Better send Harry a feedback
Hi Nicolas,
This should not happen in general.
So how do you recover from this? Reboot the Pi?
Yes, indeed, i need to reboot the pi every time I start the NAS.
Quick question: I’m using the non-xl version, and may re-flash to XL. If I’m streaming via Airplay to a RPi3b/hifiberry digi+ pro, will it stream at 192/24? Or is it limited to cd quality?
Thanks!
Airplay is limited to Airplay quality, so 16/48.
@Xekomi Thank you. Do you think that this will sound better (Via the pi/digiberry) than going through an Apple TV ?
I’m pretty far on the objectivist spectrum, so “not inherently”. Assuming the clocking is better and it’s audible and/or you output using RCA rather than Toslink (my understanding is that there’s only so much you can do about jitter over optical), you might gain from that.
I’m using digital coaxial via an rca cable and not toslink.
I decided to try out RopieeeXL. I like the idea of it, but hate how some of it is configured.
As was requested in a post in August, It would be nice to be able to change the names for Airplay and DLNA streaming. It isn’t great, but I can live with just the hostname. What I can’t live with is Hostname [RoPieeeXL]. It looks like crap, and I don’t need to be advertising to everyone on my network what that device is running.
I am also bothered by the fact that RopieeeXL is configured with a default password for SSH access and there is no way to change it. I can disable SSH, so that helps, but there should be a way to change the default password. Not allowing that is a security threat on my network.
I like the idea of my device being setup more like an appliance, but if that simplicity means giving up friendly names on devices and network security then RoPieeeXL won’t work for me.
you living a frat house or something? No offence intended btw.
No offense taken, but what would make you ask that? I can’t figure out how your question has any relation to the concerns I raised.
You don’t need to live in a frat house to be cautious about network security. Everyone should be concerned about poorly configured devices on their network. It is foolish to assume that every device and process that ever has access to your network can be trusted. Setting up a device on your network with SSH enabled and a default password for root access is asking for trouble. If you never have problems you are lucky, but I would rather not rely on luck to keep my network and data secure.
As for friendly names, Unless you are in a frat house and just don’t care, why wouldn’t you want something better than what RopieeeXL currently provides? Using only the host name would be better. The point of the name is for people to know where they are sending music when they see the list of available endpoints on their device. The [RoPieeeXL] appended to the end of the name is technical information that is not relevant to anyone using the device and looks out of place in the list.
None of my other devices are named that way. For example, my receiver doesn’t show up as “Basement [PioneerVSX-1120]”. That is not relevant information to people using the device and would only detract from the experience, so it is just named Basement.
Also, by only using the host name, you can’t properly name some locations without using clunky looking solutions like camel case lettering. For example, whereas right now one device has a friendly name of “Living Room”, which is logical and easy to read, if I changed it over to a Pi running RopieeXL the best I could do is “LivingRoom [RoPieeeXL]”.
I am of the opinion that computers and computer software should adapt to function for people when possible rather than the other way around. Unless you are a programmer, names in camel case are not good human readable friendly names. And technical details about what the device is running should be left off. That information is not relevant to most people and only adds noise to the list of devices.
I don’t disagree that there could be better options for security…and in roon too. I spent years in internet security so I know the risks and run a firewall that has rules for what is allowed in and out - you are preaching to the converted 
oh and I too would rather not see the device’s OS version in the host name - those that want it can certainly add it if they choose to. I did fight hard to have to post hostname tho 
If it had to be there at all.
Have you ssh’d in and tried to change the root password? Harry has up till now kept things open so people can tinker but this has been noted as something that might go away in the future.
The no offence taken was with respect to the frat house comment where one might consider hostile activity on the network of others in the house but outside of your control.
I see. After responding I thought maybe the frat house comment was related to my saying that the friendly names looked like crap. I was tired and frustrated with trying to get things setup the way I want. I had a different word in mind when I wrote it, but it didn’t seem appropriate 
. (Edit: just to clarify, the word I was thinking of was a reflection of my state of mind and level of frustration after tinkering with multiple different distributions on a Raspberry Pi late at night)
Getting back to the root password: I did SSH into the device and decided it was not worth trying to change anything in there. There is a warning that making changes is not supported and is discouraged. I am worried if I change the root password the device will no longer update, or it will update and go back to the default without me knowing. For now I disabled SSH and added a password to the web interface so it cannot be easily enabled without my knowledge.
The only pressing issue for now is the friendly names. Since RoPieeeXL discourages making configuration changes I do not want to try and change them myself manually. I am hoping there is an update soon that makes the friendly names more friendly. If not I will probably switch back to DietPi or something else. That would be a shame though, because so far RoPieee seems to work quite well otherwise, and I like not having to tinker with things.
Since @spockfish gives Ropieee and RopieeeXL to this community for free (or at least for a voluntary donation) and supports the users here admirably, maybe you couch your criticisms in slightly more friendly terms?
I’m sure constructive suggestions for improvement are welcome but just generally slagging the software off is not necessary.
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Other than the comment about the friendly names looking bad, I don’t think there was anything unfriendly about my remarks. (EDIT: after rereading my comments I can see a few other places where there was more of an edge than was necessary. I apologize.) I did not intend it as an attack on @spockfish, nor was it my intention to slag off the software, and I apologize.
I just recently started experimenting with a Raspberry Pi, and have had several late nights trying different software and attempting to get things configured properly for the best results. RoPieeeXL is the last one I tried. It is almost perfect for my needs, and runs and sounds great without any tinkering, so thank you @spockfish for that.
The fact that everything else about it is so simple made the friendly name issue more frustrating. I would really like to use this software, but I also want the names of streaming devices on the network to be user friendly and relevant. I hope my explanation above makes clear why I feel that way, and how I think RoPieeeXL falls short in that regard.
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I don’t understand the concern here: presumably you are running on a home or private network? I am pretty sure that nmap would figure out that it is a Pi etc quickly regardless of the hostname, but if nmap was running on the inside from somewhere you have bigger issues to worry about, no?
I guess my (personal) advice would be don’t run RoPieee if you are concerned about the security decisions that have been made. Removing the ability to ssh in permanently (which exists for for a variety of valid reasons) would impact a material number of users, and would increase the support cost (because any investigation would require Harry).
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I actually don’t mind the explicit version in the hostname, given that I have multiple devices, so for me it is actually an advantage.
The security concerns were a separate issue for me. There is already an option in the web interface to turn off SSH, but I was worried at first about turning it off completely because what if something goes wrong with the system and I cannot access it from the web interface? But if I leave SSH on with a default password for root then the device is wide open to malware and other threats.
Then it occurred to me that turning off SSH is not a big concern. The worst thing that could happen is that I have to pull the card and reinstall the image. Since there isn’t much to configure in RoPieee it is not hard to start over if necessary. So for now I have simply disabled SSH and set a password in the web interface so that it cannot be turned back on without my permission.
As for the issue of friendly names, it was not about security. I can see how in some situations you might prefer having the device type behind the name. For me that does not work. None of my current devices are named that way, and adding it behind the name is not helpful. The people in my home that use AirPlay make their choice based on the location of the device, and are not helped by seeing that it is a receiver, airport express, or raspberry pi. The extra information adds noise to the list and is actually confusing to some users. When all the other devices on the list are named based on location, an item on the list that is named “Location [RoPieeeXL]” also sticks out in a bad way.
I can understand that not everyone feels the same way. I still think everyone would be better served by having the option to at least leave off the [RoPieeeXL] at the end of the name. Ideally I would be able to set a friendly name myself that includes spaces, as I can on all my other AirPlay devices. Then RoPieee would fit in much better with the rest of the devices on my network and would be more user friendly to the people using the device.