Request For Comments: Snakeoil 1.2.0 (Gear Isolation)

[hkphantomgtr]

4 day long weekend. Thought I can get some work done. Wild weather knocked the power out. No idea when it'll be back.

There is a loud bang in the suburb.

Hope everyone, and all computers are OK.

Goo bless, please take care and hava a good rest.

[Bromf]

4 day long weekend. Thought I can get some work done. Wild weather knocked the power out. No idea when it'll be back.

 

Arrrgh !  the dreaded 'loud bang'      usually precedes the release of the magic blue smoke...

Sounds like a good name for an album...     

 
There is a loud bang in the suburb.

Looks like we're getting that same weather bomb in 2 days time....   ulp...

[agent_kith]

Repairs is going to be expensive. 3 phase power into 8 units... Just have to wait and see. Already exhausted and yet to write a single code.

Folks please refrain from donating for now as the callbacks are not going to work.

And thanks again for all donars that make it possible to move most snakeoil resources to the cloud.

10% battery life left. The caveman experience will start soon...

[agent_kith]

Repairs is going to be expensive. 3 phase power into 8 units... Just have to wait and see. Already exhausted and yet to write a single code.

And we have power.. Well, since yesterday really. But I hadn't had time to report back as was checking around to make sure everybody's homes are OK, and mine too (mostly).

Wonder why anyone would want 3 phase for their homes. Like seriously what are they running in the sheds? 3 phase power is a bitch to work with, and it's damaged at the pole. Increasing the difficulty/danger. Very lucky in my case the sparkiies managed to salvage the remaining cable so we don't have to replace that. Managed to strip back the burnt cables just enough, find a replacement MCB that will fit the gauge, and viola. All said and done, we have power.

Really a pain in the arse. And this really dawned on me why some people do not hear a difference with good power delivery. Being a renter during my University days, I know how horrible the home cablinig can get. Well, mine is actually pretty good (not ideal, but good enough).

Unfortunately my system isn't world classs so the improvements are subtle. But there was this guy in WA who had a very resolving system, and swapping power cables on his system is very telling. He is the guy that inspired me to this school of thought - that the audiophile is the most important element in the audio chain. He is the guy that educated me measurements cannot create a system to his standards. And this is the same guy who tells me there is one other system that is better than his.

Anyway, hope anybody seeing this will ignore all the pseudo science you find on the Internet (including mine). Start to listen to music with your heart and feel how it flows in you. When your brians are fooled into thinkinig a recording is physically real - that is when you know you are on the right path.

So what happened after they changed the MCB? I think my Home Theather (Marantz 8805/Yahama A5000/B&W + Pioneer wines) sound even better before the "big Easter Friday bang". The contacts back to the grid is now brand new, unoxidised and sucking in all that juice. Havn't turned on my stereo system yet. To be honest I'm afraid (uncertaini if it's going to be better or worse). Plus I'm still very tired from it all (organising the sparkies for this job isn't that easy). 

Another thing I learned? We are still using those old school meters with a spinning horizontal diisc... Mine is flying! The amount of power I'm using (mostly computers) must be staggering... Can't wait for the new AMD Series 3 processor to come on board. I am going to upgrade my existing servers to that, and hopefully it'll lower the energy bills.

[agent_kith]

Repairs is going to be expensive. 3 phase power into 8 units... Just have to wait and see. Already exhausted and yet to write a single code.

Speaking of repairs... A lady somehow managed to drive straight into me... Insurance is going to cover the repairs, but it's annoying nonetheless. Driving to work only takes me 10 minutes, but it'll be an 40 minutes to an hour by public transport.
 

Potentially I may not have enough time to really sit down and do some coding. Blind Testing U5 is going to be delayed until my car is sorted.

There should be lots of time for me to do work on Snakeoil during this Easter holidays. But the days are all wasted.

Call it fate, just enjoy U4 for the time being. The important thing is - nobody is hurt.

[agent_kith]

So U5 shows an early preview of what is to come for Gear Isolation. Right now you can setup your Qobuz and Tidal configuration in that tiny options text box. Not ideal. Which is why in Blind Testing U6, I hope to revamp the GUI to make it a lot better. Obviously as always this will be available only in activated editions.

So what's are the other features planned for U6?

1. Bridging. Seems more and more people want to bridge their multi NIC PC to play their music. Setting the bridge up is actually pretty straight forward. Designing the Web interface to do this less so. Which is why the configuration isn't available. Well, you can do this in U6.
   
2. Convolution. Thanks to Snoopy8's walkthough (i'd split his post into a dedicated thread in the walkthrough sections when I can), this will hopefully make it's way into the next update. And once in there, we'll slowly expand and build on it.
   

All these will be available only in activated editions for now. When Isolation Gear is official, these will slowly make it's way out to the free edition.

Speaking of activated, I'm going to move the "Ubuntu Update" command to activated editions only. As it is still buggy so will need to be sorted out properly before public release. So when you become a patreon or a PayPal donation, you're really signing yourself up to be a alpha/beta tester too. And again, I appreciate the generous gesture.

You can always checkout the current Snakeoil roadmap to know the progress of the development, and where the project is heading. Any suggestions, raise them here.

[Bromf]

Donation sent !
little and often end of pre-paid card balance....  better to go to deserved project than be subsumed into some banker-w*nkers coffers....

[agent_kith]

Flu season currently. The past 20 days I'm on the verge of being sick, but not full blown. Runny nose? More like a running tap! Joints are sore, the head is foggy. Slept almost the entire weekend away. Tried to listen to music on Sunday, but the pressure in my ears are making it difficult - can't get into it.

Don't have enough energy for work in the day, and absolutely nothing left in the tank after that.

Honestly this is much much worse than being sick, and I wish I can just get sick and get this over and done with.

I'm tyring to release at least one update every month. Probably going to keep slipping on that. :( My apologies.

[hkphantomgtr]

Flu season currently. The past 20 days I'm on the verge of being sick, but not full blown. Runny nose? More like a running tap! Joints are sore, the head is foggy. Slept almost the entire weekend away. Tried to listen to music on Sunday, but the pressure in my ears are making it difficult - can't get into it.

Don't have enough energy for work in the day, and absolutely nothing left in the tank after that.

Honestly this is much much worse than being sick, and I wish I can just get sick and get this over and done with.

I'm tyring to release at least one update every month. Probably going to keep slipping on that. My apologies.

Thanks for your work and please get more rest 1st.  Get well soon! 

[agent_kith]

Can't remember how long it has been, probably 3 weeks? Finally have a clear head, so managed to sit down and code some snake oil stuffs. Here're some things to look forward to in Blind Testing U7:

1. For the life of me I cannot remember what is wrong with network configuration. Apparently there is a problem, but I can't remember what that is, so... Kicked it back for now until somebody can remind me what the issue is
   
2. Older versions of MPDs (v17, v18, v19, etc) will be archived off as modules. This will not affect existing installs really, but future firmware (and ISO) will no longer include these players. [Done]
   
3. Further on 2. You can still install these archived players however, they are available as modules to be uploaded. [Done]
   
4. Further on 3. These players will not be gone on a firmware update [Done]
   
5. Yes, this also means any players you have set to be uninstalled currently, will no longer be reinstalled automatically upon a firmware update [Done]
   
6. Now that we have confirmation software update works, I'll try and introduce release upgrade. This will hopefully be a one click process that updates your Ubuntu to 18.04.02 (or whatever new version rolls along)
   
7. Introduce initial support for the creation of a RAM disk.
   

No idea when the firmware will be finished and released. Last two things are pretty straight forward, but I'll be away later today and Monday so it's hard to estimate the time.

And finally, to my fellow HK mates, and this will upset my Chinese friends. Regardless who you are, where you stand, I hope you guys stay safe. I don't have a say in this matter at all. You guys do, and you guys have spoken, and spoken loudly. I am angry, but am proud. Angry at the selective police treatment, angry at the triads, but above all, I'm proud of the HK citizens who spoke with their hearts.

Times like this usually generates the best music, music that will stand the test of time. Please stay safe so you guys can get to enjoy the music from this era later on in life.