Portable Snakeoil :-) First test.

[Bromf]

Thanks for getting me to this point.  I gave up on Ubuntu server and followed your tutorial and used Ubuntu desktop.  It is up and working-again, thanks!

However, can you please be a little more detailed in what exactly you do after you get Ubuntu installed and download the snakeoil file?  

I am supposed to install  ssh server and use winscp to upload to where?  Why use a windows app when I have done all this to load Ubuntu/ Linux?   WTH does that mean exactly?  I can’t figure this out.

Cant we just add detailed command instructions step by step to the Wiki?

I am stuck and the wiki is very cryptic.  I am not stupid but I also did not grow up on Linux.

Just to check..my instructions are for an experimental  non-standard Snakeoil usage- a portable version on a USB stick that maybe will run on most machines.

If you are just wanting to try the official Snakeoil version then follow the wiki.

Otherwise if you have already done so and are familiar with Snakeoil but want to try this live experimental and don't mind breakages then follow on.
Perhaps you missed the very beginning where I used mkusb to create a persistent usb stick containing a vanilla Ubuntu desktop install.
That stick is then able to be booted from most machines and run Ubuntu desktop .
When you have got that far (confirm it boots on multiple machines ie a 'live' usb install ) then with it booted and running from the live USB stick follow the wiki to install Snakeoil to the running Ubuntu.

The instructions on the wiki assume you have downloaded the snakeoil script and opened opened a terminal in the ubuntu install then moved to the location where the script is (something like

Code:

cd /home/'your username'/Downloads

and check that the script is there with

Code:

ls

it may even be in your home directory to start with so just run (to check before using the cd command.)

Code:

ls

once you find it then run

Code:

sudo bash ./snakeoil-installer-1.2.0-x86_64.sh

changing the version to the one you downloaded and is report by the previous 'ls' command.
You should then see the output shown in the wiki.
wait...wait.. until the script completes and you are prompted to reboot.

[cpcat]

So, big thanks to Bromf and Snoopy for their help.  I was able to complete my installation on a USB stick.  I tried the persistent Live USB per the instructions here but
was not able to make it work (not persistent for me).  I then went back to the server ISO and tried that again, was able to make a bootable USB.  The snag I ran into with the Ubuntu server was twofold-my ethernet kept disabling itself inside the server, and even with enabling the connection via command line I still could not manage to download the Snakeoil installer file.  

I then- with some amount of frustration- purchased additional USB sticks, this time a quality name brand (Sandisk).  Wow, what a difference compared to the el cheap sticks I got on Amazon -so much faster with the Ubuntu installers.   I switched to the Ubuntu 22 desktop ISO, simply ran the installation per the prompts (minimum version), the USB stick was recognized and installed to it, and the installation went smoothly.   Since I now had the desktop version of Ubuntu, I was able to use Firefox to navigate here, download the Snakeoil installer, and run the commands above provided by Bromf to execute the Snakeoil installer.  It would be VERY helpful to add those instructions/commands to the wiki btw!. 

I think it is important to point out that I ran the Ubuntu desktop installer ISO on a hard drive-less mini PC (fitlet 2) -and inserted the blank USB into the second port after the installer began to run.  This may make it easier to get a full install on a USB flash drive.  Also, use a quality USB drive as noted above.

Link to Fitlet 2 that I have:  Amazon.com: fitlet2 (E3930 Barebone) : Electronics

Anyway, thanks again, I will post further in the "install Snakeoil on a USB" thread unless you guys think the two threads should be merged.  

I have also now activated my Snakeoil installation and am running Snakeoil/MPD/upmpdcli as player and using LMS/Daphile on a second PC as server-great so far.

 

[agent_kith]

With USB, experiment by with (and without) the "toram" parameter. This copies your OS to RAM so you can unplug the USB after the computer has finished booting up. See if that is a SQ improvement or not.

Also, lookup on PXE, this boots your computer up without a disk or a USB.

I did a video of PxE here, this is before I went with SnakeoilOS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eT0dlgktQw

[cpcat]

I guess I need to research the “toram” parameter.

I found several threads on doing it with a live USB but not that much on a USB full install.

The only one so far I have found is below and the last post is from 2016:

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1594694

[Snoopy8]

I guess I need to research the “toram” parameter.

I found several threads on doing it with a live USB but not that much on a USB full install.

The only one so far I have found is below and the last post is from 2016:

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1594694

I found it too confusing when I looked at it a few years ago, made worse because I also wanted to change the kernel as well. Hoping AK can get you over the line...

[Bromf]

mkusb has a boot to ram option in its grub menu
https://ostechnix.com/how-to-create-pers...on-ubuntu/

[Bromf]

Progress! I can now boot the HP 610 Thinclient and run Snakeoil  Snakeoil Firmware - 1.2.11 (Gear Isolation U11)
All good apart from no audio output and the error message below.

Failed to open "RME" (alsa); Error opening ALSA device "hw:0,0"; snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access() failed: Invalid argument

This RME AIO works on this device using ubuntu server and aplay or arecord so not a card issue.
I will ssh and attempt to debug but meanwhile any thoughts will be mightily appreciated :-)

Oh dear..."No user account detected. Password reset function is disabled." so I can't login over ssh.. this is odd.

Ok fixed that and see now that the best way forward is to set-up a full install then save it as an iso image then use mkusb to create the portable version.

However, I am abandoning this as even a full install fails to access the RME card. It is seen and reported and can be chosen but nothing is output so assuming there are no kernel modules for it .

Daphile works OOtB for the RME card so assume the kernel is compiled with support for it.
Ubuntu server works using aplay and arecord so perhaps at a lower level than the Snakeoil interface.

[agent_kith]

Do you still have that image? Can you run the following and see what you get?

Code:

sudo aplay -l

If it's seen and reported, chances are you just don't have the permissions.

[Bromf]

Yes I have the image.

aplay -l (and alsamixer) returns nothing (not even the other internal audio on the device) but sudo aplay -l lists all 3 and has the RME as default as does sudo alsamixer

This image is the normal Snakeoil install built on Ubuntu server 22.04 so not sure why it would have a permissions issue and even less sure how I might test and fix that..lol :-)

Thanks for your comment and I will explore further.
Cheers, Bob.

Some progress !  From an ssh session I can get output with:

Code:

~$ sudo speaker-test -c 2

speaker-test 1.2.4

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 16384 to 16384
Period size range from 32 to 1024
Using max buffer size 16384
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1024
was set buffer_size = 16384
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 5.637026
0 - Front Left

This is promising as the card is working. Still have to make it work with the Snakeoil application and players.
The quest continues.

[agent_kith]

Generate a diagnostic file and I'll have a quick look later in the week.