DietPi: creating a lean-and-mean Roon Bridge

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 12:28pm

Thanks Geoff, i’ll check the bug report now and get back to you ASAP.

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 12:48pm

Everything looks in order. Correct DToverlay applied and available in /boot/overlays

Need a little more info not included in bug report. Please can you paste results of:

dmesg | grep iqaudio
lsmod

Also, if possible can you try re-seating the DAC HAT after power off?

Geoff_Coupe · March 25, 2017, 2:06pm

Here you go:

The card was definitely working this morning before I upgraded. I’ll try the IQaudIO Roon Ready image to see what happens…

Edit: The IQaudIO Roon Ready image works - the RPi is seen as a Roon Ready endpoint in Roon. So it’s not the hardware, I think.

Geoff_Coupe · March 25, 2017, 2:41pm

Interestingly, Roon sees the Roon Bridge component, but presumably because the soundcard isn’t being detected, it doesn’t show up in the list of audio devices available…

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 3:42pm

Hi Geoff,

Looks like an issue with kernel, modules should show up for the card, even if not attached (confirmed at my end).

Lets reinstall the DietPi kernel, this was patched during the update, although may have not been fully sucessful:

/DietPi/dietpi/func/dietpi-set_hardware kernel dietpi_rpi
reboot

Also, please report any errors during the kernel upgrade if they appear.

Geoff_Coupe · March 25, 2017, 4:31pm

Success! It must have been a failure during the first attempt to update the kernel… Thanks for your help!

Sloop_John_B · March 25, 2017, 4:53pm

Can I ask the selfish question - is the issue specific to Geoff and it is quite safe to do the update to 147 or is it best to wait?

Any specific benefits of 147 to Roon or HQP users?

.sjb

RBM · March 25, 2017, 4:59pm

My update went fine – so be a daredevil and upgrade away!

(If you end up in trouble, at least now you know how to escape… ;-)).

Bob_Worley · March 25, 2017, 5:42pm

Updated all 3 RPis to 147. All work perfectly with Roon. The RPis using the Meridian Explorer 2 USB DACs (fixed volume) both work perfectly with Roon and Shairport. The RPi using the AudioQuest DragonFly 1.2 USB DAC works perfectly with Roon, but only produces “hiss” when trying to use Shairport.

I’m wondering if this is maybe because Shairport doesn’t force the AQ DAC to max volume?

This is not a huge deal to me, so please don’t spend time troubleshooting on my account.

DietPi has made my life a lot easier and I thank you for a great product.

Thanks,
BW

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 5:43pm

Excellent, great to hear.
Still not sure why this occurred. It could of been anything from http://dietpi.com being temporarily offline (where our kernel is downloaded from), or a temporary drop in internet connection at the time of kernel update.

@Sloop_John_B
We cant replicate the issue here, so all appears to be fine and should be good to go. Either way, if you do experience problems, please send me a @Dan_Knight at any time.

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 5:58pm

Hi Bob,

We did upgrade Shairport sync in v147. With enabling SOXR interpolation by default (removed background hiss in my tests), I was hoping this would help resolve the hissing issue you experienced.

I’m wondering if this is maybe because Shairport doesn’t force the AQ DAC to max volume?

We can try a USB tweak in the RPi kernel, see if it resolves:

Force USB 1.1 speeds, overwrite /boot/cmdline.txt with the following:
This assumes you have not used RootFS transfer in dietpi-drive_manager, and, have not setup a USB drive on system.

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait dwc_otg.speed=1

Reboot then retest changes.

If no change, remove dwc_otg.speed=1 from /boot/cmdline.txt to return back to normal USB

Bob_Worley · March 25, 2017, 6:28pm

Hi Dan. How do I get to the command line to do the overwrite. I am a Linux idiot, but follow directions pretty well.

Dan_Knight · March 25, 2017, 6:44pm

No worries

Edit file:

nano  /boot/cmdline.txt

Clear contents (ctrl+k for line cut)

Paste in:

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait dwc_otg.speed=1

Save changes:

CTRL+X
Press Y (yes)
Press enter

Then reboot

Bob_Worley · March 25, 2017, 7:13pm

Thanks. Did the command line change, lost all audio, including Roon. Made the deletion to go back to normal USB operation and regained Roon audio and the “hiss” over Shairport.

Once again, this is not terribly important to me so please don’t waste a lot of time attempting to find a solution. I really appreciate your efforts. My primary goal of this installation was a RoonBridge and the Shairport streaming is just a bonus if it works.

Thanks,
BW

Henry_Larsen · March 25, 2017, 7:47pm

I just updated four diets from 144 - 147 - no probs whatsoever…

MarkTarone · March 25, 2017, 7:56pm

GREAT feedback. Thank you!

I did some reading on the Allo Vana Bundle (your site, Allo’s manual and a review). Quick confirmation - with this bundle, I can control the volume of the RCA outputs using DietPi and Roon, correct?

Have you compared the sound of an SBC with the Audioquest Dragonfly Black (current version) to the Allo Vana Player Bundle?

I’m not asking for a detailed review, and at these prices, a comparison is far from mission critical. I’m just curious.

I need two SBC’s for an install at my friend’s house. Thinking I’ll go with one SBC / Dragonfly Black and one Allo Vana Player Bundle and compare for myself (one obvious difference being one has a 3.5mm output and the other, more flexible RCA outputs). I have one SBC (Pi2B) > Chord Hugo in my house and an SBC (Pi3) > DragonFly Black in my brother’s house (both running DietPi). I’ve been very happy with the results, and that’s with my being familiar with a microRendu which I use in my main rig.

Thanks again!

crieke · March 25, 2017, 10:22pm

Does anyone know or already tried if dietpi can be used with bluetooth headphones (as an Roon Endpoint)?
I am thinking of getting some to listen to audiobooks when I go to bed and do not want to strangle with the cords.

Currently I use a Dragonfly with Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10vi. But the Ultimate Ears are not very comfortable in the ear when lying with the ear on the pillow…
(And the cord gets in the way when moving from one side to the other.)

anon49565150 · March 25, 2017, 10:35pm

Wouldn’t using your phone or a tablet be more practical for that purpose?

crieke · March 25, 2017, 10:49pm

I have only iOS devices here (and lots of Rasperry Pis). I could use a different player software on the iPhone, but would like to make it work with Roon.

anon49565150 · March 25, 2017, 11:09pm

You can have your phone connected to a Bluetooth device, and Roon playing on your phone to its default output. This is what I do.

If you use a pi you still have to control it, so you will still need your phone or a tablet to do that…

For audiobooks, sound quality through a phone via Bluetooth is perfectly fine.