HQPlayer Embedded Discussion [2021-2022]

dabassgoesboomboom · October 31, 2021, 8:16am

But this screen seems ok?

HQPlayer Embedded on Ubuntu Server was smooth sailing until ROCm entered the picture.

I hope there can be alternative plan forward to stick with Ubuntu Server support and get the reliability of pre-ROCm days.

Nightmare

jussi_laako · October 31, 2021, 11:11am

After each ROCm update, you need to check that the /opt/rocm symlink is pointing to correct (existent) place. And that you have some .conf file in /etc/ld.so.conf.d pointing to /opt/rocm/ib

AMD continues their tradition of bad quality software releases…

Strictly speaking this is not HQPlayer issue, but instead a generic server software maintenance issue.

If you look at AMD’s installation guide:
https://rocmdocs.amd.com/en/latest/Installation_Guide/Installation-Guide.html#ubuntu

You can see that you can stick to a certain version too. For current HQPlayer Embedded release, 4.3/4.3.1 should work fine. Although I will keep moving to latest releases as they come out.

If you want to get rid of ADM GPU support, you can also consider using Fedora Minimal from the Server installer. You get a bleeding edge OS with fast release pace (new OS release roughly every six months).

dabassgoesboomboom · October 31, 2021, 11:24am

Yes noted but maybe longer term, you can look at a Ubuntu Server HQPe solution that bypasses AMD’s tradition of bad quality software releases…

…like before you added this ROCm stuff (which wasn’t that long ago, relatively speaking).

Previously had Ubuntu running HQPe and Roon Server on one machine (my old i9-9900K).

Via TeamViewer I can burn HQP OS to a USB stick - easy. I guess I now have to move Roon to his Mac.

Will be some temporary pain for me over phone/TeamViewer but at least should be less problematic (hopefully) till I next visit the parents (Xmas).

Hoping the license key works automatically with HQP OS also (same fingerprint).

jussi_laako · October 31, 2021, 11:28am

AMD makes fairly decent GPUs though and people asked support for other GPUs than just Nvidia. That’s why… Anyway, Fedora is also an alternative.

dabassgoesboomboom · October 31, 2021, 11:30am

That’s fair of course, but isn’t a longer term solution to split AMD GPU support to a seperate .deb hqplayerd package?

Then those without need for GPU support don’t need to bother with ROCm and it’s back to smooth sailing experience like before on Ubuntu Server?

Then those that live by the sword (AMD GPU support) can die by the sword with those regularly sketchy AMD software releases and everyone else stays stable.

jussi_laako · October 31, 2021, 11:39am

It is too much work to make so many builds. I really want to cut the current number already:

Generic Ubuntu build
AVX2 Ubuntu build
Generic HQPlayer OS build
AVX2 HQPlayer OS build
RaspberryPi4 HQPlayer OS build
x64 Debian build
arm64 Debian build
Fedora current build
Fedora 30 build

By the way, problem with the latest ROCm release is that they update /opt/rocm through alternatives to point to 4.5, but they don’t have 4.5 version of all libraries and instead also the 4.3 sticks along and one of the libraries is there. It took one minute to solve the problem by editing my rocm.conf for ld.so by adding two more lines:

/opt/rocm/lib
/opt/rocm-4.3.0/lib
/opt/rocm-4.5.0/lib

and then running ldconfig

dabassgoesboomboom · October 31, 2021, 11:43am

Ok thanks, will try this.

Seperate query - what does “configuration backup” actually backup?

Are all my pipeline matrix profiles and even the pipeline matrix convolution mono WAVs are all part of the backup?

jussi_laako · October 31, 2021, 12:11pm

/etc/hqplayer/hqplayerd.xml
/var/lib/hqplayer/home/{impulse,filter}*.wav
/var/lib/hqplayer/home/eq*.txt

dabassgoesboomboom · October 31, 2021, 12:43pm

Nice! thanks

One of the few features I’m yet to use. Very useful

dabassgoesboomboom · November 5, 2021, 7:46am

Thanks for removing ROCm from new https://www.signalyst.eu/bins/hqplayerd/focal/hqplayerd_4.27.0-93_amd64.deb

Newest update working great again.

Good riddance to dodgy AMD updates drama ! Was nice to see 27gb of that crap disappear with sudo apt install -f ; sudo apt autoremove --purge ; sudo apt clean

dabassgoesboomboom · November 5, 2021, 10:32am

My i9-9900K is doing ASDM7EC-v2 with ext2 at DSD256 nicely

Sounds spectacular

Deano · November 5, 2021, 12:05pm

In my own experience, I have found that the HQPlayerOS USB boot image works just a bit better than when running Ubuntu server minimal and hqplayerd installed on the HD of the same machine. I can use ASDM5ECv2 successfully on the HQPlayerOS and not so much on Ubuntu server (dropouts when playing the same album and using same filters).

I think Jussi has done a very good job of fine tuning his image, he does a better job than me hacking around on Ubuntu server removing/disabling as much as possible and using the low latency kernel Ubuntu provides. I’ll just sit back and chill with his better optimized image.

dabassgoesboomboom · November 5, 2021, 12:23pm

Nice. If I had major issues on Ubuntu (which is also running Roon Server for me) then I’d try HQP OS image on that machine.

That’s the only reason to run Ubuntu for me - Roon and HQP on one machine.

My i9-9900K has had no issues though (apart from very recent AMD GPU related stuff which is now sorted).

Back to smooth sailing now.

I don’t even do any Linux optimizations… it’s just stock Ubuntu.

What CPU are you running on?

Deano · November 5, 2021, 12:52pm

Hi, I’m pushing the limits of an old spare laptop and Jussi has revived it with his bootable image. It is a far cry from your i9. It’s a:
4th Generation Intel i5-4210U processor - 2 core 4 threads, max 2.70 GHz,
3 MB Intel® Smart Cache from 2014.
8 GB Ram
In todays world it’s low spec but HQPlayerOS allows it to use poly-sinc-ext2 - ASDM5ECv2 - DSD 128 from a 16/44 source. Using 24/96 or 88 I drop it to ASDM5EC / DSD 128. Pretty impressive considering the CPU.
Of course, I will upgrade to a more powerful machine eventually.

dabassgoesboomboom · November 5, 2021, 12:56pm

Nice! My i9-9900K is approx 3 generations behind current now!

But she’s holding up well still.

I may build a 12900K in 6 months or so, if that CPU offers functionality I can’t currently do.

10900K and 11900K didn’t change much.

dabassgoesboomboom · November 7, 2021, 6:11am

Hi @jussi_laako

I’m trying to use NAA input (UAC2 input on UpBoard Gateway) on HQP OS 4.27.

Note I’ve been successfully using UAC2 on UpBoard with HQP Desktop for a loong time now. So I know how to use it on Desktop. This is first time I’m trying on HQP OS.

UPBoard is running latest NAA OS - obviously has the standard name “naa” which can’t be changed.

I’ve set HQP OS to output to ALSA (RME ADI-2).

I changed HQP OS hostname to “hqp_os”

See attached photo for network input line I added to nano /etc/hqplayer/hqplayerd.xml

I tried (see “device” below):

<input name="UpBoard UAC2 input" address="naa" channel_offset="0" device="USB Audio Class 2" format="auto" ipv6="1" pack_sdm="1" period_time="0" samplerate="0" short_buffer="0" type="network"/>

and tried

<input name="UpBoard UAC2 input" address="naa" channel_offset="0" device="uac2" format="auto" ipv6="1" pack_sdm="1" period_time="0" samplerate="0" short_buffer="0" type="network"/>

But each time I hit UAC2 input , nothing happens. I don’t see the “Playback Inactive” soundcard pop up on my USB source, as I usually see with HQP Desktop.

Music is already playing from USB source before I press apply to input.

I have disabled NAA part of HQP OS for this.

What’s wrong with any of the above?

Does changing HQP OS hostname mean I should have changed something else somewhere?

Input “type” should remain network? Or should be “uac2” like normal?

I also tried UPnP input and it works - so nothing wrong with my Config page and ALSA output setup.

Just NAA UAC2 input is failing to select.

dabassgoesboomboom · November 7, 2021, 7:38am

And from log, HQP OS can ‘see’ the UPboard with name=naa with correct IP address shown here

And when I hookup HDMI to UpBoard NAA OS, I seen nothing on screen

Same UpBoard NAA OS works great on HQP Desktop for UAC2 input NAA

* 2021/11/07 07:35:56 Signalyst HQPlayer 4 Embedded 4.27.0
+ 2021/11/07 07:35:56 Engine starting...
  2021/11/07 07:35:56 asoundlib version: 1.2.4
  2021/11/07 07:35:56 Found ALSA device: hw:CARD=DAC58580869,DEV=0 - ADI-2 DAC (58580869): USB Audio
  2021/11/07 07:35:56 Found ALSA device: hw:CARD=b1,DEV=0 - bcm2835 HDMI 1: bcm2835 HDMI 1
  2021/11/07 07:35:56 Found ALSA device: hw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0 - bcm2835 Headphones: bcm2835 Headphones
  2021/11/07 07:35:56  network Audio IPv6 support enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:56  discovery from 0.0.0.0
& 2021/11/07 07:35:56  discovered network audio: name='naa' version='Signalyst Network Audio Daemon 4.1.2'  @192.168.1.210:43210
& 2021/11/07 07:35:56  discovered network audio: name='naa' version='Signalyst Network Audio Daemon 4.1.2'  @192.168.1.210:43210
  2021/11/07 07:35:57  discovery from ::
& 2021/11/07 07:35:57  discovered network audio: name='naa' version='Signalyst Network Audio Daemon 4.1.2'  @[fe80::207:32ff:fe52:b170%eth0]:43210
& 2021/11/07 07:35:57  discovered network audio: name='naa' version='Signalyst Network Audio Daemon 4.1.2'  @[fe80::207:32ff:fe52:b170%eth0]:43210
  2021/11/07 07:35:58  connect to [fe80::207:32ff:fe52:b170%eth0]:43210 [ipv6]
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 MP3 decoders:
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	NEON64
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	generic
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	generic_dither
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Supported MP3 decoders:
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	NEON64
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	generic
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 	generic_dither
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Current MP3 decoder: NEON64
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 libDSP version 21.20.1
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 HQPlayer Engine version 4.45.1
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Number of processor cores: 4
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Core mask: 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001111
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Core pinning enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Initial parallel threads: 4
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Number of logical cores: 4
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 DSP thread pools disabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 DSP pipelines disabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 Pipelined engine enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:58 DirectSDM enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Audio engine: alsa
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Output set channels: 2 (2)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Output DAC bits: 24
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 asoundlib version: 1.2.4
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output device: hw:CARD=DAC58580869,DEV=0
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: Keep Interface
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: AES Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: AES Sync
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: Current Frequency
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: SPDIF Format
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: SPDIF Interface
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: SPDIF Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: SPDIF Sync
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: Sync Source
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: System Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: Capture Channel Map
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output control element: Playback Channel Map
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: AES Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: AES Sync
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: Current Frequency
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: SPDIF Format
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: SPDIF Interface
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: SPDIF Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: SPDIF Sync
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: Sync Source
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output mixer element: System Rate
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output access mode: RW_INTERLEAVED
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output PCM format: S32_LE
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output PCM bits: 32
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output PCM physical width: 32
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output PCM rates: 44100 - 768000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output DSD not supported
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 44100
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 48000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 88200
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 96000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 176400
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 192000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 352800
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 384000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 705600
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output rate available: 768000
+ 2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output backend initialized
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Output set channels: 2 (2)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Normal buffers
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Hardware volume control disabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Adaptive volume control disabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Volume max: 0
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Volume min: -60
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Volume scaler: 0.75
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 PCM gain compensation: 1 (0 dB)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set volume: -3.0103 +
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Automatic rate family enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Full pause processing
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 SDM conversion parameters (8, 0)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 DSD 6 dB gain enabled
& 2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set transport (240): 
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set filter: 9 / 9
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set dither: 5
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set oversampling: 22 / 8
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Set modulator: 6
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Audio engine is normal
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 SDM conversion parameters (8, 0)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 DSD 6 dB gain enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Audio engine PCM mode enabled
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Requested output rate: 192000
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 ALSA output set sampling rate: 192000 (192000)
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Automatic output rate switching enabled
& 2021/11/07 07:35:59 Convolution disabled
+ 2021/11/07 07:35:59 Server starting...
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Control active volume range: -60 - 0 dB
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Listen discovery on ::
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Listen discovery on 0.0.0.0
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Enable UPnP Renderer functionality for interface: auto
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Adding interface 'eth0' for UPnP Renderer
  2021/11/07 07:35:59 Adding interface 'wlan0' for UPnP Renderer
* 2021/11/07 07:36:05 Discovery from 192.168.1.203:54133
+ 2021/11/07 07:36:06 Control connection from 192.168.1.203:57832
+ 2021/11/07 07:36:10 Control started from 192.168.1.203:57832
& 2021/11/07 07:36:32 Set transport (240): 
& 2021/11/07 07:36:32 Play
# 2021/11/07 07:36:32 clPlayerDaemon::SwitchInput(): clHQPlayerEngine::Play(): Empty transport

dabassgoesboomboom · November 8, 2021, 4:33am

Hi @jussi_laako I also tried to use UpBoard NAA as an input with miniDSP USBStreamer.

No luck. There appears to be zero network communication between HQP OS and UpBoard NAA OS.

I tried:

<input name="USBStreamer @44.1k" address="naa" channel_offset="0" device="USBStreamer @44.1k" format="auto" ipv6="1" pack_sdm="1" period_time="0" samplerate="44100" short_buffer="0" type="network"/>

and

<input name="USBStreamer @44.1k" address="naa" channel_offset="0" device="hw:CARD=USBStreamer,DEV=0" format="auto" ipv6="1" pack_sdm="1" period_time="0" samplerate="44100" short_buffer="0" type="network"/>

–

Is something wrong with “address” or “type” ? Or something else?

There is only one device on my network running x64gen NAA OS image so it can’t be a “naa” name clash.

And same setup works fine with HQP Desktop on macOS. Only having issues with HQP OS image.

This is a rare example where Desktop version works better than HQP OS ! I never thought I’d see this day

Problem is my Mac cannot do new ECv2 modulator but my i9-9900K running HQP OS can, so I want to feed the 9900K via UpBoard UAC2 input. Which has been working fine on HQP Desktop when i fix output rate to DSD256x44.1

Any help appreciated

jussi_laako · November 8, 2021, 1:11pm

I think I have broken the web interface a bit in 4.27.0 when I added then URL entry. I made some fixes for next release. Likely that works on 4.26.2… For UAC2 NAA input, “uac2” as device name is correct.

dabassgoesboomboom · November 8, 2021, 1:17pm

Jussi ! Stop breaking things!

I joke of course.

No worries. I can try HQP OS 4.26.2 now