whole data memory can take many minutes. If you have the radio's stock firmware file, Use a Stock File Instead skips the firmware backup, before or during the read. The installer then reads only the codec area and takes the codec from the file in the next step. The firmware in the radio is not backed up, but the stock file can restore the original firmware.

   Without a firmware backup or a stock file, the installer has no codec to give the radio. If you skip the firmware backup and select no supported stock file, Install without the codec is the only way on. The installer then warns, above the Install button, that this installation will not include the DMR voice codec: analog FM will work, but DMR voice will not until you install RadioFoundry again with a supported manufacturer firmware file. Installing again keeps your channels and settings. When you press Install, a dialog asks once more: Go Back and Add the Codec returns to the step where you select the file, Install Anyway installs without DMR voice.

   The same choice comes when the backup finds a firmware version whose codec RadioFoundry has not mapped yet. The backup is still complete; the codec step asks for a supported stock firmware file instead.

5. Install. Put the radio in its bootloader when asked (your radio's keys). The installer writes the changed parts and restarts the radio. Do not unplug the radio until it says the installation is complete.

6. Verify. The installer reads what the radio reports: the version it wrote, and "DMR voice is ready" when the codec is in place.

7. Channels. If the radio still holds its original firmware's codeplug, the installer converts it to the RadioFoundry layout and writes it to the radio, then reads it back and shows how many channels, zones and contacts came over. This runs on its own once the backup holds the original codeplug. If you skipped the backup, the installer asks first: on some radios the converted codeplug replaces the original bytes. On radios that keep the original codeplug apart from RadioFoundry's, it runs with or without a backup, and asks only before replacing a RadioFoundry codeplug already on the radio. An update of RadioFoundry skips this step. If the installer can't read, convert or write the original codeplug, it says so and the radio starts without channels: convert the backup as described in Backing up and restoring.

On Windows the bootloader needs a driver once (Windows: the bootloader driver).

Then continue with First boot.

Coming from another open firmware

On a radio that runs an OpenGD77-family firmware, the installer can back up the whole radio through that firmware before installing, and take the update key and the voice codec from the backup. You then need no stock firmware file. The installer offers this only on radios where it works. On others the stock firmware file is needed as usual.

1. On Current firmware, choose Another open firmware and then Check the Radio, with the radio connected and on. Choosing RadioFoundry finds the other firmware too. The installer reports its version.
2. Choose Back Up and Read. The backup takes about a minute and a half. It only reads; nothing on the radio changes. Keep the file it saves.
3. The installer says whether it found the update key and the codec. If it found both, continue: the codec step uses the codec from your radio. If it found neither or only one, select your stock firmware file on the codec step. The same holds when you skip the backup or the radio reports another model: the codec step asks for the stock file. The open firmware's installer may have put a codec from another radio's firmware there, wherever it chose; the backup finds it, and your radio's section in Radio Reference says which files count.
4. Install as usual through the bootloader.

If the radio stops responding during the backup, turn it off and on, then choose Continue Reading: the backup continues where it stopped. Save What Was Read keeps what was read so far.

To go back, choose Restore with that backup and Previous open firmware. The firmware is written back; the channels and settings are not. Write them with that firmware's own programming software if they are missing.

This path has not been tested on a real radio yet. Keep your stock firmware file at hand.

Updating RadioFoundry

Start the radio normally with RadioFoundry running and choose Update in the web installer:

1. Connect the radio and press Connect. One port list shows the radio's USB port and programming cables.
2. The installer shows the radio, the installed version, the new version and the radio's build (Full, Amateur, Commercial or Custom). The update installs the same build of the new release.
   • Edit Build opens the build step, to change features before the update.
   • A preset build lists the features the new release adds to it.
   • A custom build lists the features added since it was made. Choose On or Off for each before updating.
   • Firmware too old to report its build gets the build step, starting from the closest match.
3. Save a backup first is optional and off. An update keeps the channels, settings, calibration and codec.
4. Press Update. The installer builds the image, writes it and checks the version.

The radio goes straight from RadioFoundry into the loader: no keys to hold, no stock file. The codeplug and the settings stay: they live in flash that updating never touches. Install still works on a radio that runs RadioFoundry, with every question asked.

Backing up and restoring

Back Up saves a file with the radio's firmware, codec, channels and settings. Restore takes that file and writes back the whole radio, only the firmware, or only the channels and settings. It can also return the radio to its original firmware, from your stock firmware file. Any version of the manufacturer's file for your radio works, not only the one the installer needs for the codec. A restore from the update mode works even when the firmware is damaged.

Back Up asks what the radio runs now, as the install does. RadioFoundry reads it over the debug link. Another open firmware reads it through that firmware, on radios where the installer supports it. A radio on its original firmware is not backed up here: choose Install, which backs it up right after the installation.

Each radio lists every backup option and the time it takes: the program memory, the factory calibration and all channels and settings. Calibration only (or Factory calibration) reads just the factory calibration. On a radio that keeps a calibration copy in its program memory, that option is named Program Memory & Calibration. On a radio whose channels and settings are in NAND memory, All channels and settings reads the whole NAND, which can take several minutes.

Without the program memory, a backup can't be restored to your initial radio firmware using these tools. Restore writes back the program memory only; a backup's calibration and data memory are kept for the record. When you pick such a backup, Restore says so and offers Select a Firmware File: pick a manufacturer firmware file for your radio instead, in a version the installer supports. A whole program memory dump of the radio also works, even when its firmware version has not been mapped yet: Restore puts it back as it is, never touching the bootloader. An install can't use that dump's codec until the version is mapped, so the installer offers to send the dump to the RadioFoundry team for mapping and asks for a supported manufacturer firmware file instead.

A backup you unpacked and zipped again (macOS unpacks downloads by itself) still restores. The backup is the .zip file itself (its name is the radio's model, _Backup_ and the date), not one of the files inside it. When you pick a file that is not a backup, Restore says what it is and what to pick instead. An original firmware file goes on to the restore of the original firmware where the radio supports that without a backup.

If the backup holds the original firmware's codeplug, open the file in the Codeplug Editor. It converts the channels, zones and contacts to the RadioFoundry layout.

Windows: the bootloader driver

Windows has no driver for the USB bootloader of radios that flash over USB, so neither the web installer nor rfoundry can open it until you install one. Do this once per computer, with Zadig:

1. Download Zadig from zadig.akeo.ie and run it. It needs no install.
2. Put the radio in its bootloader (your radio's keys are in its Radio reference section) and plug it in.
3. In Zadig's list, pick Digital Radio in USB mode. The USB ID boxes show 0483 DF11. If it isn't listed, choose Options > List All Devices.
4. Choose WinUSB as the driver (to the right of the green arrow) and click Install Driver (or Replace Driver). Wait until Zadig says it succeeded.
5. Unplug the radio, put it back in its bootloader and connect again.

Only the bootloader needs this. The radio's serial port, once it runs RadioFoundry, works without a driver.

Vendor tools that use the same USB ID (the manufacturer's upgrade tool or CPS) need their own driver back. In Device Manager, uninstall the device with Delete the driver software for this device checked, then replug.

Install from the command line with a kit

When the web installer can't install, it offers a manual install kit: a zip with everything to install the firmware you chose from a terminal on this computer, with rfoundry. Choose and build the firmware as usual; the kit takes it from there.

It needs Python 3.8 or later. The README says how to install Python and rfoundry's packages on each system, and the driver a USB bootloader needs on Windows and Linux. The kit is put together in the browser; nothing is uploaded. A radio that rfoundry can't install gets no kit: use Chrome or Edge on a computer. The feature matrix and your radio's section of the Radio reference say how each radio installs.

Advanced: rfoundry on the command line

Each release carries rfoundry, one file per system, rfoundry-<version>-<system>. You can also pipx install it (tools/rfoundry/README.md).

The examples call it rfoundry, and the stock file STOCK.bin. If you'd rather not pass the stock file every time, let rfoundry keep the key:

rfoundry key --stock STOCK.bin --save

Flash

rfoundry flash --release latest --stock STOCK.bin

Some radios come in hardware versions one image can't cover, such as a UHF and a VHF board. They have one image per version. rfoundry picks it from what a radio already running RadioFoundry reports, otherwise it asks, or takes --option BAND=vhf. Your radio's section names its versions.

rfoundry downloads the newest release, checks it, decides about the codec (below) and prints a plan: which flash sectors it will erase and write, and which it leaves alone. Add --dry-run to see the plan without touching the radio. Then it asks you to put the radio in its bootloader:

1. Turn the radio off.
2. Connect the cable to the radio and the computer.
3. Hold the radio's bootloader keys and turn it on. The screen stays dark.
4. Release the keys.

rfoundry finds the bootloader, asks once more, and writes. When it finishes, the radio restarts into RadioFoundry, and rfoundry checks what the radio reports.

On a radio whose hardware revision only its original firmware's version tells (above), rfoundry first offers to read that version: connect the radio switched on normally, before you enter the bootloader. It stores the revision once RadioFoundry runs, unless the radio already holds one. --no-version-read skips this.

Keep the codec, or write it

The stock firmware keeps the codec where RadioFoundry's own firmware goes, so a radio fresh from stock needs the stock file once. After that, rfoundry keeps a copy of the codec on your computer.

If rfoundry keeps a codec that isn't actually in the radio, nothing breaks: RadioFoundry checks the codec before it uses it. FM works, and DMR calls show "No codec: voice off". Flash again with --stock to fix it.

Update

rfoundry flash --release latest

Building it yourself

Developers build with make BOARD=<board> and flash the result with rfoundry flash build/<board>/rfoundry_<board>.bin --board <board> (same codec choices). With the stock file in codecs/, the build also writes rfoundry_<board>_codec.bin, which carries the codec: rfoundry flash build/<board>/rfoundry_<board>_codec.bin flashes it with no --board, and --stock is needed only for the bootloader key. See building.

No codec ("No codec: voice off")

DMR calls show on the screen but there's no audio: the radio has no usable codec. Run the installer again and give it the stock firmware file, or from a terminal:

rfoundry flash --release latest --codec merge --stock STOCK.bin

When the installer can't use a file

If a firmware file can't be used, the installer says what it found and what to do:

A version that isn't supported yet may still give the bootloader key; the notice says so. You can also go on without a usable file: the installer then keeps the codec already in the radio and says, before writing, that DMR voice depends on it.

Technical details shows the exact message. Sending the file is offered only for the manufacturer's firmware file, and only when you click. An automatic error report names the file (name, size and checksum), never its contents.

If something goes wrong

The bootloader lives in a part of the flash the installer never erases, so you can always start over: put the radio in its bootloader and install again. If the radio stays dark after flashing, that's what to do. The web installer's help page walks through the update mode. See also Troubleshooting.

Report a Problem sits under every failure and on the Verify step. It sends what the installer decided and its last steps. You can add a message, an email address for a reply and the files it lists (the stock firmware file, a backup, the firmware read from the radio). A backup holds your channels, contacts and the radio's calibration: uncheck it to leave it out. Attached files and your email address are deleted within 90 days.

A radio left in update mode: a backup or install interrupted by a cable pull, or a page closed in the middle, can leave a radio in its loader (update mode), where the power switch may do nothing. Choose Radio Stuck in Update Mode on the installer's first page and pick the radio. On a radio the installer programs through its cable, pick the cable too, and the installer restarts it into normal mode; for the others the page says how to restart it by hand. When you connect for any other task and the loader is already running, the connect step offers Restart Radio next to Continue. If the loader does not answer at all, turn the radio off and on; if the power switch does nothing, take the battery out for a few seconds. After a Back Up, Restart Radio ends the task on a finished screen that offers Install or Finish (and Update when the radio runs RadioFoundry).

Programming cables: cables with a CH340 chip can be unreliable for backups and installs. If one fails, try a cable with an FTDI, CP210x or PL2303 chip. The installer warns when it sees a CH340 cable.

When the cable can't prepare the radio: a radio installed over its programming cable first gets a small loader in its memory. When the radio turns on, it waits only about 1/20 of a second for the installer's answer, and some cables and USB hubs are slower than that. So the installer keeps sending its answer while the radio starts (this used to be the separate Slow Cable Mode; it is now always on). Turn the radio off, select Radio Is Off, then turn it on. A radio already running RadioFoundry skips that step.

If the load fails ("Preparing the radio failed"), the radio starts normally instead, or it never answers, the installer offers Use Factory Update Mode: the radio's own update mode, entered by holding keys while you turn the radio on (your radio's "Installing" section in the Radio reference). Nothing can be read from the radio that way, so no backup is taken and the voice codec comes from a file: the stock firmware file, or a program memory backup of the radio where the installer knows no stock file for it. Troubleshooting offers the same route ("Reinstall in Factory Update Mode"), and Restore uses it too.

Going back to the stock firmware

1. Put the radio in its bootloader.
2. In the web installer choose Restore, load your backup and pick the original firmware, with your stock firmware file (any version for your radio). If the installer backed up the original firmware before the first installation (see your radio's section), load that backup; without one, load the manufacturer's firmware file. Or run the manufacturer's firmware upgrade tool and load the stock file.
3. Write your codeplug backup with the manufacturer's CPS. The stock firmware can't read the codeplug RadioFoundry used.

Your radio's section in the Radio reference says which way applies.