Running LMS on Raspberry Pi for newbie to the Pi

[d6jg]

I have used Picoreplayer on a RPi4 and it is an excellent LMS server/player. However, if you want to use your RPi4 for other programs as well as LMS install the Raspian OS per raspberrypi.org. That site will give you full instructions on how to do this, as well as instructions and info on many other aspects of using the RPi. In my case, I wanted to run PLEX as well as LMS on my RPi4, so after using Picoreplayer for a while, I switched to Raspian to allow for the installation of Plex (and other programs) which I couldn't do with Picoreplayer. Google is your friend when it comes to getting instructions for things you want to do on the RPi that aren't covered on raspberrypi.org.

I totally agree but without any Linux skills I think that may be a bit of a struggle. If the principle purpose is to get a working LMS then I’d stick with piCorePlayer but suggest getting a second Pi - perhaps a 3B - to learn some Linux.

Not sure whether it’s been wholly answered but BBC iPlayer, Spotify and any plugin that works on W10 will work on a piCorePlayer based LMS

[truscellino]

A month ago I put together a PicorePlayer server/player on rpi B+ (4 years old device) with official touchscreen, without previous experience of raspberry Pi or LMS. I started with the guidance material on PicorePlayer website:
https://www.picoreplayer.org/main_getting_started.shtml
https://www.picoreplayer.org/main_howto.shtml
I also asked a couple of things on this forum and got answers.

Everything worked flawlessly pretty much, Once PicorePlayer is installed and running, the configuration via web pages is very clear and effective. LMS, jivelite (if you have a touchscreen) and squeezelite, everything can be set up. I would say it's probably simpler than doing it on Windows 10,,,

[truscellino]

I mean the various accessories that can be added to the Pi - sensors, motors etc.. It seems that piCorePlayer is a stripped down o/s focusing on audio and I am just wondering if there is any major loss of Pi functionality (over and above LMS) as a result?

Well yes, my understanding is that PicorePlayer is designed to be minimal and just contains the components to run LMS / jivelite / squeezelite and a simple web server for configuration purposes. The whole systems is loaded in RAM, which is remarkable. You can add some extensions, but you won't get a full desktop-type environment for fun scripts/automation projects. You can still multi-boot (with something like BerryBoot) and use other operating systems on the raspberry Pi, as and when needed.

[teeitup]

Another option is Max2Play.
I use it on the Pi that plays in my car.

With Pi's, having multiple MicroSD cards makes trying, testing and comparing different installs a breeze.

Good Luck,

[bpa]

Not sure whether it’s been wholly answered but BBC iPlayer, Spotify and any plugin that works on W10 will work on a piCorePlayer based LMS

With regard to BBCiPlayer plugin. It has no dependent helper application and works on all LMS systems regardless of OS. BBC uses AAC so standard LMS AAC transcoding is required for any player which does not support native AAC.

There are 2 version of PlayHLS plugin.
PlayHLS V2.* has no dependent helper applications & works on all LMS systems regardless of OS. HLS streams use either AAC or MP3 codec and so LMS transcoding will be used to play the streams.
PlayHLS V1.* uses ffmpeg and so has to be installed. Some users have repurposed PlayHLS V1.* to play non HLS streams by taking advantage of ffmpeg capabilities.


The internet streams/services that are played with BBCiPlayer and PlayHLS often require https support. LMS needs to be at least version 7.9.2 for https support and also LMS uses underlying OS support for https with IO::Socket::SSL and this should be at least V2.* (V2.066 is current) - otherwise some streams/services may fail to play. These limitations are the exact same as running LMS on W10. LMS distribution on W10 is simple as all required modules are bundled into single installation.

[rbl]

I totally agree but without any Linux skills I think that may be a bit of a struggle. If the principle purpose is to get a working LMS then I’d stick with piCorePlayer but suggest getting a second Pi - perhaps a 3B - to learn some Linux.

It sounds like Raspian will give me a fully functional Pi with LMS still working 100% which is its main purpose.

I am an oldie - grew up on MS-DOS (and still prefer it to Windows explorer much of the time) and C/C++, but I have never touched Unix. is Raspian going to be a big learning curve as I don't have a lot of time at the moment, in which case Ill go for piCorePlayer?

[Man in a van]

It sounds like Raspian will give me a fully functional Pi with LMS still working 100% which is its main purpose.

I am an oldie - grew up on MS-DOS (and still prefer it to Windows explorer much of the time) and C/C++, but I have never touched Unix. is Raspian going to be a big learning curve as I don't have a lot of time at the moment, in which case Ill go for piCorePlayer?

let me know which pi you decide on and which OS you want and I can knock up an image and send you a download link

ronnie

if you get a couple od sd cards you can then play at leisure

ronnie

[waldo]

+1 for Max2Play
I've been running Max2Play in two different setups. In both setups had LMS + Player

1) Raspi2 B with a 1TB USB 2.5" drive and a IQAudio DAC Hat and wired ethernet. never had any problem. This setup is capable to stream to a second external player without trouble (only tested with same song streamed to local and remote player).
2) Raspi3 B+ with a 128GB USB thumbdrive and IQAudio Amp Hat for my parents (this one used wifi). My only problem with wifi was related to the way ISP router worked and fixed it making a reservation in dhcp to always get the same IP address.

As far as I'm concerned and provided you don't plan to use a HAT DAC, I'd go for the RASPI4 because of the improvements in USB. I think the 1GB model is no longer available, so I'd go for the 2GB model. I would check first using wifi and only change to wired ethernet if facing problems.

Regards

[slartibartfast]

+1 for Max2Play
I've been running Max2Play in two different setups. In both setups had LMS + Player

1) Raspi2 B with a 1TB USB 2.5" drive and a IQAudio DAC Hat and wired ethernet. never had any problem. This setup is capable to stream to a second external player without trouble (only tested with same song streamed to local and remote player).
2) Raspi3 B+ with a 128GB USB thumbdrive and IQAudio Amp Hat for my parents (this one used wifi). My only problem with wifi was related to the way ISP router worked and fixed it making a reservation in dhcp to always get the same IP address.

As far as I'm concerned and provided you don't plan to use a HAT DAC, I'd go for the RASPI4 because of the improvements in USB. I think the 1GB model is no longer available, so I'd go for the 2GB model. I would check first using wifi and only change to wired ethernet if facing problems.

Regards

The current Max2Play download for the Pi4 has issues if you try to update to the latest kernel. It seems to have become an issue when Raspbian Buster moved to "stable". I m sure it will be fixed one day but I wouldn"t recommend it at the moment.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[rbl]

let me know which pi you decide on and which OS you want and I can knock up an image and send you a download link

ronnie

if you get a couple od sd cards you can then play at leisure

ronnie

Thanks very much for the offer, but I'll try doing it from scratch as I have to learn the ropes. If I run into problems then I'll take you up on your offer. Think I'll start with PiCorePlayer for quick proof of concept and then move to Raspian...