Yaesu FTM-100DR, Programming it via Linux (Feodra 25+/Ubuntu), and YOU!

Lets start with: the standard "no guarantees/warranties what-so-ever" waiver applies.

This weekend was pretty bad-ass for my ham radio hobby! Via the awesome swap-meet forums at QTH.com, I located a great used Astron RS-35A linear bench power supply, as well as a beautiful just-about-new-in-box Yaesu FTM-100DR.

Here's a pic of them both, sitting on my back porch:

Ain't they purdy!

The Astron RS-35A does 25 amps continuous, 35 amps burst at 13.8 VDC nominal output. This one has some marks and scuffs on it, but it was pretty darn steady at 13.6 VDC on the rear posts. In reading up on it, there should be a dial toggle on the inside that will allow for the adjustment of the output voltage, but the FTM-100DR was just happy with the 13.6 coming out (operating voltage is listed at 11.7 - 15.8 VDC). When I open it, though, I'm thinking about modding it with voltage and amperage meters, to make it a poor-man's RS-35M.

More good info on the RS-35A (including a schematic!) is located here. Looks like they're popular for use with repeaters, so that's good to know! Damn thing weighs a ton, though: kinda like me, lol =)

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Next: On to the Yaesu FTM-100DR!

The radio is pretty darn awesome, if I must say so myself! 50w on both VHF/UHF, with the ability to use C4FM? What's *not* to like about it!

As I don't have any internet-connected C4FM repeaters in my area, I decided to use my handy DV4Mini with my Raspberry Pi 2b to get onto the US and International C4FM reflectors.

I obtained my Pi images from K2DLS's website, and they work great. While I suggest that you follow the advice on that page, definitely get the updated image listed where it says "Note: This image has been replaced by this one."

ALSO: make sure that once you boot the pi, you change the default passwords for the root and pi accounts, as well as for VNC!

Here is a good how-to on taking the downloaded image and writing it to an SD card! Be warned, though: doing so will completely wipe your SD card!

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Now: the meat and potatoes!

Steps to install PlayOnLinux on Fedora 25+/Ubuntu, and to get the Yaesu ADMS-9 software up and running.
Or: Force that square peg into that round hole!

A few notes to start:

• Commands/keystrokes will be bolded, and keys/icons/menus will be italicized
• Go to the Yaesu page for the FTM-100, click on the "Files" tab right above the picture of the radio, and under "Amateur Radio \ Software", pick the right version of the ADMS-9 for the firmware on your radio. Save it in your "Downloads" directory underneath your home directory (~/Downloads),
• Format your SD card inside of the FTM-100, and then backup the entire radio to the SD card (even if the radio is brand new). Then, we're only going to work with re-importing the memory frequencies, and *NOT* the settings! Do those by hand!
• A note from /u/92PathSE gives some really good advice on this: read it, it's short!
• Also, some really good info from the Rideau Lakes ARC right here, about taking a backup from the FTM-100, and restoring a backup

Alright chums, lets do this:

1. Install playonlinux using the command:   
1. Fedora 25+:   sudo dnf install playonlinux
2. Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install playonlinux
3. Others: download the source .tar.gz from the PlayOnLinux site, and build it. Or, yknow, use a more common Linux that has it in it's upstream repos. 
2. Unzip the ADMS-9 software, then move it to your home directory, then make the exe file executable:
1. unzip FTM-100D_ADMS-9_EXP.zip -d /tmp
2. mv /tmp/FTM-100D_ADMS-9_EXP/ADMS-9 ~
3. chmod u+x ~/ADMS-9/Ftm100dAdms9.exe
3. Press the windows key, and start typing "playonlinux". The icon should pop-up: open it. 
4. Set-up your Wine environment:
1. Click on Install a program
2. Click on Install a non-listed program
3. Click NEXT 3 times
4. Select Install a program in a new virtual drive and click NEXT
5. Type in a name (example: adms9), and click NEXT
6. Click on Configure Wine, and click NEXT
7. Click on 64-bit windows installation, and click NEXT
1. PlayOnLinux will create a WINE virtual drive located at ~/.PlayOnLinux. For this WINE "vm" named "adms9", the "C-Drive" of the machine will be located at:
1. ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/adms9/drive_c/
8. The Wine configuration box will appear. The only setting I recommend changing is the Windows version (change it from 7 to 10), then click OK
9. When it says "Please select the install file to run", click CANCEL
5. Set-up the ADMS-9 software inside of the Wine environment
1. Create a symlink from the ADMS-9 software directory in your home to the Wine environment
1. ln -s ~/ADMS-9/ ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/adms9/drive_c/'Program Files (x86)'/ADMS-9
2. Click on the Configure button
3. Click on adms9
4. Click on Make a new shortcut from this virtual drive
5. Click on Browse, then click NEXT, then click the BROWSE button
6. Click on Program Files (x86) -> ADMS-9 -> Ftm100dAdms9.exe, and click Open, then click NEXT
7. Enter a name for the shortcut: it will default to "Ftm100dAdms9", and click NEXT
8. Click I don't want to make another shortcut, and click NEXT
9. Close the PlayOnLinux configuration
6. Now: lets move our SD card files into a place we can get to them at!
1. Insert your SD card, and copy the contents of the "FTM100D" directory to your machine, preferably under ~/Documents (so it's easily seen by Wine)
7. Back in PlayOnLinux: Double-click on the Ftm100dAdms9 shortcut to launch the software
8. To load the original Clone image that you copied from the SD card to your ~/Documents directory:
1. Click on Communications -> Get Data from SD card -> All, then select the full-clone file that you copied from your SD card (under FTM100D -> BACKUP -> CLONE -> CLNFTM100D.dat)
9. Make your changes as needed (again: recommended only to change MEMORY items, and *NOT* the actual settings!).
10. To save the new Memory-only file to your ~/Documents folder:
1. Click on Communications -> Send Data to SD card -> MEMORY, then save the file (named MEMFTM100D.dat) to your ~/Documents folder.
11. Finally: copy the new MEMFTM100D.dat file to your SD card (into FTM100D -> BACKUP -> MEMORY)
12. Do a restore of the Memory-only file to your FTM-100D.
13. You're welcome, Internet.