[Announce] Community Firmware for Squeezebox Radio/Touch/Controller and LMS 8

[ralphy]

> Update Fraunhofer FDK AAC Codec Library v2.0.3 and remove
> encoder support.
>
> Due to my lack of technical knowledge, I am interpreting the above as it
> was updated and then removed. Of course, that conclusion does not any
> make sense.

"Codec" stands for "code/decode". I assume the first part was removed:
you can't encode in AAC any more, but you can still decode.

[ralphy]

[Announce] Community Firmware for Squeezebox Radio/Touch/Controller and LMS 8

Based on the contributions of several forum members, including myself, in the Community Radio Firmware project thread, I have built updated firmware for the Radio, Touch and Controller.

The only key missing feature from the original firmware is the lack of a native wma decoder. If you need to decode the wma format, install the Play Windows Media (WMA) plugin from bpa on LMS. Note that if you run LMS on Windows, wma decode support is built-in and does not require the plugin.

I've been running various versions of the custom firmware on the one Radio and Touch that I own without any issues for nearly a year. Michael has been using my Radio and Controller firmware for a while now without any problems and the older community radio firmware I released last month, has been downloaded nearly 70 times without any issues reported, so it should be fairly safe for everyone to try. That being said...

The firmware is made available WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Use at your own risk!

Not all the original source code is available under the SqueezePlay BSD License, so several features use the binary modules from the last available original firmware for that device.

A summary of the changes and binary modules used are available in the CHANGELOG or by clicking the link in the plugin settings page.

To simplify installation of the new firmware, Michael has created a plugin for LMS which redirects the firmware update check and download to my alternate site.

It's available in the 3rd Party Plugin section of the LMS Settings->Plugins tab. After installaton and an LMS restart, navigate to Settings->Advanced->Community Firmware for Touch/Radio/Controller and click the checkbox to enable the redirection. You MUST be running LMS 8.0.1 or newer to install the plugin. piCorePlayer requires LMS 8.0.1-1608617100 from December 22, 2020 or newer.

Once enabled, it can take up to the duration set in the LMS Software Updates setting, which by default is 24 hours, before the firmware is downloaded and your device prompts with the option to install the update.
You can also navigate to Settings->Advanced->Software Update to check if v8.0.1rxxxxx is available on the device. You also have to have enabled the check for software updates for LMS to even look for new firmware.

I STRONGLY suggest that you perform a Factory Reset of your devices before installing the new v8.0.1 firmware for the first time. Many of the patches available for the original firmware are built-in now and may cause squeezeplay to fail to start at boot. The Enhanced Digital Output (EDO) applet for the Touch works with the new firmware. However, make sure you factory reset before upgrading if EDO is already runing on your Touch. Also, make sure you connect your device back to the local LMS server and not mysqueezebox.com after the factory reset to be able to install the community firmware.

If you have an issue installing the firmware, set the Player.Firmware logging level to Debug in LMS and wait until the server attempts to download the firmware again.
Then go to the Settings->Information Tab in LMS and at the bottom click the Zip Archive at the end of the Logitech Media Server Log File line and attach the zipfile to a post.

To revert to the original Logitech firmware, uncheck the tick box in the Commuity Firmware Plugin settings and the next time LMS checks for firmware updates the old firmware will be downloaded and available to install from the Software Update menu on the device.

Keep Safe and Merry Christmas!

[mherger]

[Announce] Community Firmware forSqueezebox Radio/Touch/Controller and LMS 8

I applaud the effort to get new firmwares out! It's something I tried to
build a few years back when Spotify pulled support for our hardware. And
I failed badly...

As Ralphy said I've been running this firmware on all hardware types.
Radio has been using a version of the Community firmware for months. My
kids actually installed the firmware when prompted without asking me.
Because it was in the way. And they haven't complaint about the results ;-).

Great job, guys!

--

Michael

[slartibartfast]

Based on the contributions of several forum members, including myself, in the Community Radio Firmware project thread, I have built updated firmware for the Radio, Touch and Controller.

The only key missing feature from the original firmware is the lack of a native wma decoder. If you need to decode the wma format, install the Play Windows Media (WMA) plugin from bpa on LMS. Note that if you run LMS on Windows, wma decode support is built-in and does not require the plugin.

I've been running various versions of the custom firmware on the one Radio and Touch that I own without any issues for nearly a year. Michael has been using my Radio and Controller firmware for a while now without any problems and the older community radio firmware I released last month, has been downloaded nearly 70 times without any issues reported, so it should be fairly safe for everyone to try. That being said...

The firmware is made available WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Use at your own risk!

Not all the original source code is available under the SqueezePlay BSD License, so several features use the binary modules from the last available original firmware for that device. A summary of the changes and binary modules used are available by clicking the link in the plugin settings page or here.

To simplify installation of the new firmware, Michael has created a plugin for LMS which redirects the firmware update check and download to my alternate site.

It's available in the 3rd Party Plugin section of the LMS Settings->Plugins tab. After installaton and an LMS restart, navigate to Settings->Advanced->Community Firmware for Touch/Radio/Controller and click the checkbox to enable the redirection.

Once enabled, it can take up to the duration set in the LMS Software Updates setting, which by default is 24 hours, before the firmware is downloaded and your device prompts with the option to install the update.
You can also navigate to Settings->Advanced->Software Update to check if v8.0.1rxxxxx is available on the device. You also have to have enabled the check for software updates for LMS to even look for new firmware.

I STRONGLY suggest that you perform a Factory Reset of your devices before installing the new v8.0.1 firmware for the first time. Many of the patches available for the original firmware are built-in now and may cause squeezeplay to fail to start at boot. The Enhanced Digital Output (EDO) applet for the Touch works with the new firmware. However, make sure you factory reset before upgrading if EDO is already runing on your Touch.

To revert to the original Logitech firmware, uncheck the tick box in the Commuity Firmware Plugin settings and the next time LMS checks for firmware updates the old firmware will be downloaded and available to install from the Software Update menu on the device.

Keep Safe and Merry Christmas!

Does this enable the blue network icon that was removed many years ago?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Bipox]

Thanks for making this!

I saw this post just after updating manually with the file baby_7.8.0_r16798.zip from the other thread.

Can I update from 7.8.0 without factory reset?

Also I can't find the plugin under 3rd party plugins. What is it called exactly?

[mrw]

Also I can't find the plugin under 3rd party plugins. What is it called exactly?

You need to be running at least LMS 8.0.1. Community Firmware for Touch/Radio/Controller. Once the plugin is installed, enable it under "Settings|Advanced" in LMS.

[MrC]

Updated one Touch and starting my week-long testing now...

Thanks everyone.

[mrw]

Does this enable the blue network icon that was removed many years ago?

I would guess not, I see no sign of a change in @ralphy's SqueezePlay repository. https://github.com/ralph-irving/sque...plet.lua#L2440

I may say that I don't see the blue icon very clearly if/when it comes on on my modded Radio. The red & white are clear and bright, the blue, well not so.

[Bipox]

You need to be running at least LMS 8.0.1. Community Firmware for Touch/Radio/Controller. Once the plugin is installed, enable it under "Settings|Advanced" in LMS.

Thanks. Strange, I didn't receive the usual update message in the webapp.

[slartibartfast]

I would guess not, I see no sign of a change in @ralphy's SqueezePlay repository. https://github.com/ralph-irving/sque...plet.lua#L2440

I may say that I don't see the blue icon very clearly if/when it comes on on my modded Radio. The red & white are clear and bright, the blue, well not so.

Since I followed your instruction to enable the blue icon every time there has been a short disconnection the icon has been red so it probably isn't critical to have. Did blue mean connected to WiFi/network but not connected to LMS?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[kidstypike]

Followed all ralphy's instructions, reset one of my Touch's to factory settings, was offered an update to 8.0.1 r16817 on the device, but I'm seeing the message below.

Thanks.

[mrw]

Since I followed your instruction to enable the blue icon every time there has been a short disconnection the icon has been red so it probably isn't critical to have. Did blue mean connected to WiFi/network but not connected to LMS?

Correct. I just had to turn off LMS to check that ! The blue icon looks rather clearer than I remembered...

[slartibartfast]

Correct. I just had to turn off LMS to check that ! The blue icon looks rather clearer than I remembered...

I still think it would be a useful addition to the new firmware.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[Bipox]

Followed all ralphy's instructions, reset one of my Touch's to factory settings, was offered an update to 8.0.1 r16817 on the device, but I'm seeing the message below.

Thanks.

[ATTACH]32614[/ATTACH]

Same problem for me, Ubuntu 20.04 and Squeezebox Radio.

When I installed manually 7.8 I had this issue. I had to change the update files names and ownership to make it work. Maybe it's something similar?

[PaulinPosset]

Followed all ralphy's instructions, reset one of my Touch's to factory settings, was offered an update to 8.0.1 r16817 on the device, but I'm seeing the message below.

Thanks.

]

Me too. Trying to update a Squeezebox Radio and running LMS on PiCore player.