CORE32 Energy Efficient LMS Music Server

[PolyVection]

> Good point regarding not needing to register, and i guess to answer my
> own question, is that if we continue to include the BBC iPlayer Plug-in
> it should work correctly. On this basis, we *-_will__-*investigate the
> bug that you have reported.

BBCServiceInformation.pm uses LWP::UserAgent - which is not async. Which
means that if there's a network issue hitting it, it will stall LMS. You
should use Slim::Networking::SimpleAsyncHTTP instead (which actually is
loaded in that same module).

[PolyVection]

CORE32 Energy Efficient LMS Music Server



UPDATE AUGUST 2021: Our objectives remain the same as per the original post below, but we have changed the design of the product to deliver faster performance and as a consequence, the specification has changed. This has also resulted in a price increase to £175 (200€). We are in the process of updating all of the documentation https://core32doc.polyvection.com/#/ and revised specification. New images have been posted on our PolyVection website https://polyvection.com/en/product/core32/ and can also been seen on recent posts on this forum


Following the successful launch of DAC32 (https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...music-streamer), this is our second product and it is a ‘plug-n-play’ LMS Music Server with an incredibly low idle power consumption of just 1 Watt. We see this as a key product in our plan to reignite new user interest in Squeezebox.

The combination of DAC32 and CORE32 will offer a true turnkey Squeezebox Player/Server solution at what we believe to be a very affordable price


This runs our own PolyCore OS, which has been designed from scratch in-house and has been subject to a comprehensive 3-year testing and proving program. By designing this ourselves, we have been able to fully optimise it for this application. Furthermore, we will keep everything up-to-date with automatic OTA (over-the-air) updates.

CORE32 is designed to plug directly in to the user’s router via Ethernet, thus making it truly plug-n-play. It comes pre-loaded with a selected set of plug-ins which result in the easiest most hassle-free experience possible

CORE32 also offers two methods of storing local digital music files, either via a plug-in USB drive, or via a micro-SD card. It is important to note that our PolyCore-OS runs on internal eMMC memory, so the sole job of the micro-SD card is storage. Just ensure that the USB drive or micro-SD card is formatted exFAT (the standard default format) and titled ‘MUSIC’. That’s it. Just transfer your music files and CORE32 & LMS will do the rest.

The package also includes a DC jack to USB-A cable to connect to a USB power supply of choice (a power supply is not included)

The i.MX6 processor is very energy efficient and as such, does not generate a lot of unwanted heat, and this makes it ideal for this sort of hideaway application. It is however considerably more expensive than an esp32 module and requires the addition of eMMC memory and additional supporting components, so this significantly increases the manufacturing cost. The final price of CORE32 will be 145€ (£145) but we are once again offering the option to pre-order at a reduced price of 125€ (£125) + shipping.

Please understand that our primary objective with CORE32, is to attract newcomers to Squeezebox, but it may be of interest as an energy efficient replacement for an older energy hungry servers running LMS.

We are now accepting pre-orders from Tuesday 9th March for CORE32 and we expect to start shipping in May

https://polyvection.com/en/product/core32/

[d6jg]

Following the successful launch of DAC32 (https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...music-streamer), this is our second product and it is a ‘plug-n-play’ LMS Music Server with an incredibly low idle power consumption of just 1 Watt. We see this as a key product in our plan to reignite new user interest in Squeezebox.

The combination of DAC32 and CORE32 will offer a true turnkey Squeezebox Player/Server solution at what we believe to be a very affordable price

The esp32 module used in DAC32 is not suitable for this application, so CORE32 uses an NXP i.MX6 processor.

This runs our own PolyCore OS, which has been designed from scratch in-house and has been subject to a comprehensive 3-year testing and proving program. By designing this ourselves, we have been able to fully optimise it for this application. Furthermore, we will keep everything up-to-date with automatic OTA (over-the-air) updates.

CORE32 is designed to plug directly in to the user’s router via Ethernet, thus making it truly plug-n-play. It comes pre-loaded with a selected set of plug-ins which result in the easiest most hassle-free experience possible

CORE32 also offers two methods of storing local digital music files, either via a plug-in USB drive, or via a micro-SD card. It is important to note that our PolyCore-OS runs on internal eMMC memory, so the sole job of the micro-SD card is storage. Just ensure that the USB drive or micro-SD card is formatted exFAT (the standard default format) and titled ‘MUSIC’. That’s it. Just transfer your music files and CORE32 & LMS will do the rest.

The package also includes a DC jack to USB-A cable to connect to a USB power supply of choice (a power supply is not included)

The i.MX6 processor is very energy efficient and as such, does not generate a lot of unwanted heat, and this makes it ideal for this sort of hideaway application. It is however considerably more expensive than an esp32 module and requires the addition of eMMC memory and additional supporting components, so this significantly increases the manufacturing cost. The final price of CORE32 will be 145€ (£145) but we are once again offering the option to pre-order at a reduced price of 125€ (£125) + shipping.

Please understand that our primary objective with CORE32, is to attract newcomers to Squeezebox, but it may be of interest as an energy efficient replacement for an older energy hungry servers running LMS.

We are now accepting pre-orders from Tuesday 9th March for CORE32 and we expect to start shipping in May

https://polyvection.com/en/product/core32/

404 at present on the link

[Paul Webster]

Looks good - especially as a pair.

First question ... always this way ... but could external storage via CIFS/SMB/NFS be mountable or are you limiting it 100% to attached USB and SD?

[d6jg]

And the next question

Will a user be able to decide to follow the dev version of LMS if they wish?

[Patricia P]

I love it already especially if you match it with the streamer. Great price for a ready to use experience.

What online streaming services have you planned to use?

Looking forward to seeing the specs

[Paul Webster]

What online streaming services have you planned to use?

Assuming it is a regular LMS on the system (which I think it is) then it will be any that LMS supports.

They say that it is using a NXP i.MX6

https://www.nxp.com/products/processors-and-microcontrollers/arm-processors/i-mx-applications-processors/i-mx-6-processors:IMX6X_SERIES

so probably a Cortex A9 processor ... a bit like a Raspberry Pi (32 bit only I think).

https://developer.arm.com/ip-products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a9

[PolyVection]

404 at present on the link

Will be live from Tuesday

[PolyVection]

I love it already especially if you match it with the streamer. Great price for a ready to use experience.

What online streaming services have you planned to use?

Looking forward to seeing the specs

Thank you for your encouraging comments. Paul Webster is right, you can load any Plug-ins you wish to

[PolyVection]

Looks good - especially as a pair.

First question ... always this way ... but could external storage via CIFS/SMB/NFS be mountable or are you limiting it 100% to attached USB and SD?

We will take a look at this request

[PolyVection]

And the next question

Will a user be able to decide to follow the dev version of LMS if they wish?

Probably not, although it will be our plan to issue regular updates via OTA.

[d6jg]

Probably not, although it will be our plan to issue regular updates via OTA.

Thanks
Makes sense if you are looking at newbie users

Will it run Spotty and Phillipe’s bridges ok?

[edwin2006]

Looks good - especially as a pair.

First question ... always this way ... but could external storage via CIFS/SMB/NFS be mountable or are you limiting it 100% to attached USB and SD?

I think this one is a must to be successful.

[philchillbill]

Congratulations guys, very nice initiative.

Will it be possible to ssh into this box in order to install ngrok so it can be used with my Alexa skills?

Does the OS support a package manager like apt or is it more BusyBox like? Systemd?

[Heuer]

Not clear to me from what you say but will I be able to mount my NAS as the storage?

Great to hear what you are doing. Keep it up and I will support you where I can.