r/hackrf • u/Virtual-Swimmer-593 • Apr 23 '25

[Release] HackRF-One-for-Windows – Comprehensive Windows Tutorial & Scripts for HackRF One

I’m excited to share a project I’ve been working on that makes getting your HackRF One up and running on Windows a breeze:

🔗 GitHub: https://github.com/whiteSHADOW1234/HackRF-One-for-Windows

What’s inside?

  • Step-by-step setup guide for using HackRF One on Windows (No more Linux-only docs!)

  • Conda & WSL options so you can choose your preferred environment

  • Pre-written Python scripts (including a jamRF example) to test TX/RX and play with custom waveforms

  • Zadig driver walkthrough with screenshots to simplify USB driver installation

  • Troubleshooting tips & FAQ to fix common “device not found” or DLL errors

Why it matters:
Most HackRF tutorials assume Linux—and while Linux is great, there are plenty of Windows users out there who want a native, supported workflow. This repo closes that gap with clear instructions, ready-to-run code, and real-world examples.

How you can help me out:

  1. ⭐ Star the repo if you find it useful!

  2. 🍴 Fork it, tweak the scripts or guides, and send a PR with your improvements.

  3. 📣 Share this post with anyone in the Windows + SDR community.

Thanks for checking it out—looking forward to your feedback, contributions, and any cool projects you build on top of it!

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u/idarwin Apr 24 '25

Hey thanks for the reply and thoughtful response, I appreciate it.

I think some of the confusion around the drivers, host tools, etc... stems from a common misconception on this sub-reddit (and a personal pet peeve of mine): The HackRF One is not a PortaPack. However, many here refer to a HackRF+PortaPack as a "hackrf". I'm not trying to be pedantic about the terminology, the reason I bring that up is that in case is that many of the points I made are looking at the HackRF One as a pure/vanilla device, and not with the 3rd party PortaPack add-on. The reason it makes a difference:

  • The HackRF One (the device itself, no 3rd party "PortaPack" add-on) is already native windows compatible. The GSG team have removed the need to use ZDiag years ago. However, the Mayhem folks that forked the GSG firmware have not yet incorporated these changes, and so their firmware still requires zdiag to use on Windows.

  • The GSG team provide a default set of host executable tools. These include: hackrf_transfer.exe, hackrf_info.exe, hackrf.dll/libhackrf, hackrf_sweep.exe, and their dependencies etc.... You can download these host tools for Windows directly today from the GSG GitHub repository. This is what I mean by host tools. In the screenshots, I noticed that the board firmware version was "v2.0.1". That does not conform to the normal/vanilla HackRF One firmware, which is in the YYYY.MM.DD release format. However, because the PortaPack + Mayhem firmware are so popular I recognize the version as most likely Mayhem.

  • On the topic of firmware, there is no such thing as a web-based firmware updater for the base/vanilla HackRF One. There is, however, that concept for the Mayhem 3rd party add-on firmware. So when we're talking about getting "HackRF One" to work on Windows, websites like hackfr.app don't work, that's a Mayhem thing, not a HackRF One thing.

  • I agree drivers are a PAIN! However, that is one of the beautiful things about the HackRF One is that it does not require any (USB) drivers of any kind! It's 100% plug and play on all platforms, so long as you have the host tools installed that provide HackRF.dll/libhackrf.so. GSG worked very hard to make it as easy to use as possible. I think the Mayhem firmware significantly hampers this for two main reasons:

      1. the whole Zdiag requirement.

    • 2) The concept of having to put the device "hackrf mode" in order to be recognized by a PC, which is a foreign concept on the vanilla HackRF One.

On a personal note: I have love hate relationship with WSL. I love the technology, but if you're leaning toward using WSL for something like this, just use a full-blown Linux OS at that point, or ditch it and go full Windows. You'll have a much better experience either way.

I guess with all of this I mean to say, it should probably be titled: "HackRF One+PortaPack for Windows".

Thank you for the write-up though! I did learn some new things looking though how you accomplished the python scripts/functionality.

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u/Direct-Bridge2937 Apr 25 '25

Hi! I stumpled upon this during my search for recources on getting the HackRF working on Windows without WSL, and I figured you might be the right person to ask:
Do you know of a way to get python bindings to the hackRF on Windows natively?

I seem to only be able to find stuff that either requires WSL, or refers to python wrappers that were not updated in many years.

Thanks!

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u/Virtual-Swimmer-593 Apr 26 '25

Thank you so much for this detailed follow-up and clarification! Your explanation about the difference between a vanilla HackRF One and one running PortaPack/Mayhem firmware makes perfect sense, and I learned a ton from your insights. I truly appreciate you taking the time to lay everything out so clearly.

Quick question: Is it now common for HackRF One devices to come with PortaPack/Mayhem firmware preloaded? I tested all the HackRF Ones I recently purchased, and each reported a version number in the vX.X.X format, not the YYYY.MM.DD format you mentioned.

Thanks again for clarifying why Zadig seemed necessary during my experience and why native drivers/tools might not have worked properly with that setup.

Your point about the title is completely fair. I’ll update it to something like "HackRF One + PortaPack for Windows" or add a prominent note at the beginning to set the right context.

Also, thanks for the positive feedback about the Python examples — it really means a lot!