Thursday, May 2, 2013

USB GPS on Kali Linux

Quick technical post here.  I'm digging Kali Linux but some things that just worked on BackTrack take extra effort to get working on Kali.  This is one of them.  My USB GPS device just always worked on BackTrack, and didn't on Kali.  So I dug into it and got it working, and thought I would share what I found.

First you need to install the packages:
apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients

Then plug in your GPS if it isn't already and test that it is working and you know what device it is:

gpsd -D 5 -N -n /dev/ttyUSB0

You should see GPS stuff scroll on the screen.  You may have to break out of it and try a second time to see it.  If ttyUSB0 isn't correct for you, figure out which one works, you need to know.  

Then configure gpsd to auto detect the device with this command:
dpkg-reconfigure -plow gpsd

Answer the questions, this where why you tested it and made sure you know the correct device.

Finally for it to start working properly for me I had to reboot and then plug the GPS in, but that may just be because I'm running it in a VM or just unlucky.  So at this point if it is working, great.  If not, reboot with the device unplugged and then plug it in after you login and it should start working fine.
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7 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 10, 2013 at 5:42 PM

    Thanks for your post. I tried this and get the following error. Is there a repo that I need to add?

    # apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients
    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information... Done
    Package gpsd is not available, but is referred to by another package.
    This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
    is only available from another source

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John WoodsAugust 10, 2013 at 7:54 PM

      I just tested this in a fresh Kali install and it worked fine. Try an apt-get update and try again. If that doesn't work do a apt-get upgrade and try again. If that still doesn't work do an apt-cache search gpsd and you should see it listed. If it isn't check your repositories in your /etc/apt/sources.list file. They should match what is here: http://docs.kali.org/general-use/kali-linux-sources-list-repositories I don't have the bleeding edge ones in myself.

      Delete
  2. UnknownAugust 11, 2013 at 11:37 AM

    It still didn't come up, and nothing shows under apt-cache search. I am wondering if it is because I am on the 64 bit version? My sources.list looks like this:

    #

    # deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 _Kali_ - Official Snapshot amd64 LIVE/INSTALL Binary 20130327-17:54]/ kali contrib main non-free

    #deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 _Kali_ - Official Snapshot amd64 LIVE/INSTALL Binary 20130327-17:54]/ kali contrib main non-free

    ## Security updates
    deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free
    /etc/apt/sources.list (END)

    ReplyDelete
  3. John WoodsAugust 11, 2013 at 4:34 PM

    It might be because you are using 64 bit, but that is odd. If you need this for testing soon I recommend getting a 32 bit Kali VM or a BT VM going quickly to do the wireless testing. Otherwise you should post this question on the kali forums http://forums.kali.org/ and get a more official answer than I can give you on why this is and what the best way to get this going on 64 bit is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownAugust 11, 2013 at 6:39 PM

      Thanks for all of your help, I appreciate it.

      Delete
  4. Poofa RadioAugust 28, 2013 at 8:56 AM

    I am using a usb gps and tried the above suggestions and it can't find any of the install packages for gpsd or gpsd-clients. Also did a complete update/upgrade and reboot and still will not find it. Kismet found the GPS under backtrack 5R3 with no issues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John WoodsAugust 28, 2013 at 11:12 AM

      I don't know what to tell you. I just tested this on 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Kali.

      apt-cache search gpsd
      That command sees both packages.

      apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients
      That command works fine.

      Here is what my /etc/apt/sources.list file looks like:

      deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib
      deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib

      ## Security updates
      deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free

      Delete

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