BLADERF-CLI(1)

📦
version 2025.10 · 9 versions
, in arch rolling

💖 NAME 💖

okay bestie, welcome to bladeRF-cli(1) — the manual page for bladeRF-cli, which is literally the command line interface and test utility for the nuand bladeRF software-defined radio system. she does it all, no cap ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

bladeRF-cli <options>

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

So the bladeRF-cli utility is the tool you use to flash firmware files, load FPGA bitstreams, and do a whole bunch of other tasks on the nuand bladeRF software-defined radio system. main character energy fr 💅

If you're trying to figure out how to get or build firmware files and FPGA bitstreams, the page says to please visit http://nuand.com/ — that's where the goods live 🦋

This is the bladeRF command line interface and test utility, version 1.10.0-git-fcf94233-dirty (yes that's the literal version string, she's dirty, iconique).

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -d, --device <device> — use the specified bladeRF device.
  • -f, --flash-firmware <file> — write the provided FX3 firmware file to flash.
  • -l, --load-fpga <file> — load the provided FPGA bitstream.
  • -L, --flash-fpga <file> — write the provided FPGA image to flash for autoloading. Use -L X or --flash-fpga X to disable FPGA autoloading. (Yes, the letter X is the off switch, don't ask 💀)
  • -p, --probe — probe for devices, print the results, then exit. A non-zero return status comes back if no devices are available.
  • -e, --exec <command> — execute the specified interactive mode command. You can pass multiple -e flags, and the commands run in the order you gave them.
  • -s, --script <file> — run the provided script.
  • -i, --interactive — enter interactive mode.
  • --lib-version — print the libbladeRF version and exit.
  • -v, --verbosity <level> — set the libbladeRF verbosity level. The levels, listed in increasing verbosity, are:
critical, error, warning,
info, debug, verbose
  • --version — print the CLI version and exit.
  • -h, --help — show this help text.
  • --help-interactive — print help information for all interactive commands.

📝 Notes: 📝

The -d option takes a device specifier string. Peep the bladerf_open() documentation for more info on the format of this string, iykyk.

If you don't pass the -d parameter, the first available device gets used for the command you provided, or gets opened before entering interactive mode. slay, she picks for you 💅

Commands are executed in this order:

  1. Command line options
  2. -e <command>
  3. script commands
  4. interactive mode commands
⚠️ big one, bestie: when you're running rx/tx start from a script or via -e, make sure those commands are later followed by rx/tx wait [timeout] so the program doesn't try to exit before reception/transmission is complete. do not skip this, you WILL be sad 😭

🌈 INTERACTIVE COMMANDS 🌈

bladeRF-cli supports a scriptable interactive mode. Run bladeRF-cli --interactive to hop into it. Type help for a listing of all commands, or help <command> for more info about <command>. it's giving self-documenting queen 👑

🧚 calibrate

Usage: calibrate <operation> [options]

Perform the specified transceiver calibration operation.

Available operations:

  • LMS internal DC offset auto-calibrations
    • calibrate lms [show]
    • calibrate lms tuning [value]
    • calibrate lms txlpf [<I filter> <Q filter>]
    • calibrate lms rxlpf [<I filter> <Q filter>]
    • calibrate lms rxvga2 [<DC ref> <I1> <Q1> <I2> <Q2>]

Perform the specified auto-calibration, or all of them if none are provided. When values are provided, those get used instead of the results of the auto-calibration procedure. Use lms show to read and print the current LMS calibration values.

For rxvga2, I1 and Q1 are the Stage 1 I and Q components respectively, and I2 and Q2 are the Stage 2 I and Q components. 🫶

  • RX and TX I/Q DC offset correction parameter calibration
    • calibrate dc <rx|tx> [<I> <Q>]
    • calibrate dc <rxtx>

Calibrate the DC offset correction parameters for the current frequency and gain settings. If I/Q values are provided, they get applied directly. cal rxtx is shorthand for cal rx followed by cal tx. two-for-one, iconic ✨

  • RX and TX I/Q balance correction parameter calibration
    • calibrate iq <rx|tx> <gain|phase> <value>

Set the specified IQ gain or phase balance parameters.

  • Generate RX or TX I/Q DC correction parameter tables
    • calibrate table dc <rx|tx> [<f_min> <f_max> [f_inc]]

Generate and write an I/Q correction parameter table to the current working directory, in a file named <serial>_dc_<rx|tx>.tbl. f_min and f_max are the min and max frequencies to include in the table. f_inc is the frequency increment.

By default, tables get generated over the entire frequency range, in 10 MHz steps.

  • Generate RX or TX I/Q DC correction parameter tables for AGC Look Up Table
    • calibrate table agc <rx|tx> [<f_min> <f_max> [f_inc]]

Similar usage as calibrate table dc, except the call sets gains to the AGC's base gain value before running calibrate table dc. 😌

🦋 clear

Usage: clear

Clears the screen. that's it, that's the whole vibe check.

💜 echo

Usage: echo [arg 1] [arg 2] ... [arg n]

Echo each argument on a new line.

⭐ erase

Usage: erase <offset> <count>

Erase specified erase blocks SPI flash.

  • <offset> — erase block offset
  • <count> — number of erase blocks to erase

🍓 flash_backup

Usage: flash_backup <file> (<type> | <address> <length>)

Back up flash data to the specified file. This command takes either two or four arguments. The two-argument invocation is generally recommended for non-development use. (read: use the two-arg one unless you're actively doing dev stuff, bestie 🙈)

Parameters:

  • <type> — type of backup.

This selects the appropriate address and length values based upon the selected type.

Valid options are:

  • cal — calibration data
  • fw — firmware
  • fpga40 — metadata and bitstream for 40 kLE FPGA
  • fpga115 — metadata and bitstream for 115 kLE FPGA
  • fpgaA4 — metadata and bitstream for 49 kLE (A4) FPGA
  • fpgaA5 — metadata and bitstream for 77 kLE (A5) FPGA
  • fpgaA9 — metadata and bitstream for 301 kLE (A9) FPGA
  • <address> — address of data to back up. Must be erase block-aligned.
  • <len> — length of region to back up. Must be erase block-aligned.
📌 Note: when an address and length are provided, the image type defaults to raw.

Examples:

  • flash_backup cal.bin cal

Backs up the calibration data region. 💖

  • flash_backup cal_raw.bin 0x30000 0x10000

Backs up the calibration region as a raw data image.

🧊 flash_image

Usage: flash_image <image> [output options]

Print a flash image's metadata or create a new flash image. When you give it the name of a flash image file as the only argument, this command prints the metadata contents of the image.

The following options may be used to create a new flash image:

  • data=<file>

File containing data to store in the image.

  • address=<addr>

Flash address. The default depends upon the type parameter.

  • type=<type>

Type of flash image. Defaults to raw.

Valid options are:

  • cal — calibration data
  • fw — firmware
  • fpga40 — metadata and bitstream for 40 kLE FPGA
  • fpga115 — metadata and bitstream for 115 kLE FPGA
  • fpgaA4 — metadata and bitstream for 49 kLE (A4) FPGA
  • fpgaA5 — metadata and bitstream for 77 kLE (A5) FPGA
  • fpgaA9 — metadata and bitstream for 301 kLE (A9) FPGA
  • raw — raw data. The address and length parameters must be provided if this type is selected.
  • serial=<serial>

Serial # to store in image. Defaults to zeros.

🌸 flash_init_cal

Usage: flash_init_cal <fpga_size> <vctcxo_trim> [<output_file>]

Create and write a new calibration data region to the currently opened device, or to a file.

🚨 okay listen: be sure to back up calibration data prior to running this command. (See the flash_backup command.) do NOT skip the backup, I'm begging 😭
  • <fpga_size>

Either 40 or 115, depending on the device model.

  • <vctcxo_trim>

VCTCXO/DAC trim value (0x0-0xffff)

  • <output_file>

File to write calibration data to. When this argument is provided, no data gets written to the device's flash.

🔥 flash_restore

Usage: flash_restore <file> [<address> <length>]

Restore flash data from a file, optionally overriding values in the image metadata.

  • <address>

Defaults to the address specified in the provided flash image file.

  • <length>

Defaults to length of the data in the provided image file.

🫧 fw_log

Usage: fw_log [filename]

Read the contents of the device's firmware log and write it to the specified file. If no filename is specified, the log content gets written to stdout.

👑 help

Usage: help [<command>]

Provides extended help, like this, on any command. she contains multitudes 💅

🦄 info

Usage: info

Prints the following information about an opened device:

  • Serial number
  • VCTCXO DAC calibration value
  • FPGA size
  • Whether or not the FPGA is loaded
  • USB bus, address, and speed
  • Backend (denotes which device interface code is being used.)
  • Instance number

💀 jump_to_boot

Usage: jump_to_boot

Clear out a FW signature word in flash and jump to FX3 bootloader.

⚠️ the device will keep booting into the FX3 bootloader across power cycles until new firmware is written to the device. like, it stays in bootloader mode until you flash new fw, periodt.

🌈 load

Usage: load <fpga|fx3> <filename>

Load an FPGA bitstream or program the FX3's SPI flash.

🎀 xb

Usage: xb <board_model> <subcommand> [parameters]

Enable or configure an expansion board.

Valid values for board_model:

  • 100

XB-100 GPIO expansion board

  • 200

XB-200 LF/MF/HF/VHF transverter expansion board

  • 300

XB-300 amplifier board

Common subcommands:

  • enable

Enable the XB-100, XB-200, or XB-300 expansion board.

XB-200 subcommands:

  • filter [rx|tx] [50|144|222|custom|auto_1db|auto_3db]

Selects the specified RX or TX filter on the XB-200 board. Below are descriptions of each of the filter options.

  • 50

Select the 50-54 MHz (6 meter band) filter.

  • 144

Select the 144-148 MHz (2 meter band) filter.

  • 222

Select the 222-225 MHz (1.25 meter band) filter. Realistically, this filter option is actually slightly wider, covering 206 MHz - 235 MHz.

  • custom
  • custom — okay so this one selects the custom filter path 💅. When you use it, the user should connect a filter along the corresponding FILT and FILT-ANT connections. Alternatively, you can jumper the FILT and FILT-ANT connections to get “no filter” for reception. (But bestie, this is _highly_ discouraged for transmissions. Like, do not.)
  • auto_1db — automatically selects one of the above choices based upon frequency and the filters’ 1dB points. The custom path is used for cases that are not associated with the on-board filters ✨.
  • auto_3db — automatically selects one of the above choices based upon frequency and the filters’ 3dB points. The custom path is used for cases that are not associated with the on-board filters ✨.

🎀 XB-300 subcommands

  • <pa|lna|aux> [on|off] — enable or disable the power amplifier (PA), low-noise amplifier (lna) or auxillary LNA (aux). The current state of the specified device is printed if [on|off] is not specified.
Note: the auxillary path on the XB-300 is not populated with components by default; the aux control will have no effect upon the RX signal. This option is available for users to modify their board with custom hardware.
  • <pwr> — read the current Power Detect (PDET) voltage and compute the output power ⚡.
  • trx <rx|tx> — the default XB-300 hardware configuration includes separate RX and TX paths. However, users wishing to use only a single antenna for TRX can do so via a modification to resistor population options on the XB-300 and use this command to switch between RX and TX operation. (See R8, R10, and R23 on the schematic.)

Examples:

  • xb 200 enable — enables and configures the XB-200 transverter expansion board.
  • xb 200 filter rx 144 — selects the 144-148 MHz receive filter on the XB-200 transverter expansion board.
  • xb 300 enable — enables and configures the use of GPIOs to interact with the XB-300. The PA and LNA will be disabled by default.
  • xb 300 lna on — enables the RX LNA on the XB-300. LED D1 (green) is illuminated when the LNA is enabled, and off when it is disabled.
  • xb 300 pa off — disables the TX PA on the XB-300. LED D2 (blue) is illuminated when the PA is enabled, and off when it is disabled.

💫 mimo

mimo [master | slave]

Modify device MIMO operation.

IMPORTANT: this command is deprecated and has been superseded by print/set smb_mode. For usage text, run: set smb_mode.

🦋 open

open [device identifiers]

Open the specified device for use with successive commands. Any previously opened device will be closed. Bye, old device 👋.

The general form of the device identifier string is:

<backend>:[device=<bus>:<addr>] [instance=<n>] [serial=<serial>]

See the bladerf_open() documentation in libbladeRF for the complete device specifier format.

🔍 peek

peek <rfic|pll|dac|lms|si> <address> [num_addresses]

The peek command can read any of the devices hanging off the FPGA. This includes the:

  • bladeRF 1: LMS6002D transceiver, VCTCXO trim DAC, Si5338 clock generator
  • bladeRF 2: AD9361 transceiver, VCTCXO trim DAC, ADF4002 frequency synthesizer

If num_addresses is supplied, the address is incremented by 1 and another peek is performed for that many addresses.

Valid Address Ranges:

  • rfic — 0 to 0x3F7 (1015)
  • pll — 0 to 3
  • dac — 0 to 255
  • lms — 0 to 127
  • si — 0 to 255

Example:

  • peek si ...

✍️ poke

poke <rfic|pll|dac|lms|si> <address> <data>

The poke command can write any of the devices hanging off the FPGA. This includes the:

  • bladeRF 1: LMS6002D transceiver, VCTCXO trim DAC, Si5338 clock generator
  • bladeRF 2: AD9361 transceiver, VCTCXO trim DAC, ADF4002 frequency synthesizer

Valid Address Ranges:

  • rfic — 0 to 0x3F7 (1015)
  • pll — 0 to 3
  • dac — 0 to 255
  • lms — 0 to 127
  • si — 0 to 255

Example:

  • poke lms ...

🖨️ print

print [parameter]

The print command takes a parameter to print. Available parameters are listed below. If no parameter is specified, all parameters are printed.

Common parameters:

  • bandwidth — bandwidth settings
  • frequency — frequency settings
  • agc — automatic gain control
  • loopback — loopback settings
  • rx_mux — FPGA RX FIFO input mux setting
  • gain — gain settings
  • samplerate — samplerate settings
  • trimdac — VCTCXO Trim DAC settings
  • tuning_mode — tuning mode settings
  • hardware — low-level hardware status

BladeRF1-only parameters:

  • gpio — FX3 <-> FPGA GPIO state
  • lnagain — RX LNA gain, in dB (deprecated)
  • rxvga1 — RXVGA1 gain, in dB (deprecated)
  • rxvga2 — RXVGA2 gain, in dB (deprecated)
  • txvga1 — TXVGA1 gain, in dB (deprecated)
  • txvga2 — TXVGA2 gain, in dB (deprecated)
  • sampling — external or internal sampling mode
  • smb_mode — SMB clock port mode of operation
  • vctcxo_tamer — current VCTCXO tamer mode
  • xb_gpio — Expansion board GPIO values
  • xb_gpio_dir — Expansion board GPIO direction (1=output, 0=input)

BladeRF2-only parameters:

  • clock_sel — system clock selection
  • clock_out — clock output selection
  • rssi — received signal strength indication
  • clock_ref — ADF4002 chip status
  • refin_freq — ADF4002 reference clock frequency
  • biastee — current bias-tee status
  • filter — RFIC FIR filter selection

🕵️ probe

probe [strict]

Search for attached bladeRF device and print a list of results.

Without specifying strict, the lack of any available devices is not considered an error. Chill vibes only ✨.

When provided the optional strict argument, this command will treat the situation where no devices are found as an error, causing scripts or lists of commands provided via the -e command line argument to terminate immediately.

👋 quit

quit

Exit the CLI. That’s the whole thing, bestie.

🛟 recover

recover [<bus> <address> <firmware file>]

Load firmware onto a device running in bootloader mode, or list all devices currently in bootloader mode.

With no arguments, this command lists the USB bus and address for FX3-based devices running in bootloader mode.

When provided a bus, address, and path to a firmware file, the specified device will be loaded with and begin executing the provided firmware.

In most cases, after successfully loading firmware into the device’s RAM, users should open the device with the open command, and write the firmware to flash via load fx3 <firmware file>.

🏃 run

run <script>

Run the provided script.

📡 rx

rx <start | stop | wait | config [param=val [param=val [...]]>

Receive IQ samples and write them to the specified file. Reception is controlled and configured by one of the following:

  • start — start receiving samples
  • stop — stop receiving samples
  • wait — wait for sample transmission to complete, or until a specified amount of time elapses
  • config — configure sample reception. If no parameters are provided, the current parameters are printed

Running rx without any additional commands is valid shorthand for rx config.

The wait command takes an optional timeout parameter. This parameter defaults to units of milliseconds (ms). The timeout unit may be specified using the ms or s suffixes. If this parameter is not provided, the command will wait until the reception completes or Ctrl+C is pressed.

Configuration parameters take the form param=value, and may be specified in a single or multiple rx config invocations. Below is a list of available parameters.

  • n — number of samples to receive. 0 = inf.
  • file — filename to write received samples to
  • format — output file format. One of the following:
    • csv: CSV of SC16 Q11 samples
    • bin: raw SC16 Q11 DAC samples
  • samples — number of samples per buffer to use in the asynchronous stream. Must be divisible by 1024 and >= 1024.
  • buffers — number of sample buffers to use in the asynchronous stream. The min value is 4.
  • xfers — number of simultaneous transfers to allow the asynchronous stream to use. This should be less than the buffers parameter.
  • timeout — data stream timeout. With no suffix, the default unit is ms. The default value is 1000 ms (1 s). Valid suffixes are ms and s.
  • channel — comma-delimited list of physical RF channels to use

Example:

  • rx config file=/tmp/data.bin format=bin n=10K — receive (10240 = 10 * 1024) samples, writing them to /tmp/data.bin in the binary DAC format.
  • rx config file=mimo.csv format=csv n=32768 channel=1,2 — receive 32768 samples from RX1 and RX2, outputting them to a file named mimo.csv, with four columns (RX1 I, RX1 Q, RX2 I, RX2 Q).

Notes:

  • The n, samples, buffers, and xfers parameters support the suffixes K, M, and G, which are multiples of 1024.
  • An rx stop followed by an rx start will result in the samples file being truncated. If that is not the vibe you want, be sure to run rx config to set another file before restarting the rx stream. fr fr, don't skip that step.
  • For higher sample rates, it is advised that the binary output format be used, and the output file be written to RAM (e.g. /tmp, /dev/shm), if space allows. For larger captures at higher sample rates, consider using an SSD instead of a HDD. 🥲 your poor little spinning disk does not deserve that.
  • The CSV format produces two columns per channel, with the first two columns corresponding to the I,Q pair for the first channel configured with the channel parameter; the next two columns corresponding to the I,Q of the second channel, and so on. two at a time, bestie 💅

🎀 trigger 🎀

trigger [<trigger> <tx | rx> [<off slave master fire>]]

If used without parameters, this command prints the state of all triggers. When <trigger> and tx/rx are supplied, the specified trigger is printed. iykyk.

Below are the available options for <trigger>:

  • J71-4 — Trigger signal is on mini_exp1 (bladeRF x40/x115, J71, pin 4).
  • J51-1 — Trigger signal is on mini_exp1 (bladeRF xA4/xA5/xA9, J51, pin 1).
  • Miniexp-1 — Trigger signal is on mini_exp1, hardware-independent.
Note that all three of the above options map to the same logical port on all devices (mini_exp[1]). Multiple options are provided for reverse compatibility and clarity. so yeah, they're all the same port wearing different outfits 💀

The trigger is controlled and configured by providing the last argument, which may be one of the following:

  • off — Clears fire request and disables trigger functionality.
  • slave — Configures trigger as slave, clears fire request, and arms the device.
  • master — Configures trigger as master, clears fire request, and arms the device.
  • fire — Sets fire request. Only applicable to the master. 🔥

A trigger chain consists of a single or multiple bladeRF units and may contain TX and RX modules. If multiple bladeRF units are used they need to be connected via the signal specified by <trigger> and a common ground. grounding is not optional, bestie, it's the whole point 🙈

The following sequence of commands should be used to ensure proper synchronization. It is assumed that all triggers are off initially.

  1. Configure designated trigger master.
IMPORTANT Never configure two devices as trigger masters on a single chain. Contention on the same signal could damage the devices. 😭 literally do not do this.
  1. Configure all other devices as trigger slaves.
  2. Configure and start transmit or receive streams.
The operation will stall until the triggers fire. As such, sufficiently large timeouts should be used to allow the trigger signal to be emitted by the master and received by the slaves prior to libbladeRF returning BLADERF_ERR_TIMEOUT.
  1. Set fire-request on master trigger.
All devices will synchronously start transmitting or receiving data. ✨ iconic, honestly.
  1. Finish the transmit and receive tasks as usual.
  2. Re-configure the master and slaves to clear fire requests and re-arm.
Steps 1 through 5 may be repeated as necessary. 🌀
  1. Disable triggering on all slaves.
  2. Disable triggering on master.

Notes:

  • Synchronizing transmitters and receivers on a single chain will cause an offset of 11 samples between TX and RX; these samples should be discarded. This is caused by different processing pipeline lengths of TX and RX. This value might change if the FPGA code is updated in the future. so don't hardcode your whole personality around that 11, bestie

🦋 tx 🦋

tx <start | stop | wait | config [parameters]>

Read IQ samples from the specified file and transmit them. Transmission is controlled and configured by one of the following:

  • start — Start transmitting samples.
  • stop — Stop transmitting samples.
  • wait — Wait for sample transmission to complete, or until a specified amount of time elapses.
  • config — Configure sample transmission. If no parameters are provided, the current parameters are printed.

Running tx without any additional commands is valid shorthand for tx config. tiny shortcut, big slay 💅

The wait command takes an optional timeout parameter. This parameter defaults to units of milliseconds (ms). The timeout unit may be specified using the ms or s suffixes. If this parameter is not provided, the command will wait until the transmission completes or Ctrl+C is pressed. so uh, don't panic if it just sits there — that's the assignment 🫶

Configuration parameters take the form param=value, and may be specified in a single or multiple tx config invocations. Below is a list of available parameters.

  • file — Filename to read samples from.
  • format — Input file format. One of the following:
    • csv: CSV of SC16 Q11 samples ([-2048, 2047])
    • bin: Raw SC16 Q11 DAC samples ([-2048, 2047])
  • repeat — The number of times the file contents should be transmitted. 0 implies repeat until stopped.
  • delay — The number of microseconds to delay between retransmitting file contents. 0 implies no delay.
  • samples — Number of samples per buffer to use in the asynchronous stream. Must be divisible by 1024 and >= 1024.
  • buffers — Number of sample buffers to use in the asynchronous stream. The min value is 4.
  • xfers — Number of simultaneous transfers to allow the asynchronous stream to use. This should be < the buffers parameter.
  • timeout — Data stream timeout. With no suffix, the default unit is ms. The default value is 1000 ms (1 s). Valid suffixes are 'ms' and 's'.
  • channel — Comma-delimited list of physical RF channels to use.

Example:

  • tx config file=data.bin format=bin repeat=2 delay=250000

Transmitting the contents of data.bin two times, with a ~250ms delay between transmissions. obsessed with how clean that is ✨

  • tx config file=mimo.csv format=csv repeat=0 channel=1,2

Transmitting the contents of mimo.csv repeatedly, with the first channel in the file mapped to channel TX1 and the second channel mapped to TX2. MIMO main character energy 👑

Notes:

  • The n, samples, buffers, and xfers parameters support the suffixes K, M, and G, which are multiples of 1024. powers of 1024, not 1000, bestie, keep up 💜
  • For higher sample rates, it is advised that the input file be stored in RAM (e.g. /tmp, /dev/shm) or on an SSD, rather than a HDD. 🦋 your HDD could never
  • The CSV format expects two columns per channel, with the first two columns corresponding to the I,Q pair for the first channel configured with the channel parameter; the next two columns corresponding to the I,Q of the second channel, and so on. For example, in the mimo.csv example above, -128,128,-256,256 would transmit (-128,128) on TX1 and (-256,256) on TX2.
  • When providing CSV data, this command will first convert it to a binary format, stored in a file in the current working directory. During this process, out-of-range values will be clamped. clamped = gently squished into range, ngl quite polite of it 🎀
  • When using a binary format, the user is responsible for ensuring that the provided data values are within the allowed range. This prerequisite alleviates the need for this program to perform range checks in time-sensitive callbacks. yes this means YOU, bestie — bin format does not check your homework 💀

🌸 set 🌸

set <parameter> <arguments>

The set command takes a parameter and an arbitrary number of arguments for that particular parameter. In general, set <parameter> will display more help for that parameter. very "the help is inside the help" of it 🫶

Common parameters:

  • bandwidth — Bandwidth settings.
  • frequency — Frequency settings.
  • agc — Automatic gain control.
  • loopback — Loopback settings.
  • rx_mux — FPGA RX FIFO input mux mode.
  • gain — Gain settings.
  • samplerate — Samplerate settings.
  • trimdac — VCTCXO Trim DAC settings.
  • tuning_mode — Tuning mode settings.

BladeRF1-only parameters:

  • gpio — FX3 <-> FPGA GPIO state.
  • lnagain — RX LNA gain, in dB. Values: 0, 3, 6 (deprecated). deprecated, bestie, it's giving vintage 🥲
  • rxvga1 — RXVGA1 gain, in dB. Range: [5, 30] (deprecated).
  • rxvga2 — RXVGA2 gain, in dB. Range: [0, 30] (deprecated).
  • txvga1 — TXVGA1 gain, in dB. Range: [-35, -4] (deprecated).
  • txvga2 — TXVGA2 gain, in dB. Range: [0, 25] (deprecated).
  • sampling — External or internal sampling mode.
  • smb_mode — SMB clock port mode of operation.
  • vctcxo_tamer — VCTCXO tamer mode. Options: Disabled, 1PPS, 10MHz.
  • xb_gpio — Expansion board GPIO values.
  • xb_gpio_dir — Expansion board GPIO direction (1=output, 0=input).

BladeRF2-only parameters:

  • clock_sel — System clock selection.
  • clock_out — Clock output selection.
  • rssi — Received signal strength indication.
  • clock_ref — Enables (1) or disables (0) the ADF4002 chip.
  • refin_freq — ADF4002 reference clock frequency.
  • biastee — Enables or disables the bias tee on a given channel.
  • filter — RFIC FIR filter selection.

⭐ version ⭐

version

Prints version information for host software and the current device. short, sweet, and honestly kind of iconic 👑

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

ok so real talk, this is the part where it all clicks. here's the CLI in its natural habitat:

$ bladeRF-cli -l hostedx40.rbf

Loads an FPGA image named hostedx40.rbf onto the bladeRF's FPGA. cute, simple, done. 💅

⚠️ heads up bestie: the FPGA image you load with --load-fpga will be lost on power-off. gone. poof. 😭 so don't get attached.
$ bladeRF-cli -f firmware.img

Flashes firmware.img onto the bladeRF's firmware. 🫶

$ bladeRF-cli -L hostedx40.rbf

Flashes the FPGA image named hostedx40.rbf onto the bladeRF, where it will be automatically loaded on power-up ✨ — like, it remembers you now. main character energy fr.

Lowkey notice the difference between -l and -L? one's a situationship (temporary), one's a whole commitment (persistent). iykyk 💖

👑 AUTHOR 👑

This utility was written by the contributors to the bladeRF Project. See the CONTRIBUTORS file for more information. shoutout to the whole crew, no cap 🫶✨

🐛 REPORTING BUGS 🐛

Found a bug? 😭 slay, that's how software gets better. Bugs may be reported via the issue tracker at https://github.com/nuand/bladerf.

drop it in the tracker, be nice, include the deets 💜

Copyright © 2013-2015 Nuand LLC.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

(translation: it's free, it's open, and it comes with zero promises — the licence said what it said 💀)

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

More documentation is available at http://nuand.com/ and https://github.com/nuand/bladerf.

go read, go build, go slay 🌈⭐

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this one's from bladeRF-cli 1.10.0-git-fcf942..., dated December 2025 — so like, fresh-ish, and filed under BLADERF-CLI(1) in the manual. periodt. 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from