Snakeoil Firmware - 1.1.6 (Blind Testing Update 6)

[hkphantomgtr]

Do you recommend updating to 18.04, if we have the knowledge to do so manually?  Prefer a later version with more up to date security, but I may be worrying for nothing.

18.04 is recommended for folks who want to use HQPlayer. In fact the option to install HQPlayer 4 will only be available if the system is already on 18.04.

In theory updating to 18.04 should be fine, as almost all the libraries used are custom compiled and not part of the Ubuntu system. However, I must stress the word theory. There are so many things in this I don't really understand. It's more about trial and error. Only tools available are trained ears, and patience.....

If updating to 18.04 made the sound worse, we need to explore a different kernel, or you can easily re-install Snakeoil to get back to where it was.

As for security updates. I reckon it's a good idea. Hence the introduction of "Update Ubuntu". This will update your current Ubuntu to the latest point version. So you'll still be on 16.04.x, and it will include all the security updates.

In a future version of Snakeoil, there will be a "Release Upgrade" button, that will upgrade Ubuntu to the next LTS release.

Hopefully I can figure out a way to only show these buttons when it's required. i.e. "Update Ubuntu" will not show up if you have already updated to the on the latest version of Ubuntu. And ditto to "Release Upgrade" if you are already on the latest LTS.

So, guys, hit that "Update Ubuntu" button and let me know if it works, or still having issues.. So far it seems to work in my setup, but unsure how it'll fare on yours. And also with the USB power off too.

i did the update but my intel nuc network didnt work, so have to reinstall snake oil from scratch.

Did you do a "Release Upgrade"?  Or just "apt-get update" and so & so within the release?  FYI, I've updated within the release few days ago and it's working normally so far.  And the sound is already very different.  In fact, in past I've do such upgrade several time.  Every time the sound changes quit a lot.

[JD1]

I updated to 1.1.6 today. I now have 2 extra USB ports that I can disable; thanks for that. 

For native DSD it seems that I still need to insert the correct setting for my DAC into the Player tab, even when I have the correct settings in Snakeoil tab. Works fine though both before and after upgrade.

BTW; using Mola Mola Makua DAC with LMS/Squeezelite. Settings are -D :u32be when using Squeezelite R2 or -W -D :u32be when using Squeezelite Ralph.

Cheers,
JD

[Snoopy8]

Do you recommend updating to 18.04, if we have the knowledge to do so manually?  Prefer a later version with more up to date security, but I may be worrying for nothing.

So, guys, hit that "Update Ubuntu" button and let me know if it works, or still having issues.. So far it seems to work in my setup, but unsure how it'll fare on yours. And also with the USB power off too.

I did the update Ubuntu, no problem with update on Intel NUC.  Did find it a bit confusing not knowing when update has finished.  Could do with a message in script.

[agent_kith]

I did the update Ubuntu, no problem with update on Intel NUC.

Woot! Finally! It wasn't easy finding the right ways to get this to work, but turns out the solution is really easy. Thanks for the confirmation!
 

 

Did find it a bit confusing not knowing when update has finished. Could do with a message in script.

The OK button will only appear when the job has finished. But you're right, a "update has finished" message is a much better idea. This will be added in the next upgrade. Wish I thought of that .

[agent_kith]

i did the update but my intel nuc network didnt work, so have to reinstall snake oil from scratch.

Eek. Do you know what happened? Any screenshots of the screen?

[agent_kith]

I updated to 1.1.6 today. I now have 2 extra USB ports that I can disable; thanks for that. 

They are actually the same ports. USB 3 and USB 2. Turns out if I don't do this the USB ports will behave erratically. At least now with this I hope ports can be properly turned on and off now.

For native DSD it seems that I still need to insert the correct setting for my DAC into the Player tab, even when I have the correct settings in Snakeoil tab. Works fine though both before and after upgrade.

BTW; using Mola Mola Makua DAC with LMS/Squeezelite. Settings are -D :u32be when using Squeezelite R2 or -W -D :u32be when using Squeezelite Ralph.

It depends on the players. I believe only MPD and perhaps HQPlayer will work with native DSD. This means the player software will open up the audio device, have a look at what is supported, and then pick the DSD format by default.

Ralph or R2 probably don't have this feature and can't do auto detect. If they do you don't need to specify the DSD format at all. I can try and automate this though. Just not sure if it's going to be reliable.

[Snoopy8]

Latest from update Ubuntu. Ended with the following:
WARNING: missing /lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64
Ensure all necessary drivers are built into the linux image!
depmod: ERROR: could not open directory /lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64: No such file or directory
depmod: FATAL: could not search modules: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_e2WS17/lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64/modules.order: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_e2WS17/lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64/modules.builtin: No such file or directory

Snakeoil Version

From Dashboard (cut & paste)
Version1.1.6 (Blind Testing U6)
ActivationThank You For Your Support 
OSUbuntu 16.04.6 LTS


System Information
Hostnamecs-NUC
ZeroConfcs-NUC.local
Kernel4.19.37-rt19-amd64-snakeoil-20190512
Clocksourcehpet

[agent_kith]

Latest from update Ubuntu. Ended with the following:
WARNING: missing /lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64
Ensure all necessary drivers are built into the linux image!
depmod: ERROR: could not open directory /lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64: No such file or directory
depmod: FATAL: could not search modules: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_e2WS17/lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64/modules.order: No such file or directory
depmod: WARNING: could not open /var/tmp/mkinitramfs_e2WS17/lib/modules/4.4.9-rt17-snakeoil-x64/modules.builtin: No such file or directory

These lines are normal. Most kernels don't use modules, so the drivers are statically built into the kernel itself. This is the reason why hardware support is so limited, coz a lot of the drivers are not packed in.

You can safely ignore these depmod stuffs..