v2.26.9: add rtl_biast fallback for ADS-B bias-t on Blog V4 (#195)

When dump1090 lacks native --enable-biast support, the system now falls
back to rtl_biast (RTL-SDR Blog drivers) to enable bias-t power before
starting dump1090. The Blog V4's built-in LNA requires bias-t to
receive ADS-B signals.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,41 @@
 
 All notable changes to iNTERCEPT will be documented in this file.
 
+## [2.26.9] - 2026-03-14
+
+### Fixed
+- **ADS-B bias-t support for RTL-SDR Blog V4** — When dump1090 lacks native `--enable-biast` support, the system now falls back to `rtl_biast` (from RTL-SDR Blog drivers) to enable bias-t power before starting dump1090. The Blog V4's built-in LNA requires bias-t to receive ADS-B signals. (#195)
+
+---
+
+## [2.26.8] - 2026-03-14
+
+### Fixed
+- **acarsdec build failure on macOS** — `HOST_NAME_MAX` is Linux-specific (`<limits.h>`) and undefined on macOS, causing 3 compile errors in `acarsdec.c`. Now patched with `#define HOST_NAME_MAX 255` before building. Also fixed deprecated `-Ofast` flag warning on all macOS architectures (was only patched for arm64). (#187)
+
+---
+
+## [2.26.7] - 2026-03-14
+
+### Fixed
+- **Health check SDR detection on macOS** — `timeout` (GNU coreutils) is not available on macOS, causing `rtl_test` to silently fail and report "No RTL-SDR device found" even when one is connected. Now tries `timeout`, then `gtimeout` (Homebrew coreutils), then falls back to a background process with manual kill. (#188)
+
+---
+
+## [2.26.6] - 2026-03-14
+
+### Fixed
+- **Oversized branded 'i' logo on dashboards** — `.logo span { display: inline }` in dashboard CSS had higher specificity (0,1,1) than `.brand-i { display: inline-block }` (0,1,0), forcing the branded "i" SVG to render as inline which ignores width/height. Added `.logo .brand-i` selector (0,2,0) to retain `inline-block` display. (#189)
+
+---
+
+## [2.26.5] - 2026-03-14
+
+### Fixed
+- **Database errors crash entire UI** — `get_setting()` now catches `sqlite3.OperationalError` and returns the default value instead of propagating the exception. Previously, if the database was inaccessible (e.g. root-owned `instance/` directory from running with `sudo`), the `inject_offline_settings` context processor would crash every page render with a 500 Internal Server Error. (#190)
+
+---
+
 ## [2.26.4] - 2026-03-14
 
 ### Fixed

config.py

@@ -7,10 +7,45 @@ import os
 import sys
 
 # Application version
-VERSION = "2.26.4"
+VERSION = "2.26.9"
 
 # Changelog - latest release notes (shown on welcome screen)
 CHANGELOG = [
+    {
+        "version": "2.26.9",
+        "date": "March 2026",
+        "highlights": [
+            "ADS-B bias-t fallback via rtl_biast for Blog V4 when dump1090 lacks native support",
+        ]
+    },
+    {
+        "version": "2.26.8",
+        "date": "March 2026",
+        "highlights": [
+            "Fix acarsdec build failure on macOS (HOST_NAME_MAX undefined)",
+        ]
+    },
+    {
+        "version": "2.26.7",
+        "date": "March 2026",
+        "highlights": [
+            "Fix health check SDR detection on macOS (timeout command not available)",
+        ]
+    },
+    {
+        "version": "2.26.6",
+        "date": "March 2026",
+        "highlights": [
+            "Fix oversized branded 'i' logo on Aircraft & Vessel dashboards",
+        ]
+    },
+    {
+        "version": "2.26.5",
+        "date": "March 2026",
+        "highlights": [
+            "Fix database errors crashing the entire UI — pages now degrade gracefully",
+        ]
+    },
     {
         "version": "2.26.4",
         "date": "March 2026",

pyproject.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "intercept"
-version = "2.26.4"
+version = "2.26.9"
 description = "Signal Intelligence Platform - Pager/433MHz/ADS-B/Satellite/WiFi/Bluetooth"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.9"

setup.sh

@@ -751,9 +751,26 @@ install_acarsdec_from_source_macos() {
 
     cd "$tmp_dir/acarsdec"
 
+    # Replace deprecated -Ofast (all macOS, not just arm64)
+    if grep -q '\-Ofast' CMakeLists.txt 2>/dev/null; then
+      sed -i '' 's/-Ofast/-O3 -ffast-math/g' CMakeLists.txt
+      info "Patched deprecated -Ofast flag"
+    fi
+
+    # macOS doesn't have -march=native on arm64
     if [[ "$(uname -m)" == "arm64" ]]; then
-      sed -i '' 's/-Ofast -march=native/-O3 -ffast-math/g' CMakeLists.txt
+      sed -i '' 's/ -march=native//g' CMakeLists.txt
-      info "Patched compiler flags for Apple Silicon (arm64)"
+      info "Removed -march=native for Apple Silicon"
+    fi
+
+    # HOST_NAME_MAX is Linux-specific; macOS uses _POSIX_HOST_NAME_MAX
+    if grep -q 'HOST_NAME_MAX' acarsdec.c 2>/dev/null; then
+      sed -i '' '1i\
+#ifndef HOST_NAME_MAX\
+#define HOST_NAME_MAX 255\
+#endif
+' acarsdec.c
+      info "Patched HOST_NAME_MAX for macOS compatibility"
     fi
 
     if grep -q 'pthread_tryjoin_np' rtl.c 2>/dev/null; then
@@ -1924,7 +1941,18 @@ do_health_check() {
   info "SDR device detection..."
   if cmd_exists rtl_test; then
     local rtl_output
-    rtl_output=$(timeout 3 rtl_test -d 0 2>&1 || true)
+    if cmd_exists timeout; then
+      rtl_output=$(timeout 3 rtl_test -d 0 2>&1 || true)
+    elif cmd_exists gtimeout; then
+      rtl_output=$(gtimeout 3 rtl_test -d 0 2>&1 || true)
+    else
+      # No timeout command (common on macOS) — run with background kill
+      rtl_test -d 0 > /tmp/.rtl_test_out 2>&1 & local rtl_pid=$!
+      sleep 2
+      kill "$rtl_pid" 2>/dev/null; wait "$rtl_pid" 2>/dev/null
+      rtl_output=$(cat /tmp/.rtl_test_out 2>/dev/null || true)
+      rm -f /tmp/.rtl_test_out
+    fi
     if echo "$rtl_output" | grep -q "Found\|Using device"; then
       ok "RTL-SDR device detected"
       ((pass++)) || true

static/css/core/layout.css

@@ -88,8 +88,11 @@
 }
 
 /* Branded "i" — inline SVG that matches the logo icon.
-   Sized to 0.9em so it sits naturally alongside text at any font-size. */
+   Sized to 0.9em so it sits naturally alongside text at any font-size.
-.brand-i {
+   Uses .logo .brand-i (0,2,0) to beat .logo span (0,1,1) in dashboard CSS
+   which otherwise forces display:inline and breaks width/height. */
+.brand-i,
+.logo .brand-i {
     display: inline-block;
     width: 0.55em;
     height: 0.9em;

utils/database.py

@@ -661,32 +661,36 @@ def get_setting(key: str, default: Any = None) -> Any:
     Returns:
         Setting value (auto-converted from JSON for complex types)
     """
-    with get_db() as conn:
+    try:
-        cursor = conn.execute(
+        with get_db() as conn:
-            'SELECT value, value_type FROM settings WHERE key = ?',
+            cursor = conn.execute(
-            (key,)
+                'SELECT value, value_type FROM settings WHERE key = ?',
-        )
+                (key,)
-        row = cursor.fetchone()
+            )
+            row = cursor.fetchone()
 
-        if row is None:
+            if row is None:
-            return default
-
-        value, value_type = row['value'], row['value_type']
-
-        # Convert based on type
-        if value_type == 'json':
-            try:
-                return json.loads(value)
-            except json.JSONDecodeError:
                 return default
-        elif value_type == 'int':
+
-            return int(value)
+            value, value_type = row['value'], row['value_type']
-        elif value_type == 'float':
+
-            return float(value)
+            # Convert based on type
-        elif value_type == 'bool':
+            if value_type == 'json':
-            return value.lower() in ('true', '1', 'yes')
+                try:
-        else:
+                    return json.loads(value)
-            return value
+                except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                    return default
+            elif value_type == 'int':
+                return int(value)
+            elif value_type == 'float':
+                return float(value)
+            elif value_type == 'bool':
+                return value.lower() in ('true', '1', 'yes')
+            else:
+                return value
+    except sqlite3.OperationalError:
+        logger.warning("Database unavailable reading setting '%s', using default", key)
+        return default
 
 
 def set_setting(key: str, value: Any) -> None:

utils/sdr/rtlsdr.py

@@ -46,6 +46,35 @@ def _rtl_tool_supports_bias_t(tool_path: str) -> bool:
         return False
 
 
+def enable_bias_t_via_rtl_biast(device_index: int = 0) -> bool:
+    """Enable bias-t power using rtl_biast (RTL-SDR Blog drivers).
+
+    Runs rtl_biast to set the bias-t register on the device, then exits.
+    The setting persists across device opens until the device is reset.
+
+    Returns True if bias-t was enabled successfully.
+    """
+    rtl_biast_path = get_tool_path('rtl_biast') or 'rtl_biast'
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [rtl_biast_path, '-b', '1', '-d', str(device_index)],
+            capture_output=True,
+            text=True,
+            timeout=5
+        )
+        if result.returncode == 0:
+            logger.info(f"Bias-t enabled via rtl_biast on device {device_index}")
+            return True
+        logger.warning(f"rtl_biast failed (exit {result.returncode}): {result.stderr.strip()}")
+        return False
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        logger.warning("rtl_biast not found — install RTL-SDR Blog drivers for bias-t support")
+        return False
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.warning(f"Failed to enable bias-t via rtl_biast: {e}")
+        return False
+
+
 def _get_dump1090_bias_t_flag(dump1090_path: str) -> str | None:
     """Detect the correct bias-t flag for the installed dump1090 variant.
 
@@ -197,10 +226,13 @@ class RTLSDRCommandBuilder(CommandBuilder):
             if bias_t_flag:
                 cmd.append(bias_t_flag)
             else:
-                logger.warning(
+                # Fallback: use rtl_biast to set bias-t before starting dump1090
-                    f"Bias-t requested but {dump1090_path} does not support it. "
+                if not enable_bias_t_via_rtl_biast(device.index):
-                    "Consider using dump1090-fa or readsb for bias-t support."
+                    logger.warning(
-                )
+                        f"Bias-t requested but {dump1090_path} does not support it "
+                        "and rtl_biast is not available. Install RTL-SDR Blog drivers "
+                        "or use dump1090-fa/readsb for bias-t support."
+                    )
 
         return cmd