Any Interest in ARMv7 builds

[agent_kith]

Trying to get a ARMv7 build for a while now, but not sure if I should. Before releasing Snakeoil OS publicly, i have tried running this on some ARM boards (BeagleBoneBlack, Raspberry Pi v1 & v2, Banana Pi). With those boards I always feel underwhelmed by these implementation and still prefer the old school ITX NF9C board. The ARM boards just like that mystery engaging X-factor for me. Music from those boards fails to impress me.

Having said that, what I think is irrelevant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while I think personally these boards aren't audiophile grade, there are many out there that will disagree. So here's a call out to survey what you guys are interested in. Two things, if you like to see a ARMv7 build, answer YES in the poll, and then post a reply what ARM board you want to see Snakeoil OS in.

If the interest is there, I'd try and make it happen .

[rocl444]

Trying to get a ARMv7 build for a while now, but not sure if I should. Before releasing Snakeoil OS publicly, i have tried running this on some ARM boards (BeagleBoneBlack, Raspberry Pi v1 & v2, Banana Pi). With those boards I always feel underwhelmed by these implementation and still prefer the old school ITX NF9C board. The ARM boards just like that mystery engaging X-factor for me. Music from those boards fails to impress me.

Having said that, what I think is irrelevant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while I think personally these boards aren't audiophile grade, there are many out there that will disagree. So here's a call out to survey what you guys are interested in. Two things, if you like to see a ARMv7 build, answer YES in the poll, and then post a reply what ARM board you want to see Snakeoil OS in.

If the interest is there, I'd try and make it happen .

hi agent kith. as you might remember i have just got the sotm sms-200ultra which i think has the board you are asking about. i would LOVE to have snakeoil on it if at all possible. how many times can i vote? remember i was the 1st user outside perth! and the 1st international! and the 3rd overall(i think)! the 1st donor? and so on...and on...and on...

because the sotm is best on a network i have just got another mini-pc from that large country up north to act as a server instead of my pc. both are windows atm. have you given any thoughts about snakeoil for a 2 computer setup like this?

so if i could have snakeoil on my "server" and then again on the renderer(i think that is what the sotm is in this setup) then i would be a very happy camper.

and yes, i have read the bit about your work and being busy and so on. but....

[agent_kith]

hi agent kith. as you might remember i have just got the sotm sms-200ultra which i think has the board you are asking about. i would LOVE to have snakeoil on it if at all possible. how many times can i vote? remember i was the 1st user outside perth! and the 1st international! and the 3rd overall(i think)! the 1st donor? and so on...and on...and on...

Not entirely sure if Snakeoil can work on a SoTM sms-200Ultra. Is there a way to apply firmware to it? If so, there may be a chance. Having said that, doing this will be a form of 'modding', and some companies frown on it (a potential consequence is legal action against me.. ).

Better for me to stick to things like BBB, RPi etc where you are actually free to run your own software.
 

because the sotm is best on a network i have just got another mini-pc from that large country up north to act as a server instead of my pc. both are windows atm. have you given any thoughts about snakeoil for a 2 computer setup like this?

so if i could have snakeoil on my "server" and then again on the renderer(i think that is what the sotm is in this setup) then i would be a very happy camper.

Yeah Snakeoil OS already does this. e.g. with Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite you have one machine as the server, and the others as the player. You can have multiple renderers (effectively changing to a multi-room setup).

Once I released 1.0.6, you can choose upmpdcli, and that turns your Snakeoil OS into a UPnP client. And if you already have a UPnP media server in the house serving music, you can pick songs from the UPnP server and play it on the Snakeoil OS computer.
 

and yes, i have read the bit about your work and being busy and so on. but.... 

Have a lot of ideas right now, just not enough time to execute them.. One day at a time, and see how it goes...

[rocl444]

re the sotm - to update/upgrade there is a "button" to click on and it happens automatically.

when i was having issues earlier they sent me a link to their website where i downloaded a file and burned it to the sd using "image usb" utility which they linked to.

re the server os, i currently have a network connected mini-comp running windows, with os on msata and files on a 2tb ssd. i have d/led and am running the free Fideliser to shut down a lot of the windows processes. the sound of the whole system is way ahead of my previous setup which was the jetway mobo, sotm usb card upgraded, single sided ram and os on c-fast card, files on ssd in a fanless case.

a 2nd msata has just arrived so this was the 1 i wanted to experiment with. i'm thinking ubuntu server or lubuntu if i can't use snakeoil. 

thanks again for all the work you are putting into snakeoil.

[agent_kith]

re the sotm - to update/upgrade there is a "button" to click on and it happens automatically.

when i was having issues earlier they sent me a link to their website where i downloaded a file and burned it to the sd using "image usb" utility which they linked to.

Ah, that means it's certainly possible (but the legal issues still stands - don't want to get sued )
 

re the sotm - to update/upgrade there is a "button" to click on and it happens automatically.
re the server os, i currently have a network connected mini-comp running windows, with os on msata and files on a 2tb ssd. i have d/led and am running the free Fideliser to shut down a lot of the windows processes. the sound of the whole system is way ahead of my previous setup which was the jetway mobo, sotm usb card upgraded, single sided ram and os on c-fast card, files on ssd in a fanless case.

I head that 'way ahead' bit so many times before, and every time I'm going back to my NF9C..

There's this guy once who told me his build is way ahead of the NF9C... I ran it once, tell him it's bad. Had to run his machine against the NF9C to make him believe it's bad .

The NF9C is the only motherboard so far I can dial the music all the way to 0 dB SPL. No other board I've seen so far can entice me to do that.


 

a 2nd msata has just arrived so this was the 1 i wanted to experiment with. i'm thinking ubuntu server or lubuntu if i can't use snakeoil. 

thanks again for all the work you are putting into snakeoil.

Snakeoil OS is just Ubuntu with custom built kernel, applications and library. As long as you're using a RT kernel, Ubuntu and Snakeoil OS is really one and the same .

[rocl444]

wouldn't it be me who got sued? i'm not sure i have made any agreements, but if another linux will do then there is no problem. i have had arch linux suggested to me with a link to a how to. haven't read it yet. ubuntu do a server version which might be best and easiest.

my jetway comp is sitting in my spare room waiting to buy it. i ran it for about 20mths before the sotm arrived. after 2mths with the sotm i am still amazed by the sound. i did a comparison with my vinyl setup last monday and the difference was very small and not at all inferior. but i am using my ears so it may just be a personal preference.

again - many thanks. your support has been wonderful.

[agent_kith]

wouldn't it be me who got sued? i'm not sure i have made any agreements, but if another linux will do then there is no problem. i have had arch linux suggested to me with a link to a how to. haven't read it yet. ubuntu do a server version which might be best and easiest.

Sued is just the worse case scenario. And unlikely really at the end of the day. Most people in general will only threaten to sue, and seldom go ahead with it away.

Anyway, if the SMS-2000 can run Arch Linux or Ubuntu on then it'd be ok. Can it though?

 

my jetway comp is sitting in my spare room waiting to buy it. i ran it for about 20mths before the sotm arrived. after 2mths with the sotm i am still amazed by the sound. i did a comparison with my vinyl setup last monday and the difference was very small and not at all inferior. but i am using my ears so it may just be a personal preference.

Agreed music is all about personal preference. As long as one can get the emotional connection from music, then it's all good. Just that, the words 'miles ahead', I've heard it so many times before (sometimes multiple times in a week). And so far in my experience it's almost always not the case.

The NF9C can be described as giving a 'tube/warm' sound. But in truth it's much deeper than that - because computers obviously aren't tubes. Honestly I find it impossible to explain what 'emotional engagement' is.. Whenever I tried to, I reckon nobody truly understand what I mean.   At the end of the day, I'm not a hifi guru at all - just a very picky dude with particular (peculiar?) requirements.

 

again - many thanks. your support has been wonderful.

[agent_kith]

So pulled the trigger and got myself a 3 B+. Still have a Pi and a Pi 2 somewhere. So the idea is I will be using the two older versions for development, and the final product will be running on a 3 B or 3 B+.

Not sure when I can start on this, but at least this is a first step.

[Bromf]

For a 3b would be great ! (I have held off getting a 3b+ as there seems little point...the improvements are to wifi -dual band- and slightly better cpu spec. Even the gigabit ethernet comes at the expense of the still shared usb bus performance. )

Moode audio running mpd 24/96 on a pi2b has all cores at 90% or more idle.   Why then would we need a faster cpu ? More ram would be better but the broadcom chip used is said to be not compatible with any further increase.

There is some speculation that the 2b is the sweet spot as the 3b and 3b+ wifi chip is said to be still audio 'dirty' even when disabled.

[agent_kith]

For a 3b would be great ! (I have held off getting a 3b+ as there seems little point...the improvements are to wifi -dual band- and slightly better cpu spec. Even the gigabit ethernet comes at the expense of the still shared usb bus performance. )

Moode audio running mpd 24/96 on a pi2b has all cores at 90% or more idle.   Why then would we need a faster cpu ? More ram would be better but the broadcom chip used is said to be not compatible with any further increase.

There is some speculation that the 2b is the sweet spot as the 3b and 3b+ wifi chip is said to be still audio 'dirty' even when disabled.

Hopefully it'd work across all the Pis (I think it will but time will tell). When it's ready, can test Snakeoil on all Pi variants...