Official bladeRF forum

Posted: **Tue Jun 30, 2026 11:03 am**

Hello all, i have been using my bladerf x40 perfectly in windows and under linux. The problem im facing is that there is a sdr software i wanted to try and used a Ubuntu-26.04 new install under WSl2 in windows. When i try to launch the program(qradiolink) i get the following error:

[WARNING @ host/libraries/libbladeRF/src/backend/usb/libusb.c:529] Found a bladeRF via VID/PID, but could not open it due to insufficient permissions.
[ERROR] bladerf_open_with_devinfo() returned -7 - No device(s) available

If i try to execute bladeRF-cli, for example, to load the fpga the program doesn't see the bladerf connected. Of course if i do a sudo bladeRF-cli -i it works perfectly. The problem is that this software(qradiolink) does not allow to be run as root, so i'm unable to get the blade recognized by it.

I searched and came to a solution that involved reloading of the 88.rules files, but i already have them on my system, and i'm unable to get access to the bladerf without root. Anyone can point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!!!!

Posted: **Fri Jul 17, 2026 10:51 pm**

Since

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sudo bladeRF-cli -i

works, the USB forwarding itself is OK. This looks like a permissions issue rather than a libbladeRF or WSL problem.

A couple of things to check:

Does
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```
lsusb
```
show the bladeRF as your normal user?
What permissions does the bladeRF device node have under
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```
/dev/bus/usb/
```
?
Is your user actually a member of the group specified in the udev rule, usually
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```
plugdev
```
?

Run:

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lsusb
id
ls -l /dev/bus/usb/*/*

Find the bladeRF entry from

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lsusb

, then check the matching device node. Ideally it should look something like:

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crw-rw---- 1 root plugdev ...

One WSL-specific issue is that the udev rule should already be active before the device is attached with

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usbipd

. If you installed or changed the rule while the bladeRF was already attached, try:

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sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Then, from Windows PowerShell:

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wsl --shutdown

Start Ubuntu again and reattach the bladeRF using

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usbipd attach --wsl --busid <BUSID>

.

Also check the actual bladeRF rules file, for example:

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cat /etc/udev/rules.d/88-nuand.rules

or:

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grep -R "bladeRF|2cf0|1d50" /etc/udev/rules.d /usr/lib/udev/rules.d /lib/udev/rules.d 2>/dev/null

Make sure the rule uses a valid group such as:

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GROUP="plugdev", MODE="0660"

and that your user belongs to that group:

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sudo usermod -aG plugdev $USER

After adding the group, fully restart WSL or log out and back in before testing again.

Once

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bladeRF-cli -p

works without

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sudo

, qRadioLink should also be able to access the device as a normal user.

Official bladeRF forum

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