Beagle Bone Black + QNAP hs210

[Adasssiowy]

Hi all,

i've bought BBB+qnap hs210 and would like to create media server. (connected to dac and controlled via iphone)

i've tried couple instructions and volumio project but it still doesn't work properly.

Does anybody know how how to set up this equipment and achieve working properly MPD server ??

 

Thanks in advance for every help.

[bbrazil]

I might be able to offer some help/sugestions, as I've set up a few mpd based servers. Can you provide a bit more information: (1) what exactly doesn't work properly, (2) is your BBB connecting via wired ethernet or wifi to home network, (3) does your mpd.conf file currently point to your music library, (4) when you run mpd -v from terminal/CLI, what happens, (5) is RaspyFi locating your nas and do you have mount set up on BBB.

 

I am not running volumio/Raspyfi on my mpd server, so I'm not sure exactly how raspyfi's mpd.conf file is set up/configured. The more detail you can provide the better.

[Adasssiowy]

Hi,

thanks for fast response.

i'm not able to answer to all your questions but will shortly tell u about situation.

my BBB is connected to router via wire, BBB is connected to QNAP via USB cable, QNAP is connected to DAC via USB cable.

i tried to set up using this instruction => Computer Audiophile - Geek Speak: How To Build A BeagleBone Black MPD Music Server

but it didn't work properly because i couldn't find this file on the web => BBB-eMMC-flasher-debian-7.1-2013-07-22.img

i tried with newer but it didn't work properly - iphone app couldn't find any server

after this i tried with volumio. iphone app found server but it couldn't connect with qnap.

i know that connection between qnap and dac works properly because its possible to play music from qnap (using webbrowser on pc to connect with qnap and play music).

i believe that this info may not be enough but maybe u know other instruction that will solve my problem.

[cjf]

Well there are many possibilities here but there are a few things that strike me as odd with the way you are connecting things.

 

If it were me, I would leave the Ethernet cable from the BB to the router/switch in place. I would then remove the USB cable from the BB that is currently connected to the QNAP and instead connect that USB cable to the DAC. Since the QNAP is a NAS device I wouldn't imagine a need to have any USB connections hooked up to it at all because in doing so you are defeating the purpose of having a NAS device in the first place which should normally only be accessed via Ethernet (This statement is probably 99.99% true in most cases but there could be reasons to not do it this way).

 

The normal flow of data from most MPD configurations would be as follows:

 

Media File sitting on NAS---------Ethernet Cable From NAS To------Switch/Router------Another Ethernet Cable to Beagle Bone From Switch/Router----MPD Software running on Beagle Bone----USB Port on Beagle Bone Out To---A USB Cable Connected to---USB Port on DAC....etc...etc

 

The Beagle Bone would access the Media File in step # 1 above via an NFS/Samba/CIFs "Mount". You connect to the MPD server running on the Beagle Bone via I-Device and choose which file to play using an already in place wireless network in your home.

 

In your current configuration, MPD would be attempting to send music it receives from the QNAP, BACK TO & THRU THE QNAP AGAIN, before it is then forwarded to the DAC by way of some USB Hub built within the QNAP which is not what I would consider very efficient not to mention it would probably cause all sorts of Jitter and other timing issues in the data stream.

 

I'll stop here for now.

[Adasssiowy]

thx for response cjf

i understand waht u wrote. i will connect in the way u described.

but now i need instyruction how to set this up. do u know where i could find one ??

 

thx in advance for help

[cjf]

A few first steps that are needed to get things started. I should note these are high level steps and not exact step by step.

 

Create an NFS Share on the QNap. This means create a parent folder and use it as the source of the NFS Share. Child folders of the Parent should be similar to the following:

 

MUSIC

LOG

DB

PLAYLIST

PID

STATE

STICKER

 

The permissions of the NFS Share should be open with Read/Write for everyone/anonymous so no authentication is required for access.

 

Next:

 

Configure Voyage Linux MPD to "MOUNT" this above NFS Share at boot up. This is done by configuring the /etc/fstab file. You will need to Add a new line to the default fstab file to include the absolute path to the Share you setup on your QNAP.

 

An example would be:

IPAddress of NAS/YOURSHARENAME: /mnt/YOURSHARENAME NFS

 

Once you have your Mount working correctly you can move onto configuring the /etc/mpd.conf file which is the bread and butter of the Voyage Linux setup.

 

Below I have pasted mine to give you an idea of what it should look like. Obviously you would need to substitute the paths listed to work with your configuration. I should note again that there is allot of Fluff inside this file and most of which is not needed. If you were to eliminate every line that started with a "#" symbol you would see there isn't much left and the lines without the "#" symbols are the only active ones being used.

 

Once you have the MPD.conf file configured you then will need to download the MPOD or MPAD App from the Apple store. You will use this to control playback of your music library.

 

As a tip, most the the config steps can be found on the Voyage Linux website. I'll be glad to help if you get stuck but be prepared to Google the shit out of allot of the details surrounding the steps need if this is your first time and if your not familiar with Linux.

 

 

 

# An example configuration file for MPD

# See the mpd.conf man page for a more detailed description of each parameter.

 

 

# Files and directories #######################################################

#

# This setting controls the top directory which MPD will search to discover the

# available audio files and add them to the daemon's online database. This

# setting defaults to the XDG directory, otherwise the music directory will be

# be disabled and audio files will only be accepted over ipc socket (using

# file:// protocol) or streaming files over an accepted protocol.

#

music_directory "/mnt/DATA/MUSIC"

#

# This setting sets the MPD internal playlist directory. The purpose of this

# directory is storage for playlists created by MPD. The server will use

# playlist files not created by the server but only if they are in the MPD

# format. This setting defaults to playlist saving being disabled.

#

playlist_directory "/mnt/DATA/PLAYLISTMASTER"

#

# This setting sets the location of the MPD database. This file is used to

# load the database at server start up and store the database while the

# server is not up. This setting defaults to disabled which will allow

# MPD to accept files over ipc socket (using file:// protocol) or streaming

# files over an accepted protocol.

#

db_file "/mnt/DATA/ALIX/db/mpd.db"

#

# These settings are the locations for the daemon log files for the daemon.

# These logs are great for troubleshooting, depending on your log_level

# settings.

#

# The special value "syslog" makes MPD use the local syslog daemon. This

# setting defaults to logging to syslog, otherwise logging is disabled.

#

#

log_file "/mnt/DATA/ALIX/logs/mpd.log"

#

# This setting sets the location of the file which stores the process ID

# for use of mpd --kill and some init scripts. This setting is disabled by

# default and the pid file will not be stored.

#

pid_file "/mnt/DATA/ALIX/pid/pid"

#

# This setting sets the location of the file which contains information about

# most variables to get MPD back into the same general shape it was in before

# it was brought down. This setting is disabled by default and the server

# state will be reset on server start up.

#

state_file "/mnt/DATA/ALIX/state/state"

#

# The location of the sticker database. This is a database which

# manages dynamic information attached to songs.

#

#sticker_file "/mnt/cifmusic/ALIX/sticker/sticker.sql"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# General music daemon options ################################################

#

# This setting specifies the user that MPD will run as. MPD should never run as

# root and you may use this setting to make MPD change its user ID after

# initialization. This setting is disabled by default and MPD is run as the

# current user.

#

#user "alix"

#

# This setting specifies the group that MPD will run as. If not specified

# primary group of user specified with "user" setting will be used (if set).

# This is useful if MPD needs to be a member of group such as "audio" to

# have permission to use sound card.

#

group "audio"

#

# This setting sets the address for the daemon to listen on. Careful attention

# should be paid if this is assigned to anything other then the default, any.

# This setting can deny access to control of the daemon. Choose any if you want

# to have mpd listen on every address

#

# For network

#bind_to_address "localhost"

#

# And for Unix Socket

#bind_to_address "/var/run/mpd/socket"

#

# This setting is the TCP port that is desired for the daemon to get assigned

# to.

#

#port "6600"

#

# This setting controls the type of information which is logged. Available

# setting arguments are "default", "secure" or "verbose". The "verbose" setting

# argument is recommended for troubleshooting, though can quickly stretch

# available resources on limited hardware storage.

#

#log_level "default"

#

# If you have a problem with your MP3s ending abruptly it is recommended that

# you set this argument to "no" to attempt to fix the problem. If this solves

# the problem, it is highly recommended to fix the MP3 files with vbrfix

# (available as vbrfix in the debian archive), at which

# point gapless MP3 playback can be enabled.

#

#gapless_mp3_playback "yes"

#

# This setting enables MPD to create playlists in a format usable by other

# music players.

#

#save_absolute_paths_in_playlists "no"

#

# This setting defines a list of tag types that will be extracted during the

# audio file discovery process. Optionally, 'comment' can be added to this

# list.

#

metadata_to_use "artist,album,title,track,name,genre,date,composer,performer,disc"

#

# This setting enables automatic update of MPD's database when files in

# music_directory are changed.

#

auto_update "yes"

#

# Limit the depth of the directories being watched, 0 means only watch

# the music directory itself. There is no limit by default.

#

#auto_update_depth "3"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Symbolic link behavior ######################################################

#

# If this setting is set to "yes", MPD will discover audio files by following

# symbolic links outside of the configured music_directory.

#

#follow_outside_symlinks "yes"

#

# If this setting is set to "yes", MPD will discover audio files by following

# symbolic links inside of the configured music_directory.

#

#follow_inside_symlinks "yes"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Zeroconf / Avahi Service Discovery ##########################################

#

# If this setting is set to "yes", service information will be published with

# Zeroconf / Avahi.

#

#zeroconf_enabled "yes"

#

# The argument to this setting will be the Zeroconf / Avahi unique name for

# this MPD server on the network.

#

#zeroconf_name "Music Player"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Permissions #################################################################

#

# If this setting is set, MPD will require password authorization. The password

# can setting can be specified multiple times for different password profiles.

#

#password "password@read,add,control,admin"

#

# This setting specifies the permissions a user has who has not yet logged in.

#

#default_permissions "read,add,control,admin"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Input #######################################################################

#

 

#input {

# plugin "curl"

# proxy "proxy.isp.com:8080"

# proxy_user "user"

# proxy_password "password"

#}

 

#

###############################################################################

 

# Audio Output ################################################################

#

# MPD supports various audio output types, as well as playing through multiple

# audio outputs at the same time, through multiple audio_output settings

# blocks. Setting this block is optional, though the server will only attempt

# autodetection for one sound card.

#

# See <http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Configuration#Audio_Outputs> for examples of

# other audio outputs.

#

# An example of an ALSA output:

#

audio_output {

type "alsa"

name "CP800"

device "hw:0,0"

# format "44100:16:2" optional

# mixer_device "default" optional

# mixer_control "PCM" optional

# mixer_index "0" optional

dsd_usb "yes"

}

#

# An example of an OSS output:

#

#audio_output {

# type "oss"

# name "My OSS Device"

# device "/dev/dsp" # optional

# format "44100:16:2" # optional

# mixer_device "/dev/mixer" # optional

# mixer_control "PCM" # optional

#}

#

# An example of a shout output (for streaming to Icecast):

#

#audio_output {

# type "shout"

# encoding "ogg" # optional

# name "My Shout Stream"

# host "localhost"

# port "8000"

# mount "/mpd.ogg"

# password "hackme"

# quality "5.0"

# bitrate "128"

# format "44100:16:1"

# protocol "icecast2" # optional

# user "source" # optional

# description "My Stream Description" # optional

# genre "jazz" # optional

# public "no" # optional

# timeout "2" # optional

#}

#

# An example of a recorder output:

#

#audio_output {

# type "recorder"

# name "My recorder"

# encoder "vorbis" # optional, vorbis or lame

# path "/var/lib/mpd/recorder/mpd.ogg"

## quality "5.0" # do not define if bitrate is defined

# bitrate "128" # do not define if quality is defined

# format "44100:16:1"

#}

#

# An example of a httpd output (built-in HTTP streaming server):

#

#audio_output {

# type "httpd"

# name "My HTTP Stream"

# encoder "vorbis" # optional, vorbis or lame

# port "8000"

# quality "5.0" # do not define if bitrate is defined

# bitrate "128" # do not define if quality is defined

# format "44100:16:1"

#}

#

# An example of a pulseaudio output (streaming to a remote pulseaudio server)

#

#audio_output {

# type "pulse"

# name "My Pulse Output"

# server "remote_server" # optional

# sink "remote_server_sink" # optional

#}

#

## Example "pipe" output:

#

#audio_output {

# type "pipe"

# name "my pipe"

# command "aplay -f cd 2>/dev/null"

## Or if you're want to use AudioCompress

# command "AudioCompress -m | aplay -f cd 2>/dev/null"

## Or to send raw PCM stream through PCM:

# command "nc example.org 8765"

# format "44100:16:2"

#}

#

## An example of a null output (for no audio output):

#

#audio_output {

# type "null"

# name "My Null Output"

#}

#

# This setting will change all decoded audio to be converted to the specified

# format before being passed to the audio outputs. By default, this setting is

# disabled.

#

#audio_output_format "44100:16:2"

#

# If MPD has been compiled with libsamplerate support, this setting specifies

# the sample rate converter to use. Possible values can be found in the

# mpd.conf man page or the libsamplerate documentation. By default, this is

# setting is disabled.

#

#samplerate_converter "Fastest Sinc Interpolator"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Volume control mixer ########################################################

#

# These are the global volume control settings. By default, this setting will

# be detected to the available audio output device, with preference going to

# hardware mixing. Hardware and software mixers for individual audio_output

# sections cannot yet be mixed.

#

# An example for controlling an ALSA, OSS or Pulseaudio mixer; If this

# setting is used other sound applications will be affected by the volume

# being controlled by MPD.

#

#mixer_type "hardware"

#

# An example for controlling all mixers through software. This will control

# all controls, even if the mixer is not supported by the device and will not

# affect any other sound producing applications.

#

#mixer_type "software"

#

# This example will not allow MPD to touch the mixer at all and will disable

# all volume controls.

#

mixer_type "disabled"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Normalization automatic volume adjustments ##################################

#

# This setting specifies the type of ReplayGain to use. This setting can have

# the argument "album" or "track". See <http://www.replaygain.org> for more

# details. This setting is disabled by default.

#

#replaygain "album"

#

# This setting sets the pre-amp used for files that have ReplayGain tags. By

# default this setting is disabled.

#

#replaygain_preamp "0"

#

# This setting enables on-the-fly normalization volume adjustment. This will

# result in the volume of all playing audio to be adjusted so the output has

# equal "loudness". This setting is disabled by default.

#

volume_normalization "no"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# MPD Internal Buffering ######################################################

#

# This setting adjusts the size of internal decoded audio buffering. Changing

# this may have undesired effects. Don't change this if you don't know what you

# are doing.

#

audio_buffer_size "1536"

#

# This setting controls the percentage of the buffer which is filled before

# beginning to play. Increasing this reduces the chance of audio file skipping,

# at the cost of increased time prior to audio playback.

#

buffer_before_play "20%"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Resource Limitations ########################################################

#

# These settings are various limitations to prevent MPD from using too many

# resources. Generally, these settings should be minimized to prevent security

# risks, depending on the operating resources.

#

#connection_timeout "60"

#max_connections "10"

#max_playlist_length "16384"

#max_command_list_size "2048"

#max_output_buffer_size "8192"

#

###############################################################################

 

 

# Character Encoding ##########################################################

#

# If file or directory names do not display correctly for your locale then you

# may need to modify this setting. After modification of this setting mpd

# --create-db must be run to change the database.

#

filesystem_charset "UTF-8"

#

# This setting controls the encoding that ID3v1 tags should be converted from.

#

id3v1_encoding "UTF-8"

#

###############################################################################

# SIDPlay decoder #############################################################

#

# songlength_database:

# Location of your songlengths file, as distributed with the HVSC.

# The sidplay plugin checks this for matching MD5 fingerprints.

# See http://www.c64.org/HVSC/DOCUMENTS/Songlengths.faq

#

# default_songlength:

# This is the default playing time in seconds for songs not in the

# songlength database, or in case you're not using a database.

# A value of 0 means play indefinitely.

#

# filter:

# Turns the SID filter emulation on or off.

#

#decoder {

# plugin "sidplay"

# songlength_database "/media/C64Music/DOCUMENTS/Songlengths.txt"

# default_songlength "120"

# filter "true"

#}

#

###############################################################################

 

 

#decoder {

# plugin "sndfile"

# enabled "no"

#}

 

follow_outside_symlinks "yes"

follow_inside_symlinks "yes"

zeroconf_enabled "yes"

zeroconf_name "Voyage Music Player"

#mixer_type "hardware"

#bind_to_address "any"

[cjf]

I wanted to add one more thing. The reason I recommend getting the NFS mount setup first is because IME, this can be the most difficult part of the whole setup to get working correctly.

 

Once you are at a point where you can boot up your Beagle Bone box running Voyage Linux and it automagically Mounts the NFS Share EVERYTIME without user interaction you are what I would consider 75% done. I would ignore all other steps until you get this part working via flogging the /etc/fstab file.

 

Report back once you are at this point and we can go from there. Good Luck!

[Adasssiowy]

CJF

great ;] thank YOU very very much for your time and help.

i will try this next week .