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If you bought a standalone HackRF, it probably came with the GSG firmware flashed onto it. This enables usage over USB from a computer.
When buying pre-assembled HackRF + PortaPack bundles, they typically come with some version of the Mayhem firmware. One important thing to understand is that the firmware is always flashed onto the HackRF board; the PortaPack has no flash nor CPU. It is basically an interface module that enables standalone usage without a computer. It provides an LCD screen, buttons, an audio codec IC, an SD card slot, a coin cell battery to preserve settings and time between uses, and in some versions, a high-precision clock signal and a battery.
Although the Mayhem firmware allows you to directly use many functions in the field, standalone without a computer, it also provides a “HackRF mode,” which enables the user to start a version of the original GSG firmware and use your HackRF via USB, controlled by a computer. However, if you separate the two boards, you won’t be able to use the menu GUI and enable “HackRF mode.” So, if you want to use your HackRF board alone (detached), you’ll need to flash it with the GSG firmware.
In case you bought a PortaPack separately or want to upgrade your firmware, check out our Update Firmware page! Update firmware
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How to collaborate
How to ask questions correctly
User manual
- First steps
- Usage cautions
- Intended use and Legality
- Features
- PortaPack Versions (which one to buy)
- HackRF Versions
- Firmware update procedure
- Description of the hardware
- User interface
- Powering the PortaPack
- Troubleshooting
- Won't boot
- Config Menu
- Firmware upgrade
- Diagnose firmware update in Windows
- Receive Quality Issues
- No TX/RX
- TX Carrier Only
- H2+ speaker modifications
- Dead Coin Cell Battery
- Factory Defaults
- SD card not recognized by PC with the SD-card over USB selected
- DFU overlay
- Full reset
- SolveBoard
- How to Format SDCard
- Applications
Developer Manual
- Compilation of the firmware
- Compile on WSL with ninja
- How to compile on Windows faster with WSL 2
- Using Docker and Kitematic
- Docker command-line reference
- Using Buddyworks and other CI platforms
- Notes for Buddy.Works (and other CI platforms)
- Using ARM on Debian host
- All in one script for ARM on Debian host
- Compile on Arch based distro (exclude Asahi)
- Dev build versions
- Notes About ccache
- Create a custom map
- Code formatting
- PR process
- Description of the Structure
- Software Dev Guides
- Tools
- Research
- UI Screenshots
- Maintaining
- Creating a prod/stable release (Maintainers only)
- Maintaining rules
- Development States Notes
Hardware Hacks
Note
The wiki is incomplete. Please add content and collaborate.
Important
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