Installing LinuxCNC RTAI

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09 Jun 2026 01:37 #346984 by ClimbingMike
Installing LinuxCNC RTAI was created by ClimbingMike
Hello community:

   I have been struggling to install LinuxCNC with the RTAI patch.
   My current computer is Dell Optiplex 980. I was following the previous instructions from this thread

[Solved] Trying to install RTAI, got errors - LinuxCNC


The first error I see if after I tried apt update the

W: Skipping acquire of configured file '2.9-rt/source/Sources' as repository 'www.linuxcnc.org bookworm InRelease' does not seem to provide it (sources.list entry misspelt?)

Then after I enter apt upgrade

raspi-firmware: missing /boot/firmware, did you forget to mount it?
run-parts: /etc/initramfs/post-update.d//z50-raspi-firmware exited with return code 1
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64 (--configure):
installed linux-image-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-rt-amd64:
linux-image-rt-amd64 depends on linux-image-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64 (= 6.1.174-1); however:
Package linux-image-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-image-rt-amd64 (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of rtai-modules-5.4.258:
rtai-modules-5.4.258 depends on linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64; however:
Package linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package rtai-modules-5.4.258 (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.142+deb12u3) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64
raspi-firmware: missing /boot/firmware, did you forget to mount it?
run-parts: /etc/initramfs/post-update.d//z50-raspi-firmware exited with return code 1
dpkg: error processing package initramfs-tools (--configure):
installed initramfs-tools package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64
linux-image-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64
linux-image-rt-amd64
rtai-modules-5.4.258
initramfs-tools
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I get installation error on all the RTAI packages

After I purge the
sudo apt-get purge linuxcnc-uspace
sudo apt-get purge linuxcnc-doc*

and install the dpkg
sudo dpkg -i ./linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64_5.4.258-rtai-amd64-2_amd64.deb

I get this error after while instaling
Found background image: /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-49-rt-amd64
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-30-rt-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-30-rt-amd64
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.258-rtai-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.4.258-rtai-amd64
Warning: os-prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Its output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.
Found Linux Mint 22.3 Zena (22.3) on /dev/sda6
Found Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS (18.04) on /dev/sda7
done
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64 (--install):
installed linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-5.4.258-rtai-amd64

then I restart the PC
I do see the RTAI kernel under grub and is able to log in to the machine but when I try to run
Latency-histogram
I get the error pop-up
Stop linuxcnc and hal first(try$halrun -U)

the $halrun -u report
Error: Can't remove RTAI modules kill the following processe(s) first
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/rtai_shm: root 1191 ...m halcmd

Can someone point me a hint where i did wrong?
 

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09 Jun 2026 02:35 #346986 by tommylight
Replied by tommylight on topic Installing LinuxCNC RTAI
I do not think you're doing something wrong, but i am sure it is the dreadful "raspi" issue that's been plaguing the official ISO for several years, bloody hell...
Sorry, i have extremely good reasons to be p.o.
forum.linuxcnc.org/9-installing-linuxcnc...e-official-amd64-iso
Fix that, then try again to install RTAI.

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