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    Geek Speak: How To Build A BeagleBone Black MPD Music Server

    thumb.jpgWarning the following article contains some geeky stuff. What follows is a step by step guide to building a tiny 2.4" x 0.82" x 3.54" Linux music server. It's not rocket science and the instructions make the process fairly easy, but the article isn't for everybody. Thanks to CA readers K-man and Richard Dale for additional information and tweaks for setting up the BeagleBone Black so it runs great. Please note there are many ways to setup and configure the BBB. This is just one way using either Mac OS X or Windows. Readers are encouraged to leave comments with additional tips, tricks, and tweaks. I will update this article accordingly.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

     

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    Introduction

    The new $45 BeagleBone Black motherboard has excited many computer audio entusiasts. This tiny board has enough power and ports to run a Linux based MPD music server. In addition, Logic Supply has released a new BeagleBone Black case in a very cool orange color as well as a more traditional black. The case is made specifically for the BBB. All the ports line up perfectly and the finished product with BBB inside looks really neat. I attached the four rubber feet to the bottom of my Logic Supply case and the BBB sits nicely on any of my audio components without scratching itself or the other device. The case is made of sturdy metal, unlike the plastic options available heretofore. If you have a BBB or are going to pick one up I'd pick up the Logic Supply case as well.

     

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    Here is a list of requirements and step by step instructions for the BBB-MPD server running Linux from the built-in eMMC flash drive.

     

     

     

    Requirements:

     

     

     

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    Step By Step Mac

     

    - Connect the MicroSD card using an adapter to a Mac or PC.

    - Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility), select select all volumes under the MicroSD card, then select Unmount. In my example the volume is named 8GB. (Image Link ex.png)

    - Install The Unarchiver (App Link ex.png)

    - Download the Debian Wheezy image (Direct Link ex.png). During the download if asked a question about the file extension .img or .xz, click "Use .xz" (Image Link ex.png)

    - Double-click the downloaded Debian Wheezy image. This will open The Unarchiver and automatically extract the needed image file (BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-03-27.img)

    - Open the Terminal app (Applications > Utilities > Terminal)

    - Type -> sudo su (without the arrow ->)

    - Enter your password if asked.

    - Type -> diskutil list

    - Take note of the disk number of the MicroSD card connected to your computer. My MicroSD card is listed as /dev/disk1. The MicroSD card should be easily identifiable by its small size. My MicroSD card is listed as 7.9 GB (Image Link ex.png)

    - Type -> sudo dd if=

    - Drag the Debian Wheezy image file on to the Terminal window to automatically fill in the path to the file (Image Link ex.png) You can also type this in manually if desired.

    - After dropping the image file on to the Terminal window the command line should read something like this >> dd if=/Users/chris/Desktop/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-03-27.img (Image Link ex.png).

    - Make sure there is a single space after the path to the Debian Wheezy image file entered in the previous steps.

    - Type -> of=

    - Then enter the disk number of your MicroSD card. In my case this is /dev/disk1

    - The text should look something like this of=/dev/disk1 (Image Link ex.png).

    - Make sure there is a single space after the path to your MicroSD card entered in the previous steps.

    - Type -> bs=1m

    - The entire line should now look something like this >> dd if=/Users/chris/Desktop/BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-03-27.img of=/dev/disk1 bs=1m

    - Here is an image of my Terminal (Image Link ex.png)

    - Hit Enter on your keyboard and wait for the image to be written to the MicroSD card. This will take several minutes and appear like your computer is stuck. Please wait for the command to finish.

    - Once the image has been written to the MicroSD card the Terminal window will list something like this

    700+0 records in

    700+0 records out

    734003200 bytes transferred in 393.606273 secs (1864816 bytes/sec) (Image Link ex.png)

    - If you receive an error message stating "Resource busy" (Image Link ex.png) you likely skipped step 2. Please unmount the volume and try again.

    - Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility), select the MicroSd card, click Eject or Eject Disk via the right-click menu.

    - Place the MicroSD card into the BeagleBone Black's MicroSD card slot.

    - Hold down the small Boot Switch / Button ex.png while connecting the power supply to the board.

    - As soon as one of the User LEDs illuminates, release the Boot Switch / Button.

    - The User LEDs should continue flashing while the MicroSD card image is copied to the on-board eMMC flash memory. The process should take about five minutes.

    - When all four User LEDs are illuminated steady, pull the power supply from the board and remove the MicroSD card.

    - Connect an Ethernet cable to the board and re-connect the power supply.

    - The BeagleBone Black will boot into Debian Linux.

    - Install the LanScan application from the App Store Link ex.png

    - Open LanScan and click Lan your Scan.

    - Once the network scan has completed locate the BeagleBone Black's IP address. The vendor will be listed as Texas Instruments. My BeagleBone Black's IP address is 10.0.1.179 (Image Link ex.png)

    - Open the Terminal app (Applications > Utilities > Terminal)

    - Type -> sudo su

    - Enter your password if asked.

    - Type -> ssh root@

    - After the @ symbol type the IP address of your BeagleBone Black and hit enter. Mine looks like this ssh [email protected] (Image Link ex.png)

    - You should receive a message about the authenticity of the of and the RSA key fingerprint. Type the entire word YES and hit enter.

    - You'll then be asked for the root password to login to the BeagleBone Black. Enter root as the password.

    - Here is an image of the entire login sequence (Image Link ex.png)

    - From here the Mac OS X and Windows configuration is the same because the work is done on the BeagleBone Black. Skip to the BeagleBone Black OS configuration.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Step By Step Windows

     

    - Connect the MicroSD card using an adapter to a Mac or PC.

    - Install 7-Zip Link ex.png

    - Install Win32 Disk Image Link ex.png

    - Download the Debian Wheezy image (Direct Link ex.png).

    - Right-click the downloaded Debian Wheezy image. Select 7-Zip in the right-click menu, then select Extract Here. The file BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-03-27 will appear next to the downloaded image when the extraction is complete. (Image Link ex.png)

    - Open Win32 Disk Imager

    - Make sure the MicroSD card drive letter is selected under Device (Image Link ex.png)

    - Select the small folder to the left of the Device drive letter and browse to the file extracted using the 7-Zip program. You will need to click the drop-down arrow above the Cancel button (lower right) and select *.* to show all files (Image Link ex.png). (The Debian Wheezy image is extract without the .img file extension). Once *.* is selected you can select the file BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.4-2014-03-27 that was extracted using the 7-Zip program. Don't select the .xz compressed file. (Image Link ex.png)

    - Click the Write button and Yes to any popup questions.

    - Eject the MicroSd card when Win32 Disk Imager finishes writing the image.

    - Place the MicroSD card into the BeagleBone Black's MicroSD card slot.

    - Hold down the small Boot Switch / Button ex.png while connecting the power supply to the board.

    - As soon as one of the User LEDs illuminates, release the Boot Switch / Button.

    - The User LEDs should continue flashing while the MicroSD card image is copied to the on-board eMMC flash memory. The process should take about five minutes.

    - When all four User LEDs are illuminated steady, pull the power supply from the board and remove the MicroSD card.

    - Connect an Ethernet cable to the board and re-connect the power supply.

    - The BeagleBone Black will boot into Debian Linux.

    - Download the PuTTY application Link ex.png

    - Download the Advanced IP Scanner application Link ex.png

    - Open Advanced IP Scanner and click the Scan button.

    - Once the network scan has completed locate the BeagleBone Black's IP address. The manufacturer will be listed as Texas Instruments. My BeagleBone Black's IP address is 10.0.1.179 (Image Link ex.png)

    - Open the PuTTY application and enter the IP address of your BeagleBone Black. I've entered 10.0.1.179 (Image Link ex.png)

    - Click Open, then click Yes to the PuTTY Security Alert (Image Link ex.png)

    - Enter root at the login prompt (Image Link ex.png)

    - Enter root as the password.

    - The screen should look like this (Image Link ex.png)

    - From here the Mac OS X and Windows configuration is the same because the work is done on the BeagleBone Black. Skip to the BeagleBone Black OS configuration.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    BeagleBone Black OS configuration.

     

    After using PuTTY or the OS X Terminal app to connect via SSH to the BeagleBone Black you'll need to run several commands to update and configure the BBB as an MPD server.

     

    - Type -> apt-get update

    - Hit Enter and wait for the update to complete.

    - Type -> apt-get upgrade -y

    - Hit Enter and wait for the upgrade to complete.

    - Type -> reboot

    - Hit Enter and wait for the BBB to restart

    - Reconnect to the BBB via SSH using PuTTY or OS X Terminal app as described above.

    - Type -> apt-get install mpd ncmpc alsa-base cifs-utils -y

    - Wait for the installation to complete.

    - Type -> apt-get remove apache2 -y

    - Wait for the removal to complete.

    - Type -> apt-get autoremove -y

    - Wait for the removal to complete.

    - Type -> mkdir /mnt/music

    - Type -> nano /etc/fstab

    - Hit the down arrow to the botom of the file that was opened with the previous command.

    - You will need the IP address of your NAS drive on which your music collection is stored. Use the aforementioned IP scanning tools if necessary. You will also need the Share name of the folder on your NAS. For example when I connect to my NAS I use the IP address 10.0.1.18 and the Share name is Audio. Audio is just a folder on the NAS.

    - Add the following line to the bottom of this opened file (nano /etc/fstab), substituting your NAS IP and Share name rather than using my information. Replace the ********* with the actual password to your NAS Share. Here is an image of my file (Image Link ex.png)

    //10.0.1.18/Audio/Music /mnt/music cifs defaults,username=admin,password=********** 0 0

    - After entering this information press Control O (Control key plus the letter O) then his enter to save the file.

    - Hit Control X (Control key plus the letter X) to close the file.

    - Type -> mount -a

    - Type -> nano /etc/mpd.conf

    - Make the following changes to the mpd.conf file that was opened with the previous command.

    Remove the # symbol in front of the following lines

    zeroconf_enabled "yes"

    zeroconf_name "BBB Music Player"

    mixer_type "hardware"

    bind_to_address

     

    Change the line -> bind_to_address "localhost"

    to -> bind_to_address "0.0.0.0"

     

    Change the line -> music_directory "/var/lib/mpd/music"

    to -> music_directory "/mnt/music"

     

    Find the Alsa Audio Output section and make it look like this, placing # symbols in front of the bottom four options and changing the device to hw:1,0. The name can be changed to USB DAC or anything else if you'd like.

     

    audio_output {

    type "alsa"

    name "USB DAC"

    device "hw:1,0" # optional

    # format "44100:16:2" # optional

    # mixer_device "default" # optional

    # mixer_control "PCM" # optional

    # mixer_index "0" # optional

    }

    - After entering this information press Control O (Control key plus the letter O) then his enter to save the file.

    - Hit Control X (Control key plus the letter X) to close the file.

    - Type -> nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

    - Arrow to the bottom of the file and add the following text -> options snd-usb-audio nrpacks=1

    - After entering this information press Control O (Control key plus the letter O) then his enter to save the file.

    - Hit Control X (Control key plus the letter X) to close the file.

    - Type -> nano /etc/inittab

    - Place the # symbol in fron of the following lines

     

    1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1

    2:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2

    3:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3

    4:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4

    5:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty5

    6:23:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty6

     

    - After entering this information press Control O (Control key plus the letter O) then his enter to save the file.

    - Hit Control X (Control key plus the letter X) to close the file.

    - Type -> nano /etc/default/cpufrequtils

    - Add the following text -> GOVERNOR="performance"

    - After entering this information press Control O (Control key plus the letter O) then his enter to save the file.

    - Hit Control X (Control key plus the letter X) to close the file.

    - Type ncmpc

    - Once the app opens hit Control U (Control key plus the letter U) to update the MPD database with all the music stored on your NAS. This may take awhile depending on how much music you have and how fast your network and NAS are.

    - Hit the letter Q to exit the ncmpc window. The Database update will continue.

    - NCMPC can be used to play music, but the interface is pretty crude compared to MPoD on the iPhone or MPaD on the iPad.

     

    Remote Control

    - Install MPoD or MPaD from the app store

    MPoD Link ex.png

    MPaD Link ex.png

     

    If using MPoD, open the app and select the target looking icon in the upper left corner of the Now Playing window. You should see the your server listed. Select the server and tap the Done button. Second, select the gear icon next to the target icon on the Now Playing Screen. Then select Refresh Local Cache to populate the app with the database of music stored on your NAS and available to the server. Now you'll be able to browse through the bottom of the app selecting Artist, Album, Song, and more.

     

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]6521[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]6519[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]6520[/ATTACH]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Please let me know if you find errors in this guide. I will keep it updated as appropriate. Tips, tricks, and tweaks are also encouraged!

     

     

     

     

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    Image Gallery

     

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]6515[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6512[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6509[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6516[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6513[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6510[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6507[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6514[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6511[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6508[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6517[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6518[/ATTACH]

     

     

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    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Hello. I have run into an issue when following Chris' instructions. Upon reaching the point of install when I type "mount -a", I get a response back from the BBB that says "mount point cifs does not exist". Then, the BBB returns to "root@arm:~#". Everything to this point seems to track correctly. What am I doing wrong? Thanks. JCR

     

    Let me add a bit more information, even though I don't understand all of this. My NAS is a Thecus N700. Its local IP address on my network at home is 192.168.0.50. AFP, NFS, UPnP and FTP support are disabled. Media server is disabled. Samba service is enabled. The preferred share folder is //N7700/Media. My music is stored under various subfolders, and sub-subfolders, of the Media folder.

     

    So, I am wondering if by following Chris' instructions, am I pointing to a non-existent locale for my music and that's why I get the mount point cifs does not exist error message? And, if so, what do I need to try to correct this? Thanks. JCR

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    Let me add a bit more information, even though I don't understand all of this. My NAS is a Thecus N700. Its local IP address on my network at home is 192.168.0.50. AFP, NFS, UPnP and FTP support are disabled. Media server is disabled. Samba service is enabled. The preferred share folder is //N7700/Media. My music is stored under various subfolders, and sub-subfolders, of the Media folder.

     

    So, I am wondering if by following Chris' instructions, am I pointing to a non-existent locale for my music and that's why I get the mount point cifs does not exist error message? And, if so, what do I need to try to correct this? Thanks. JCR

     

    What is the exact line you have in your /etc/fstab file to mount the disk? On Linux you need to create the directory for the mount point, such as '/media/n7700' with a 'mkdir /media/n7700' command and then make sure you use the same name in the /etc/fstab line.

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    What is the exact line you have in your /etc/fstab file to mount the disk? On Linux you need to create the directory for the mount point, such as '/media/n7700' with a 'mkdir /media/n7700' command and then make sure you use the same name in the /etc/fstab line.

     

    Ahem. Remedial reading lesson required on my part. I didn't create a new mkdir as you describe above (I'm using the /mnt/music folder on the BBB as Chris instructs), but did now put the right address, 192.168.0.50/Media (experimenting suggests I don't need to reference the N7700 in the address, since the 192.168.0.50 represents that), in the /etc/fstab line to link my NAS to the BBB's /mnt/music folder. I also failed to put a space in that line between my address and /mnt/music folder reference in the same line. Once correcting both of these and when running mount -a, I get no error message! I believe that NCMPC is now doing the database update, as it showed it was connected to the localhost and when hitting Control U, it stated that it was doing the update. I'm doing this remotely from my office, so I will have to run MPaD to see if it all works when I get home this evening. Thanks for setting me on straight, Richard. JCR

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    I’m very excited about this project. Two questions:

    Is a NAS necessary or can I just link to my music library on my Windows 7 desktop?

    If I use an Airport Express to access the BeagleBone is the configuration different?

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    Ahem. Remedial reading lesson required on my part. I didn't create a new mkdir as you describe above (I'm using the /mnt/music folder on the BBB as Chris instructs), but did now put the right address, 192.168.0.50/Media (experimenting suggests I don't need to reference the N7700 in the address, since the 192.168.0.50 represents that), in the /etc/fstab line to link my NAS to the BBB's /mnt/music folder. I also failed to put a space in that line between my address and /mnt/music folder reference in the same line. Once correcting both of these and when running mount -a, I get no error message! I believe that NCMPC is now doing the database update, as it showed it was connected to the localhost and when hitting Control U, it stated that it was doing the update. I'm doing this remotely from my office, so I will have to run MPaD to see if it all works when I get home this evening. Thanks for setting me on straight, Richard. JCR

     

    Well, Richard (and others here), I am not quite there yet. When I opened MPaD and manually configured for my BBB, MPaD populated, sloppily, with some of the music stored on my NAS. It didn't seem to search all the way through the various subfolders and what it picked out seemed somewhat random. However, selecting an album or a track didn't get anything to play.

     

    My /etc/fstab reads like this:

     

    //192.168.0.50/Media /mnt/music cifs defaults,username=admin,password=admin 0 0

     

    192.168.0.50 is the local address of my NAS, and Media is the main share folder.

     

    Before trying further to get anything to play, I decided to try to narrow what part of the NAS that the NCMPC database would search through, so I changed the first part of the /etc/fstab line to read "//192.168.0.50/Media/Music" where "Music" is the desired music subfolder for the NCMPC to scan and serve up. Once doing that, and running an update on the NCMPC database, mPad is now devoid of any content, even though it appears to be connected per the configured players dropdown. Returning to the original /etc/fstab and running update still leaves me with a MPaD showing no artists, albums, songs or other content. So, what am I doing wrong?

     

    Separately, does the USB port of the BBB power a DAC? I have mine plugged into an HRT Music Streamer II and nothing is lighting up on the DAC. Perhaps this is because no music is streaming out of the BBB, but I thought I'd see a power light on the DAC.

     

    Thanks in advance for all thoughts. JCR

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    I’m very excited about this project. Two questions:

    Is a NAS necessary or can I just link to my music library on my Windows 7 desktop?

    If I use an Airport Express to access the BeagleBone is the configuration different?

     

    You can access the music library on your Windows 7 desktop as long as you export it as an SMB CIFS share. Then follow the instructions in the article for defining an entry in your /etc/fstab file on the BeagleBone.

     

    I'm not sure how Airport Express fits in - as long as you are using it as a WiFi router, the BeagleBone will just be another device on your local network.

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    Well, Richard (and others here), I am not quite there yet. When I opened MPaD and manually configured for my BBB, MPaD populated, sloppily, with some of the music stored on my NAS. It didn't seem to search all the way through the various subfolders and what it picked out seemed somewhat random. However, selecting an album or a track didn't get anything to play.

     

    My /etc/fstab reads like this:

     

    //192.168.0.50/Media /mnt/music cifs defaults,username=admin,password=admin 0 0

     

    192.168.0.50 is the local address of my NAS, and Media is the main share folder.

     

    Before trying further to get anything to play, I decided to try to narrow what part of the NAS that the NCMPC database would search through, so I changed the first part of the /etc/fstab line to read "//192.168.0.50/Media/Music" where "Music" is the desired music subfolder for the NCMPC to scan and serve up. Once doing that, and running an update on the NCMPC database, mPad is now devoid of any content, even though it appears to be connected per the configured players dropdown. Returning to the original /etc/fstab and running update still leaves me with a MPaD showing no artists, albums, songs or other content. So, what am I doing wrong?

     

    Separately, does the USB port of the BBB power a DAC? I have mine plugged into an HRT Music Streamer II and nothing is lighting up on the DAC. Perhaps this is because no music is streaming out of the BBB, but I thought I'd see a power light on the DAC.

     

    Thanks in advance for all thoughts. JCR

     

    I would ssh onto the BeagleBone and see if you can see all the music tracks you expect under /mnt/music. There could be a permissions problem where some of the tracks don't have the correct permissions perhaps.

     

    Look in /var/log/mpd/mpd.log and see if there are any errors about MPD trying to read the missing music tracks. You can look at the log file while the database is being built with a 'tail -f /var/log/mpd/mpd.log' command and it will show new logging info as it arrives.

     

    I have had problems with the ffmpeg library not correctly reading the metadata for some of my AIFF files. I fixed that by building the latest version of the library as opposed to the standard package in Debian Wheezy, but that might be quite hard to do if you are not a programmer.

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    I am wondering if anyone has gotten i2s out of the BBB yet?

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    I would ssh onto the BeagleBone and see if you can see all the music tracks you expect under /mnt/music. There could be a permissions problem where some of the tracks don't have the correct permissions perhaps.

     

    Look in /var/log/mpd/mpd.log and see if there are any errors about MPD trying to read the missing music tracks. You can look at the log file while the database is being built with a 'tail -f /var/log/mpd/mpd.log' command and it will show new logging info as it arrives.

     

    I have had problems with the ffmpeg library not correctly reading the metadata for some of my AIFF files. I fixed that by building the latest version of the library as opposed to the standard package in Debian Wheezy, but that might be quite hard to do if you are not a programmer.

     

    Richard, thank you for the continued dialogue. I went back to the original 192.168.0.50/Media folder and after a full day of indexing, it does appear that most everything is now appearing in the directories -- including the various subfolders under Browse. So, now I can pull up an album, with artwork, but when I play, it just stays in pause -- and selecting the play button doesn't get it to play. See attached photo (if I attached it correctly).

     

    I ran the /var/log... as you noted and this is what I get:

     

    root@arm:~# tail -f /var/log/mpd/mpd.log

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 13:56 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:24 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    Jan 04 15:24 : player_thread: problems opening audio device while playing "Mus/New folder (110)/2496/Rolling Stones - Stripped (1995) [flac] {UK 2 LP-Set; Hes}/C4 - Angie.flac"

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:24 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:28 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    Jan 04 15:28 : player_thread: problems opening audio device while playing "Mus/New folder (110)/2496/Rolling Stones - Stripped (1995) [flac] {UK 2 LP-Set; Hes}/A2 - Like a Rolling Stone.flac"

     

    The Stones album is what is currently up on the screen on my iPad in MPaD and is the current album that won't play.

     

    So near, yet so far. More help needed.

     

    I also continue to note that no power light comes on the USB-attached DAC, so I am wondering if others are getting the requisite power out of the BBB.

     

    JCR

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    Richard, thank you for the continued dialogue. I went back to the original 192.168.0.50/Media folder and after a full day of indexing, it does appear that most everything is now appearing in the directories -- including the various subfolders under Browse. So, now I can pull up an album, with artwork, but when I play, it just stays in pause -- and selecting the play button doesn't get it to play. See attached photo (if I attached it correctly).

     

    I ran the /var/log... as you noted and this is what I get:

     

    root@arm:~# tail -f /var/log/mpd/mpd.log

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 13:56 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:24 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    Jan 04 15:24 : player_thread: problems opening audio device while playing "Mus/New folder (110)/2496/Rolling Stones - Stripped (1995) [flac] {UK 2 LP-Set; Hes}/C4 - Angie.flac"

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:24 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1401:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card

    Jan 04 15:28 : output: Failed to open "BBB Music Player" [alsa]: Failed to opeALSA device "hw:1,0": No such file or directory

    Jan 04 15:28 : player_thread: problems opening audio device while playing "Mus/New folder (110)/2496/Rolling Stones - Stripped (1995) [flac] {UK 2 LP-Set; Hes}/A2 - Like a Rolling Stone.flac"

     

    The Stones album is what is currently up on the screen on my iPad in MPaD and is the current album that won't play.

     

    So near, yet so far. More help needed.

     

    I also continue to note that no power light comes on the USB-attached DAC, so I am wondering if others are getting the requisite power out of the BBB.

     

    JCR

     

    I did a search for the player_thread: problems opening audio device while playing error message. Perhaps this is what my problem is, but I don't know if I should follow these commands. Sound Device Permission Problems - Music Player Daemon Community Wiki

     

    JCR

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    jrobbins50,

     

    A few posts back, silverarrows was experiencing a similar issue to you. Chris's steps helped the Beaglebone to recognize the DAC again:

     

    Shut it down, pull the power, connect the Bridge, reconnect the power. Should work fine.

     

    Id run the command "aplay -l" to make sure the device is visible.

     

    The HRT in your situation, instead of the Bridge.

     

    What's the power rating of your Power Supply?

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    Separately, does the USB port of the BBB power a DAC? I have mine plugged into an HRT Music Streamer II and nothing is lighting up on the DAC. Perhaps this is because no music is streaming out of the BBB, but I thought I'd see a power light on the DAC.

     

    Thanks in advance for all thoughts. JCR

     

    No, you need to use a 5 volt power supply deliverying at least 1 amp (500 mA for the BeagleBone, 500 mA for a USB peripheral) connected to the round socket, not the micro USB socket. This would explain why your HRT isn't getting powered up I think.

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    jrobbins50,

     

    A few posts back, silverarrows was experiencing a similar issue to you. Chris's steps helped the Beaglebone to recognize the DAC again:

     

     

     

    The HRT in your situation, instead of the Bridge.

     

    What's the power rating of your Power Supply?

     

    So near, yet so far.

     

    Unplugged the BBB and replugged it in. Power light came on the HRT. The supply is 5V 2A (the one recommended by Chris), so it should have worked to power both the BBB and the HRT, and it now seemingly does. Got back into Putty and ran the aplay -1 command. It shows card 0 as the BBB and card 1 as the Music Streamer II USB Audio. Obviously, that is all working correctly.

     

    Grabbed my iPad and pulled up MPaD. It shows it is connected to the BBB. Entries are there under album, artist, song. However, all previous entries under Browse are now gone. Must have something to do with having pulled the power. Picked a variety of songs to play -- and they don't. Nothing happens. I've now selected the "update database" choice in the MPaD, which I assume is the same as having done ctrl-U in Putty. Browse is starting to re-populate. But, selecting a song doesn't move it into the Now Playing area of the MPaD screen, nor does the Nothing Playing notation change.

     

    As I say, so near, yet so far. Next ideas, crew?

     

    Edit update: as new songs begin to repopulate in Browse, I can play them! Sounds is now coming through the HRT into a Little Dot MKII headphone amp with AKG K701 headphones! This must be an issue that the local cache became corrupt after the power unplug. I have selected the clear local cache option in MPaD and it is repopulating everything and I can play songs as repopulated. I bet that eight hours from now, everything will be re-indexed and functioning.

     

    A different issue now. Frankly, the sound is somewhat distorted as the volume level on a recording rises. It almost sounds as though I am overdriving the headphone amp from the HRT. Perhaps the volume level inside of MPD is too high? The volume bar on MPaD is disabled, so I assume there is some adjustment to be made within Putty to cure this? How do I adjust this? Thanks. JCR

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    I am a complete Linux newbie.

     

    Trying the instructions above but cannot download the Debian Wheezy image from the weblink you provided. When I click on the link I get a text only page. Any suggestions?

     

    Thanks!

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    I am a complete Linux newbie.

     

    Trying the instructions above but cannot download the Debian Wheezy image from the weblink you provided. When I click on the link I get a text only page. Any suggestions?

     

    Thanks!

    Here is a link to the available images

     

    Index of /deb/flasher/wheezy

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    Somebody knows if the "Step by Step Mac install" is the same for the Beaglebord-xM is the same as this as this for Beaglebone Black.

     

    https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9978

     

    Roch

     

    PS/ k-man I bought the wrong and expensive one...!

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    And you've bought yourself some exclusivity! :-P

     

    The step-by-step instructions will be a little different, since it won't be the 'flasher' image you need to install. I'll PM the differences.

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    Here is a link to the available images

     

    Index of /deb/flasher/wheezy

     

    Thanks for the link.

    BBB (hopefully) configured correctly and ncmpc is indexing media on the NAS.

    MPaD installed but cannot see BBB on the network.

     

    Couple questions:

    1. How will I know when the media indexing is completed?

    2. When configuring connection to MPD in MPad, Server= My.NAS.Address, password=root...is that correct?

     

    Thanks

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    Thanks for the link.

    BBB (hopefully) configured correctly and ncmpc is indexing media on the NAS.

    MPaD installed but cannot see BBB on the network.

     

    Couple questions:

    1. How will I know when the media indexing is completed?

    2. When configuring connection to MPD in MPad, Server= My.NAS.Address, password=root...is that correct?

     

    Thanks

    In ncmpc there will be a little letter U in the upper right when the database is updating.

     

    You shouldn't need a username and password to connect mpad to the BBB.

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    In ncmpc there will be a little letter U in the upper right when the database is updating.

     

    You shouldn't need a username and password to connect mpad to the BBB.

     

    Dont see a U on the ncmpc page, and there are no tracks listed. No error message either

    Checked the log on my NAS and cant see any entries confirming that the BBB is connecting correctly

    Any suggestions on how to proceed?

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    Dont see a U on the ncmpc page, and there are no tracks listed. No error message either

    Checked the log on my NAS and cant see any entries confirming that the BBB is connecting correctly

    Any suggestions on how to proceed?

    Type the word mount at the command line and see if your NAS is listed as being mounted.

     

    Make sure you pressed ctrl and U to update via ncmpc.

     

    See if you can browse the NAS by switching directories to /mnt/music. Use cd /mnt/music then type ls and hit enter to list everything.

     

    also try typing service mpd restart and see if you get any errors.

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    the /mnt/music ls command displays the subfolders in my music archive on the NAS, so the connection appears to be working.

    Also restarted mpd with no errors.

    Restarted the index update and now the is visible on the ncmpc window.

    Stay tuned!

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    Indexing is complete- all music visible using ncmpc or MPad!

    BBB connected to DAC via USB (Wyred 4 Sound mINT)

    I can open and play music files in MPad but there is no sound coming from the mINT...

    Almost there, but not quite...

    Any further help appreciated!

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    Another glitch-

    i can load tracks into the playlist on MPad and mpd but they will not play.

    Help!

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