Playback goes into 4 second loops on both wired Win10 and Pi4 LMS. Log file attached

[rbl]

I am running LMS 8.2.1 on a Pi4 and LMS 7.9.2 on Win10. I am testing them separately and get the same problem. Playback audio suddenly goes dead and it goes into a 4 second loop, as seen on the Win10 browser interface. Main points are:

- testing with 2 sync'd SB3s
- the Pi4 works fine with just Squeezelite, but problems start with sync'd SB3s
- everything wired on a v good Gbit network
- playing 44.1/16 FLACs
- I have changed everything and get the same problem. Changed both SB3s, Router, Pi4 O/S (LMS 8.1.2 and 8.2.1), using WiFi instead of ethernet
- it usually takes an hour + for the problem to occur. The latest Win10 test run took 6 hours to start looping (log attached).

I attach the player.source debug info. In this example it started looping between 15:36 and 15:37.

I am pulling my hair out with this. I have had 3-4 sync'd SB3s for 20 odd years and things have basically worked. I didn't use it for a couple of months due to a house move and now it's endless trouble. I have tried using exactly the same PlusNet router and have tried different routers. The fibre broadband here is a very stable 70+mb/s but that should be irrelevant for FLACs.

I am unable to interpret the log. Can anyone tell me what is going on?

server - Copy.log

[bpa]

I am unable to interpret the log. Can anyone tell me what is going on?

Weird error. First thought is network issue - some data is being lost.

However, I can't associate the log message with source code files. Is the log from 7.9.2 ?
Ifs so get a log from 8.2.1 or better 8.3.0.

[rbl]

Weird error. First thought is network issue - some data is being lost.

However, I can't associate the log message with source code files. Is the log from 7.9.2 ?
Ifs so get a log from 8.2.1 or better 8.3.0.

Yep that log file was from 7.9.2. Identical problem with 8.2.1. Sounds like I should upgrade to 8..3. Assuming it replicates with 8.3 I'll post the log ..

[bpa]

Yep that log file was from 7.9.2. Identical problem with 8.2.1. Sounds like I should upgrade to 8..3. Assuming it replicates with 8.3 I'll post the log ..

8.3.0 mainly has bug fixes over 8.2.* but it is easier to lookup exact source code on my installation and on github.
Log messages can be tracked to source code so exactly what consdition the message is produced is understood.

That said, if in the logs the same player has the initial problem, swap PSU and see if problem changes.

[rbl]

8.3.0 mainly has bug fixes over 8.2.* but it is easier to lookup exact source code on my installation and on github.
Log messages can be tracked to source code so exactly what consdition the message is produced is understood.

That said, if in the logs the same player has the initial problem, swap PSU and see if problem changes.

Here's part of the log file from 8.3.0. The looping started at about 03.25am. I have the rest of the log if needed.
I have ordered some new CAT6 cables. Can the transformer really make a difference?

server 01.log

[bpa]

Here's part of the log file from 8.3.0. The looping started at about 03.25am. I have the rest of the log if needed.
I have ordered some new CAT6 cables. Can the transformer really make a difference?

[ATTACH]39093[/ATTACH]

Is Squeezleite part of synced group ? I thought it was just Sb3s ?
"drain" issue has shown up before with squeezelite - what version of Squeezelite ? (https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...intermittently

MAC address of 00:00:00:00:00 still showing up - as this is not an assigned MAC address - this usually implies something not setup properly

The problem seems to be isolated to your system. Your system (LMS on Pi/.Windows with SB3 / Squeezelite playing Flac ) is not unusual and used by many users, so something in your setup is off rather than an general software (e.g. OS, LMS). You also may have more than one problem - if so then symptoms will be confusing.

LMS and router changed - so issue is probably player related or other common items (e.g. cables)
As players seems to be OK for a good while and then suddenly fail - failing PSU have been know to cause strange issues. For example, not all components in the player have the same tolerance, if voltage drops a small amount some components maybe not work correctly.
Alternative scenario - failing wireless card in SB3 even when not being used, have been known to kill audio and reboot player.
So you must consider all possibilities.

[rbl]

Is Squeezleite part of synced group ? I thought it was just Sb3s ?
"drain" issue has shown up before with squeezelite - what version of Squeezelite ? (https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...intermittently

MAC address of 00:00:00:00:00 still showing up - as this is not an assigned MAC address - this usually implies something not setup properly

The problem seems to be isolated to your system. Your system (LMS on Pi/.Windows with SB3 / Squeezelite playing Flac ) is not unusual and used by many users, so something in your setup is off rather than an general software (e.g. OS, LMS). You also may have more than one problem - if so then symptoms will be confusing.

LMS and router changed - so issue is probably player related or other common items (e.g. cables)
As players seems to be OK for a good while and then suddenly fail - failing PSU have been know to cause strange issues. For example, not all components in the player have the same tolerance, if voltage drops a small amount some components maybe not work correctly.
Alternative scenario - failing wireless card in SB3 even when not being used, have been known to kill audio and reboot player.
So you must consider all possibilities.

Apologies for confusion, I am trying two separate setups, both with the same problem:
1) Win10 + LMS 7.9.2 + 2 wired SB3s
2) Pi4 + LMS 8.3.0 + Squeezelite v1.9.9-1401 + 2 wired SB3s

I have swapped the SB3s (I have 4 in total), router. I am constantly changing cables so it is beginning to point to the PSUs which I just hadn't thought of. Presumably a decent 3A phone charger with appropriate connector should suffice? What does that little black box the PSU cable loops around do - some sort of induction filter?

How do I troubleshoot the MAC 00:00:00:00:00 problem?

[bpa]

Apologies for confusion, I am trying two separate setups, both with the same problem:
1) Win10 + LMS 7.9.2 + 2 wired SB3s
2) Pi4 + LMS 8.3.0 + Squeezelite v1.9.9-1401 + 2 wired SB3s

I wouldn't bother with 7.9.2 as that is an old system with some out of date Perl packages for Win10. You may get other side effects from the old packages.

I have swapped the SB3s (I have 4 in total), router. I am constantly changing cables so it is beginning to point to the PSUs which I just hadn't thought of. Presumably a decent 3A phone charger with appropriate connector should suffice? What does that little black box the PSU cable loops around do - some sort of induction filter?

IIRC The ferrite core are usually to do with suppression of stray radio frequencies - on DC connection they act as a low pass filter.
I'd play safe. I wouldn't use a phone charger - modern phone charger do more than supply just one voltage.

Get a plain 5V 3A power supply - no chance of blowing up the SB3.

How do I troubleshoot the MAC 00:00:00:00:00 problem?

It is probably the Pi but on occasion SB3 have been known to forget their MAC address (original MAC address is on label underneath) and require reprogramming.

LMS WebUI Settings/Information - give details of players and MAC addresses.

[rbl]

It is probably the Pi but on occasion SB3 have been known to forget their MAC address (original MAC address is on label underneath) and require reprogramming.

LMS WebUI Settings/Information - give details of players and MAC addresses.

Correct!
Player MAC Address: 00:00:00:00:00:00
Do I need to fix this and if so how? I wouldn't know where to start! The IP address is correct.

[Paul Webster]

Which player type has the 00 address?
The solution is different depending on player type.

[rbl]

Which player type has the 00 address?
The solution is different depending on player type.

Apologies for the dumb answer!

It's Squeezelite v1.9.9-1401 on a Pi4 running Buster.

[bpa]

Apologies for the dumb answer!

It's Squeezelite v1.9.9-1401 on a Pi4 running Buster.

Squeezelite normally takes the MAC address of the network interface but can be overridden by a command line option.

You can list all network interfaces using "ifconfig -a"

If the network interfaces all have proper MAC addresses then it may be a squeezelite command line option.
How is squeezelite run ?
What is the command line that is used to run squeezelite and what is the value of the environment variables used with squeezelite ?

[rbl]

Squeezelite normally takes the MAC address of the network interface but can be overridden by a command line option.

You can list all network interfaces using "ifconfig -a"

If the network interfaces all have proper MAC addresses then it may be a squeezelite command line option.
How is squeezelite run ?
What is the command line that is used to run squeezelite and what is the value of the environment variables used with squeezelite ?

TBH I don't know much about Linux. But squeezelite is run via the following which doesn't mean much to me:

1) sudo systemctl enable squeezelite.service

2) sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/squeezelite.service

[Unit]
Description=Squeezelite

After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/squeezelite -o plughw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0 -n Pi_SqueezeliteService -C 5 -a 120:4::0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[bpa]

/usr/bin/squeezelite -o plughw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0 -n Pi_SqueezeliteService -C 5 -a 120:4::0

OK this is the command line to start squeezelite.
It is not using an option ("-m") to override MAC address.
LMS uses the MAC address as a unique ID to identify players.

The "ifconfig -a" command should list details for all network interfaces.
Does the command "ifconfig -a" show a MAC address of 00:00:00:00:00 for any interface ?
For security it is prudent not to post your real MAC addresses.

[Man in a van]

OK this is the command line to start squeezelite.
It is not using an option ("-m") to override MAC address.
LMS uses the MAC address as a unique ID to identify players.

The "ifconfig -a" command should list details for all network interfaces.
Does the command "ifconfig -a" show a MAC address of 00:00:00:00:00 for any interface ?
For security it is prudent not to post your real MAC addresses.

Just popping in to add I run Squeezelite on Raspberry PI OS Bulleseye Lite: MAC addresses shown.



[email protected]***:~ $ ifconfig -a
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.1.36 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255
inet6 fe80::99d2:467:5474:8dd9 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x20<link>
ether b&:2*^eb:"3:+%:b4 txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 341 bytes 290130 (283.3 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 334 bytes 41656 (40.6 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING> mtu 65536
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.0.0.0
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 scopeid 0x10<host>
loop txqueuelen 1000 (Local Loopback)
RX packets 118 bytes 11554 (11.2 KiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 118 bytes 11554 (11.2 KiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4098<BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether "8:&%:fg:466:*%:mw txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 0 bytes 0 (0.0 B)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

I install Squeezelite useing the default Debian build

sudo apt install -y squeezelite

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ronnie