Radio Reclamation: Fixing PyRadio on MacBook Pro M3 (Python 3.13 Upgrade)

🎖️ The Mission: Restoring the Trance Frequency

In the middle of a heavy 9.5-hour deployment for my NCI MSc Cyber-Security project, my command center hit a snag. My favorite terminal-based radio player, PyRadio, went dark. Every attempt to launch it resulted in the dreaded bad interpreter error.

If you’ve recently upgraded to Python 3.13 on a MacBook Pro M3, you’ve likely hit the same wall. Here is how I reclaimed the frequency.

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🛡️ The Problem: The “Broken Pipe” & The Zombie Package

When macOS or Homebrew updates your system Python (e.g., from 3.12 to 3.13), it severs the links to virtual environments created by pipx.

The Symptoms:

• zsh: /Users/ranger/.local/bin/pyradio: bad interpreter
• BrokenPipeError: [Errno 32] Broken pipe when trying to play streams.
• ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'requests' even after reinstalling.

The root cause was two-fold:

1. Python Substrate Shift: The environment was looking for a Python 3.12 binary that no longer existed.
2. The PyPI Zombie: The version of pyradio on PyPI (0.5.2) is a “zombie” version—outdated and broken.

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⚔️ The Tactical Fix: Strategic Reinstallation

To fix this, we had to bypass the standard pip install and go directly to the source.

1. Nuke the Old Environment

First, clear the broken links:

pipx uninstall pyradio
pipx reinstall-all  # Fixes other broken tools like bbot or openai

2. Install the Authentic 0.9.x Branch

We installed directly from the official GitHub repository to get the modern features and Python 3.13 support:

pipx install git+https://github.com/s-n-g/pyradio.git

3. Inject Missing Reinforcements

Modern pyradio requires a few extra “soldiers” in its virtual environment to handle logging and network requests:

pipx inject pyradio requests psutil dnspython netifaces rich python-dateutil

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⌨️ Tactical Keybindings: Command & Control

Once we were back on the air, we mapped out the core controls for the M3 Pro keyboard.

🔊 Volume Control (Mac Specific)

The fastest way to adjust volume on a Mac isn’t the top row—it’s the keys under your right hand:

• Volume Up: Press . (Period) or +
• Volume Down: Press , (Comma) or -
• Mute: Press v

💾 Archiving the Beats

I’ve started saving every song. Here are the keys to build your tactical archive:

• Mark as Favorite (Like): Press w (lowercase)
• Toggle Title Logging: Press W (Capital) - This writes every song title to a log file.
• The Tape Deck (Record): Press | (Shift + ``) - This records the actual audio stream to an .mkv file.

🔍 Advanced Recon

• Next/Prev Station: j / k (Vim keys!) or Arrows.
• Search Stations: /
• Help Overlay: ? (Press this while playing to see every secret command).

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📁 Intelligence Retrieval: Where are the files?

PyRadio on macOS stores your tactical data in a specific sector. To see every song you’ve “Liked” or Logged today, use this command:

cat ~/pyradio-recordings/pyradio-titles.log

Recordings Location: All your recorded audio files live in ~/pyradio-recordings/.

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⚠️ Tactical Warning: Disk Space Alert!

If you are like me and decide to “Save Every Song” using the | (Record) feature, be warned: high-bitrate trance streams consume disk space rapidly. A 10-hour session can easily eat several gigabytes. Monitor your ~/pyradio-recordings/ folder regularly!

Status: PyRadio is 100% operational on Python 3.13.

Rangers lead the way! 🎖️