Very pleased with SqueezePlay

[wvanbakel]

Hello All,

From experience I have learnt that each situation has advantages and disadvantages and for a long time I have explored and tested several music server options, starting with Vortexbox, Music Player Daemon and also different operating systems, like Windows and FreeBSD.
Vortexbox Player, squeezeslave, different alsa settings hw:1,0 and plughw:1,0
It has been a confusing and enriching experience to explore and discover all the options.

Recently I took some time to build squeezeplay from the available sources at http://svn.slimdevices.com/repos/jive/7.7/trunk/squeezeplay/

* This software supports 24/192k audio.

If you like to install this player, then follow these steps:

* If your Vortexbox doesn't have a monitor attached, you need to include x11vnc in step 2.

1: yum reinstall vortexbox

2: yum install squeezeplay-slim
(or 2: yum install squeezeplay-slim x11vnc)

3: Reboot

4: Configure SqueezePlay (in front of the server or with vnc client).
This will result in the smallest Xorg installation.

I like to hear your feedback.

171

[mftech]

I vote for Gapless playback...

[Ron Olsen]

Thanks for carrying out this experiment and providing info on how to do it.

However, if you want to view the SqueezePlay GUI on a Windows or Mac machine, it is far simpler to install SqueezePlay on Windows or Mac, rather than install SqueezePlay on VortexBox and use X forwarding to view the GUI. SqueezePlay running on Windows or a Mac can connect to LMS running on VortexBox just as easily as SqueezePlay running on VortexBox. Used in this fashion, SqueezePlay can control all the other SB players on your network, and also play to the sound device on your PC or Mac.

You can download SqueezePlay for Windows, Mac, and Linux from the Slim Devices nightly repository: http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/?ver=7.7

The advantages to running SqueezePlay on VortexBox:

1. You have a GUI (Gnome or KDE) installed on your VortexBox and you want to view the SqueezePlay GUI on a monitor and keyboard attached to your VortexBox.

or

2. You want to use SqueezePlay as a player, with output to the sound card or USB DAC on your VortexBox.

This last case is probably the best reason to install SqueezePlay on VortexBox. The fact that this approach can provide hi-res output and gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS makes SqueezePlay better than VortexBox Player (no gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS) and Squeezeslave (no hi-res playback) as a native player on VortexBox.

[divreg]

When i experimented with SqueezePlay, it was to get apps to show on LMS at :9000. It's great to play audio on a client, but found it useless for audio on the host, which is the intent here. Also, the code wvanbakel mentions is source code from all the way back to fc8. I am glad it was built on his behalf, but would be more glad if a wiki was produced with reference to all build libraries if; provide a reason for it over LMS. A lot of information is missing from the OP in build instructions for normal users that could be constructive in a wiki.

As for X11 forwarding, it's useful--a lot. But I would not recommend it as a requirement as per "My hope is that the Vortexbox team is interested to make this player available for it's customers". That's far beyond the use of normal Windows + Mac people that want an "appliance" to "just werk", in my opinion.

Perhaps wvanbakel could provide more information about why they prefer this method over LMS.

[wvanbakel]

2. You want to use SqueezePlay as a player, with output to the sound card or USB DAC on your VortexBox.

This last case is probably the best reason to install SqueezePlay on VortexBox. The fact that this approach can provide hi-res output and gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS makes SqueezePlay better than VortexBox Player (no gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS) and Squeezeslave (no hi-res playback) as a native player on VortexBox.

Ron, on my Logitech Media Server, SqueezePlay has replaced the Vortexbox Player AND SqueezeSlave. the client is sitting on the server waiting for commands from the web interface, the remote app on my iPhone or like you suggest another SqueezePlay on my desktop/laptop. The only need for one time access to the GUI is to input account information for www.mysqueezebox.com.

64


Also, the code wvanbakel mentions is source code from all the way back to fc8.

The source code is for SqueezePlay 7.7.2, which is recent, but in order to compile the source with success, I needed to follow the instructions.
When I compile this code on a Debian system, I have to follow different instructions, it has to do with the way distro's organize their development tools and libraries. The development environment probably didn't change between fc8 and fc16, only different versions. The instructions are still valid.

[wvanbakel]

A lot of information is missing from the OP in build instructions for normal users that could be constructive in a wiki.
That's far beyond the use of normal Windows + Mac people that want an "appliance" to "just werk", in my opinion.

Perhaps wvanbakel could provide more information about why they prefer this method over LMS.

divreg, SqueezePlay does NOT replace the Logitech Media Server, it acts as a client, just like Vortexbox Player, with the same functionality and some different audio features.
Your argument confuses me, I think that interested Vortexbox customers would like to see an installable rpm in the repository, as opposed to detailed build instructions.

[wvanbakel]

Also, there is a chance that SqueezePlay is supported by Spotify, but I can't seem to find a free trial option to test this.

[Ron Olsen]

The source code is for SqueezePlay 7.7.2, which is recent, but in order to compile the source with success, I needed to follow the instructions.
When I compile this code on a Debian system, I have to follow different instructions, it has to do with the way distro's organize their development tools and libraries. The development environment probably didn't change between fc8 and fc16, only different versions. The instructions are still valid.

Is it necessary to build SqueezePlay from source? Did you try running the compiled Linux version of SqueezePlay that's in the Slim Devices repository? http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/7.7/sp/9627/squeezeplay-7.7.2-9627.tgz

I'm curious if this version runs on VortexBox.

[wvanbakel]

The for download available binaries for linux are broken, there is no sound and the GUI is non-functional.

Here is a screenshot of the binary that I downloaded just now:

65

It's quite simple to test: extract the tarbal in /opt/squeezeplay and start the shell script over ssh -X vortexbox.local.
You get the GUI in your local desktop, If you are a windows user, then you can try putty:

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/XDMCP-HOWTO/ssh.html

[wvanbakel]

Spotify is not supported by SqueezePlay.

[divreg]

wvanbakel: Ah okay, this makes much more sense to me now. My experience was with use on a client, not on VortexBox directly. This would be a neat little option to have around I guess. Thanks.

[nunovi]

Spotify is not supported by SqueezePlay.

It does on Squeezeplay for Windows, including sync with other players. You need a Premium subscription to Spotify and to use the 3rd Party Spotify Plugin on the LMS, not the official plugin. I see no reason why it shouldn't work on linux too.
It would indeed be very interesting to have Squeezeplay replacing Vortexbox Player on Vortexbox. This would be the holy grail for me: Gapless playback of up to 24/96, Excellent Android and iOS remotes, player sync support and Spotify. Not sure if Logitech would be happy though, this would make the Logitech Touch basically useless (if you don't need the on device controls).

[wvanbakel]

3rd Party Spotify Plugin
The way I understand it is that Logitech Squeezebox Touch supports Spotify natively, correct? And I have this idea that Squeezeplay depends on the same source as the hardware player.
I had a 30-day trial activated for testing and got an error about unsupported streaming format.

Anyway, no big deal, I use MOG.com. But I thought it would be great if Spotify was supported just like the Touch supports it.

[nunovi]

The way I understand it is that Logitech Squeezebox Touch supports Spotify natively, correct? And I have this idea that Squeezeplay depends on the same source as the hardware player.
I had a 30-day trial activated for testing and got an error about unsupported streaming format.

Anyway, no big deal, I use MOG.com. But I thought it would be great if Spotify was supported just like the Touch supports it.

The official plug-in detects whether it's a touch or radio connecting and only sends spotify audio to these. The Spotify Plugin from Triode works with with every squeezebox and with Squeezeplay, but not Squeezeslave or the Vortexbox Player. I use it on a daily basis on Windows but haven't tried on my Vortexbox.
You need to uninstall the oficial plugin and install the one from Triode.

[cml19367]

Hi wvanbakel, how do I get squeezeplay loaded as a player on to my Vortexbox appliance through putty. My pc is connected through a WLAN network.

[Ghibli]

Ron, on my Logitech Media Server, SqueezePlay has replaced the Vortexbox Player AND SqueezeSlave.

Wow, how did you achieve this? I would like to give this a try but don't know how. (I I'm stuck on VB1.10 since in my configuration (LMS 7.7.1, VB Player, HRT MSII) VB2.0 does not play hires material anymore, this might be a solution for my problem).

Could you give some directions on how to install Squeezeplay as a (headless) software player running on the Vortexbox and thus replacing Vortexbox Player a/o SqueezeSlave?

Many thx in advance!

[divreg]

Ghibli: Since this method depends on X11-Forwarding, you first need to set this up on your client. See How To Enable and Use X11 Forwarding (http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=X11+Forwarding). Perhaps other users can contribute to the wiki about how to do X11-Forwarding on Windows. The second thing is to install the binaries in the OP.

[wvanbakel]

I registered an account for the Wiki pages and meanwhile I install a test system with Vortexbox 2, in order to verify the documentation.

Thank you all for your interest, I hope that more users show their interest and that it will catch the attention of the boss here.

[foxesden]

Hi - I just installed squeezeplay following the instructions attached

In order to install xwindows server (to the lay person like me - it really means the client)
http://www.linuxreaders.com/2010/11/03/x11-forwarding-for-windows-clients/#.T2eJYT6UmUk
then follow the steps on forwarding here

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=X11+Forwarding

shell into your vortexbox
cd /opt
mkdir squeezeplay
cd squeezeplay

I tried to download the binary using wget; but this did not work so in the end I saved it to the downloads folder on my vortexbox share using the browser
copied to /opt/squeezeplay from inside telnet session
cp /storage/downloads/squeezeplay-7.7.2-9592.el6.i386.tgz .
unpacked tar
tar xvfz squeezeplay-7.7.2-9592.el6.i386.tgz
repeated the steps to copy the configuration files to the download file as per the first post

I was somewhat confused by the path reference ~ this just means users home directory e.g. /root

the edit to 24 bit can only be done after squeezeplay is started.

At this point I have squeezeplay in an xwindow; and it is apparently streaming spotify. I haven't hooked up any sound so can't comment.

All in all this looks very promising

[simplechords]

I've followed the dirrections in this thread, but keep getting an error

squeezeplay.ui.draw - jive_tile_load_image:453 Can't find image jive/splash1360x768.png

I even tried a clean install of VB2.0. Same message everytime Anyone have any clue whats going on?

[foxesden]

Which steps did you follow? The first post by wvanbakel; which included the instructions for a fresh compile of squeezeply; or the instructions for copying over a pre-built binary, which is what I did.
I got a similar message when I tried to build the binary and run it some time back; which is why I gave up.
Did you follow the steps to get X-Windows working? If so you should have seen the xclock open on your local pc.

[wvanbakel]

Hello there,

I just compiled a newer release of Squeezeplay 7.8 (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/466202/squeezeplay-7.8.0-9669-fc16.i386.tgz) (this link works with wget), it's compiled on Vortexbox 2.0 and I tested the functionality.
Also, it appears that you need to install a minimal Xorg on the Vortexbox server, I followed the suggestions on the following page:
http://diznix.com/2011/05/12/how-small-can-you-get-it/


yum -y install xorg-x11-server-Xorg xorg-x11-xinit twm xterm xorg-x11-drv-fbdev

[foxesden]

I have not downloaded the new compile; but have done the following with the earlier install
set-up output to USB
adjusted the volume on the pc that the vortexbox is running on
tested various ways of playing music through it

in order to find which is the device you need to run

from the shell type
aplay -l
this will give you the info

in my case I then Modified the ~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua settings so that my USB device was the default
= {mac="xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx",uuid="yyy",alsaSampleSize=24,alsaPlaybackDevice="plughw:0,0"

I found that the output was really quiet so I used alsamixer to set it to max type
alsamixer
F6 changes the device and + increases the volume.

I have an audio-GD digital interface with both USB and SPDIF inputs. I used the USB from the Vortexbox and the SPDIF from a touch and synced the 2 players. I was now able to switch between sources to see how they compared.

The touch has soundchecks Mods 3 applied and an SB Boost linear Power supply; so is in theory running close to optimal.

chain AudioGD -> AudioNote Dac 3 signature -> littledot III headphone amp -> alessandros 1 headphones

without the volume change the squeezeplay vortexbox was dull and lifeless (as well as being too quiet) with it applied there was very little difference between the 2. NB I wasn't listening super critically; so there may be some nuances different

I can confirm that it syncs OK (there is a small delay when switching digital sources - so there could be a lag)
Gapless works fine
HD 24/96 plays fine
spotify from the default app does not work
spotify from triodes plugin works fine and syncs

now I need to decide whether this was a purely academic exercise or whether I can remove some boxes...

[foxesden]

quick correction alsamixer uses up arrow to increase the volume not +

[andrew]

wvanbakel, you might be better off just using VortexBox Player so you don't need a GUI. If you want to auto start your X11 I think all you need to do is set run level 5.

[wvanbakel]

set-up output to USB


I usually detect with ls -l /proc/asound and I create a /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf file that enforces the load of snd modules in the same order every reboot.
My USB device will always be the second device. (options snd slots=snd-hda-intel,snd-usb-audio is one way to accomplish that)


I found that the output was really quiet so I used alsamixer to set it to max type
alsamixer
F6 changes the device and + increases the volume.

I usually go in my account on http://www.mysqueezebox.com/ and set the output of the player at 100% fixed.
Fascinating, though, that I fail to find a way to accomplish this in the settings menu of Squeezeplay.
Since you are able to compare to a Touch, I wonder if locking the software player at 100% is meaningful since I hear that software volume control degrades audio quality?

Also, you might try with a /etc/asound.conf file that bypasses the alsa plugin module and outputs the audio straight to the DAC, in your case it should read like:

pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
}

ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}

I appreciate the time that you took to verify the functionality.

* Today, while testing the new build, I noticed a message that indicates that alsaPlaybackDevice="plughw:1,0" in $HOME/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua isn't effective and you need to set the default audio device at OS level.

[wvanbakel]

wvanbakel, you might be better off just using VortexBox Player so you don't need a GUI. If you want to auto start your X11 I think all you need to do is set run level 5.
The GUI is only needed once to register the player to the Logitech Media Server or mysqueezebox.com, I never see the GUI again on my headless system.
Squeezeplay is remotely controlled like any other Vortexbox player.

Andrew, why might I be better off with Vortexbox player?

[foxesden]

Yes on the SB Touch if or most other digital sources for that matter if you use adjust the volume digitally it will degrade the sound. One of the "tweaks" on the touch is to lock the volume to 100% as this has the same effect as disabling the digital volume control. On the squeezebox forums there are people who claim to hear a difference between the volume control locked to 100% or disabled by one method or other.
What I found though that on squeezeplay although the volume on the player was set to 100% through both the GUI and the squeezebox server, the volume in the OS was not set to 100%.
It took me a while to work this out, and once I did this out, and fixed it the sound got a whole lot better.

I have been doing a bit more comparison to the output from squeezeplay to the touch. As noted the touch is optimised the VB is not. The Touch is output through SPDIF to a re-clocker the Vortexbox through USB to the same re-clocker.

I felt that there was a whisper more detail from the touch and this gave more sense of the space in which the recordings were made. I would imagine that if a Linux sound guru was let loose on the Vortexbox or if a different re-clocker were used then the outcome may be different. The difference was pretty small; but I am pretty sure I wasn't kidding myself.

It is difficult for me to see what the advantages of running the vortexbox player are over squeezeplay. It may offer better sound, you can used MPD controllers, it is more integrated into the Vortexbox. But in operation it is quite limited.

However if squeezeplay was implemented as standard on the Vortexbox it may put the product into competition with Logitech and actually dent sales, who knows.

[wvanbakel]

Foxesden, The very best audio experience for me was when I used mpd on FreeBSD, with the same hardware. FreeBSD does upsample to the maximum supported by my Music Streamer II, though.

When I started this journey of computer based audio entertainment I was reading about the ability of bitperfect audio processing, so I started with using hw:1,0 as alsa setup, but there was always something not sounding right and any conversion line in custom-convert.conf of the Logitech Media Server is a brute force approach.
I have come to the conclusion that for me plughw:1,0 is the better option. The plugin only resamples when it processes an audio stream that is not native supported by the DAC.

Squeezeslave only supports 44k1 samplerates, which makes my favorite NPR streaming programs sound like winding fast forward.
Vortexbox Player has an audible gap between the tracks and I noticed a difference in the hw_params file between vb-player and native mpd.

Anyway, this week I took another approach with Squeezeplay, my operating system is now CentOS 6.2 (support through 2020: until then no updates/reinstall needed) and I installed the minimal graphic desktop, enabled autologin and autostart of the Squeezeplay application. I also enabled Gnome Desktop Sharing, which lets me connect to the headless GUI with any VNC viewer on Windows, Linux, Apple and mobile device (no X11-forwarding needed). This VNC viewer is only needed once to register the squeezeplayer. I control the player with my iPod Touch or 'http://vortexbox:9000'

When you perform the installation, you probably have a monitor connected, that would be a good time to register the player. remote desktop access is not really a big deal then.

73

74

[perolator]

I have been using squeezeplay for a few weeks now, it supports LowRes NPR streaming and HighRes 24/96 (HRT Musicstreamer II)
All of this with gapless support.

My hope is that the Vortexbox team is interested to make this player available for it's customers.


I agree with wvanbakel. Vortexbox team: make this player available for customers (as an option). I took less than 5 minutes to configure it and use it to stream 24-bit audio to my laptop wirelessly.

130

[juggler]

I agree with wvanbakel. Vortexbox team: make this player available for customers (as an option). I took less than 5 minutes to configure it and use it to stream 24-bit audio to my laptop wirelessly.

130

Thirded!

My reasons:

VB Player
Hires, but gapless only when controlled by mpd. The remote control mpd apps (e.g. mPod) - are improving all the time but not a patch on iPeng, and do not integrate well with LMS and its many plugins.

SqueezeSlave
No hires support. No Spotify support.

SoftSqueeze
Still works, but obsolete

Squeezeplay
gapless, hires, full LMS integration, Spotify support - with 3rd party plugin and a premium account
Downside: requires minimal UI, hard to configure, possibly increases power consumption and PC requirements.

Really, looking at that list it ought to be a no-brainer

I'd really like to know whether it is likely to be an out-of-the-box option or be a complete non-starter.
If the latter then it might just be the push I need to move to Windows Home Server.

[smailer75]

Hi,

i´m a really newbie and need a how to guide. Can you help me. I installed the new squeeze play 7.8.0 on my vortexbox. Now i want to start squeezeplay and connect it with my squeezebox.com. But here it is over for me. What i have to do step by step and how can i start squeeze play by every restart of my computer? And i didn´t found the DesktopJive.lua on my vortex box. Thanks for your help.

with the best regards
Sascha from munich

[Macross]

You need to install JAVA SDK to run squeezeplay.

[foxesden]

Hi, squeezeplay is a compiled application and does not need java. Softsqueeze requires Java.

If you have installed the squeezeplay program; you will need to install a windowing system on your vortexbox for it to run.

It is a bit awkward to do, which is why there are requests for this to be setup as an optional component in the Vortexbox library.

if you follow the original post it refers to some additional files that need to be downloaded and then renamed (moved ) to the correct name.

I posted the links on setting up an xwindows client; which is how I got it to run

In order to install xwindows server (to the lay person like me - it really means the client)
http://www.linuxreaders.com/2010/11/.../#.T2eJYT6UmUk
then follow the steps on forwarding here

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index...X11+Forwarding

when you then run the squeezeplay script it will open the squeezeplay app in a window. on your local machine.

the squeezeplay.lua is created the first time the app is run.

[Macross]

There is a windows executable file as well. I needed java to install softsqueeze, I was confused again.

[smailer75]

Hi,

Your links doesn't work. Tanks for your answer.

[wvanbakel]

Hi,

Your links doesn't work. Tanks for your answer.
The links seems to work fine here.

I uploaded a newer file, here is the link to the folder:
http://www.filefactory.com/f/0dd6b9b10ff5a963/

[smailer75]

The links seems to work fine here.

I uploaded a newer file, here is the link to the folder:
http://www.filefactory.com/f/0dd6b9b10ff5a963/

It works!! But i have one Problem left. Squeezeplayer Does not start automatically. I installed your squezzeplay.txt file to your instructions. But after reboot i have to start it manually. What is my Problem? Please help me again!!

Best regards

Sascha

[hbilke]

Hi, just wanted to contribute!

I'm using SqueezePlay now as a local player on my workstation via my LAN/WLAN.

Thanks to your built that works like it should - grafically correct (not like the tarball / deb from slimdevices). Thanx for that.

I have used squeezeslave before and am using the playback of it via the SqueezePlay as sortoffa front-end on my local machine - not on the Vortexbox where I left the built in solution which is controlled via web and/or apple/blackberry front ends.

I can see that your SqueezePlay registers itself as player at the mediaserver - but I can't get it play via my local host and it's built in sound-card. Tried your config w/plughw - but no sound. Any ideas / clues out there?

iHarry

[wvanbakel]

I'm using SqueezePlay now as a local player on my workstation via my LAN/WLAN. - but no sound.

Harry, I think that squeezeplay does not recognize pulseaudio and it sounds like you need to let alsa handle your sound.
Another reason that you don't hear sound could be that another process is locking the sound device.

If you remove .squeezeplay from your home directory, then you get the setup again.
I just verified that each and every mouse click during the setup has sound feedback (beep). If you don't hear any feedback with your mouse clicks in the setup menu, then you need to create a .asoundrc in your home folder (and relogin) that reads like this:


pcm.!default {
type plug
slave.pcm {
type hw
card 0
}
}

ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}


The correct number of your card you will find with ls -l /proc/asound.
Hope this helps.

[peedee]

So, for someone who is not familiar with linux.... I have downloaded your tarball from file factory, and now.... ummm.... What do I do?

Got X all sorted and working fine.. But I cant get much further because all my googling points me back to where I don't really know what to do unfortunately.

[wvanbakel]

So, for someone who is not familiar with linux....
This is like picking a high mountain pass as your first drive after you get your drivers learning permit.

I suggest that you contact the boss here and ask him to support squeezeplay in a lightweight (twm) Xorg setup.

[peedee]

Hmmm. I won't tell you where I started driving then.

A wiki has been started - did it become more difficult than a series of CLI inputs and config file editing? That is easy. Its the more advanced stuff I have gotten stuck in a loop on in the past.

[nunovi]

I believe Squeezeplay will only support 24/96 maximum correct? MPD and Vortexbox player do support 24/192. I don't want to start a thread whether there's any difference between the two, but it might change the "no brainer" status of replacing VB Player with SqueezePlay...

[nunovi]

Foxesden, The very best audio experience for me was when I used mpd on FreeBSD, with the same hardware. FreeBSD does upsample to the maximum supported by my Music Streamer II, though.

When I started this journey of computer based audio entertainment I was reading about the ability of bitperfect audio processing, so I started with using hw:1,0 as alsa setup, but there was always something not sounding right and any conversion line in custom-convert.conf of the Logitech Media Server is a brute force approach.
I have come to the conclusion that for me plughw:1,0 is the better option. The plugin only resamples when it processes an audio stream that is not native supported by the DAC.

Squeezeslave only supports 44k1 samplerates, which makes my favorite NPR streaming programs sound like winding fast forward.
Vortexbox Player has an audible gap between the tracks and I noticed a difference in the hw_params file between vb-player and native mpd.

Anyway, this week I took another approach with Squeezeplay, my operating system is now CentOS 6.2 (support through 2020: until then no updates/reinstall needed) and I installed the minimal graphic desktop, enabled autologin and autostart of the Squeezeplay application. I also enabled Gnome Desktop Sharing, which lets me connect to the headless GUI with any VNC viewer on Windows, Linux, Apple and mobile device (no X11-forwarding needed). This VNC viewer is only needed once to register the squeezeplayer. I control the player with my iPod Touch or 'http://vortexbox:9000'

When you perform the installation, you probably have a monitor connected, that would be a good time to register the player. remote desktop access is not really a big deal then.

73

74

Hi,

Can you make available your binary for CentOS? Seems like a very interesting approach for a simple network music streamer.

[wvanbakel]

Hmmm. I won't tell you where I started driving then.

A wiki has been started - did it become more difficult than a series of CLI inputs and config file editing? That is easy. Its the more advanced stuff I have gotten stuck in a loop on in the past.

I have mixed feelings.
When I started the wiki page I still wanted to explore several approaches to get Squeezeplay start automatically. With gdm or with xinit, for example. Also I wonder if I would be more appropriate to publish the instructions somewhere else, a google page for example, independent from this forum/wiki and just post a link. And then I was exploring if it would be feasible to offer a shell script or rpm that takes care of all the installation hassle.

I think a separate web page would serve this best.

[wvanbakel]

I believe Squeezeplay will only support 24/96 maximum correct?

Squeezeplay plays up to 192k (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?93505-Squeezeplay-plays-up-to-192k)

[wvanbakel]

Hi,

Can you make available your binary for CentOS? Seems like a very interesting approach for a simple network music streamer.
It works on CentOS, the first attempts I even compiled on CentOS, now I use Debian Squeeze, but that doesn't make a difference for the binary.
The only dependency is libpng12, Debian has that in the repo, I think that for CentOS you need to search in older fedora repo's.
My experience is that CentOS doesn't offer multimedia support out of the box, but it's possible. And it's 'outdated'.

I have Debian Testing running with Xorg launched from /etc/local.conf via xinit and twm as window manager.
Very lightweight and never a need to update again (Debian Testing is a 'rolling release')

[nunovi]

Squeezeplay plays up to 192k (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?93505-Squeezeplay-plays-up-to-192k)

Ok, although it does need some hacks. Did the version you compiled already have the 192KHz enabled?

[wvanbakel]

Ok, although it does need some hacks. Did the version you compiled already have the 192KHz enabled?

No I did not patch the source to support 192KHz, I figure that interested members would download the file that is already available in the mentioned thread.

[Tunes]

. . .
I suggest that you contact the boss here and ask him to support squeezeplay in a lightweight (twm) Xorg setup.

Andrew, following this thread, SqueezePlay seems an excellent option to resolve VortexBox Player limitations. You suggested that wvanbakel would be better off just using VortexBox Player, yet did not respond to his question as to why.

Please let us know the basis for your suggestion. More to the point, as many have requested, will you consider a built-in VortexBox SqueezePlay option?

[wvanbakel]

Please find the instructions in the first post (http://vortexbox.org/threads/3541-Very-pleased-with-SqueezePlay?p=22963&viewfull=1#post22963) of this thread.

I like to hear your feedback.

[peedee]

wvanbakel, Thanks for that quick howto. got it playing happily up to 24/192, nice and gapless.

All I had to do was of course set ~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua to the correct mac address that I had set up the output device in vortexbox player, and also set it to the correct card ( I use both an Asus Xonar STX and a USB interface via SOTM card ).

Now I have got the last part of the VB setup working as I want it to. Very happy.

Andrew, it would be a good addition if your able to work it into the distro - it really makes classical and concept albums work a lot better, without the hassle of finding a good MPD client ( in my case, for Android, and they don't yet exist ).

[wvanbakel]

If your vortexbox is headless, then you would still be able to access the graphic interface of SqueezePlay with any vnc client (Windows, Linux and mobile device all have vnc apps).

To make this work, you need to install x11vnc (yum -y install x11vnc) and install the updated .xinitrc with this 167.


## .xinitrc
exec /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &


X11VNC=$(which x11vnc)
if [ -x ${X11VNC} ]
then
exec $(while true; do ${X11VNC} -noipv6 -nopw -display :0 -shared -forever -auth ${HOME}/.Xauthority; done) > /dev/null 2>&1 &
fi


twm

The updated .xinitrc is suitable for all users who followed the procdure in this thread, it avoids excessive logging from SqueezePlay by redirecting output to /dev/null. Strongly suggested that anyone updates the .xinitrc with this file, even if you don't need vnc.

[wvanbakel]

Would this thread be a candidate for 'sticky'?

[Tunes]

would this thread be a candidate for 'sticky'?
Yes ! ! !

[hifihere]

Peedee what is wrong with MPDroid? I assume you tried it.



wvanbakel, Thanks for that quick howto. got it playing happily up to 24/192, nice and gapless.

All I had to do was of course set ~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua to the correct mac address that I had set up the output device in vortexbox player, and also set it to the correct card ( I use both an Asus Xonar STX and a USB interface via SOTM card ).

Now I have got the last part of the VB setup working as I want it to. Very happy.

Andrew, it would be a good addition if your able to work it into the distro - it really makes classical and concept albums work a lot better, without the hassle of finding a good MPD client ( in my case, for Android, and they don't yet exist ).

[peedee]

Yes, I have tried MPDroid, it works very slowly on my Galaxy S3, and is not anywhere near as flexible or "nice" as SqueezeCommander on the same S3, and on an Ipad - nothing really competes with Ipeng HD.

[hifihere]

I have no speed problems with MPDroid on my Droid X. I prefer the sound of the apps that take direct control of MPD.

MPad is gapless and iPeng is not.

The squeeze apps do look slick though.

[andrew]

There is no easy way for non technical users to get this working. But a wiki article would be great. Most technical should easily be able to get this working based on your instructions. Stickys are unorganazed and hard to follow if there are to many of them. A wiki article is the way to go for this information.

Don't edit the rc.local file. It will get over written when you upgrade. Just put the commands you want run on startup in /usr/local/sbin/network_up.sh and they will get run on startup and never overwritten (there is a comment in rc.local about this if you forget the file name).

[Tunes]

There is no easy way for non technical users to get this working. But a wiki article would be great. Most technical should easily be able to get this working based on your instructions. Stickys are unorganazed and hard to follow if there are to many of them. A wiki article is the way to go for this information.

Don't edit the rc.local file. It will get over written when you upgrade. Just put the commands you want run on startup in /usr/local/sbin/network_up.sh and they will get run on startup and never overwritten (there is a comment in rc.local about this if you forget the file name).
As many have requested, will you consider a built-in VortexBox SqueezePlay option?

[peedee]

I have no speed problems with MPDroid on my Droid X. I prefer the sound of the apps that take direct control of MPD.

MPad is gapless and iPeng is not.

The squeeze apps do look slick though.

How many files in your library? About 90,000 here, something around 2.5Tb. Might be part of the problem. LMS works far faster, offers more flexibility in playback, and to my ears, sounds no different. I have a fairly revealing system too, so thought I would hear the difference if there was any ( I tested the two quite extensively a while ago ).

Ipeng is gapless with Squeezeplay - the entire reason - as far as I can tell, people would want to install it.

[hifihere]

If Squeezplay finally solves the gapless problem and supports hi-rez then that is a plus.


How many files in your library? About 90,000 here, something around 2.5Tb. Might be part of the problem. LMS works far faster, offers more flexibility in playback, and to my ears, sounds no different. I have a fairly revealing system too, so thought I would hear the difference if there was any ( I tested the two quite extensively a while ago ).

Ipeng is gapless with Squeezeplay - the entire reason - as far as I can tell, people would want to install it.

[scottedge]

what is the best way to have squeezplay start on reboot? I've got this up and running working well.

[wvanbakel]

what is the best way to have squeezplay start on reboot? I've got this up and running working well.

The provided rc.local and .xinitrc, (steps 7 and 8) take care of autostarting Xorg and SqueezePlay.

[wvanbakel]

There is no easy way for non technical users to get this working.
Andrew, what is holding you back from supporting SqueezePlay?
Are there any personal reasons?

[andrew]

No personal reason. It's just hard to get it working. There is no simple way to install it other then the excellent documentation available already. I'm not sure what I can do to make it easier to install.

[Tunes]

Andrew, what is holding you back from supporting SqueezePlay?
Are there any personal reasons?
Could it be remuneration from the provider of the faulty alternative or possibly the Boss syndrome?

Andrew, are you capable of making SqueezePlay an option?

[Mycenius]

Hi All - I've just completed this process to put Squeezeplay on my Vortexbox to replace vortex player - however I've got an odd side effect which is muted volume - I'm assuming I've missed an obvious setting in the Squeezeplay settings (in SP GUI) but thought I'd post a quick note here in case it's something more unusual and someone else has experienced it?

Cheers & TIA.

P.S. Great Mod - Thanks to all involved.

[Mycenius]

Hi All - I've just completed this process to put Squeezeplay on my Vortexbox to replace vortex player - however I've got an odd side effect which is muted volume - I'm assuming I've missed an obvious setting in the Squeezeplay settings (in SP GUI) but thought I'd post a quick note here in case it's something more unusual and someone else has experienced it?

Ooops - sorry - bit of a blonde moment - all fixed! :o

[too_tall_kiwi]

Hi all. First time I have posted here.

Question - I ( and Mycenius above me ) have both built VB streaming servers. I read on the Logitech forum about squeezeplay, and after much arguing with VB, and then getting a friend to assist, I have got it working happily. I had not seen this thread till a few days ago - which would have made things much easier to install. However, Both Mycenius and myself have installed SP, but, his will not do bitperfect output, whereas mine will. Both our servers are identical ( outputting Spdif via Asus card ) and both our DAC's are identical. What have I configured differently? Anyone able to assist? I get the correct frequency displayed by my DAC, he gets 48K no matter what.

He followed my instructions - which are now just what are on this thread. But obviously, I am not good at giving instructions.

[andrew]

I have seen some problems like this with squeezeplay and they can be fairly hard to resolve. Have you tried using the internal VortexBox Player?

[too_tall_kiwi]

Hi Andrew, thanks for the reply.

I have no issues - Mycenius only gets bit perfect with VB player.

I have suggested he try USB to see what happens - although I had trouble getting USB to work nicely with Squeezeplay.

Andrew - is the x window configuration of squeezeplay the issue that prevents you from including it in the distro? Is it not as simple as a config file? Also, why do you overwrite the rc.local? I was under the impression that was where the user could run scripts that were unique to their situation, and therefore it was not supposed to be touched by updates ( hence the .local part? )

[andrew]

VortexBox is not designed to have a windows system run on it. But I know there are ways to get squeezeplay working without a GUI. Then there are the many problems squeezeplay has such as the one you are experiencing. It would be a support nightmare as most of them seem to be random.

Wilbert from the user forum is working on some kind of RPM that is supposed to make it easier to install.

Your best bet may be to stick with VortexBox player. As you have seen. Bit perfect and it "just works".

Read the directions in the rc.local file. It tells you how to make changes that don't get overwritten.

[too_tall_kiwi]

Your best bet may be to stick with VortexBox player. As you have seen. Bit perfect and it "just works".
.

VB player is good - but, it has one quite major flaw IMHO, and that is the lack of gapless playback.

What is the reason it is unable to do gapless playback? The problem is that the DAC unlocks, so the first 1/2 second or so of a song gets truncated, and concept albums get broken up, which is frustrating. That, is the only reason I am wanting to be able to use SP as opposed to VBP.

[Mycenius]

What is the reason it is unable to do gapless playback? The problem is that the DAC unlocks, so the first 1/2 second or so of a song gets truncated, and concept albums get broken up, which is frustrating. That, is the only reason I am wanting to be able to use SP as opposed to VBP.

Agreed. If VBP was gapless it'd be pretty perfect - VB is great, but without gapless playback the player is arguably broken. As TTK says it causes the DAC to unlock after EVERY track, which I have noticed the resulting truncation may also cause a stutter. If VBP is able to be gapless that would be awesome...

P.S. Appreciate all the awesome work everyone has done on VB Server, and on getting SP to work... So don't take the above as a criticism of everyone involved's effort... :)

[Mycenius]

I believe Squeezeplay will only support 24/96 maximum correct?


Squeezeplay plays up to 192k (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?93505-Squeezeplay-plays-up-to-192k)


Hi All - I have the issue where I have changed over to SqueezePlay from Vortex Player using the instructions here - however I am only getting 48k output (everything is up or down sampled to this). I know there is a setting to change in a config file somewhere to enable up to 192kHz but I can't find it here or in the Logitech Forum wvanbakel has linked to - I assume I don't need to download the two patches referred to in the latter and I just need to change a setting somewhere, presumably in:

~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua

Is this all that needs changing:

settings = {mac="xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx",uuid="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",alsaSampleSize=24,alsaPlaybackDevice="plughw:1,0",alsaEffectsDevice="plughw:0,0",alsaPlaybackBufferTime=50000,alsaPlaybackPeriodCo unt=3}

(with the plughw entries changed as needed to match my server config?

Or do I need to install the Lauret & Kipeta patches?

Appreciate if anyone is able to give me a quick heads up on this...

TIA

[wvanbakel]

48k output
Seems to me a driver isue, 48k sounds like the MS Windows default.

While you are playing a HighRes track, check the output with:
/proc/asound/card0/pcm0p/sub0/hw_params (select the correct number for your card!)
What does this file show?

[too_tall_kiwi]

Mycenius is using an Asus Xonar STX under Vortexbox - but I am seeing him tomorrow so will ask him.

For my Xonar, its pcm1p - I think the 0 stream is the analogue output.

I believe that for the Xonar with bit perfect, it should be hw:0,0 not plughw:0,0. correct?

[wvanbakel]

it should be hw:0,0 not plughw:0,0. correct?
ALSA is smart enough that it doesn't process audio that is compatible with the audio device specs.
With plughw you are able to enjoy all kinds of audio streams, my experience with hw:0 isn't great.

Bitperfect is not defined by hw:0 or plughw:0

[hifihere]

You should try one of the many clients that take direct control of MPD, the core playback engine. They are gapless and are superior.

[andrew]

Wilbert has been working on a squeezeplay RPM. I have never been able to get squeezeplay to work right so I'm not the best person to test this. If anybody is interested all you need is this command.

yum install squeezeplay-slim

[wvanbakel]

I'm not the best person to test this

I just completed a full installation cycle on a clean partition (AGAIN!!!).

1. install vortexbox (2.0)
2. yum update
3. yum install squeezeplay-slim

Straight like that, no other commands, no editing, no modification.

Result: WORKS!

Single command installation is here, congrats to all SqueezePlay users.

And thank you very much, Andrew, for letting me work this out.
It was fun and I had a chance to study the rpm building process.

[too_tall_kiwi]

Awesome!. Good work.

[Mycenius]

Awesome!. Good work.

Indeed - Fantastic! Great Work Guys! :)

[Tunes]

Wilbert has been working on a squeezeplay RPM. I have never been able to get squeezeplay to work right so I'm not the best person to test this. If anybody is interested all you need is this command.

yum install squeezeplay-slim
This is great news Andrew!

Now users can select VortexBox Player, SqueezePlay, or neither.

When this manual, command-line process is proven, will you make it a standard VortexBox GUI option as are other VortexBox add-ins and options suggested and contributed by Forum participants?

[flashsail]

Great stuff ! , however i cant figure out how to maintain automatic start-up upon re-boot . Also is there any chance to have multiple instances of the Squeezeplayers on one VB , just like you can have multiple ( up to five ) VB Players ?

[wvanbakel]

i cant figure out how to maintain automatic start-up upon re-boot

Do you not get Xorg at all?
Perhaps you would attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log, so we can check for errors?

I suggest that you run Xorg -configure, wich creates xorg.conf.new in the $HOME directory.
Copy that file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and then modify the video driver in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to vesa.

[Mycenius]

Great stuff ! , however i cant figure out how to maintain automatic start-up upon re-boot...

Curiously too_tall_kiwi has been having that same issue - although I haven't and we have essentially identical builds... :confused:

[foxesden]

Great work. Couple of questions though.

Is this the 192 k version of the squeezeplayer? Not particularly important for me, just worth knowing
Is the player running as a service? The instructions that I used set the player up as daemon so I just need to do service squeezeplay stop / start
Is there any config required to get the player pointing at your local server / mysqueezebox.com
Is there any config required to point the player at the desired soundcard?

NB I am not asking for any of the above to be automated; just deciding whether to de-install my current version of squeezeplay and re-install from scratch

[wvanbakel]

Is this the 192 k version of the squeezeplayer?

Yes, the 192k patch is included in this release.


Is the player running as a service?

SqueezePlay runs as a Xorg application, stop with '# init 3' and start with '# init 5'.


Is there any config required to get the player pointing at your local server / mysqueezebox.com

Yes, the first time you start SqueezePlay, you need to run through a setup and select your Logitech Media Server or login to mysqueezebox.com.
If you ran SqueezePlay before, these settings will retain, though.


Is there any config required to point the player at the desired soundcard?

SqueezePlay takes the default audio device as configured with alsa. You set the alsa default in./etc/asound.conf (http://alsa.opensrc.org/FAQ026)


NB I am not asking for any of the above to be automated; just deciding whether to de-install my current version of squeezeplay and re-install from scratch
I think that you are fine with installing over the current solution, you must run '#yum reinstall vortexbox', though.
That is because my first solution used /etc/rc.d/rc.local to start SqueezePlay and you need to restore the VortexBox default rc.local.
Restore with '#yum reinstall vortexbox'

[Mycenius]

I think that you are fine with installing over the current solution, you must run '#yum reinstall vortexbox', though.
That is because my first solution used /etc/rc.d/rc.local to start SqueezePlay and you need to restore the VortexBox default rc.local.
Restore with '#yum reinstall vortexbox'

Hi wvanbakel - just keeps getting better! Well done.

Question - the reinstall vortexbox is that a full reinstall? Can you just restore your rc.local instead and then run your squeezeplay install over the top of an existing manual squeezeplay install?

My install seems to be running fine done manually - but going forward if anything odd crops up I'm wondering if I can just do the above before any troubleshooting as a quick way to refresh my squeezeplay install without breaking (or rather returning to defaults) my whole vortexbox set up, if I needed to...?

Cheers & TIA.

[peedee]

You should try one of the many clients that take direct control of MPD, the core playback engine. They are gapless and are superior.

So why do you say they are superior?

[wvanbakel]

Question - the reinstall vortexbox is that a full reinstall?
Oh no!

It only reinstalls one single file: vortexbox-2.1-7.fc16.i686.rpm (1.4 mb).
Your current setup will break when this file gets updated, it's best that you 'update' your system to the squeezeplay-slim solution.

[hifihere]

Peedee,

Gapless playback is a big plus over the generic VB scheme. Have a listen to the sonic difference on a good DAC and playback system.

I think this is probably drifting off-topic in this thread though.

[wvanbakel]

Turns out that the lightweight TWM Window Manager, that is used for SqueezePlay, does not automatically place a new window on the desktop, but waits for the user to point and click with a mouse.
This is not practical with a headless system.
(And I didn't have this problem before with my first scripts, so I ignored this during my tests)

The quick fix is to disable twm:
In the file /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc comment out the line with twm.

But I already submitted a bugfix, a regular update will take care of this as soon as this fix is released by Andrew.

[too_tall_kiwi]

Peedee,

Gapless playback is a big plus over the generic VB scheme. Have a listen to the sonic difference on a good DAC and playback system.

I think this is probably drifting off-topic in this thread though.

Squeezeplay is gapless - and yes, that is very much a desirable thing!

But honestly, I feel that my DAC and hifi system is likely to be quite capable of resolving the differences. I have yet to note a difference.

Mycenius also has a pretty revealing system. In fact, an exceptionally revealing system, and I don't believe that he has noticed a difference as of yet either.

[wvanbakel]

Who used the recent procedure of yum install squeezeplay-slim and can confirm that 24/192k audio is supported?

[too_tall_kiwi]

Mine still wont auto load at boot - still having to run the /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh script with x11 port forwarding to my PC, which has to be running an X client.

Confused!.

[wvanbakel]

Confused!.

Would you attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log in your post, so we can see what could be wrong?

[too_tall_kiwi]

5.481] _XSERVTransSocketINETCreateListener: ...SocketCreateListener() failed
[ 6565.481] _XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: server already running
[ 6565.481] Warning: Xalloc: requesting unpleasantly large amount of memory: 0 bytes.
[ 6565.482]
Fatal server error:
[ 6565.482] Cannot establish any listening sockets - Make sure an X server isn't already running
[ 6565.482]
Please consult the Fedora Project support
at http://wiki.x.org
for help.
[ 6565.482] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[ 6565.483]
[ 6565.483] Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

I deleted the .X0-lock file as per instructions.

[Mycenius]

Oh no!

It only reinstalls one single file: vortexbox-2.1-7.fc16.i686.rpm (1.4 mb).
Your current setup will break when this file gets updated, it's best that you 'update' your system to the squeezeplay-slim solution.

Hi wvanbakel - Yep I realise that 'any' VB update will break my current Squeezeplay install - I assume that's what you are referring to about breaking if vortexbox-2.1-7.fc16.i686.rpm is updated?

I've got some minor side effects* from my manual Squeezeplay install so m contemplating doing your yum install over the top to refresh it...

* FYI Examples are:

DLNA Service now fails to start on boot (it shows failed status)
Vortexbox Player starts but isn't recognised by LMS (needs to be stopped and restarted each reboot after LMS is started)
Every 2nd or 3rd reboot LMS is uncontactable by clients and needs to be stopped and restarted 9and then takes over 5 minutes to be available to clients)
(Squeezeplay) Clients sporadically completely drop connection to LMS if a Rescan for changed files is run in the background (note: I'm not talking about a full delete & recscan, just an update scan)


I'm suspecting this is just something to do with how I did the install and a reinstall of your yum package may eliminate some or all of them... (My VB had none of these issues prior to my installing Squeezeplay - it ran perfect - I'm not stressed about it, figuring a reinstall might clean it up).

:)

[gocubs42]

Getting gapless playback out of the vortexbox/Sonore via Squeezeplay is an item I've been hoping for. I'm watching this tread daily with hope of a thread saying were ready for "PrimeTime". I see some info on WIKI explaining how to execute or load squeezeplay but when I come back to this tread I see various comments things are just not right. Is it fair to say wait before following the WIKI information? I'm a plug and play person and all of this information on yum this do that makes no sense to me. In the perfect world I would like to see an update button push it and your done. Everything works. I am not complaining in fact this is my chance to say thanks for pushing through this

[wvanbakel]

5.481]Hmmm... I cant attach the file because its too large - 64Kb. I don't want to cut and paste because it will no doubt lose its formatting, and I cant post a rar file!?!

How do you want me to attach it?
Zip with this command, including brackets: (cd /var/log && zip -9 ~/too_tall_kiwi.zip ./Xorg.0.log)

[wvanbakel]

DLNA Service now fails to start on boot (it shows failed status)


I tried to reproduce your described problem, my test system has squeezeplay installed from the vortexbox repo and I updated to the most recent bugfix.
On my test system, minidlna starts without errors


Vortexbox Player starts but isn't recognised by LMS

Just like with vb-player vs squeezeslave, the system is supposed to run only one of these clients. I forgot to turn off vb-player/squeezeslave in the first scripts.
When you install SqueezePlay from the vortexbox repo, vb-player/squeezeslave will be disabled automatically.


Every 2nd or 3rd reboot LMS is uncontactable by clients and needs to be stopped and restarted 9and then takes over 5 minutes to be available to clients)

I notice a strange delay of five minutes too, this happens before /etc/rc.d/rc.local runs (touch /var/lock/subsys/local has not happened yet during this delay). I doubt that this is related to the changes as a result of installing SqueezePlay.


(Squeezeplay) Clients sporadically completely drop connection to LMS if a Rescan for changed files is run in the background (note: I'm not talking about a full delete & recscan, just an update scan)

I think that a rescan is a system intense operation, I notice that any client may stutter or stop until the scan is finished.

[Mycenius]

Hi wvanbakel,


I tried to reproduce your described problem, my test system has squeezeplay installed from the vortexbox repo and I updated to the most recent bugfix.
On my test system, minidlna starts without errors

I have reinstalled Squeezeplay - and it seems to have fixed the DLNA Service problem... (see below).


Just like with vb-player vs squeezeslave, the system is supposed to run only one of these clients. I forgot to turn off vb-player/squeezeslave in the first scripts.
When you install SqueezePlay from the vortexbox repo, vb-player/squeezeslave will be disabled automatically.

Yes - I suspected that was the case - but hadn't got around to sorting out disabling Vortexplayer at start up. That's awesome that its now in the SP install script!


I notice a strange delay of five minutes too, this happens before /etc/rc.d/rc.local runs (touch /var/lock/subsys/local has not happened yet during this delay). I doubt that this is related to the changes as a result of installing SqueezePlay.

Perhaps not - I only commented because it seems to have coincided (for me at least) with when I started playing with Squeezeplay... :) Probably just coincidence but I thought I'd raise it...


I think that a rescan is a system intense operation, I notice that any client may stutter or stop until the scan is finished.

Yes - definitely - however I've never had iPeng on my iPads completely drop it's connection, nor the LMS web interface on my Laptop or PC blank out, UNLESS I had done a "wipe the database and rescan from scratch" option - but it may just be a result of increased load for other reasons I guess (I am only running an Atom D525 processor).

Anyway......

Just to confirm wvanbakel I did the reinstall over the top as you suggested and all worked perfect... Just FYI my process (to be safe) was:


Run Update from Web GUI ("VortexBox Upgrade" page)
yum update (from Putty - to double check all up to date)
yum reinstall vortexbox (Just to be triple sure all was good)
yum install squeezeplay-slim

Install went perfect and as soon as it rebooted Squeezeplay was up and running perfect with full 192kHz output, etc (as you had said earlier didn't need to rerun the initial virtual window to configure either - it had saved the settings); the DLNA service started okay, VortexBox Player service was inactive as intended - and rechecking the few custom settings I have the only thing I had to do as a result of the original O/S Upgrade (in step 1) was to reinstall my lmsensors into the phpsysinfo template!

Sweet! :D

Thanks, Congrats, and well done! :)

...and to Andrew for supporting the yum package! :cool:

[wvanbakel]

All your feedback is appreciated!

[wvanbakel]

Mine still wont auto load at boot
I'm glad to hear that you got it all working after reinstalling vortexbox 2.1!

Thank you for your PM, too_tall_kiwi.

[wvanbakel]

Is it fair to say wait before following the WIKI information?
The Wiki is outdated, and I can't login to update the information. The first post in this thread is current.

[dpaws]

Just a quickie from a really dumb newbie... I've done the three step installation, everything went just fine.

However... now when I boot up I get the Squeezeplay GUI -but I can't find a way back to the command prompt

What's the magic key combo? I have tried quitting the Squeezeplay but it doesn't exit the GUI

Thanks Guys...

(PS - I'm using a screen via HDMI so anything around the edges is out of view)

[wvanbakel]

What's the magic key combo?
That is ctrl-alt-Fn (any function key), but I notice it doesn't show a login at the virtual consoles.
Haven't found a solution for that, yet.

I submitted an update for squeezeplay-slim, which restores the regular twm menu (left mouse click) and then you are able to open a xterm like in the screenshot.

173

[wvanbakel]

Needs to be stopped and restarted and then takes over 5 minutes to be available to clients
I have been intrigued by this 5 minute delay at boot time, because I have noticed the same delay.

So, I decided to switch my vortexbox test system to init level 3 and see if the delay disappears.
Well, the delay of five minutes is still there on my test system.
This must be unrelated to the SqueezePlay installation, which is a dead binary in init level 3.

My main music system is a generic Fedora minimal installation with LMS and SqueezePlay on an Atom D330 cpu. (no Vortexbox services)
This system boots fast, real fast.

This doesn't provide you with a solution, but I'm convinced that the 5 minute delay at boot is something else.

[dpaws]

That is ctrl-alt-Fn (any function key), Ha sorted - Ctl - Alt - F4 = login :) Happy times

[too_tall_kiwi]

Going back to the mpd vrs slimplay sound quality debate - Mycenius and myself are both not convinced there is a sonic difference between them. And squeezeplay is actually easier because the logitech control apps are simply easier to use, more featured and just plain nicer ( for either android of iOS ). We both have systems which are quite revealing too.


This is a nice progression for Vortexbox, and has smoothed out the one bugbear I had with it.

[dpaws]

From my own experience the iTunes/Jplay combo sounds superior, soundstaging definition and a more even response - the kick drum now "thuds" but I had "bams" before... It's not bad by any means but I know there's more to be squeezed. I've a completely basic set-up with Vortexbox/Squeezeplay/Halide Bridge USB(+Aqvox).

I haven't started to research the options available as yet, I've had my fill of Linuxing for a day!!!

[wvanbakel]

From my own experience the iTunes/Jplay combo sounds superior, soundstaging definition and a more even response
I got WOW'ed when I listened to MPD with Open Sound System on FreeBSD.
FreeBSD with it's port system is not easy to maintain, though.
I haven't tried to compile SqueezePlay on FreeBSD, but I expect the same excellent audio experience.
Also, MPoD as remote control seems very limited in functionality and buggy.
And I also miss features like Pandora, Mog.com, etc.

Anyway, I make the choice for the features that Squeezebox offers and with SqueezePlay I need just one remote control (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logitech-squeezebox-controller/id431302899?mt=8) that handles everything.

Differences in preferences doesn't make anyone wrong.

[dpaws]

Anyway, I make the choice for the features that Squeezebox offers and with SqueezePlay I need just one

I'm at the same place, the Squeezepad app is so superior to both the iTunes remote and MPaD... with the added advantage that it's very family familiar having had a Squeezed household for a number of years.

I've approached JPlay who'd be very interested in joining forces with the Squeeze LMS set-up, only i understand there's a difference in coding languages to complicate things.

A "SuperSqueezeplay" would offer the best of both worlds. Add the set-up functionality of the Jplay to select bitrate, latency, buffer size etc - that would be amazing!

[Mycenius]

I have been intrigued by this 5 minute delay at boot time, because I have noticed the same delay.

...

This doesn't provide you with a solution, but I'm convinced that the 5 minute delay at boot is something else.

Cheers wvanbakel. At least I know it's not just my system, and likely is LMS itself that's the culprit...

[Ghibli]

Here some insights from my situation: I was on VB 1.10 and used wvanbakel's (complex but excellent!) old Squeezeplay instructions in post #1 to install Squeezeplay. Gapless, 24/96 and even crossfade on Spotify (Triode) worked excellent. Only bug was that booting was necessary once in a while, after a couple of weeks Squeezeplay "hangs", and a reboot was required. (afterwards I manually stopped VBP each time after boot.)

Yesterday I took the plunge, wiped my HDD and did a clean install of the VB 2.1 ISO. Updated it to the latest (yum update etc). Everything worked (incl Spotify (Triode) 24/96 on my HRT MSII). Although I read VBP should do gapless on FLAC now, this does not work, although smaller, a gap is still noticable.

So I decided to install Squeezeplay again, but the instructions were gone, so I did yum install squeezeplay-slim. For the record, I attached a keyboard, mouse and display to my VB. Here's what happend:
- installation: ok
- after reboot: after grub and some initial screens. screen turns into standby (pressing power turns it on briefly and then it switches to standby again), and keyboard is inoperable (pressing numlock etc does not turn the lights on/off). This state indeed takes around 5 minutes, and then Squeezeplay starts and everything is normal. During this state remote login over ssh is possible by the way.
- after the setup of Squeezeplay playback was limited to 16/48. I had to manually add alsaSampleSize=24 to enable 24/96 on my HRT MSII.

So: in my opinion the 5 minutes delay is not caused by LMS or Squeezeplay (perhaps) but by something in the Xorg (because it turns the screen and keyboard into standy) and 24/96 playback is not (always) automatically enabled.

Hope this helps to further optimising the excellent Squeezeplay solution! Keep up the good work!

[wvanbakel]

Thank you very much for your feedback, Ghibli,

I'm in the process of doing a little experiment:
I installed (again!) VortexBox 2.0 on a test system from my CD and without any updates performed, I installed SqueezePlay.
This installation requires 9 MB of dependencies, and I verified that no update of the installed software was performed.

After that I did a reboot and I notice there is no significant delay.

Now I want to do a complete update of the system, everything is downloaded except for forked-daapd, which shows a 404 error.
This experiment stalls until the error is fixed, but I anticipate that the boot delay will be introduced after the update is finished.

The music system in my living room is based on minimal linux with LMS and SqueezePlay (without the additional features offered by VortexBox) and I don't notice any delay at boot either.

I verified the audio output, my HiRes tracks (downloaded from http://highresolutiontechnologies.com, I also own a HRT MusicStreamer II) show 16/96 as opposed to 24/96. If you have many HiRes tracks, then your modification of alsaSampleSize=24 makes sense.

Continued:

I decided to finish the update with --exclude=forked-daapd and the update of the system finished.
The reboot shows immediately the mentioned delay.

I notice something interesting, the systemd init level link is corrupt, it links to a nonexisting directory:

175

Anyway, Ghibli, would you please help me with a small low impact test?
I would like you to perform this command on you VortexBox:

ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/runlevel3.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target

The result of this command is that your Vortexbox will boot into level 3, as opposed to level 5 and it will not start Xorg or SqueezePlay. You will finish in the regular text console. Please verify for me that you still experience this delay that you mentioned? Because I do still notice this delay.

To restore init level 5:

ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/runlevel5.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target

[andrew]

All my testing here has shown the new VortexBox player to be gapless. Can anybody who is not getting gapless playback of FLAC files do this test for me?

1. Download these two files

http://yum.vortexbox.org/test/1khz-a.flac
http://yum.vortexbox.org/test/1khz-b.flac

2. Put them in a playlist in LMS and play them.

These files are just 30 seconds of a 1khz tone. Because these are pure tones your ear should easily be able to hear even the smallest gap between them.

Please post your results.

[wvanbakel]

after a couple of weeks Squeezeplay "hangs", and a reboot was required.

I suggest a sequence of init 3 and init 5, perhaps even in a weekly crontab?

[Ghibli]

I suggest a sequence of init 3 and init 5, perhaps even in a weekly crontab?

If this new version hangs again, I will try that! Is it just entered at the command line as two seperate commands? It sort of restarts Squeezeplay?

(BTW: it would also be nice if Squeezeplay would be on the Vortexbox main page where you can start/stop all services, the page with the GREEN and WHITE push buttons)

[wvanbakel]

If this new version hangs again, I will try that! Is it just entered at the command line as two seperate commands? It sort of restarts Squeezeplay?
Yes, assuming that you connect with a ssh session, you would not even notice what happens.
After init 3 the system will stop Xorg and squeezeplay and after init 5 the system will start Xorg and Squeezeplay.

[sbp]

Hi I'm using a Debian based system, will it be possible to use your Squeezeplay version on a pure Debian?

Could you please describe how I can use Squeezeplay on the same computer as Logitech Media Server is running, or point me to info on that subject. It seems like this information is not present any more in the first post?

Thank you

[wvanbakel]

Squeezeplay version on a pure Debian?

Yes, I will pm you instructions.
Hm, looks like you disabled pm?

[too_tall_kiwi]

So after several weeks of running faultlessly, squeezeplay now fails to play files.

Error message when I connect a display is "Problem: Cant find file for:"

It then goes through the folder or playlist trying to play every file but failing in the same way.

Vortexbox player, when reactivated, plays just fine.

Anyone got any hints on where to look at what might be going wrong?

Was working fine last night. I had not made any changes overnight, nor rebooted, but this morning had this error. Rebooted, problem still there. Tried updating squeezeplay with yum, problem still there. Removed the reinstalled squeezeplay, problem still there.

When navigating through squeezeplay with a display attached, the beeps are playing back fine, so to my mind, this means the sound output side of SP is fine. Has it somehow lost its playback codecs?

[wvanbakel]

Anyone got any hints on where to look at what might be going wrong?
Perhaps you get some details with:

grep squeezeplay /var/log/messages

[too_tall_kiwi]

Perhaps you get some details with:

grep squeezeplay /var/log/messages

Posted below the last few lines. Thoughts? Same error right through...

Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:908 xrun (snd_pcm_wait)
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:887 snd_pcm_status err=-19

[wvanbakel]

Sep 28 09:39:36 vortexbox squeezeplay: audio_thread_execute:897 snd_pcm_start error: No such device
That looks like your audio device is not available (also considered a "file" in this operating system).
Perhaps locked by another service or program?

[too_tall_kiwi]

Wondering what would have changed to have locked the device from SP, but to still be available when I restarted the VBplayer service?

cat /proc/asound...... showed that the device was idle.

~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua shows the correct device ( plughw=0,0 )

I only have the one audio device installed, no HDMI, no onboard, only the USB device.

Thoughts? The fact that the squeezeplay sounds are still working but no playback is what is totally confusing me!.

Might be time to reinstall possibly?

[wvanbakel]

Show the output of:

lsof | grep snd

[too_tall_kiwi]

jive_alsa 4114 root mem CHR 116,2 9733 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p
jive_alsa 4114 root 8u CHR 116,2 0t0 9733 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p

[wvanbakel]

Well, one last thought is to reconfigure squeezeplay:

# init 3
# mv ~/.squeezeplay ~/old.squeezeplay
# init 5
And then you need to setup Squeezeplay again.
Do I understand correctly that internet radio is working fine?

[too_tall_kiwi]

Well, one last thought is to reconfigure squeezeplay:

# init 3
# mv ~/.squeezeplay ~/old.squeezeplay
# init 5
And then you need to setup Squeezeplay again.
Do I understand correctly that internet radio is working fine?

THB I have never used internet radio since my SB duet days when I was running LMS on a windows based htpc.

Just tried this and when I go to connect to either mysqueezebox or the vortexbox servers, the SP console closes, and only way to get it back is to restart x/squeezeplay.

[too_tall_kiwi]

If its worth anything,

ps aux |grep squeezeplay
root 14629 0.0 0.0 5392 1364 ? S 13:23 0:00 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 14644 0.0 0.0 5392 364 ? S 13:23 0:00 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 14645 0.3 0.0 7392 2404 ? S 13:23 0:00 twm -f /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.twmrc
root 14646 44.2 0.0 5392 672 ? S 13:23 0:15 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 28800 0.0 0.0 4600 808 pts/0 S+ 13:24 0:00 grep --color=auto squeezeplay

[wvanbakel]

Was working fine last night. I had not made any changes overnight, nor rebooted, but this morning had this error
It doesn't look like there is an easy fix for your sudden hiccup.
If this is caused by some update, then I assume other users would have similar problems.
You could open xterm and launch /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh from the prompt. That way you see all messages in the xterm window.

[too_tall_kiwi]

Reinstallation solved it - but I can't figure out what caused it as I had not done an update overnight or anything.

Glad that when I installed I did a separate partition for storage - copying a couple of TB back would have taken a long time! Thanks for the assistance though wvanbakel - your contributions regarding squeezeplay are well appreciated!.

[eclectic]

All my testing here has shown the new VortexBox player to be gapless. Can anybody who is not getting gapless playback of FLAC files do this test for me?

1. Download these two files

http://yum.vortexbox.org/test/1khz-a.flac
http://yum.vortexbox.org/test/1khz-b.flac

2. Put them in a playlist in LMS and play them.

These files are just 30 seconds of a 1khz tone. Because these are pure tones your ear should easily be able to hear even the smallest gap between them.

Please post your results.

Using vortexbox-player and an mpd client I hear no gap Andrew. I haven't tried LMS because it takes so long to rescan the database.

[too_tall_kiwi]

MPD is gapless unless its used via LMS for some reason. What DAC are you using Eclectic? Some, such as my old Bel Canto, did not show much of a gap as it took a while to realize it had lost the signal. My Perreaux realizes a lot faster and was being a pain because relocking would take a fraction of a second, long enough to notice.

[eclectic]

MPD is gapless unless its used via LMS for some reason. What DAC are you using Eclectic? Some, such as my old Bel Canto, did not show much of a gap as it took a while to realize it had lost the signal. My Perreaux realizes a lot faster and was being a pain because relocking would take a fraction of a second, long enough to notice.

I don't like LMS so never use it. Currently using a dCS Delius, Weiss DAC202 and SOtM DAC200 HD, in two systems, with the Weiss usually not being used - it may be up for sale soon. I am also interested in the Empirical Overdrive and will be getting one soon. I tried the files with both the SOtM and the Delius, and both were absolutely gapless. I have found that when there are small compatibility issues with the DAC that there can be a momentary re-sync that happens between tracks. Usually it has been able to be solved with a bit of fiddling.

[too_tall_kiwi]

I agree that LMS could be better, but I find that most MPD clients on the android platform are WAY too slow with large music collections.

The reason I was getting gaps with VBplayer was because its simply not gapless, and the digital stream is interrupted momentarily between tracks. The DAC's were simply doing as they should.

[eclectic]

The latest MPDroid works fast very well for me with playlists of 10000+ tracks within a collection of 50,000+ tracks on an Asus Nexus. Some of the early Android phones are a little dodgy and earlier versions of MPDroid were buggy.

[Mycenius]

I agree that LMS could be better...

Amen to that Bro! :)

[Larkone]

Just done a new install of VB 2.1, did all the updates, then installed Squeezeplay as per the instructions in this thread. Cannot get any sound from Squeezeplay but Vortex Player works fine. HELP!! I am using the optical out on my motherboard - just cannot understand why VB player works but not squeezeplayer.

[Macross]

I am assuming you are using the digital ouput of the Vortexbox?
If so please post the ouput of the command aplay -L
Make sure the its -L not -l Thanks.

[Larkone]

Yes am using the digital out. Thanks in advance


aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=ICH5
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=ICH5
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
Default Audio Device
front:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
iec958:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0
Intel ICH5, Intel ICH5 - IEC958
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output

[Macross]

Use iec958:CARD=ICH5,DEV=0 as the output and name it whatever you want, clear out the mac address and uncheck soft volume as it will not work anyway with digital outputs.

[Larkone]

Thought it was working OK but as soon as I stop VB Player the sound stops so does not appear to be using squeezeplay as the player. The reason I noticed was there was a slight gap on some gapless music. Also was planning to use Triodes spotify plugin that needs squeezeplay to work.

Any thoughts on how to get squeezeplay working please?

[Macross]

Reposted from page 4


Harry, I think that squeezeplay does not recognize pulseaudio and it sounds like you need to let alsa handle your sound.
Another reason that you don't hear sound could be that another process is locking the sound device.

If you remove .squeezeplay from your home directory, then you get the setup again.
I just verified that each and every mouse click during the setup has sound feedback (beep). If you don't hear any feedback with your mouse clicks in the setup menu, then you need to create a .asoundrc in your home folder (and relogin) that reads like this:

Code:

pcm.!default { type plug slave.pcm { type hw card 0 }}ctl.!default { type hw card 0}
The correct number of your card you will find with ls -l /proc/asound.
Hope this helps.

[wvanbakel]

Any thoughts on how to get squeezeplay working please?

Larkone, you need to make your optical audio device the system default by creating a proper /etc/asound.conf.

[Larkone]

Larkone, you need to make your optical audio device the system default by creating a proper /etc/asound.conf.

OK how do I do that please. Not a Linux expert but can follow simple instructions.

[Larkone]

Update
Tried as per post 150 but still no joy - I think I got it right. So have reloaded VB and gone back to VB player. A shame as I am building this for a friend and it would have been good to have gapless, VBPlayer still falters between tracks. Also he wanted Spotify but that doesn't work with VB player either. Squeezeplay would have been the perfect answer to solve both issues.

[wvanbakel]

<..>A shame<..>
Hope you are not blaming anyone?

I have no experience with optical output, but here is some useful information for you: DigitalOut (http://alsa.opensrc.org/DigitalOut).
Please read the information and look at the bottom under the header Set digital out as default for the specifics.

(When I ordered my power tool online (http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW364-Circular-Electric-Adjustment/dp/B00002231Y/ref=cm_lmf_tit_9) I expected to be able to remodel my friends home like a professional. It didn't work that way. Stupid tool!!!)

[Larkone]

No of course I am not blaming anyone, it is a shame that I cannot set the system up for my friend to do everything we wanted and the real issue is my inability to understand the finer arts of linux to make this work. I have squeezeplay working on my own vortexbox using the onboard co-ax output into my DAC and it just worked on installation.

I just do not understand linux well enough to crack the problem with my friends machine.I was just hoping someone on here might be able to help. What I am struggling to understand is that VBPlayer works fine through the optical output so why doesn't Squeezeplay? Am I missing something obvious? I have done a total re-install 3 times but still no joy.

I never blame the tools for my lack of ability.

[wvanbakel]

What I am struggling to understand is that VBPlayer works fine through the optical output so why doesn't Squeezeplay?
Both players need to be configured to recognize and use the optical output.

The difference is that for VB Player you are able to accomplish this in the web gui, and for SqueezePlay such feature is not available.
SqueezePlay is an additional option that is not integrated in the VortexBox configuration. It will work with your hardware, you just need to read the proper ALSA documentation (http://alsa.opensrc.org/DigitalOut) and create a small configuration file yourself.

[Macross]

I wish I could help you more, but this is out of my scope of knowledge.

[foxesden]

Hi

I have used both squeezeplay and vortexbox player. The latest version of vortexbox player will support spotify exactly as per squeezeplay using official and triode plugin. You will need a spotify premium licence for this to work.

The vortexbox player is also gapless provided you play the album through from start to finish. If you skip tracks or jump to the end of a track to test out is gapless-ociuosness it will not work. A number of us were caught out by this. So the only feature you lose over squeezeplay is syncing.

If you decide to persevere with squeezeplay, you should note that if you have both players configured to use the same output, the first player run will hog the output. So if you have VB player running you may need to remove the player from the audio interface (eg. if it is set to plughw: 0,0 set to plughw: 1,0 and press submit) and then restart squeezeplay.

Finally; shameless plug; if you checkout the Vortexbox tweaks I posted some instructions for downloading a utility I wrote that enables you to lock the order of your sound-card. You need to know how to login to the command line to install it.

[Larkone]

Both players need to be configured to recognize and use the optical output.

The difference is that for VB Player you are able to accomplish this in the web gui, and for SqueezePlay such feature is not available.
SqueezePlay is an additional option that is not integrated in the VortexBox configuration. It will work with your hardware, you just need to read the proper ALSA documentation (http://alsa.opensrc.org/DigitalOut) and create a small configuration file yourself.

I did try but to create the file as per post 150 but it didn't seem to work, again probably due to my lack of knowledge with the OS. I also went through the documentation, reloaded and tried again but I couldn't get it to work and do not have the experience/knowledge to understand how to undertake the right level of problem determination to fix it.

[Mycenius]

Hi WVanbakel & Andrew,

I've just had an odd thing crop up - I've just done an update on my VBX this weekend and now have Vortexplayer restarting it's service automatically every reboot since the update - originally the squeezeplay install disabled it.

Do I need to rerun the yum install for squeezeplay - or can you disable that service from autostarting with an easy command line?

Thanks.

[Mycenius]

No of course I am not blaming anyone, it is a shame that I cannot set the system up for my friend to do everything we wanted and the real issue is my inability to understand the finer arts of linux to make this work.

Larkone, wvanbakel is the expert - however for the sake of completeness from someone who's maybe just a fraction ahead of yourself with linux - a little check list that may not be relevant but worth checking is:

cat /etc/asound.conf

Should look something like this:


pcm.!default {
type hw
card 0
}

ctl.!default {
type hw
card 0
}

#
# Place your global alsa-lib configuration here...
#
#
#@hooks [
# {
# func load
# files [
# "/etc/alsa/pulse-default.conf"
# ]
# errors false
# }
#]

You can edit it if it isn't:

nano /etc/asound.conf

Note the @Hooks is remmed out (i.e. #), and HW Card address is as appropriate for your card as wvanbakel described in post #150 (second to last line).

Also - you can check another file related to Squeezeplay that might be contributing...

cat ~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua


settings = {mac="xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx",uuid="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx",alsaPlaybackDevice="plughw:0,0",alsaSampleSize=24,alsaPlaybackBufferTime=50000,al saPlaybackPeriodCount=3,}

You need to check the following:
mac="xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx",uuid="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx",alsaPlaybackDevice="plughw:0,0",alsaSampleSize=24


Mac should be your player Mac Address (I think this is random - should be different to your Vortexplayer's one showing in the GUI). You may not get sound from Squeezeplay if both players have the same MAC.
UUID should already be populated automatically and not need changing (essentially a random string of numbers in the format above).
alsaPlaybackDevice should be 0,0 normally but may not be right in the file - check what it is in GUI for Vortexplayer - should be the same for it and Squeezeplay if using the same card...
alsaSampleSize needs to be 24 if you want full res playback - otherwise everything gets resampled to 16-bit (i.e. CD quality). Important if you have any hi-res music (e.g. 24/48, 24/96, 24/192, etc)


Again you can edit it with:

nano ~/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/DesktopJive.lua

Maybe - if you/we are lucky it's maybe some little thing in here - assuming you do have the valid asound file wvanbakel has referred to...?

[wvanbakel]

I've just done an update on my VBX this weekend and now have Vortexplayer restarting it's service automatically every reboot since the update
That is not very elegant.

Anyway, turn that off with:

# chkconfig vortexbox-player off
and if vb-player is still running:

# service vortexbox-player stop

[too_tall_kiwi]

You put a lot of effort into this project/forum Wvanbakel, for which I, and I am sure many others, are very thankful for.

Keep up the great work please :)

[Mycenius]

That is not very elegant.

Anyway, turn that off with:

# chkconfig vortexbox-player off
and if vb-player is still running:

# service vortexbox-player stop


You put a lot of effort into this project/forum Wvanbakel, for which I, and I am sure many others, are very thankful for.

Keep up the great work please :)

yes indeed - thanks Wvanbakel - fantastic! :D

[Mycenius]

Andrew/Wvanbakel,

Is there a way to 'rename' Squeezeplay (i.e. is the name in a config file or something)? I have 2 servers running Squeezeplay and I need to add suffixes (e.g. 1 & 2) to the names to identify the servers I am selecting Squeezeplay for...

TIA.

[wvanbakel]

Is there a way to 'rename' Squeezeplay?
There are many ways to rename any player, select your favorite way:

In Squeezeplay itself:

206

207

On your Squeezebox remote control:

204

205

In the Logitech Media Server web gui:

208

On mysqueezebox.com:

http://www.mysqueezebox.com/player/viewPlayers

[Mycenius]

Hey wvanbakel, cheers.

Okay, Okay, So I had a Blonde Moment! :p

On a different note can you or Andrew confirm if you do the Yum install of Squeezeplay, you don't need to do the config process of Squeezeplay (player) itself in the emulation window? That was my understanding of your post earlier, but maybe I misinterpreted it?

[wvanbakel]

Can you or Andrew confirm if you do the Yum install of Squeezeplay, you don't need to do the config process of Squeezeplay (player) itself in the emulation window?

No, I can't confirm that. This is the only hurdle you need to take after installing Squeezplay. In front of the system or remote with vnc or Xorg over ssh, you need to configure the player.

[Mycenius]

No, I can't confirm that. This is the only hurdle you need to take after installing Squeezeplay. In front of the system or remote with vnc or Xorg over ssh, you need to configure the player.

Thanks wvanbakel. Can you tell me if you do the Yum install of Squeezeplay what additional steps do you need to do?

i.e. I assume X Window System and the SSH Config (XForwarding) is all done in the install.

is this included or do you still need to do it:


yum install xorg-x11-fonts-base xorg-x11-fonts-misc xorg-x11-font-utils xorg-x11-fonts-Type1 service sshd restart

and/or


yum -y install xorg-x11-server-Xorg xorg-x11-xinit xorg-x11-twm xorg-x11-drv-vesa xorg-x11-drv-mouse xorg-x11-drv-keyboard xorg-x11-drv-evdev

and/or


yum -y install x11vnc

Likewise installing XClock via Yum and the rc.local mod I assume are all covered?

...the reason I ask all this is I have the Squeezeplay config screen up for first run on my 2nd server but I cannot get it to respond - it won't respond to the mouse regardless of which USB port I use on the MoBo, nor will it respond in VNC Viewer from my Laptop. I can't recall if it's suppose to be doable through Xming/Xclock/Putty (I thought it was) but I've tried and no success. I've tried redoing all the above manual steps above that were after the point where you installed Squeezeplay (from the tarball) in the old manual process (which is what I did on my existing server) - but no joy.

too_tall_kiwi reminded me that on my first server install I had to do something funny with USB for the mouse to get it to respond, I had to use a specific USB port, and did something special to configure USB - alas i did not keep a note of it and cannot remember myself what I did...

...I'm contemplating trying a fresh rebuild over the top, but as I've done it twice with no success I doubt it will change anything... I'm obviously overlooking something obvious that I figured out quite quickly the first time, but have now forgotten...?

Any thoughts/suggestions...?

TIA

[wvanbakel]

Thanks wvanbakel. Can you tell me if you do the Yum install of Squeezeplay what additional steps do you need to do?

Mycenius, no additional steps are required, all dependencies are taken care of, and X-forwardng works out of the box when you connect with ssh -X root@vortexbox.local.



...the reason I ask all this is I have the Squeezeplay config screen up for first run on my 2nd server but I cannot get it to respond - it won't respond to the mouse regardless of which USB port I use on the MoBo, nor will it respond in VNC Viewer from my Laptop.

Please verify that xorg-x11-drv-evdev is installed with: # yum info xorg-x11-drv-evdev, it should show 'installed'


I can't recall if it's suppose to be doable through Xming/Xclock/Putty (I thought it was) but I've tried and no success.
The way I understand it is that on Windows systems X-forwarding is only supported if Xorg is installed. Have you tried to boot a LInux session from live USB/CD-ROM on your Windows system, perfect X-forwarding support included!


too_tall_kiwi reminded me that on my first server install I had to do something funny with USB for the mouse to get it to respond, I had to use a specific USB port, and did something special to configure USB - alas i did not keep a note of it and cannot remember myself what I did...
NOW YOU TELL ME! :mad:

Anyway, you are able to navigate in SqueezePlay with a keyboard too. Perhaps you still have a regular PS/2 keyboard?
*Edit: I verified with my VortexBox test system that my usb mouse is supported without additional drivers.


...I'm contemplating trying a fresh rebuild over the top, but as I've done it twice with no success I doubt it will change anything... I'm obviously overlooking something obvious that I figured out quite quickly the first time, but have now forgotten...?

Any thoughts/suggestions...?
Download one of the Installable Live Media (http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora) iso's from Fedora, throw it on an USB or CD-RW and boot from it. Then find out how to get it working.

[Mycenius]

Hi wvanbakel,


Mycenius, no additional steps are required, all dependencies are taken care of, and X-forwardng works out of the box when you connect with ssh -X root@vortexbox.local.

Thanks for that - at least now I know for sure what should happen... :)



Please verify that xorg-x11-drv-evdev is installed with: # yum info xorg-x11-drv-evdev, it should show 'installed'

Yeah showing all installed okay...



Have you tried to boot a LInux session from live USB/CD-ROM on your Windows system, perfect X-forwarding support included!
...
Download one of the Installable Live Media (http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora) iso's from Fedora, throw it on an USB or CD-RW and boot from it. Then find out how to get it working.
...
you connect with ssh -X root@vortexbox.local

That is actually brilliant simple, and obvious! Doh...!


Anyway, you are able to navigate in SqueezePlay with a keyboard too. Perhaps you still have a regular PS/2 keyboard?
*Edit: I verified with my VortexBox test system that my usb mouse is supported without additional drivers.

Definitely won't work on my machine at all - mouse or keyboard. I have tried every USB slot. The Mini-ATX boards I/We are using (with Atom processors) don't have any legacy PS2 connectors on them... I'll actually be surprised if there are any new machines (of any brand/type/class) still coming out with them FWIW...

Anyway your plan to boot one of my Windows' machines with the live disc and then run ssh worked brilliantly wvanbakel - to a point - I was able to configure the squeezeplay virtual device screen remotely and get it playing, etc. Which worked great until I rebooted! :( While it retained the settings, it resorted to the same problem too_tall_kiwi had a couple of months ago - i.e. on reboot it wouldn't show up anywhere (in LMS or similar) until you ssh in and select a song in the virtual device screen - once it starts playing a song it then appears in LMS as an available player! As I know TTK played with this for some time and ended up reinstalling a few times with a full rebuild finally fixing the problem I have flagged spending further time on it after 3-4 reboots confirming the issue, and trying erase squeezeplay-slim, and a yum reinstall (then repeating the same sequence of events as originally)...

...as I've got another unresolved issue where the DLNA service fails at boot up and cannot be restarted manually either - and similar efforts at fixing (as described in the MiniDLNA not running at startup (http://vortexbox.org/threads/3855-SOLVED-MiniDLNA-not-running-at-startup) thread, which is essentially the issue I have) have failed, so I have now nuked the box and commenced a fresh install from scratch (again - this will be my seventh attempt at building this new server, the third since a replacement HDD for the original new drive I had - which is getting frustrating considering it is my existing server that's worked perfectly since May and all I have done is removed the HDD and put in a brand new HDD to install a new instance of VBX)! It's likely Squeezeplay is getting screwed as a byproduct of something else going wrong with the installs, but damned if I can figure it out...

Anyway appreciate your patience and advice wvanbakel! I'm glad I'm an ex-IT Professional, 'cause if I was Joe Bloggs off the street I'd be throwing this thing out a 10th floor window by now! :eek:

[wvanbakel]

While it retained the settings, it resorted to the same problem too_tall_kiwi had a couple of months ago - i.e. on reboot it wouldn't show up anywhere (in LMS or similar) until you ssh in and select a song in the virtual device screen - once it starts playing a song it then appears in LMS as an available player!
I'm curious, are you able to verify that SqueezePlay is running after a reboot? (# ps aux | grep squeezeplay, for example?)

[Mycenius]

Hi wvanbakel,


I'm curious, are you able to verify that SqueezePlay is running after a reboot? (# ps aux | grep squeezeplay, for example?)


[vortexbox-ra.localdomain ~]# ps aux | grep squeezeplay
root 880 0.0 0.0 5392 1440 ? S 10:09 0:00 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 892 0.0 0.0 5392 1112 ? S 10:09 0:00 /bin/sh /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh
root 895 0.0 0.0 5392 364 ? S 10:09 0:00 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 896 0.0 0.0 7384 2480 ? S 10:09 0:00 twm -f /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.twmrc
root 897 43.5 0.0 5392 672 ? S 10:09 13:33 /bin/bash -login /usr/local/etc/squeezeplay.xinitrc
root 21512 0.0 0.0 4600 836 pts/0 S+ 10:40 0:00 grep --color=auto squeezeplay

The above is immediately after starting with no other activity on the box and simply accessing by Putty before accessing LMS in web browser or anything.

As mentioned above the SqueezePlay Beta Emulation is showing up and running on the monitor attached to the server, and is at the "My Music, Test, Settings, Quit" menu - so is configured. As mentioned I can't directly manipulate that on the server as the emulation will not respond to the mouse or keyboard (they are working as you can bring up the Emulation's menus, you just can't directly manipulate the SqueezeBox screen inside the emulation (often the mouse cursor disappears behind it instead of floatign in front/over it). As mentioned I have tried every USB Port (all 8) with both keyboard & mouse, and I didn't mention earlier I have legacy support for USB enabled in the BIOS, etc...

...however it seems to be only visible locally on the machine and isn't being detected by LMS?

I have also changed the MAC of SqueezePlay in the DesktopJive file as it was set to the same as the MoBo's Network Card, so it now has a unique ID but that hasn't helped. Note I had to modify both this and the asound file, neither appear to be updated by the Yum install (e.g. hashing out the 'hooks' entry in asound and adding the hw PCM entry)...

FWIW (OT) I have now resolved the other issues I had so this is the one thing I needing resolving to get the server operational. The other issues I had appear to be from the Transaction Check Error libva upgrade problem fix (http://vortexbox.org/threads/4346-Transaction-Check-Error-libva-upgrade-problem) where removing libva to do the update then breaks DLNA and also affects things like LM Sensors, MPD, etc, and libva needs to be manually reinstalled after the updates are completed as described in Help needed: Vortexbox DLNA Server Failed thread (http://vortexbox.org/threads/4437-Help-needed-Vortexbox-DLNA-Server-Failed). I mention this here mainly in case someone else is in my position and torn their hair out going around in circles for several days trying to figure out the DLNA & update issue, etc... :)

Anyway if you have any further insights wvanbakel it'd be much appreciated (I know you probably get sick of all of us pestering you for help)! At this stage my only thoughts are to either uninstall and reinstall SqueezePlay a couple of times to see if it comes right (I'd do one using the old manual process not the Yum package), and/or download the new VBX 2.2 iso (that came out Friday NZ time) and nuke the box and start from scratch again (for the eight time) and hope that a rebuild with the new package might somehow alleviate the issue...?

Also Ron, Andrew, yourself, shouldn't take any of this as negative - I'm ex-IT so I know what the real world is like and how much effort it takes to make this stuff seamless and realistically there are always going to be really unusal sets of circumstances that cause unforeseen side effects or issues... All the effort to date is appreciated by everyone involved in the VBX project! :)

[Mycenius]

FIXED! It's something with the Yum install package or the latest updates I'm sure. It doesn't seem to configure Squeezeplay the same way as the manual install did (I think - I maybe wrong here)...

(EDIT: Maybe Not. DLNA is now broken again in that it won't auto start!)

My last build was fresh from clean and included Yum package for Squeezeplay - This morning I went through and did the whole manual process over the top of it (including unzipping the original tarball of Squeezeplay from 2-3 months ago over the top of the existing install). A reboot saw Squeezeplay up and and available immediately in web interface of LMS. Apart from the tgz file's contents the other noteworthy changes were:

I did the Change Ownership Command


chown -R root:root /opt/squeezeplay

I changed the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which had:


/opt/vortexbox/vb-startup &
touch /var/lock/subsys/local

to:


/bin/su - root -c 'xinit'
exit

I realise this file may be overwritten by future updates but it may be just having this change o initially run squeezeplay is enabling a setting or config to save elsewhere so SP shows up correctly?

There was no ~/.xinitrc file on the system - so I added one with:


exec /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &

X11VNC=$(which x11vnc)
if [ -x ${X11VNC} ]
then
exec $(while true; do ${X11VNC} -noipv6 -nopw -display :0 -shared -forever -a$
fi

twm

And I modified the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file which was not showing ForwardX11 yes despite it working from the Fedora Live System Boot CD yesterday, etc... (I assume this requires it just as much as a Windows machine would)?

All 3 of the above files I assume had not been replaced by the Squeexeplay tgz file's contents, but I had also reinstalled the following services (or attempted to where it reported they were already installed and no packages required, etc, so not reinstalled) so I suppose the above files may have been overwritten by the process:

X Window System
xorg-x11-fonts
xclock
xorg-x11-server
x11vnc

I did not need to run squeezeplay.sh or anything for SqueezePlay to appear accessible in LMS.

Note: I've still been unable to get xclock working with Xming on my 2 Windows machines - even after the above, and despite it working perfectly previously with my existing server... And FWIW VNC I can't get to work 'correctly' from any machine - Linux or Windows - despite the X11vnc being installed.

P.S. I did this same process the other day (albeit possibly in a different order or sequence), and it didn't work... So there is a mystery there of sorts? However the one thing I did not do then was recheck the rc.local and the .xinitrc files and modify them as above...

[Mycenius]

wvanbakel,

For completeness here's the results from # ps aux | grep squeezeplay above run now:


[vortexbox-ra.localdomain ~]# ps aux | grep squeezeplay
root 841 0.0 0.0 5392 1044 ? S 12:55 0:00 /bin/sh /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh
root 3275 0.0 0.0 4600 812 pts/0 S+ 13:20 0:00 grep --color=auto squeezeplay

[wvanbakel]

As mentioned above the SqueezePlay Beta Emulation is showing up and running on the monitor attached to the server, and is at the "My Music, Test, Settings, Quit" menu - so is configured. As mentioned I can't directly manipulate that on the server as the emulation will not respond to the mouse or keyboard (they are working as you can bring up the Emulation's menus, you just can't directly manipulate the SqueezeBox screen inside the emulation (often the mouse cursor disappears behind it instead of floatign in front/over it).

I hear your frustration, Mycenius, I hear it.
I struggle with understanding your post, though, you talk about 'emulation' and you say that the mouse works on the server but not in the emulation?
Are you talking about Virtual Machines? If the mouse works on the server, then it doesn't make sense to try each usb port, because it works, no?


I have also changed the MAC of SqueezePlay in the DesktopJive file as it was set to the same as the MoBo's Network Card, so it now has a unique ID but that hasn't helped. Note I had to modify both this and the asound file, neither appear to be updated by the Yum install (e.g. hashing out the 'hooks' entry in asound and adding the hw PCM entry)...

If squeezeplay-slim.rpm was to modify asound.conf, then yum would stop with an error claiming that asound.conf is owned by alsa-lib.conf. RPM is designed to prevent modifications of files that are owned by other packages.
Besides, your hardware configuration might be unique and a generic modification might not work. Here is an area where the system admin (you!) takes ownership. Perhaps you even prefer a .asoundrc in the home directory of root and want the system wide asound.conf left alone.


Anyway if you have any further insights wvanbakel it'd be much appreciated
Again, I hear your frustration, sometimes it's just very hard to get an idea of the problem and sometimes it seems that this forum is not effective.
Sorry I can't sit next to you in front of your server.
However, I would diagnose such problem by NOT updating anything after fresh installation, but right away install squeezeplay and get it working. Since you mention that you have trouble configuring SP, I suspect that you never got it attached to your LMS server?


Also Ron, Andrew, yourself, shouldn't take any of this as negative - I'm ex-IT so I know what the real world is like and how much effort it takes to make this stuff seamless and realistically there are always going to be really unusal sets of circumstances that cause unforeseen side effects or issues... All the effort to date is appreciated by everyone involved in the VBX project! :)
The quality of support highly depends on the details of the information that you post here. If possible I try to reproduce any problem that is posted here and that seems in my expertise.

[Mycenius]

Hi wvanbakel,


I struggle with understanding your post, though, you talk about 'emulation' and you say that the mouse works on the server but not in the emulation?
Are you talking about Virtual Machines? If the mouse works on the server, then it doesn't make sense to try each usb port, because it works, no?

I was referring to the SqueezePlay 'screen' that pops up at boot - it's what I'd call an emulation (IBM terminology) as its creating a virtual squeezebox touch screen (i.e. emulating a touch). I assume Virtal Machine is the term in Linux, I've not been certain what the correct term is for it (the xorg/x11 window).

What I meant about the mouse was it worked fine on the screen but when you moved it to the area occupied by the Xorg window of SqueezePlay it had the appearance of disappearing behind the window because the virtual machine wasn't recognising its presence, it did the same when I built my first server, but I got round it by using a specific USB port (obviously something to do with how legacy support works for the ASUS Atom board I'm using... It worked fine in the Linux ssh -X remote session as it should have on the server itself...


If squeezeplay-slim.rpm was to modify asound.conf, then yum would stop with an error claiming that asound.conf is owned by alsa-lib.conf. RPM is designed to prevent modifications of files that are owned by other packages.

OK. That makes sense.


Besides, your hardware configuration might be unique and a generic modification might not work.... (snip)

True. (It's not in this instance, but point taken in the grand scheme, about config files and custom hardware or system configs). :)


Again, I hear your frustration, sometimes it's just very hard to get an idea of the problem and sometimes it seems that this forum is not effective.

Yes that's always an issue, I hear you (having come from running an IT team that included a Helpdesk I understand the frustrations with communicating remotely in writing)!


Sorry I can't sit next to you in front of your server.

Yes, that woul be fantastic, maybe worth a million bucks! I could be missing something really obvious that's only apparent from experience! :)


However, I would diagnose such problem by NOT updating anything after fresh installation, but right away install squeezeplay and get it working. Since you mention that you have trouble configuring SP, I suspect that you never got it attached to your LMS server?

As per my earlier posts (might not be clear) that's what I was trying... :) Repeatedly failed very time, I installed SP immediately after build and tried Both before & after first updates. Also tried much later after all configured and LMS running with VP... Nothing worked until I redid manual install over the top, I suspect either because of those config files, or because there was an older version of a file in the SP install pack?

Anyway as noted it is fixed for now but I have half-broken DLNA in achieving that and obviously have the concern that a future VBX update may revert SP back to that same state again...

:)

[foxesden]

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?97046-Announce-Squeezelite-a-small-headless-squeezeplay-emulator-for-linux-(alsa-only)

Just noticed that Triode, Legendary (to us audio geeks) 3rd party developer for Squeezebox plugins, has developed a slimmed down version of squeezeplay specifically for Linux.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?97046-Announce-Squeezelite-a-small-headless-squeezeplay-emulator-for-linux-(alsa-only)

For those who want to sync their squeezeboxen this may be the way to go.

[andrew]

foxesden, Thanks for the info about this new project. This looks really interesting but has nothing to do with SqueezePlay. I put a thread for it in the BETA / dev forum

http://vortexbox.org/threads/4494-Squeezelite

[gasman]

I'm considering installing Squeezeplay to get the HiRes options

Noob question though - "yum reinstall vortexbox" makes me nervous. I have a 2x2TB setup it took me forever to get right and I don't want to trash anything !!

Cheers

[wvanbakel]

Noob question though - "yum reinstall vortexbox" makes me nervous.

No worries,

This command will reinstall only vortexbox-2.2-9.fc16.i686.rpm (http://yum.vortexbox.org/releases/16/i386/RPMS/), with the file size of 1.4 MB.