piCorePlayer 8.0.0 - Bluetooth Discussion

[paul-]

Almost all of the cheap BT5 chipsets are Realtek, and need extra firmware. It was posted a couple pages back in this thread.

[aubuti]

You're probably right about that. That's what I was starting to think.
I've put in a bit of time getting my LMS configuration on this RPi "just so". I might try going back to an image I saved from when I had pCP 8.0.0 on this RPi, see if I can get the BT working on that, and then upgrading to 8.2.0 from there.
Can I do an in situ update from 8.0.0 to 8.2.0?
Thanks.

It's working now. I went back to a card image I had saved with pCP 8.0.0 last August, got BT working in that, and then updated in place to 8.1.0 and then 8.2.0. So as you surmised, it was probably something missing or corrupt in the installation I was trying earlier.

[Yvanq]

Adding support for Realtek-based Bluetooth devices

I was pretty disappointed by the Raspberry Pi's internal Bluetooth module but none of the Bluetooth USB dongles I had was working with piCorePlayer because of missing firmware:

[ 26.545192] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: firmware file rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin not found

Hence, I created a firmware extension adding support for Realtek-powered devices in piCorePlayer. You can find it here: https://www.dl6er.de/pCP/firmware-bluetooth-rtl.tcz
The firmware has been taken from git.kernel.org.

I'd like to ask for inclusion in the piCorePlayer repository for simplicity reasons as other users might find this useful, too.

With this extension loaded at boot time, I succeeded in testing seven out of seven different Bluetooth 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1 dongles.
I particularly enjoy being able to stream to my piCorePlayer from everywhere in the house to my EDUP 100M USB Bluetooth Dongle.

Best,
Dominik

Very interested, how do you install it ?
just drag the file in /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional ?

[Yvanq]

By following this post, I can finally connect trough a BT 5 ZEXMTE dongle but I'm unable to have sound in picoreplayer, the bookmark BLUETOOTH http://192.168.1.65:9100/S16_LE/44100/2/M doesn't work, I think I didn't install properly (or missing dependency)
message of the bookmark "Connect timed out: Transport endpoint is not connected"

[rod451]

OK, I've got a Bluetooth speaker configured and playing from my RaspberryPi 3. Can Squeezelite be configured to play Both bluetooth and the regular audio output device at the same time?

[paul-]

They are separate squeezelite instances, so LMS can play to both…….getting them in sync requires playing with the delays in LMS

[rod451]

They are separate squeezelite instances, so LMS can play to both…….getting them in sync requires playing with the delays in LMS

Having them in sync isn't a requirement for me, the speakers wouldn't be co-located. Any direction on how to configure this on piCore 8? I only seem to be able to do one or the other.

Cheers,
Rod

[rod451]

Having them in sync isn't a requirement for me, the speakers wouldn't be co-located. Any direction on how to configure this on piCore 8? I only seem to be able to do one or the other.

Cheers,
Rod

Maybe I should clarify, I have 1 Raspberry Pi running LMS and Squeezelite. I would like to be able to play music from both the sound card amplifier speakers and a Bluetooth speaker.

[paul-]

Each device should show up in LMS as different player names.

[rod451]

Each device should show up in LMS as different player names.

Ah, thanks paul-, did not realize that the bluetooth speaker, once selected as an output, would show up as its own player. Now it makes perfect sense.

[CherAlban]

Phone -> pcP -> s/pdif

I have a 2B with HifiBerry Digi, LogiLink BT-0015, and freshly installed 8.2. I managed to activate Bluetooth and pair the Android phone, it seems to steadily play to the pcP (even using aptx-HD). My problem is, that I can't hear any audio, all is running ok when using squeezelite.

[rufo]

Hi, I'm trying to add bluetooth to my pCP install on rpi2 with tplink UB500 dongle. In the dmesg log of pCP I see the lines

13.494833] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.22
[ 13.495202] NET: Registered PF_BLUETOOTH protocol family
[ 13.495240] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[ 13.495305] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[ 13.495338] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[ 13.495444] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized
[ 13.519729] usbcore: registered new interface driver btusb
[ 13.526751] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: examining hci_ver=0a hci_rev=000b lmp_ver=0a lmp_subver=8761
[ 13.529330] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: rom_version status=0 version=1
[ 13.529380] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin
[ 13.529539] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin failed with error -2
[ 13.529567] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: firmware file rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin not found

so I tryed to add rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin files from here to /lib/firmware/ but they are wiped on reboot (also tried symlink from another place).
Does anybody has any suggestions? Is it possible to use this BT dongle.
Thanks

[CJS]

So I tried to add rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin files from here to /lib/firmware/ but they are wiped on reboot (also tried symlink from another place). Does anybody has any suggestions? Is it possible to use this BT dongle.

The reason that files added to /lib/firmware are wiped on reboot is that this directory is not located on the SD card, it only exists in RAM.
See https://docs.picoreplayer.org/faq/my...s_disappeared/ This page also give some hints on how to make changes persistent. If it is possible to use the tplink UB500 dongle and how exactly to add a driver for it I don't know.

[rufo]

The reason that files added to /lib/firmware are wiped on reboot is that this directory is not located on the SD card, it only exists in RAM.
See https://docs.picoreplayer.org/faq/my...s_disappeared/ This page also give some hints on how to make changes persistent. If it is possible to use the tplink UB500 dongle and how exactly to add a driver for it I don't know.

Thx, just found solution few posts back in this thread, I have all green checkmarks now, will see if all is working.

[paul-]

Phone -> pcP -> s/pdif

I have a 2B with HifiBerry Digi, LogiLink BT-0015, and freshly installed 8.2. I managed to activate Bluetooth and pair the Android phone, it seems to steadily play to the pcP (even using aptx-HD). My problem is, that I can't hear any audio, all is running ok when using squeezelite.

You should check the volume on your player. There are situations where flipping between squeezelite and bluetooth, The volume can be set at zero. And adjusting volume from an android phone does not seem to work.