Snakeoil ISO Version 0.1.5 (Power Cable)

[agent_kith]

IMPORTANT
If you have problems with MPD, please upgrade the firmware to 0.1.5c. Download link here: Click me.

DOWNLOAD 

• snakeoil-i686-0.1.5.iso (MD5: 30c34de1b8f67005ce78754e9af5a2ef)
  
• snakeoil-x86_64-0.1.5.iso (MD5: ce4d804b6f164f2cd7ecdc6c68737910)
  

NOTES
This is the first major release after a long hiatus. During this period I've lost my old job and gained a new one. With this new transition I had to focus 100% on the challenges of the new role. It was mentally exhausting and as a consequence I could not spend as much time on the Snakeoil OS development as I would like.

The good news is with enough time the new skills I picked up in the new job will make Snakeoil even better (e.g. moving from the current old HTML stuffs I've learnt from the late 90s to something more modern). This is a promise I've yet to deliver but it will come to pass. 

This release is code named Power Cable and is an accumulation of over seven months of work. A massive update, check out the changes below.

As always the focus is on sound quality for the NF9C board. If you're using a different motherboard with other hardware, you'd need to tweak it to suit your tastes. I will update the Manual on this in due time - the process is not difficult at all.

Also would like to extend a big Thank You   to the people who deem Snakeoil worthy enough for you to make a donation. I appreciate the gesture as Snakeoil OS is free to use. You can contribute in other ways too, if you have any suggestions on how what you like to do with Snakeoil, please post in the suggestions forum so I can build a feature list for the next release.

There are more things in the pipeline, but until then, enjoy Snakeoil v0.1.5 (Power Cable)!

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR NEW USERS

1. Manual (Comprehensive user guide on installing and using Snakeoil)
   
2. Frequently Asked Questions (Common questions are answered here)
   
3. Hardware/DAC confirmed working on Snakeoil (Hardware that's been verified to work with Snakeoil - not very up to date)
   

If you are new to Linux and LiveCD, watch this walkthrough video of how to do a Snakeoil installation:
 

KNOWN ISSUES 

1. MPD builds not working on amd64 ISO. Please update to the latest 0.1.5x point release for fix.
   

CHANGELOG
Some of the "under the hood" changes not captured in the official ISO/firmware changelog are:

1. code repository changed GIT
   
2. move development to a new computer (running VMWare ESXi 6.5 free edition)
   
3. Changed web host (twice!)
   
4. Using Mantis Gitlab to track issues now, check it out here: Link
   

ISO

1. Logictech Media Server upgraded to 7.9.0-1475786002
   
2. 64 bit ISO now boots on EFI
   
3. Support for the Broadcom Tigon 3 57765 network chipset
   
4. Upgraded all Ubuntu packages (now on 14.04.5 LTS)
   
5. Fixed a problem where the computer reboot into graphics mode.
   
6. 0000039: [players] Set Snakeoil LMS to use the native method for playback all the time for most codecs (agent_kith)
   
7. 0000044: [install] disable confusing "rpcbind: cannot create socket for (udp|tcp)6" messages (agent_kith)
   

FIRMWARE 

1. 0000043: [players] Include MPD v20 (agent_kith)
   
2. 0000034: [web-app] Capture more information of all available sound cards and place 'em in the diagnostics file (agent_kith)
   
3. 0000042: [web-app] Use better default skin for web app (agent_kith)
   
4. 0000038: [web-app] Don't always go back to the home tab after a firmware upgrade (agent_kith)
   
5. 0000040: [web-app] Add direct support of Monkey Audio (APE) in Snakeoil (agent_kith)
   
6. 0000024: [players] Support roon Server and Roon Ready in Snakeoil (agent_kith)
   
7. 0000036: [web-app] Show all running processes when generating diagnostics file (agent_kith)
   
8. 0000026: [web-app] Generating Diagnostics File Is confusing as it says Please wait, and there is a 10000 second counter below! D'oh! (agent_kith) - resolved.
   
9. 0000021: [players] Fix MPD crash when scanning database (agent_kith) - resolved.
   
10. 0000029: [players] Update squeezelite ralph to latest commit (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
11. 0000027: [install] Kernel modules are not installed properly (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
12. 0000028: [web-app] Tweak install text for vmlinuz/kernel/module (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
13. 0000020: [players] Setup better permission levels for MPD (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
14. 0000016: [web-app] Firmware files with the words generic in it don't seem to work on amd64 system (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
15. 0000006: [web-app] Allow user to use ALSA:default as the output device (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
16. 0000001: [General] Disable fixed volume in MPD (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
17. 0000012: [web-app] Download Troubleshooting Diagnostics (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
18. 0000013: [web-app] Block access to /config from web (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
19. 0000010: [web-app] show_media_client script not working (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
20. 0000011: [players] inotify issues in mpd-git and mpd-v19 (agent_kith) - resolved.
    
21. 0000014: [web-app] Show Donation Details If Present (agent_kith) - closed.
    
22. Allow for software mixer for MPD
    
23. Disable IPv6 when running NAA
    
24. Potentially fixed a bug when RoonServer isn't starting
    
25. Fixed a problem when moving one SSD/HDD from one computer to another
    
26. Only show "Start LMS: Yes|No" messages when you are using Squeezelite players
    
27. Ability to install/uninstall most software players from the Snakeoil tab now. Select Install to have the player show up in the Software tab or Not Installed to uninstall the player from the computer and not shown in the Software tab.
    
28. Added support for RoonServer and JRiver MediaCenter 22 (RoonBridge and RoonServer is available only on 64 bits version)
    
29. Added new backend code for various features
    
30. Cleaned up and simplify some existing backend code
    
31. Don't return any remote web client when no software players are installed
    
32. Fixed up executable path detection for players (no more false positives for players that's uninstalled)
    
33. Allow one to update firmware/modules tagged as generic
    
34. Allow you to change your hostname
    
35. Added php file manager
    
36. Allow upgrade of generic firmware and deb for all architectures
    
37. Always repair NTFS partitions before mounting them
    
38. Fixed broken apt installs.
    
39. Clarify the difference between forum activation and Snakeoil web app activation
    
40. Some width and size changes to the web app
    
41. Fixed issue when Web Remote Control list is not any LMS when in LMS only mode [Credit: Leonard]
    
42. Fixed Start LMS only mode, may possibly fix this Mandatory ALSA required for LMS only issue.
    
43. Fixed bug when removing a storage in music tab doesn't do anything [Credit: Doncentric]
    
44. Fix bad HTML tags in Music tab when saving > 1 mount points [Credit: Doncentric]
    
45. Load the default English language file (always works) if the multi-language file cannot load
    
46. Disable kernel tweaking, kernel upgrade and password reset when in LiveCD mode
    
47. Strip referrer information when accessing snakeoil websifte from the snakeoil web interface to protect your privacy. Tested to work with Chrome (not sure if true for other browsers).
    
48. Removed irqpoll for boot options as it is not doing anyhing (makes sense I guess as RT kernel is totally pre-emptive)
    
49. Improved error detection when starting players from VNC (i.e. there will be a msg if the player fail to start)
    
50. NAA, Roon and other players require manual configuration, as such you should be allowed to start them without configuring ALSA output devices in the Hardware tab.
    
51. Added "Player Status" in software tab allowing you to be better informed if things goes wrong. It will also display a message if your selected player requires manual configuration. You no longer need to ssh into the machine and see if your player is now started or not as all the information is now shown from here.
    
52. Strip high ASCII characters (e.g. ASCII colour) when displaying output from a deb install. (This makes NAA install more legible)
    
53. All 32 bit players (MPD, Squeezelite and XMMS) are now built & linked against ALSA 1.0.28. Will this sound as amazing as the 64 bit edition?
    
54. Multi-lingual support! I need translators to help translate the Snakeoil web interface to your native language. If you have the time and patience to do this, please leave a comment below. State which language you are working on (so others will notice and not duplicate the work you have done). Refer to this section of the manual on how to translate.
    
55. Fixed and updated a lot of the English text 
    
56. Re-factored a lot of the build mechanism such that a single platform can be used to build 32 and 64 bit stuffs (This should improve quality of future releases)
    
57. Updated JQuery to 3.0.0
    
58. fixed broken 64 bit cyclictest (My bad!)
    
59. fixed broken vnc virtual desktop on newer 0.1.4 installs
    

[agent_kith]

14 downloads so far. Can I have a show of hands who has MPD v20 working, and not? Let me know if you're installing the 32 bits (i686) edition or the 64bits (amd64).

Thanks in advance.

[Leonard]

MPD v20 working here using the i686 version via PXE (LiveCD) :-)

[agent_kith]

I have moved the MPD issues into it's own thread: Link

Post all the issues and anything you have found into that thread so I can better understand what the problem is.

[gris-r]

Hello. Thank you for snakeoil. This is a great project. I use only squeezlite (v1.6.4). Tell sq 0,1,5 better than 0.1.4. (You think)? Or is it just software update and will not affect the sound? It seems to me that sq 0.1.4. better on my system.  
Your opinion. Thank you. Sorry for my English))

[agent_kith]

Hello. Thank you for snakeoil. This is a great project. I use only squeezlite (v1.6.4). Tell sq 0,1,5 better than 0.1.4. (You think)? Or is it just software update and will not affect the sound? It seems to me that sq 0.1.4. better on my system.  
Your opinion. Thank you. Sorry for my English))

SQ between 0.1.5 and 0.1.4 will be different, and it's all dependent on the computer system. Right now, the ISO is optimised for my home setup. Reason why I catalog and log every system change in that showcase thread now.

If you use FLAC, maybe try comparing the same track against FLAC compression 0  or WAV and see how it goes.. I've only tested with FLAC compression 4 against WAV. Sometimes when something sound worse, it's actually a good thing as it may (A) have increased resolution. Allowing you to find something bad about something you liked before. Other times, when it sounds bad, it really is (B) bad sound.

Something that sound good before isn't as good now because you're hearing more of the flaws - high compression, background noises, closed in sound stage etc. 

The problem is identifying when it's A, and when it's B. And unfortunately, there is no unverisal answer. Everybody listens differently and want different things for their setup. e.g. some people want chest thumping bass, it's something I avoided when I tune the ISO because I'm using tiny stand mounts.

If you like 0.1.4, best to stick with that. All the images are still available to download so you can tailor your system exactly the way you want it.

One of my design goals for Snakeoil is I'm not going to tell you what sounds good. You guys have to find your own mix that works for you. The project is to make it easy for you to make changes to the Linux OS without actually knowing how to use Linux. The only difficultly is to install the OS into the computer (hopefully the walkthrough videos will make that less daunting).

Reason why this project is called Snakeoil, all software players are supposed to sound the same. FWIW the Americans absolutely hated this name, I'm actually very surprised by this TBH.

[m@jor]

Cyclictest in nanoseconds will be more interesting.Microseconds


Nanoseconds:

[agent_kith]

Cyclictest in nanoseconds will be more interesting.Microseconds


Nanoseconds:

That'svery  embarrassing. I always assumed cyclictest returned the results in nanoseconds!


Created a ticket and will check and fix if needed for the next release.