SqueezePlay OS (Version 3) for OpenFrame

[roobarb!]

Will the fun never cease!

Announcing SqueezePlay OS v3!
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LATEST VERSION - Version 3.03 - 15th January 2015
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As I'm sure you all know, SqueezePlay OS is a small Ubuntu installation designed to run SqueezePlay. You can download it, flash it to a USB stick, plug it into your Joggler and be up and running in no time. There are two versions; one for running from external USB devices and the other that can be written to the Joggler’s internal storage using the Reflash System.

We've finally made it up to Version 3! Once again, SqueezePlay itself is largely the same, but the operating system has been updated to the latest long-term service release from Ubuntu, known as Ubuntu Trusty (14.04). We're also on the latest stable kernel (3.18) which has brought improvements to the Joggler's built-in wireless card and should support an even wider range of external audio devices than before. Trusty has support from Ubuntu through to 2019.

Please check the changes below for details on how things have been modified.


Highlights:

• Based on Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS (Trusty) with Kernel 3.18.
• Supports both OpenFrame 1 (Joggler) and OpenFrame 2 devices!
• Can be installed to internal storage using the Reflash System.
• Preinstalled OpenSSH Server.
• Support for AirPlay.
• Automated installation of Logitech Media Server on devices with sufficient space.
• Easy network configuration from a SqueezePlay applet.
• Supports Netgear WNDA3200 for dual band 2.4/5GHz 802.11n internal wireless.
• Auto-mounting of USB storage devices.
• Proper system startup and shutdown controls.
• Full apt-get package management system underneath!
• All of the features of SqueezePlay for OpenFrame, including the Update applet.
• Settings applet for backlight level and display standby.
• Settings applet for internal or external (USB) audio interface.
• Fully compatible with remote control apps, eg. Squeezebox Remote.

Installation:

Full details are on my SqueezePlay OS for OpenFrame page.


Notes:

• OpenSSH Server is installed and active by default.

SSH can be switched off by navigating Settings > Advanced > Additional Features > Secure Shell. The default username and password are:

Username: joggler
Password: joggler

To change the password, use the command:

Code: Select all

passwd joggler

• Kernel driver (gma500_gfx) is used for video.

A decision had to be made whether to use an older kernel with the Intel EMGD driver (which provides hardware accelerated video) or to use the latest kernel and its GMA500 driver. Being primarily an audio system, it was decided that better USB audio device support was more valuable. The Joggler is still perfectly capable of playing back 720p video, but higher resolutions will struggle. If video acceleration is a more important consideration for your project, I would recommend using one of BuZz's releases, which include Intel EMGD drivers and kernel 3.2.


Have fun!

[castalla]

Up and running - no problems so far! Thanks.

[offbeatdave]

Cool! Looking forward to having a play with this when I get a chance. 2 of my Jogglers run sqpOS and are in daily use so it'll get a workout.

[jogglerhase]

Cool & thanks, roobarb!
I am trying it out and coud not get my library (sitting in an external NAS) to connect:

I reviewed what I did on the old install and I did it via CIFS, as I could not get NFS to work (I tried that really hard but gave up.)
So, I need CIFS support.

This is how to enable it:
First
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cifs-utils
sudo service autofs restart

Then
-> edit root/etc/fstab - add this line:

//192.162.xx.xx/mxNAS /mnt/music cifs password=my_pasword,iocharset=utf8,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777,rw,mand 0 0

Why am I writing this?
I 1st worded it all as a question, but then with friend goggle I figured it out, so I wanted to share it with others, in case somebody else needs to go that rte...

Heiner

Another Thing: Lame seems not to be installed / working:
(To verify: If you go to settings - player - Audio, it states under Bitrate Limitation: "Lame seems not to be installed")

Here is how you get this installed - from an old 2007 post from Stoker on the squeezebox Forum:
1) log in to debian machine as root.
2) edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list by adding 'deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable main' (no quotes) to the file before any other uncommented entries.
3) from the command promt run: apt-get update
4) from the command prompt run apt-get install lame

Heiner

[jogglerhase]

Hi Roobarb;
I have an odd problem with this new Version 3:

I can install LMS without problems, but one specific Plugin does not install anymore:

It is 3rd Party Spotify Plugin from Triode (so not the std Spotify Plugin).
If I install this and reboot LMS, it is not installed, but it wants to be updated.
If I click update and reboot, teh same status appears: Not Installed and it wants to be updated.

I tried this w/ 2 LMS Versions (7.8 and 7.9), both the same issue.
And this did not happen with your earlier SQOS Version.

Any ideas?

Can you try to replicate this?

All the best, Heiner

[castalla]

If you are just replacing an existing LMS with another then any errors in prefs. and plugins will just be replicated.

The only way to test this would be to create a completely clean Version 3 - install LMS - then install the plugin. If there are errors then it's possibly version 3. If there are no errors, it's because you attempted to migrate over plugins and prefs. from version 2 LMS install.

[jogglerhase]

If you are just replacing an existing LMS with another then any errors in prefs. and plugins will just be replicated.

The only way to test this would be to create a completely clean Version 3 - install LMS - then install the plugin. If there are errors then it's possibly version 3. If there are no errors, it's because you attempted to migrate over plugins and prefs. from version 2 LMS install.

Hi Castalla;
thats what I did during trouble shooting:
Absolutely clean install - no old prefs - still the same error.
I just verified that version 206 does not have that error.

I will re-build V300 again and try again to be extra sure - will keep you posted.

Thnx, Heiner

[castalla]

There's a post on the slimdevices forum about 14.04 and plugin updates - by slimchances - but I can't find it!

It's in the Unix/Linux forum.

[jogglerhase]

...The only way to test this would be to create a completely clean Version 3 - install LMS - then install the plugin. If there are errors then it's possibly version 3......

Hi roobarb!, Castalla; all
thats what I did during subsequent trouble shooting:
Absolutely clean install - no old prefs - still the same error.
I just verified that version 206 does NOT generate that error.
And just now, I rebuild V300 from scratch and the error occurs again.
-> The Problem has to have to do w/ V300 - now I am sure.

Any Ideas anyone?
Heiner

[castalla]

Found the plugin link!

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthrea ... untu-14-04

Maybe it a permissions problem

[jogglerhase]

Excelletn - Thanks for that hint, castalla!
I will follow up on this & let you / all know, as soon, as I understand in detail what is suggested to be done there.
Heiner

[jogglerhase]

Excelletn - Thanks for that hint, castalla!
I will follow up on this & let you / all know, as soon, as I understand in detail what is suggested to be done there.
Heiner

That didn't resolve it either....


I am at a loss....

[castalla]

Your only chance is to follow Triode's suggestion to switch on the debugging. Settings - Advanced - Logging in the top-left drop down.

Click on Save logging settings for use at next application restart

- enable the log sections which Triode gave by clicking on the dropdown to select Debug

Restart LMS

Copy the appropriate section of the lms log (use the time to select where it started)

Post on slimdevices forum

[roobarb!]

Definitely sounds like a permissions thing; obviously Trusty has changed something there. I'll have a dig into it.

[roobarb!]

I reviewed what I did on the old install and I did it via CIFS, as I could not get NFS to work (I tried that really hard but gave up.)

That's funny - I had exactly the opposite issues, which is partly why NFS is the preferred method.

Thanks for posting your solution; I think I may well add it to the troubleshooting section on my site. It would seem that there's quite some variability between the different options and CIFS versions, and because my installable SqueezePlay is having to support so many OS options now, I could justify spending that amount of time debugging them all. NFS has always been flawless for me, so that's the auto-configurable option now.

You mentioned you couldn't get NFS to work - were you specifying the correct path? There's no nfs:// or similar; just the full path to the folder as seen from the server. To check it, run this on the Joggler:

Code: Select all

showmount -e <server ip>

This will display all of the NFS shares available from the given server.

Another Thing: Lame seems not to be installed / working:

Mmm, I don't remember ever including LAME in any version, but again, I may well add this to the troubleshooting. Cheers!

[roobarb!]

Definitely sounds like a permissions thing; obviously Trusty has changed something there. I'll have a dig into it.

Dug into it. Couldn't replicate the issue!

Just zapped a stick with SQPOS v3.00 External, fired it up, installed LMS (that took longer to download than I expected, but worked just fine), had a look at the permissions of /var/lib and sure enough, the squeezeboxserver folder was squeezeboxserver:nogroup, which is correct.

Installed BBC iPlayer plugin. Worked fine. Installed Triode's Spotify plugin, worked fine. Installed a few others for fun. No problems.

Not sure what's happened to your install there, Heiner, but something seems wonky.

[roobarb!]

Mmm, I don't remember ever including LAME in any version, but again, I may well add this to the troubleshooting. Cheers!

Ah, yes - I remember not installing LAME by default now, because I didn't see the point of LMS converting to MP3 for transmission across a local network. But if you want it for other reasons, sure, go for it. In fact, you shouldn't need to mess with the apt sources list. Just:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install lame

Will do the trick. In fact, it's so small I may as well include it next time. I shall add that on to the things to remember in the next build.

[jogglerhase]

Definitely sounds like a permissions thing; obviously Trusty has changed something there. I'll have a dig into it.

Dug into it. Couldn't replicate the issue!
Just zapped a stick with SQPOS v3.00 External, fired it up, installed LMS (that took longer to download than I expected, but worked just fine), had a look at the permissions of /var/lib and sure enough, the squeezeboxserver folder was squeezeboxserver:nogroup, which is correct.
Installed BBC iPlayer plugin. Worked fine. Installed Triode's Spotify plugin, worked fine. Installed a few others for fun. No problems.
Not sure what's happened to your install there, Heiner, but something seems wonky.

Thank you roobarb!
I am not sure what was wrong yesterday - I tried it 3 times from scratch.
Today, after your confirmation I tried it again - and it worked!!!
I am now in the process of setting everything properly up - but Spotify is already runnig smoothly.
Again thank you so much for the s/w and the help w/ troubleshooting.
(The only thing I can imagine beeing wrong yesterday: Maybe the host site had issues providing the spotify plugin - because I noticed that the spotify.zip container it downloaded had always different sizes.... although I did not see error messages in the log...)
Heiner

[roobarb!]

I am not sure what was wrong yesterday - I tried it 3 times from scratch.
Today, after your confirmation I tried it again - and it worked!!!

I think yesterday must simply have been a bad day for playing with SQPOS! The reason I was sat with a Joggler to hand last night was that I was trying to switch my main LMS system up to SQPOS v3 and had a networking nightmare. I was starting to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with the release that I had missed, but it turned out to be my router being stupid!

[jogglerhase]

Hi roobarb!

Everything is setup and working again - great!

One minor thing does not work as it did before: The backlight-adjustment:

It is working according to the settings, except when I turn off Squeezeplayer and then back on, the light switches to full blast, regardless, which setting I have it on (Auto, 80%, 50%, ....)

I have it setup, so that when I turn off squeezeplay then screen goes dark (LEDs also off). When I tap it, the DateTime comes on (and the button top left to be able to turn Squeezplayer back on).
This worked well in the old version - coming back to the lightlevel according to the seetings. But now, it goes to full blast....

Any ideas?
And again: Can you replicate this, or is that my system acting up?

All the best, Heiner