Thinking about making the move to Raspberry PI 3 - a few questions

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  • JeffHart
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2009
    • 203

    Thinking about making the move to Raspberry PI 3 - a few questions

    Been running on Windows PC's for eight years, but am having some WiFi issues with the current old PC - a refurb HP from Woot at least six years old. Old enough to need a PCi WiFi card. Rather than replacing it, I'm thinking of going the Raspberry PI route. Have read over some of the relevant threads over the last few days and am hoping someone more current can provide some advice.

    Looking at a kit with the RPi 3, case, power supply & heat sinks, but no fan. I'd like to hardwire this to the network, that means putting it in the same room as our home theater, so quiet/silent would be required.

    Current library is 110GB, 20K tracks, 2100 folders/albums.
    Players - 5 Receivers, 2 Radios and 1 Boom
    Favorite plug ins - Spotify, Pandora and TuneIn Radio

    It looks like the Spotify plug in has a doubtful future, so not critical if not available, but would like to have it as long as possible.

    Questions:

    Is heat a concern if I leave it on 24x7?

    Would it be possible to run everything, including the OS & library from a 200GB SD?

    Any other concerns based on my setup?

    Many thanks in advance!

    Jeff
    "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
    Mark Twain

    LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
    5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox
  • jeremy
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 173

    #2
    Hi there
    I've been using a hard wired Pi 3 without problem since the 3 came out (It replaced a Pi 2 which also worked well). It's silent and heat isn't a problem, even when asking it to do multiple things at once (e.g. stream differnt hi-res tracks to different players etc). You wouldn't want to sit it on top of a radiator but any sensible placement works well for me. Mine runs 24/7 and does BOINC calculations in the background when processors are free. I have a small 99p heat sink on mine but not really sure if it's necessary

    I Have OS & LMS running from the micro-SD with database, playlists & music on a connected USB drive set to scan in the middle of the night; so cannot really answer second question. Suggest you try it, it's not an expensive experiment to run.

    Jeremy
    RaspberryPi4 server running Raspbian & LMS 8.3, USB hard drive
    Lounge - Pi4 running piCoreplayer 8 connected via USB to Naim DAC-V1, Linn LP12/Ekos/Troika, Naim NAC102, Linn Tunebox crossover, 4 x Naim NAP250 power amps with Avondale Audio 2018 mods, Linn Keltik active isobarik speakers. Cotrolled by 2 Jogglers or phone
    Office - Squeezebox Boom
    Kitchen - Squeezebox Radio x2
    Sunroom - Squeezebox Boom
    Bedroom - Squeezebox Radio x2 plus another in en-suite
    Dining Room - Squeezebox Radio

    Comment

    • JeffHart
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2009
      • 203

      #3
      Thanks! Everything was delivered last night, burned the Max2Play image and hardwired it in, but can't connect. It's being assigned an IP address but won't respond to ping. Might be a firewall issue, will need to troubleshoot. More news later.
      "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
      Mark Twain

      LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
      5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

      Comment

      • bobertuk
        Senior Member
        • May 2009
        • 715

        #4
        Originally posted by jeremy
        ...
        I Have OS & LMS running from the micro-SD with database, playlists & music on a connected USB drive set to scan in the middle of the night; so cannot really answer second question. Suggest you try it, it's not an expensive experiment to run.

        Jeremy
        Not sure if it's a good idea to rescan routinely every night. Better to do it manually when you add new music or make other changes. Continually access and updating the underlying LMS database on the micro-SD card will shorten the SD card life significantly. Mico-SD cards tend to have a relatively short lifespan anyway.

        Unless I'm reading your post incorrectly...
        Keeping music and playlists on the USB drive is obvious because of drive capacity and portability. But... do you really keep all the LMS related databases on the attached USB drive and if so how is that done? I would be interested in doing that instead of keeping them all on the SD card.

        Bob
        2 x Touch
        2 x Radio
        2 x Boom
        1 x Intel-NUC server/squeezelite running LMS 8.20 (from nightlies) on Windows 10
        1 X Odroid-XU4 server/squeezelite running LMS 7.91 on Ubuntu 16.04
        1 x iMac server running macOS Big Sur
        WaveIO USB into Lavry DA-10 DAC
        Starfish Pre-amp : Based on NAIM NAC 72
        Heavily modified NAIM NAP 250 Power-amp
        Focal Electra 1027 Be II Speakers

        Comment

        • jeremy
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 173

          #5
          Originally posted by bobertuk
          Not sure if it's a good idea to rescan routinely every night. Better to do it manually when you add new music or make other changes. Continually access and updating the underlying LMS database on the micro-SD card will shorten the SD card life significantly. Mico-SD cards tend to have a relatively short lifespan anyway.

          Unless I'm reading your post incorrectly...
          Keeping music and playlists on the USB drive is obvious because of drive capacity and portability. But... do you really keep all the LMS related databases on the attached USB drive and if so how is that done? I would be interested in doing that instead of keeping them all on the SD card.

          Bob
          Thanks Bob
          You make a good point about scanning, especially as I rarely add new music these days, I'll turn it off

          LMS & database are running from the SD card, the database isn't on the USB, sorry for confusion
          Jeremy
          RaspberryPi4 server running Raspbian & LMS 8.3, USB hard drive
          Lounge - Pi4 running piCoreplayer 8 connected via USB to Naim DAC-V1, Linn LP12/Ekos/Troika, Naim NAC102, Linn Tunebox crossover, 4 x Naim NAP250 power amps with Avondale Audio 2018 mods, Linn Keltik active isobarik speakers. Cotrolled by 2 Jogglers or phone
          Office - Squeezebox Boom
          Kitchen - Squeezebox Radio x2
          Sunroom - Squeezebox Boom
          Bedroom - Squeezebox Radio x2 plus another in en-suite
          Dining Room - Squeezebox Radio

          Comment

          • JeffHart
            Senior Member
            • Feb 2009
            • 203

            #6
            Quick update - network resolved, streaming Spotify to three players - 1 boom and 2 receivers without any problems on a short 10 minute test. Seems more stable than my prior setup that wasn't hardwired to the network. Will start moving the library over tonight and see how that happens. Will take advice on the disabling nightly scans.
            "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
            Mark Twain

            LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
            5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

            Comment

            • kidstypike
              Senior Member
              • Feb 2007
              • 6444

              #7
              Originally posted by bobertuk
              Not sure if it's a good idea to rescan routinely every night. Better to do it manually when you add new music or make other changes. Continually access and updating the underlying LMS database on the micro-SD card will shorten the SD card life significantly. Mico-SD cards tend to have a relatively short lifespan anyway.

              Unless I'm reading your post incorrectly...
              Keeping music and playlists on the USB drive is obvious because of drive capacity and portability. But... do you really keep all the LMS related databases on the attached USB drive and if so how is that done? I would be interested in doing that instead of keeping them all on the SD card.

              Bob
              This is easily done with piCoreplayer OS, I have LMS databases, cache and prefs on an attached USB stick. If anything goes wrong with the SD card, just burn a new image, a few setup tweaks, install LMS, and you're back in business, all player prefs, favorites, etc, just as they were before, don't even need to rescan the music library.
              Attached Files
              Pi5 .. pCP 9beta5 .. LMS 8.4 -- nomysqueezebox
              Study - Pi2B .. S.M.S.L SU-1 .. Q Acoustics M20
              Snug/TV .. DAC32 .. Audio Engine B2
              Spares - 1xSBTouch, 1xSB3, 4xRPi, AVI DM5 speakers

              Comment

              • JeffHart
                Senior Member
                • Feb 2009
                • 203

                #8
                Set up seems to be stable, streaming Live Music Archives via vbr m3u is still broken p, either through the plugin or pasting the URL in the radio. Couldn't do that anymore on my prior setup, so no loss.

                Advantages - much less power consumption, able to stream Spotify to multiple players using Triode's plugin, was problematic on PC connected via WiFi. Zero moving parts & completely silent.

                Not really worried about the life of the SD card, not doing nightly scans, file system is mounted with noatime option. Temp averages 49C. CPU is at a whopping 0.08. Will keep PC for ripping & as a backup, but will be off 99.9% of the time.

                I think I've disabled BlueTooth and WiFi, the UI doesn't confirm AFAICT.

                Only outstanding problem is getting Max2Play SharePlay working.

                Total cost $133, plus $10 for Max2Play if I get SharePlay up. Biggest cost was SD card, went with a SanDisk low/mid-range SDXC rather than a generic off brand.

                Raspberry Pi 3 kit with 2 heat sinks, clear case & power supply
                SanDisk Ultra 200GB SD
                Max2Play
                LMS 7.9
                "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
                Mark Twain

                LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
                5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

                Comment

                • Grumpy Bob
                  Senior Member
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 1309

                  #9
                  I haven't tried Max2Play, but use piCorePlayer instead. Shairtunes works on that.

                  Robert
                  Home: Raspberry Pi 4/pCP7.0/LMS8.1.2/Material with files on QNAP TS-251A
                  Touch > DacMagic 100 > Naim Audio Nait 3 > Mission 752 (plus Rega Planar 3 > Rega Fono Mini; Naim CD3)
                  2 x Squeezebox Radios, 1 X Squeezebox 3 (retired), 1 x SqueezeAMP
                  Office: LMS8.0.0 running on Raspberry Pi3; Raspberry Pi 3 player with touchscreen/piCorePlayer/IQaudIO DAC and Amp
                  Portable: Raspberry Pi 3B/pCP7.0.1/LMS8.1.2/Material, files on Seagate portable drive, powered via power brick

                  Comment

                  • JeffHart
                    Senior Member
                    • Feb 2009
                    • 203

                    #10
                    Thanks, if I don't get Max2Play worked out, I'll take a look at the piCorePlayer OS. Went with the Max2Play since the authors seem to monitor the forum and wasn't sure if piCorePlayer came preconfigured to run headless.
                    "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
                    Mark Twain

                    LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
                    5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

                    Comment

                    • drmatt
                      Senior Member
                      • Apr 2013
                      • 1323

                      #11
                      The pre-configured Pi OSes like these are pretty good at going more or less read-only on the SD cards anyway, so lifetime should be good.

                      I might still have gone with an external NAS for the music though, or at least a usb spinning disk. SD cards are v slow compared to most other storage types.
                      --
                      Hardware: 3x Touch, 1x Radio, 2x Receivers, 1 HP Microserver NAS with Debian+LMS 7.9.0
                      Music: ~1300 CDs, as 450 GB of 16/44k FLACs. No less than 3x 24/44k albums..

                      Comment

                      • Greg Erskine
                        Senior Member
                        • Sep 2006
                        • 2808

                        #12
                        hi JeffHart

                        piCorePlayer is by default a headless player. It's what we use for development and day to day listening.

                        More info here: http://picoreplayer.sourceforge.net/...replayer.shtml

                        The whole piCorePlayer Team (sbp, Paul-, ralphy and Greg Erskine ) are regular visitors here. Sometimes I thought we had too high a profile. Looks like we'll have to ask the "marketing department" for pCP logos.

                        EDIT: They responded very quickly!

                        regards
                        Greg
                        Last edited by Greg Erskine; 2017-04-11, 23:32.

                        Comment

                        • JeffHart
                          Senior Member
                          • Feb 2009
                          • 203

                          #13
                          Greg,

                          No worries, I haven't spent any time here for a few years and just luck of the draw that it was the M2P posts that I happened accross when I browsed the forums this week. I've finally worked out all the kinks, but if I rebuild, will take a close look at piCorePlayer.

                          Cheers,
                          Jeff
                          "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
                          Mark Twain

                          LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
                          5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

                          Comment

                          • JeffHart
                            Senior Member
                            • Feb 2009
                            • 203

                            #14
                            Progress update

                            Fingers crossed, everything is working as expected.

                            Tried a number of different variations between the different Shairtunes versions, here's what finally worked. Not sure all steps are required

                            Uninstalled Spotify third party plugin
                            Restart LMS
                            Install AirPlay plugin
                            Restart LMS
                            Configure AirPlay settings
                            Install Shairtunes 2W
                            Restart LMS
                            Test Shairtunes - success, first time I was able to get it functioning. Earlier attempts would look like it was working, but no sound
                            Install Spotify third party plugin
                            Restart LMS
                            Configure Spotify
                            Test Shairtunes
                            Test Spotify

                            Not sure if the AirPlay plugin is required to install the helper or if it was just changing the install order, Shairtunes before Spotify.
                            "You know, I'm all for progress. It's change I object to."
                            Mark Twain

                            LMS 8.0.1 on Raspberry Pi4 w/256GB SD
                            5 Receivers, 1 Boom, 2 Radios, 1 Controller, 1 Raspberry Pi 3b running piCorePlayer, 1 iPhone & 1 iPad w/iPeng, 1 Android phone w/Squeezer and a Raspberry Pi Zero W running piCorePlayer Velcro’d to a JBL Boombox

                            Comment

                            • rlsx
                              Member
                              • Jun 2007
                              • 92

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Greg Erskine
                              hi JeffHart

                              piCorePlayer is by default a headless player. It's what we use for development and day to day listening.

                              More info here: http://picoreplayer.sourceforge.net/...replayer.shtml
                              [...]
                              Can piCorePlayer be easily configured to output both sound and video (Jivelite) through the Pi's HDMI output?
                              Can the HDMI CEC functions of the Pi be accessed?

                              One last question: Is it easy to set up IR control of Jivelite/Squeezelite ?

                              Thanks...
                              Last edited by rlsx; 2017-04-21, 11:08.

                              Comment

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