When I clicked update from inside Roon for the bridge, it chewed for a while then wouldn’t show the version number of the bridge. ssh’ing into the RPi showed that “Main” was taking 300% CPU. I rebooted from the command line and now all seems fine (including completing the update and showing the correct version of the bridge in the Roon UI).
Did it just get wedged?
Raspbian (repository) is exclusively ARMv6 at the moment.
Most likely to make backwards compatibly easier. So, although the hardware is capable of more ARMv6 (eg: RPi zero/1), ARMv7 (eg: RPi 2) and ARM64/8 (RPi 3), the software you install is built for ARMv6 instruction set.
Seems you ran in to similar issues like mine? (Post #260)
I can only suspect a buggy distributionpoint.
Yes Indeed! Totally missed that one!
Hi folks. I’m a new DietPi user and new to Raspberry Pi as well. I’m replacing an Apple AirPort express on a second, but often used, high quality audio system. Tidal’s streaming of MQA quality files led me to purchase a couple of Meridian Explorer2 DAC devices and take the RoonBridge on DietPi thanks to all you good folks on this forum. I’m really impressed!
After a couple of false starts, installation went well. Instructions were great, but I’m an idiot, so it took a while. I set up the DietPi on Wednesday before the Roon upgrade and things worked great. Played the system for hours with no dropouts and bit perfect sound, MQA blue light! Upgrade went well, too, and afterwords same streaming experience with no dropouts, etc. Then I started fooling around with the DietPi.
I’m using the Pi over WiFi because hardwiring ethernet is not an option in the location where the system is located. Signal is good and I’ve got gigabit fiber service so bandwidth shouldn’t be an issue.
I subscribe to both the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall and Met Opera on Demand and thought it might be nice to be able to stream them through the Pi.
After installing Shairport, and not getting audio through the hifi, I set the sound card to USB DAC. That worked, Airplay audio to the HiFi, Roon continued to stream bit perfect. While in the audio settings I also installed the 384 kernel although neither of my DACs streams higher than 192. But…dropouts while streaming Roon.
So, I disconnected the Pi, erased and re flashed the card and did minimal setup, only adding RoonBridge. So far, it seems to work well. No dropouts yet.
Is it possible to use both RoonBridge and Shairport on the same Pi over WiFi without problems? Did the 384 kernel hog enough resources to foul me up? Did I do anything else wrong in setting up the system?
Any help greatly appreciated. Sorry to be so long winded.
Thanks,
BW
Sorry to report, just got a signal drop with the new leaner configuration. When the signal drops, my remote device, an iPad, comes back up looking like playback needs to start, i.e. the play button needs to be pressed to restart play.
Could this be a build 196 bug, or a conflict between the iPad and the core?
This worked so well the first couple of days I had it set up with no dropouts and hours of use.
My first guess would be the Pi’s Wifi: it is rather weak and unpredictable. I have a Pi3 for testing that does not have a case and is within 5 meters in line of sight of the access point – and still does not stream reliably (mostly at higher bitrates).
Do you have any way of testing by running a cable temporarily? Alternatively, if the Airport Express is of recent vintage (802.11n), you could use it as a wireless bridge to the Pi. It is far more stable than the Pi by itself.
Shairport and RoonBridge can coexist peacefully: both release their grip on ALSA a few seconds after playing is stopped. If you do not need PCM384, I would shy away from the 384 kernel.
Thanks. That makes sense, although I wish it wasn’t so. Do you know of any SBC devices that have better WiFi? I’m trying to minimize boxes on this setup. The WiFi signal on my current Pi installation is in the -60dBm area and pretty stable. I had hoped that would be adequate.
I really like the convenience of RoonBridge and the small form factor of the Pi.
If all else fails, I could use my AirPort Express as a bridge, although I had hoped to use it elsewhere on an audio system where I don’t necessarily want or need high quality audio.
I’d try to see what happens with a wired connection (bridged by the AEX or not) first – and see if things stabilise. That would confirm or throw out the theory. 
I have a Cubox at a location where I need to use wireless, bridged with a last-gen AEX – it’s 100% stable. The Pi3 fails miserably at the same location…
OK. That’s sound advice (pun intended). I’ve set the Pi up on the Ethernet port being served by the AE. If the problem was in the network, which I suspect it was, it should be rock solid now since the AE had great signal strength and had previously worked well at this location. I’m lazy enough that if this works, I’ll probably not make any changes.
Thanks for your help Rene. You started me on this RPi adventure and I’m enjoying the results.
Perhaps DietPi should have its own sub-category under Roon Software or SBCs. I’m an enthusiastic user, but following mustiple issues in one long thread becomes tiresome.
Agreed – I believe the forum hierarchy is @mike’s territory.
I’ll be rewriting/updating the current (outdated) Pi/RoonBridge/DietPi guides for new users shortly. This one and the RoonBridge guide will be closed by that time, with referral to the new one.
Great work Rene… If it’s not much trouble could you also include your guide for Spotify connect as that’s probably a very popular feature request.
Cheers
Wayne
P. S. Mojo arrives Friday 
Had great success with this 5Ghz adapter on my Pi’s.
I took the plunge and installed Diet Pi – Roon Bridge. First impressions are very positive. Yesterday evening I listened to the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony (Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) using the HiFiBerry Roon Image (1.2.2). This evening I installed the DietPi - Roon Bridge and revisited the same piece. The first impression I got was that I had moved, metaphorically speaking, a couple rows further back in the concert hall but still in a good seat – quite a nice feeling. The bass sounded more natural, less stressed; details emerged more effortlessly; instrumental timbres seemed more right, etc.
People who want to bump up the bass, or sculpt the sound signature in any way, can of course use the DSP engine in Roon 1.3. I just turn off the DSP engine. The less processing the better is my philosophy. So, perhaps that is why DietPi sounds good: a lightweight software package, just enough to run Roon Bridge. Thanks very much @Dan_Knight.
Been using DietPi off and on for about a year. Its a great OS with a lot of great features. In addition to DietPi I use PiCorePlayer. Although the base OS’s are different they ‘can’ sound the same ‘if’ both use the same tweaks imo. In stock form with no power adjustments done etc. the DietPi sounds a bit harder. Set-up wise PiCorePlayer is much easier and faster, just a few GUI picks to select the output and done.
I know RAAT has some advantages but in comparison I just can’t hear them…
Can I just say that I picked up a Odroid C2 and eMMC module and well within an hour had it running as a Roon Bridge. That is a record for me, previously it took days of figuring out how to proceed and then putting that into action. I am running two USB DAC’s simultaneously, my Audiobyte Black Dragon and an Explorer 2. DSD, minimum phase, 7th order, DSD128 on the Black Dragon, no processing at all on the Explorer2 and it is unfolding MQA no problem. I have the engine for my DIY Roon endpoint now! All I need to do is figure out the rest! DietPi is pretty impressive!
Just installed DietPi on my Pi 2. I had previously (with great success) been using the Roon Bridge for ARM method: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-bridge-for-arm-a-beginner-s-guide-to-raspberry-pi-and-cubox-i/10138/2
@Dan_Knight, just wanted to say that I’ve set up a few DietPi devices (RPi + FriendlyARM) over the past few weeks and everything has been good.
I was impressed when I set up a Pi with a DAC HAT and it did all of the right things to enable the driver for the HAT and turn off the built-in ALSA devices without any fiddling or shell commands.
Nice work.
I’ll ping @mike about creating a second category. Maybe inside of #tinkering. This is bigger in scope than Raspberry Pi.
DietPi will automatically install ALSA, and all pre-reqs for Roon Bridge. This also applies to all software in the DietPi-Software catalog.
- I am only using the Pi usb output to Mojo. I’m also curious what the optimal DietPi-Config settings for such a setup?
The only thing you’ll need to do on the DietPi system, is select USB DAC from:
dietpi-config > audio options > sound card
- After I installed DietPi, I changed the .txt file to enable WiFi before booting. But I can’t get my new Edimax EW-7811UAC to work. My older Edimax dongle that came with my RPi2 kit does work however (model no. unknown). Any thoughts?
Those settings located in dietpi.txt are only applied during the 1st run setup of device. After the DietPi system is installed, they have no effect.
If you wish to change WiFi options at a later point, this can be done in:
dietpi-config > networking options: adapters > WiFi