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

[k-man]

Wow! That's a nice set of instructions for both Mac and Windows users. And it's gracious of you to mention me and Richard in your article.

 

This is one hardware tweak I encourage, particular anyone who wants to try different power supply options:

 

Beaglebone Battery Cape BB-BONE-BATT-01 - CIRCUITCO - DAUGTHER CARD, BEAGLEBONE BATTERY | Newark

 

This works fine with the Beaglebone Black, but the extra width of the board means it is incompatible with the current cases. Up to four AA batteries or NiMH batteries are ideal. Once it's secure, it's also not easy to get access to the Boot or Reset buttons on the Beaglebone, but there is a easy Power ON/OFF switch on the Cape.

 

[k-man]

Is there any way to make this wifi-capable without hogging up the USB port? It'd be a really nice little music server if it wasn't restricted by ethernet.

 

Slowdown5646,

 

There were a few Wifi Capes (add-on boards) designed for the Beaglebone, but I just looked at the support website and found they are incompatible with the Beaglebone Black :-(

 

BeagleBone Black Capes - eLinux.org

 

The alternative would be to attach a Wifi router to the Beaglebone Black and either get it to join an existing connection, or connect your Computer via Wifi. I admit this is the less elegant solution, and I have not tried this approach.

 

The Wandboard is an embedded solution that has inbuilt Wifi and bluetooth. Chris has mentioned it is a great board to use, and if you are able to get a Debian Wheezy image, then the instructions to configure the OS should be very similar to the Beaglebone Black.

 

Also is there a way I could share [music] files with the BBB and another computer? I don't actually have a NAS so this would be extremely convenient as well.

 

On a Mac this should work:

 

Open System Preferences.

Open Sharing (In the Internet and Wireless section).

Select File Sharing and ensure it is ticked to enable On.

Under "Sharing Folders:" Click the "+" button and Select your Music Folder. Click Add.

Select "Options..." and Click on "Share files and folders using SMB. Click Done.

 

Follow the Beaglebone Black OS configuration.

 

I'm assuming Windows users can enable File Sharing with an easier method.

[k-man]

Silverarrows,

 

It would mean your Beaglebone failed to recognize your DAC, or it has moved to another position in the devices list.

 

Try typing the following:

 

aplay -L

 

The 2 default devices listed would be Beaglebone Ti and your DAC, in their positions 0:0 or 1:0. If your DAC is not listed, then it will be a connection issue. If it is listed, re-edit /etc/mpd.conf and look for the ALSA Audio Output section:

 

 

[left][color=#3E3E3E]audio_output {[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]type "alsa"[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]name "USB DAC"[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]device "hw:[b]card_name[/b],0" # optional[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]# format "44100:16:2" # optional[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]# mixer_device "default" # optional[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]# mixer_control "PCM" # optional[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]# mixer_index "0" # optional[/color]
[color=#3E3E3E]}[/color][/left]

 

Where card_name is from the aplay -L command (NOT the device name). If you change your DAC, then you will need to re-edit it.

[k-man]

Forgot to mention this:

 

To get the 'aplay' command working, you need to install the alsa-utils package:

 

sudo apt-get install alsa-utils

[k-man]

For the past 2 weeks I have been using Logitech Media Server on the Synology NAS, and running Squeezelite on the Beaglebone Black. It gives a great performance, and takes fewer steps to set up. That does mean taking MPD out of the equation, so I’ll write out a set of instructions elsewhere (new blog entry) if anyone is interested in trying this alternative configuration. The Squeezebox Controller app for the iPhone/iPad works similarly to MPoD/mPaD for remote.

 

Upon further experimenting with networking, I get the best results sending the data between NAS and Beaglebone wirelessly with an Airport Extreme and Express combo. I had always been skeptical with wireless transmission in audio, but on balance less ‘noise’ is heard compared to the wired setup.

[k-man]

Hi Guys - Just an update.

 

I linked to the newest version of the Debian image file in the instructions. And, I did some testing with NFS versus SMB/CIFS. Using NFS I couldn't get playback without pops and ticks. I switched back to SMB/CIFS and all is well. Probably a config issue on my end. Not sure what to tweak.

 

This is what I have in my /etc/exports (NAS):

 

/volume1/music *(ro,async,no_wdelay,no_root_squash,insecure,anonuid=0,anongid=0)

 

My /etc/fstab entry (Beaglebone):

 

10.0.1.x:/volume1/music /mnt/music nfs soft,intro,ro,rsize=32768 0 0

[k-man]

My /etc/fstab entry (Beaglebone):

 

Code:

 

10.0.1.x:/volume1/music /mnt/music nfs soft,intro,ro,rsize=32768 0 0

 

Oops I made an error! "intro" needs to be amended to "intr", otherwise a mount error will arise.

[color=#3E3E3E]10.0.1.x:/volume1/music /mnt/music nfs soft,[/color][b]intr[/b][color=#3E3E3E],ro,rsize=32768 0 0[/color]

 

As Richard pointed, I tried both cifs and nfs mounts, preferring nfs. But I didn't play about with the various options in the Synology DiskStation Manager for the Windows share (re MTU size).

[k-man]

Any practical info on what buffer settings to try would be helpfull ... I already read some articles but somehow the information does not really trigger my understandings of the whole process ...

 

P.S. do I need to reboot something before such settings take effect or do I only need to stop end re-start playback ?

 

Oystein,

 

I'm new to Linux too so I didn't play around with the alsa-base config settings. An alternative approach would be to try amending the MPD Internal Buffering settings in /etc/mpd.conf:

 

 

So deleting the # before 'audio_buffer_size' and 'buffer_before_play', and change to any appropriate figure (e.g. 1024, and 4% as a suggestion).

 

Save the changes, then reboot or type:

sudo /etc/init.d/mpd restart

 

...activates the changes.

[k-man]

Looking into the cross-fading option of MPD is read on their Wiki page that these settings also determine the crossfader behaviour.

Music Player Daemon Crossfading Troubleshooting - Music Player Daemon Community Wiki

Sounds to me like crossfading can be eliminated by setting the buffer before play to 100%.

 

With my Squeezelite configuration I have the 'Crossfade' to OFF in the Logitech Media Server Settings.

[k-man]

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?

[k-man]

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.

[k-man]

Voyage MuBox (essentially Voyage MPD) has now been ported for the Beaglebone Black!

[k-man]

Maybe this is a silly question, but will this work with a stand alone USB drive? I am not running a NAS here, and would love to try this out first, then maybe pursue an NAS. My ultimate goal would be to run an HQ Player NAA and use my W8 internal 4tb "storage space".

 

It could be possible if your router has a USB port, and is visible on the network. Otherwise, I see your HQ Player NAA configuration is a lot more simple to set up.

[k-man]

Chris, No, I cannot play music,nothing is shown. I think there is no connection with the NAS for some reason. Instead of "//192.168.1.246/Muziek /mnt/music cifs defaults,username=admin,password=mypassword 0 0" I tried "//192.168.1.246/volume2/Muziek /mnt/music cifs defaults,username=admin,password=mypassword 0 0". That did not work either. The image used to start with is BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.2-2013-11-15.img. The NAS is a Synology 1512+ + DX510 running the latest firmware.

 

Have you enabled Windows sharing on your Synology? This is done on the Synology DSM Control Panel, and you can select the folder to share (ie Muziek). So the //192.168.1.246/Muziek is the likelier of the two. Use the mount -a command after any changes to your fstab entry for a quickest trial and error approach.

[k-man]

I tried MPaD with BBB and the other NAS. In MPaD again I see no MPD. I have set server: 192.168.1.221, Port is default 6600 (I hope this is correct) and Password: root.

As my aim is to use BBB with a Qnap HS-210 NAS it is necessary for me to get MPaD running.

 

On MPaD, perhaps set the server to http://192.168.1.221 or beaglebone.local

I don't think entering a password is necessary.

Another obvious one is to make sure your iPad is joined to the same Wifi Network.

[k-man]

iPad is on the same network. I tried beagle bone.local, port 6600, with and without password. Nothing there.

 

I might actually be arm or arm.local for Debian. I used to have beaglebone.local set for another distro.