Troubleshooting — WeeChat Radio

While it installs

Problems while the install line runs, or right after it finishes.

PowerShell stops the installer

On Windows the installer runs in a normal PowerShell window and installs for your user only. If it stops with running scripts is disabled on this system, an access error, or a window that closes before anything is installed, try it once from an Administrator PowerShell.

Click Start and type PowerShell.
Right-click Windows PowerShell and choose Run as administrator. Confirm the prompt. The title bar says Administrator.

Paste this and press Enter:

irm https://weechatradio.com/install.ps1 | iex

If that same scripts error is still on screen, allow scripts for your user account, then paste the install line again:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned

The installer sits there

Leave the window open. On Windows the installer downloads WeeChat through Cygwin after the program itself. It prints Installing WeeChat via Cygwin (a few minutes)... and then waiting for WeeChat... every few seconds. That step often takes several minutes and can run toward 20. It is finished when the window prints Next, run: wcr setup.

On Linux, apt or dnf can sit on a package download, and sudo may ask for your password in that same window. On a Mac the program itself is quicker. The Mac installer skips WeeChat on purpose.

Run the same install command again if the window was closed early. It continues from what is already on disk.

wcr is not recognized

The installer adds its folder to PATH. The window you installed from does not see that yet. Open a new PowerShell or terminal, then run wcr setup.

Windows: the program is in %LOCALAPPDATA%\wcr. The Start menu and desktop shortcut named WeeChat Radio open the window without PATH.
Mac and Linux: run the export line the installer printed. It looks like export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH". That line is also written to your shell profile for the next terminal.

Windows or the Mac blocked the file

SmartScreen or antivirus software can quarantine wcr.exe, wcr-gui.exe, or the Cygwin setup program. In Windows Security, open Protection history, choose the blocked file, and allow it. Then run the installer again.

On a Mac, a zip you unpacked yourself can be stopped by Gatekeeper. The install script clears that flag. If you used the zip, run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/.local/bin/wcr ~/.local/bin/wcr-gui ~/.local/bin/modem73

WeeChat did not install

Chat works without WeeChat. Open WeeChat Radio from the Start menu, or run wcr gui. To install the station and skip WeeChat, set this in the same PowerShell window, then run the installer again:

$env:WCR_SKIP_WEECHAT=1
irm https://weechatradio.com/install.ps1 | iex

On Linux, if apt or dnf did not finish, install WeeChat from your distribution and run wcr weechat --configure. The WeeChat guide is the later setup.

Opening and updating

The install finished, but the window will not open or an update did not take.

The window does not open on Linux

wcr gui needs two libraries. On Debian and Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install -y libxkbcommon-x11-0 libayatana-appindicator3-1

Then run wcr gui again. wcr tui is the same station in the terminal if the window still will not start.

An update changed nothing

wcr update replaces the program on disk. The station that is already running keeps the old code until you stop it and start it again. On Windows that includes a service from wcr service install. On Linux and macOS that service restarts itself. A station you started by hand does not.

Connecting and sending

The station runs, but lines do not get out or nothing comes back.

The PC clock is wrong

The status column shows Clock skew — check system time or GPS when a live beacon is more than five minutes off. The hub refuses a post the same way, with replay or clock skew. Chat, the map, and email all use that clock. The warning is about this computer’s clock. A chat line that took a long time on the radio does not raise it.

Set the computer to the correct time, including the time zone.

Windows: Settings → Time & language → Date & time → Sync now. If the clock drifts again, or Sync now fails, use Dimension 4. Open it, set the server, and update. Leave it on a schedule so the clock stays inside five minutes. A GPS receiver that sets the PC clock works the same way.
Mac: System Settings → General → Date & Time → Set time and date automatically.
Linux: timedatectl set-ntp true

The warning clears when the next timely frame arrives.

The hub stays down

The status column shows HUB DOWN when this computer cannot reach the public hub. Check the network, then the clock. A clock more than five minutes off looks like a refused connection. Outbound HTTPS has to be allowed. Radio-only mode leaves the hub unused on purpose. Modes.

The radio stays quiet

Run wcr setup again and pick the sound devices. A test line in radio mode should play tones on the speakers.
On Linux, a USB cable needs your user in the dialout group. Log out and back in after that. Linux.
With VOX, set the volume so the radio keys on the tones, and keep the VOX hang on the long side. Any radio with VOX.
The other paths are on Pick a radio path.

A line never shows [ok]

In internet mode, with the hub up and the clock right, a line in #bulletin moves to [ok] when it is acknowledged. On the radio, [tx] means it was keyed, and [ok] waits on a station that heard it. A faint path retries. [no] is the end of those retries. The marks are listed on the 5-minute start, and faint paths are on Weak signals.

weechat-radio:$ Troubleshooting

While it installs

Opening and updating

Connecting and sending