24/96 Squeezeplay and External USB DAC

[jemhayward]

The Wilberforce applet is based on Triodes EDO which is designed to enable the Squeezebox Touch to use its USB system for digital out, rather than SPDIF. On the SBT it actually disables analogue and SPDIF outputs, so I suspect it does the same on the Joggler.

[Wilberforce]

I use the SPDIF output of my spdif-modified Joggler. Everything worked well after having unmuted spdif (card 0, device 1).
I decided to try wilvberforce's applet. Thus:
- I've installed wilberforce's applet.
- I've done chmod 777 on jive_alsa.
- I've removed existent asound.conf

When I first rebooted the joggler after the applet install, I was asked to select the output, and only the [MIDI] device appeared.
Unfortunately I get no sound any longer.
Is it normal to get the [MIDI] device listed? What could be wrong?
Please note that I have not connected any USB external device.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Alekos

I'm running a similar setup.

It is normal to have to select the MID device if you want to use the internal sound card. Is the IEC958 still unmuted in alsamixer? Are you using the latest the tarball of the applet?

One thing I did notice, is that when I tried it on an older version of squeezeplay I had a similar issue (the jive_alsa is compiled for 7.8.0). Which version are you running? Roobarb's latest?

Did the jive_alsa get moved out the applet directory (/opt/squeezeplay/share/jive/applets/EnhancedDigitalOutput)?

[papaiannis]

I'm running the latest Roobarb's SqueezePlay OS v1.07 installed on the internal flash memory.
I downloaded the latest applet tarball as described in your post dated september 27.
Alsa driver version is 1.0.24
To unmute IEC958 I added the following line to rc.local
amixer -q -c 0 sset 'IEC958',0 unmute

"Spdif" and "Spdif default PCM" appear to be unmuted in alsamixer.
Before installing the app everything worked well.
If I understood well, the applet supersedes the jive_alsa file, but this file still keeps its original date/time and size.

[Wilberforce]

Yeah, thats exactly right. If jive_alsa is present in /opt/squeezeplay/share/jive/applets/EnhancedDigitalOutput, it will attempt to move it to /opt/squeezeplay/bin. If this didn't succeed it will remain in that directory. In this case, you will need to manually copy jive_alsa from the applet directory to /opt/squeezeplay/bin (make sure you take a backup).

Edit: although as you've chmoded the original 777, I imagine the mv operation should have succeeded :/ Is /opt/squeezeplay/bin owned by user joggler?

Does your /home/joggler/.squeezeplay/userpath/settings/EnhancedDigitalOutput.lua look like this?

Code: Select all

settings = {firstUse=false,playbackDevice="MID",bufferTime=20000,periodCount=2,}

[papaiannis]

Yes, the EnhancedDigitalOutput.lua looks like the one in your post.
I verified that the jive_alsa file is the one copied from the applet folder.
Still non sound.
When selecting "Digital Output" in audio settings, should I see the spdif device? I only see the MID device.

[Wilberforce]

Does your dac accept a 24bit signal? I didn't look at triodes code too carefully, but it is possible that it is zero padding 16bit values to 24bit. If your dac accepts 24bit, then Its probably best to check the squeezeplay log files.

[papaiannis]

Yes, my dac can convert up to 24/192.
Where log files are?

[Wilberforce]

You have to redirect the output from squeezeplay from /dev/null to a file by changing ~/.xinitrc (or alternatively edit /opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh to redirect output to a file).

Would look something like (I don't run sqpos so I can't say for sure):

Code: Select all

/opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh > /home/joggler/squeeze_log 2>&1

instead of:

Code: Select all

/opt/squeezeplay/bin/squeezeplay.sh > /dev/null

Your log would then be in /home/joggler/squeeze_log. After you've finished change it back to /dev/null to avoid unnecessary writes to the flash.

Edit: and to answer your earlier question regarding spdif selection: it should output to both the analog and digital outputs - you control the one you want by muting/unmuting the controls (IEC958 - digital, Master - analog)

Edit: And if you have an asound.conf the PCM volume control may have an effect on the digital output volume (whereas without it should be fixed).

Edit: I know you probbaly are, but are you using this version: http://www.jogglerwiki.com/forum/viewto ... =40#p13394 ?

[jollyjoggler]

I´ve recently purchased the teac teac ud-h01 and installed Wilberforces EDO port for Squeezplay OS (installed on internal mmc). the teac dac is recognized, but there are problems during playback of files with sample rates greater than 44.1kHz.

88.2kHz, 96kHz & 192kHz files do constantly crackle while playback. Funnily enough, it does crackle more with 88.2kHz and/or 96kHz.

another problem/bug is, that the dac does not change the sample rate from 192kHz to 44.1kHz again for listening to internet radio after selecting a station from my list of favorites.

any ideas?

[Wilberforce]

I believe triode has some custom kernel modifications for the tenor usb interface. It may be worth asking him for the source code / trying a later kernel (such as the ones included with buzz's latest builds).

Edit: there was a fix in 3.2.21 for the ud-h01 http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/ ... Log-3.2.21 (not sure if it will help)

[jollyjoggler]

I believe triode has some custom kernel modifications for the tenor usb interface. It may be worth asking him for the source code / trying a later kernel (such as the ones included with buzz's latest builds).

Edit: there was a fix in 3.2.21 for the ud-h01 http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/ ... Log-3.2.21 (not sure if it will help)

I´ve also read that the tenor firmware has some flaws/bugs.

an uname outputs 3.2.21jog1 on my joggler. in this kernel the fix should be included, right? so this is not the issue then.

should I get in touch with triode now?

do I have to build my own kernel for x86 then if he is kind to give me this code? unfortunately i am not a linux expert.

[Wilberforce]

an uname outputs 3.2.21jog1 on my joggler. in this kernel the "USB: fix gathering of interface associations"-fix should be included, right? so this is not the issue then.

Thought that may have been the case, seeing as it had been sucessfully initialised as a usb audio device.

It may be worth trying to play some audio files with aplay to eliminate any bugs in squeezeplay. I'd try a later kenel (just in case), and if that doesn't work, contact triode - I'm sure hell be happy to share his patches

[jollyjoggler]

It may be worth trying to play some audio files with aplay to eliminate any bugs in squeezeplay. I'd try a later kenel (just in case), and if that doesn't work, contact triode - I'm sure hell be happy to share his patches

my joggler is on kernel 3.2.23jog1 now.

still the same crackling on all audio files beyond 48kHz.

for the testing purpose I played an 192kHz file with aplay

joggler@joggler:~$ aplay -D hw:1,0 Sunrise.wav
Playing WAVE 'Sunrise.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 192000 Hz, Stereo
joggler@joggler:~$

played also from start to finish with a crackling playback.

imho it´s time to get in touch with triode. what ya think? he is on the forums.slimdevices.com, right? next step is to create an user account there. never lurked around over there.

-------------------------------------------------------------

edit / update

... still haven´t contacted triode, but I´ve created an user account at the slimforums in the meantime.

I have also played with the buffer tuning function, but with no success related to the crackled audio playback with files >48kHz with my newly acquired teac ud-h01 dac.

The CPU of the joggler device should handle the USB audio stream without crackles or dropouts, there is plenty of power left as my buffer setting tests confirm.

The buffer settings I have checked:

-Default settings
-Large (avoid if synchronized)
-Large + Randomise CPU
-Very large (USB Only)
-Very Large + Randomise CPU (USB Only)

none of the above mentioned settings did have an impact on the crackled playback.

There are differences in CPU usage between the settings, but they are negligible.

They were lying inbetween 2%-9% CPU usage. There is plenty of CPU power left (in each buffer setting more than 90%) while playing back a 88.2kHz test audio file.

NOW it is time to consult triode i think ...

[Wilberforce]

Don't forget his email is in the EDO source code. Are there any error messages output to dmesg when playing audio?

[jollyjoggler]

Don't forget his email is in the EDO source code. Are there any error messages output to dmesg when playing audio?

thanks for the email hint.

here is an excerpt of the last lines of dmesg while playing back an 192kHz audio file with aplay:

http://pastxt.com/P/UO8RPKGQXC

can someone interpret, please?

[gegs]

It might be better to post long log files etc. as pastebin links.

[jollyjoggler]

It might be better to post long log files etc. as pastebin links.

thank you for the advice. I´ll edit my post with a link instead of the copied log content.

[themystical]

I think this one might be for Wilberforce?
I recently purchased a USB sound card which is a UAC2 card. On plugging it into the Joggler on SqPOS and with Wilberforce's EDO port, it is not recognised by the Joggler. I have always understood Ubuntu 10.04 to be compatible with UAC2 USB soundcards. The header when I Putty into the Joggler confirms Ubuntu 10.04.04LTS, Linux Joggler3.2.23Jog1, #1 SMP 23/07/12 i686 GNU/Linux. This all seems pretty up to date? The EDO has recognised other external soundcards in the past, albeit this is the first time I have plugged in a UAC2 one. I am pretty certain it is not an UAC2 issue as JemHayward on this forum has succesfully connected to a MDAC which is a UAC2 device so it must be something to do either my installation or the soundcard (an Amanero USB interface)
Where do I go from here and what do I need to do?
Any help appreciated.

[themystical]

I have just realised that I am powering this through a USB 1.1 hub and you need a USB2 Hub for UAC2 devices right? Will get a USB2 Hub tomorrow and try it out. Reports on the net indicate that this USB interface works fine with The Squeezebox Touch with EDO and other Linux users also report no problems so it might be something as simple as this.

[themystical]

Got my USB2 Hub today and powered up the card through this. Result? It got recognised immediately and played fantastically well. Proves that you need a USB2 connection for playing a UAC2 soundcard or DAC through the Joggler (or any other device for that matter) and that it the equivalent of the Squeezebox Touch as far as external DAC's are concerned. Thanks to Wilberforce for porting the Triode app.