Snakeoil Forums

Got my Pi4 on Friday. Havn't had time to fire it up, hopefully I can find some spare time to fire this baby up later today, if not later in the week.

so have a fan ready....!!
I'm using one of these from a $1 yard sale....
https://www.amazon.com/OPOLAR-F401-Perso...MD3QQXJJPH

Drops from 58'C to 37'C

ordered one of these for speed control and quietening  
https://www.ebay.com/itm/173614116176?Vi...i&mail=sys

Using an outboard usb wall-wort rather than powering from the PI....:-)

and to use a Hat then this 90' adapter still allows the fan to provide maximum cooling...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/232448752071...i&mail=sys

Just curious if there are any first impressions on the usability of the pi4 yet. I haven't pulled the trigger yet because it involves new power supply, case, etc. I definitely want to do it right when it comes to the PS so it will be a bit of an investment but if the cons outweigh the pros I might hold off a bit. Anyone getting decent results? Or not?

(09-Aug-2019, 05:04 AM)mkysimes Wrote: [ -> ]Just curious if there are any first impressions on the usability of the pi4 yet. I haven't pulled the trigger yet because it involves new power supply, case, etc. I definitely want to do it right when it comes to the PS so it will be a bit of an investment but if the cons outweigh the pros I might hold off a bit. Anyone getting decent results? Or not?

Havn't really tried mine yet. Tried to power up with the existing microSD card and it doesn't work (will figure that out later).

This means Snakeoil OS will not boot on Pi 4 just yet (without an update).

But when I tried booting up a stock Noobs OS, the results are pretty impressive. It feels like a low power PC and very responsive... Power wise I'm just going to feed it 2.1 VDC (Not complaining yet) for now. Because I'm not going to run any CPU intensive stuffs (yet) and/or connect any additional peripherals I hope that will be enough.

Once I get my existing Pi4 up and running I'm going to run a cyclic test, and also network throughput test. These are crude, but will at least tell us how suitable this Pi4 is for music playback.

(09-Aug-2019, 07:55 AM)agent_kith Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-Aug-2019, 05:04 AM)mkysimes Wrote: [ -> ]Just curious if there are any first impressions on the usability of the pi4 yet. I haven't pulled the trigger yet because it involves new power supply, case, etc. I definitely want to do it right when it comes to the PS so it will be a bit of an investment but if the cons outweigh the pros I might hold off a bit. Anyone getting decent results? Or not?

Havn't really tried mine yet. Tried to power up with the existing microSD card and it doesn't work (will figure that out later).

This means Snakeoil OS will not boot on Pi 4 just yet (without an update).

But when I tried booting up a stock Noobs OS, the results are pretty impressive. It feels like a low power PC and very responsive... Power wise I'm just going to feed it 2.1 VDC (Not complaining yet) for now. Because I'm not going to run any CPU intensive stuffs (yet) and/or connect any additional peripherals I hope that will be enough.

Once I get my existing Pi4 up and running I'm going to run a cyclic test, and also network throughput test. These are crude, but will at least tell us how suitable this Pi4 is for music playback.

Good to hear about the responsiveness. My only problem with the pi3b+ is the lack of processing power when it comes to upsampling and stuff like that which with the new MPD version I don't find myself using as much. Still, the more the merrier! But as with all changes in hardware there is a possible change in sound quality and I'd hate to take a step back. I did read a review on some forum that they had experienced a small increase in overall sound and a huge increase in performance so I guess it will be worth a go. I know there is an updated version of Moode that works on pi4 but my experience with that software was pretty negative. Very thin sound, clinical to say the least. As soon as Snakeoil becomes available I'll probably bite the bullet and pick one up, but no rush. I'm enjoying what I have now!

Quote:Havn't really tried mine yet. Tried to power up with the existing microSD card and it doesn't work (will figure that out later)

Change of underlying version from Raspbian Stretch to Buster.....  you'll need to rebuild. Stretch is not compatible with the new cpu in the Pi4

My thoughts so far are...
1) having separate Network and Usb busses makes a big difference.... on webradio I've yet to experience any dropouts or loss of connectivity.
2) fan cooling is a must....there are plenty of options though my cheap hack seems to work fine...and quiet too.
a 90' header for HAT to leave the Pi open for cooling...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-2-54mm-Dou...SwxKtYBM9r
a fan.... plenty of USB fans for pennies... mine was from a yard sale...new in a box for .50c
https://www.amazon.com/iKross-Mini-Deskt...4TK1Z1F83A
a way to make it silent... [Image: smile.png] 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Micro-USB-...3614116176
With the controller wound almost down the fan gives an inaudible gentle breeze across the Pi4 and monitoring temps it has dropped from idling at 56' without the fan to playing at 35' for several hours with the fan.
Now that it works I will put it all in a box and dispense with the cage/mount around the fan.

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find...e-command/

I am powering the fan with a 5v wallwart and not via the Pi...;-)

3) Power supply for a Pi3 works fine provided no large draws on the usb lines ...so no powered drives or devices that total more than 500mA... otherwise use a powered usb hub.

Boards have just arrived for the Salas L-adapter.... what a beast!   I ordered 2, one for the Pi4 and another for the HP Thinclient so both smps' will be replaced with linear supplies.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/power-su...apter.html

(09-Aug-2019, 09:33 AM)Bromf Wrote: [ -> ]Change of underlying version from Raspbian Stretch to Buster.....  you'll need to rebuild. Stretch is not compatible with the new cpu in the Pi4

That'll complicate things... If I can't get the current Stretch to work, then will have to re-create the image.

Yep....

I wonder... would a quick and dirty workaround be to install, on the Pi4 with2Gb and up,  ubuntu server as base with  Snakeoil wrapping around ?
https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-...ion-guide/

(09-Aug-2019, 09:33 AM)Bromf Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:Havn't really tried mine yet. Tried to power up with the existing microSD card and it doesn't work (will figure that out later)

Change of underlying version from Raspbian Stretch to Buster.....  you'll need to rebuild. Stretch is not compatible with the new cpu in the Pi4

My thoughts so far are...
1) having separate Network and Usb busses makes a big difference.... on webradio I've yet to experience any dropouts or loss of connectivity.
2) fan cooling is a must....there are plenty of options though my cheap hack seems to work fine...and quiet too.
a 90' header for HAT to leave the Pi open for cooling...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-2-54mm-Dou...SwxKtYBM9r
a fan.... plenty of USB fans for pennies... mine was from a yard sale...new in a box for .50c
https://www.amazon.com/iKross-Mini-Deskt...4TK1Z1F83A
a way to make it silent... [Image: smile.png] 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Micro-USB-...3614116176
With the controller wound almost down the fan gives an inaudible gentle breeze across the Pi4 and monitoring temps it has dropped from idling at 56' without the fan to playing at 35' for several hours with the fan.
Now that it works I will put it all in a box and dispense with the cage/mount around the fan.

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find...e-command/

I am powering the fan with a 5v wallwart and not via the Pi...;-)

3) Power supply for a Pi3 works fine provided no large draws on the usb lines ...so no powered drives or devices that total more than 500mA... otherwise use a powered usb hub.

Boards have just arrived for the Salas L-adapter.... what a beast!   I ordered 2, one for the Pi4 and another for the HP Thinclient so both smps' will be replaced with linear supplies.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/power-su...apter.html

This is some incredibly useful information and some great ideas! I put a couple of those links in my favorites for further examination. Can't wait to tackle this project! Thanks Bromf for the info!

My technical skills probably aren't suitable for building a linear power supply but maybe I'll give it a shot. If I see smoke I guess I messed up I can confirm that power delivery makes a huge difference on the pi3 even with the allo digione hat that is supposed to be less sensitive to crappy switching supplies.

Here's another interesting sbc...Intel.. X86, quad core Atom (Cherry Trail-T3), up to 64GB eMMC, up to 4GB ram,    maybe wifi only....can't find pin headers for wired...

https://up-shop.org/up-core/271-up-core....c_on_board
https://up-board.org/upcore/specifications/