SqueezePlay OS for Joggler

[Jetpac]

Tap the screen when something is playing. It'll cycle through various screen options like the bar graph and needle oscilloscopes seen in the images above.

Ace thanks very much!

[roobarb!]

As I use Squeezeplay as the only OS on one of my Jogglers I would like to install it as the OS. Are there any instructions for doing this?

Nope, it's not ready to be installed to the internal memory. It's possible to do it, but it's not a great idea at the moment.

yes, it's a great idea!, I have my joggler working from internal memory and every day I love it more.

I will write a post with my "recipes" of things that I have done with the SqueezePlay.

Just be aware that in my testing, there are a few things that aren't right. The first is that it may harm your ability to boot from an external device after installing the standard sqpOS image to the internal memory (the startup.nsh / boot.nsh scripts are not perfectly set for that scenario). Also, you won't be able to boot from sqpOS on an external stick afterwards, as it will search and find sqp-root on the internal MMC first and use that - you would need to modify grub.cfg to make it work.

Finally, you may well end up with a performance-sapping logging problem, as explained by Torne Wuff on his blog.

[guidows]

Hummmm, I have had not problems booting from an external disk or usb, using the sqpOS in the internal memory. In fact, when I have a problem (unexpected reboot or file system problem for an not programed turning off) I can do a fsck with no problems from the external drive and repair the internal disk.

About the mmc2, I did not know it. Maybe the uninstall of rsyslog or move the /var/log folder into RAM can resolve this issue. Maybe... I will try first with an apt-get remove rsyslog.

[Wilberforce]

Hummmm, I have had not problems booting from an external disk or usb, using the sqpOS in the internal memory. In fact, when I have a problem (unexpected reboot or file system problem for an not programed turning off) I can do a fsck with no problems from the external drive and repair the internal disk.

About the mmc2, I did not know it. Maybe the uninstall of rsyslog or move the /var/log folder into RAM can resolve this issue. Maybe... I will try first with an apt-get remove rsyslog.

For the logging to ram I have the following in my /etc/fstab (copy and pasted from elsewhere!) :

Code: Select all

tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
tmpfs /var/tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=0755 0 0 
tmpfs /var/log/apt tmpfs defaults,noatime 0 0

and I use logrotate to limit the number of log files.

[guidows]

Hi there!

This is so fantastic! I am using the Joggler for quite a time now with Squeezeplay. Now with the new SqueezeOS its really easy! But from time to time mostly after a few hours of uptime the joggler sound output crashes and just gives a roaring noise. After rebooting and even after relaunching squeezeplay it works fine again. Does anyone experience the same beaviour? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Same problem but that happens in one or two days from boot.
Probably can help to add a cron task for rebooting the joggler every morning. I'm waiting for a external DAC I bought in HK, I hope that doesn't have same problem.

[sota]

The link on birdslikewires.co.uk still points to version 1.03, but I can see 1.05 in the download folder. Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun by mentioning this.

Anyway, thanks for persuading me to dust off my Jogglers and put them back into use.

[roobarb!]

The link on birdslikewires.co.uk still points to version 1.03, but I can see 1.05 in the download folder. Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun by mentioning this.

Anyway, thanks for persuading me to dust off my Jogglers and put them back into use.

Hehe - yes, v1.05 is there - just haven't had chance to announce it on here yet.

There is one known bug in it though, to do with external audio interfaces, so I'll be uploading a revised version. Actually, I should take down v1.05 until I fix that. It's a small tweak (hopefully) but better to not have iffy copies out there.

[roobarb!]

Update Time!

This is quite a big update, as everything has been rebuilt from the ground up. It's also been an absolute nightmare; if something could go wrong, it did. But hopefully that means this will be the most solid sqpOS yet. So what's in it?


You can install it to the internal memory.

So many people asked about this, I had to sort it out properly. At first it was going to be a 'live installation' from within SqueezePlay, but it was far too unreliable. So, there's now an internal-MMC-specific version that uses every last byte of the Joggler's 1GB storage and you install it using a brand new version of the Reflashing Tool, especially rebuilt for the job.

Don't write the non-MMC version to internal flash. It will cause you headaches in the long run.

You can install Logitech Media Server. Without the command line.

Go to Settings > Advanced > Additional Features > Logitech Media Server. Hit Install. That's it.

USB storage devices auto-mount.

So when you're running SqueezePlay OS from internal memory with external storage attached, point Logitech Media Server to /media/usb0 and you'll see your files. Or run it all from the same external device and point LMS at /media/usb2 (0 and 1 are used for the two sqpOS partitions, as, obviously, they're on USB as well).

NFS preinstalled.

So you can mount shares on your NAS - just follow my instructions here.

Log files are only written when you shut down.

Fewer writes = longer life. They're all dumped into an archive at /var/logroll.tgz.

Revised dmix-enabled asound.conf file.

With a patch from mrw that should restart failed audio connections without restarting SqueezePlay itself. No more vanishing audio, no more chipmunks. Hopefully.


Socks still on? Okay, how about this.

Full hardware accelerated video playback of MPEG2 and H.264 content with mplayer.

The magical mplayer is preinstalled. You can play 1080p content, stutter-free. Actually, 720p content looks better scaled down onto the 800x480 screen, but 1080p will play just as smoothly. All based on BuZz's work, to give credit where it's due. Oh, and seeing as mplayer is installed...

WMA transcoding in Logitech Media Server.

Now, you'll need to install the non-free w32codecs package yourself, but after that you'll have WMA playback and transcoding. Who knows, I may even add a button for that in the next update...


Oh, yes - this is all in 1GB. The features are identical for the USB or the internally-installed versions; in fact, there's slightly more space on the MMC version because I could be very precise about the image size (1028128768 bytes) while I had to shoot for the lowest common denominator for the external version. The filesystem is ext2, so it's very easy to resize with GParted should you wish to, or you can create an extra partition at the end of your USB device for your files, should you wish.


So, I hope you agree that this is a worthwhile update. As I mentioned with the Reflash Tool, there's been quite a bit of work put into these updates (probably too much, if I'm honest!) so if you find them useful I hope it's not too cheeky to ask that you take a look at my contributions page. Even just a pat on the back in a thread would go down a treat.

[asm495]

Great news. Is there any speed difference between external USB and the internal memory please? Thanks.

[roobarb!]

Great news. Is there any speed difference between external USB and the internal memory please? Thanks.

Well, not noticeably, no. That's in 'use', rather than by the specs, though. If you're measuring it, internal memory is rather slower than most USB devices, not ever really cruising much beyond a lofty 4MB/s. However, once it's booted (which even on internal memory is very quick) there's really no noticeable difference; SqueezePlay certainly doesn't hammer disk access. Plus, all log files are now dealt with in tmpfs (a RAM disk) so there's no MMC writes there, either.

[guidows]

Thanks!!!!
I'm counting the minutes for going home to download it and test in my joggler.

Muchas gracias!

Guido

[roobarb!]

Boot times using internal memory.

From application of power to SqueezePlay logo: 31 seconds.
From application of power to SqueezePlay menu: 36 seconds.

That's from when the plug goes into the socket. My Joggler actually loiters for about 10 seconds before starting the boot, so you could take a bit off that if you were feeling generous.

[gegs]

Now, you'll need to install the non-free w32codecs package yourself, but after that you'll have WMA playback and transcoding.

I've not installed the w32codecs package but Squeezeplay still plays radio stations that are identified as "Windows Media" - e.g. some of the Radiofeeds UK & Ireland streams. If memory serves me correctly, they're transcoded to FLAC.

[roobarb!]

Now, you'll need to install the non-free w32codecs package yourself, but after that you'll have WMA playback and transcoding.

I've not installed the w32codecs package but Squeezeplay still plays radio stations that are identified as "Windows Media" - e.g. some of the Radiofeeds UK & Ireland streams. If memory serves me correctly, they're transcoded to FLAC.

Lovely - good to know!

[Fishy]

Hello all

As a new convert to Squeezebox I bought a Touch but have now stumbled upon the Joggler scene for expanding the system!
Have to say I'm very impressed by and grateful for all the work documented on these pages.
In terms of IT skills, I'm a willing amateur but not an experienced programmer!!
I'm comfortable with Windows, have successfully rooted an Android phone but have virtually no Linux experience - hence the appeal of your boot from a USB stick downloads.
Have acquired a Joggler and want to convert it to SqueezePlay OS using internal memory with a view to making it the LMS host as well.
Unfortunately when booting from appropriately prepared USB, the Joggler just gets into some kind of continuously scrolling loop during the install.
Have left it half an hour but it never recovers and even though it scrolls quickly (!) you can see it keeps returning the same error messages as it scrolls.
So re-downloaded the file and installed on a second USB stick but got same result.
Then downloaded the boot from USB file and it works perfectly.

Thus my problem relates only to the internal memory flash.
Would be very grateful for suggestions how to fix this.
I notice the latest versions of the files were released 26/6/12 - has anyone else had this problem with the internal memory release?

Thanks - Fishy (Newbie)

For info - Joggler is showing firmware 8686.S3 (boardrev 2); software 26635.S3 (25/06/10).

[roobarb!]

Welcome to the forum! To help, I think you're going to have to tell us what the messages are that go scrolling past before we can make a judgement in what might be happening.

[Glenn2]

This is great. Finally got my joggler runnning Squeezeplay and LMS and playing WMA/AAC etc., all on its own! (The last bit has always been the sticking point).

With Triode's iPlayer plugin, browsing my favourite Radio 4 programmes to doze off to at night is perfect.

Well done, fab work.

One thing - I can SSH in, but how can I stop LMS so that I can replace the favourites file with the one from my PC LMS?
I'm a bit of a linux noob.

Cheers!
Glenn

[Wilberforce]

you can probably do:

Code: Select all

sudo /etc/init.d/logitechmediaserver stop

and

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sudo /etc/init.d/logitechmediaserver start

[Fishy]

Hello again - thanks for quick response and warm welcome to the forum.

Error messages - On boot up it says the following amongst others in this order (please bear in mind this list isn't comprehensive and it does scroll very quickly but hopefully can give you an indication of how far it gets before looping)

No DMI BIOS year
Cannot read MAC address
Wifi - it makes 5 attempts, each with ipconfig SIOCGIFFLAGS - no such device wmm
ra0 no private ioctls

DHCP - another 5 attempts

Mongoose started

Then super rapid scrolling with brief breaks where you can only read a couple of words!
Amongst these I have seen Fatal Server Error and giving up !!!


Hope this gives you enough to go on.
Thanks again.

Fishy

[January_King]

This is all going very well to the extent that it has caused me to get a second Joggler to feed my B&O system, thank you! It is running off a 2GB USB stick and external USB sound card.
Can you advise on the installation of the w32codecs in order to play WMA radio stations? I have the .deb file and telnet etc access to the Joggler.
JK