Entrypoints, the audio entrance to Roon, made the move to HiRes!

I just released version 1.1.2 of the Extension Manager that has a fix for the failing Entrypoints Gateway install. If you update the Extension Manager you are covered for future Entrypoint Gateway updates.

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The installation problem with extension manager has been fixed with the latest version 0.1.2. Thanks to @Jan_Koudijs !

However, Iā€™m experiencing random crashes of CD Entrypoint v 0.1.3. Sometimes it happens after 20-25 min of continued play, sometimes earlier.

Playback stops and I get the following message:

After a minute or two, the process seems to restart by itself and recovers, playback can be started again.

Iā€™m using a Pi 4 2 GB, running DietPi 8.2.2 (latest). It happens with both 32bit ARMv6 and 64bit ARMv8 versions of DietPi.

Anyone experiencing the same issues?

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Hi @Roland_von_Unruh,

Can you collect a new set of logs an send them over to me?
I will have a look at them.

Looks like a buffer over/under-run.
Is the Pi connected via Wifi or Ethernet?

Itā€™s connected via ethernet.
At first i suspected it to be an issue with the CD being played having a read error, but it happens with every cd and in random playback positions.
The drive is OK, i use it for CD ripping without problems.
The PI is pretty barebone, just running extension manager, entrypoint gateway and cd entrypoint.

I set up the same on a RPi 3B+ and it did not keep up for 20 minutes :thinking:

But there is good news. For the Librespot Entrypoint I investigated how I can update to the latest version of Liquidsoap, the application that creates the web radio stream, and saw an improvement in stability and a decrease in CPU load. I now performed the same update for the CD Entrypoint and have not seen the issue while I already played multiple CDs. Before I can release this update I have to adapt the extension to the latest changes in Liquidsoap, but it has my attention and an update will come.

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Hi all,

Iā€™ve just got started with Roon and had everything up and running (including a Bluetooth EP on an RPI 3B+) within an hour. Itā€™s an excellent system and Entrypoints is an amazing extension.

One question I did have, and couldnt find an answer for, was if it is possible to change the name of the Bluetooth speaker created by the Bluetooth EP extension? I was planning on having more than one and a friendly/descriptive name would be super helpful.

Thanks!

Paul

If you want to use multiple BT Entrypoints then multiple RPIs are required. Differentiating between these RPIs is done by giving them different host names. There is no possibility to set a custom name for the speaker.

Thanks so much for responding so quickly.

I have a few RPis ready to go but think I will need to look at a different solution as having three different speakers all called ā€œBT Entrypointā€ with no way for friends / guests to differentiate isnā€™t going to work.

Thanks again!

One wish from my side:

I want to be able to use DVBS radio (mostly aac streams) to use as a backup with Roon.
So it will be nice to have the option for an audio entrance which is a url like you can see here:

You have a point.

In Entrypoints I use the approach of appending the hostname to the extension name to differentiate between devices, except for the Bluetooth speaker name :thinking:

I have to see if this can be changed.

I just released version 0.2.0 of the CD Entrypoint
This version uses the latest Liquidsoap release (v2.0.3) and solves the stability issue.

Let me know how this update works out for you.

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Kudos to @Jan_Koudijs !
I installed the update and have been playing CDs all evening without issues.

Would be great, if there was a way to pass through the track metadata to roon, but i guess this is limited by roon itself?

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No answer here, but now Iā€™ve created my own installation in compiling liquidsoap 2.0.3.1 under my ubuntu server and then I was able to send the streams (using fdkaac) to icecast and hen to Roon.
Without compiling and using the old version 1.4.1 from the Ubuntu repository, Iā€™ve failed.

Hi all,
Iā€™d like to control the CD entry point from outside of Roon.

Typically, Iā€™d like to trigger any entry point actions such as start, stop, next or previous without having to go through the Roon UI (for instance from a shell or python script).

My objective is to provide an easy way to play a CD.

Would you have any idea of how this could be done ?
Thanks
Sylvain

A possible approach might be to use an USB IR Receiver like the FLIRC USB or other solutions, so you can use an external IR Remote (RoPiee has this function for remote controlling Zone Playback in Roon).

By attaching the USB Receiver to the Pi that runs the entry point extension and either creating another extension that talks to the IR receiver and passes commands to other extensions like the CD Entrypoint extension or by integrating this function directly into the CD-Entrypoint Extension itself you would get remote control over the CD Entrypoint.

Of course this sounds like a lot of workā€¦

Hi,
Actually I had the ir remote part covered by connecting an ir receiver to my pi4 endpoint running dietpi.
Doing so and with a bit of tinkering I was able to trigger any shell script by pressing a key on my amp remote (this is a quite generic remote which Iā€™m basically only using for controlling the audio volume, so there are plenty of free keys).

Then I used some relatively simple python scripts triggering basic actions on my Roon core, like play, pause, skip, or play some predefined radios through the roon-http-api extension.

This is very convenient as I do not have to unlock any device for these simple and quite common interactions.

Now I would like to extend this to the control of the CD extension: just insert a CD in my CD-ROM reader, press a button on my remote and voilĆ !

I looked into the Roon API but so far havenā€™t found anything I could use to do that, so I figured a solution could be to directly interact with the CD extension. Hence my post here.

Maybe I missed something in the API or there are other means to trigger the extension actions Iā€™m not aware ofā€¦

Easiest would for sure be through some command line scripts (interacting with the extension container) but Iā€™m open to more complex options :smile:

Thanks
Sylvain

The Roon API provides browse functionality, if you use that to browse internet_radio then you can select the CD Entrypoint station. Playing this station will start CD playback (it even closes the drawer in case it is open). For selecting the next / previous track on the CD you have to use the Settings dialog.

Is it somehow possible to have the bitrate of the stream/entrypoint change automatically when it detects a MQA file for instance thru Squeezelite (which can render it) rather than it getting chopped down to 44.1/16 by Audio Entrypoint fixed rate?

I noticed this feature and thought it could be a step towards where Iā€™d like to be, however I cannot make it work: when I play the entrypoint station (from my remote or through the Roon UI) with a CD in, Roon complains: ā€œUnable to play this stationā€¦ā€ and nothing happens.

The only way I can make the CD radio work is by first going to the settings/extensions/cd entrypoint settings, start it, and then play the radio. Then I usually have to hit play several times before the radio actually becomes available.

Iā€™m using a basic USB CD-ROM reader connected to my pi running dietpi. I did a fresh reinstall of the whole entrypoint stack (docker/extension manager/gateway/cd entrypoint) at the beginning of the week.
What do you think I could be missing ?