SOtM smS-200 unveiled at Munich Hi-End

[creativepart]

There is not one Chord DAC on their list of Natively Supported DSD DACs. I sent them my DAC Info for my Chord Qutest via email. We'll see what happens.

 

Due to the issues folks encountered with their last few updates I will wait and see if others have any issues with this Kernel update before proceeding.

 

I'm especially interested in the NAA update.

[stefano_mbp]

20 minutes ago, creativepart said:

Due to the issues folks encountered with their last few updates

… done just before posting … no issues at all for kernel update.

To update NAA you just need to uninstall NAA and reinstall it … it’s not a complete firmware update that is still 0.5.2

[creativepart]

2 hours ago, stefano_mbp said:

To update NAA you just need to uninstall NAA and reinstall it

Humm, I uninstalled the HQP NAA and then reinstalled it, and even restarted it but it still shows:'

 

HQPlayer Network Audio Adapter  

Network Audio Daemon version : 4.1.1

 

I have not done the Kernel and 5.2 firmware install yet. Must they go hand in hand?

 

I assume the firmware update still takes 3+ hours to run? If not I'll run it during the day, if it does I'll run it overnight.

[stefano_mbp]

58 minutes ago, creativepart said:

I assume the firmware update still takes 3+ hours to run?

Just 10 minutes, more or less.

For first I uninstalled and reinstalled NAA and then updated kernel.

You could try to uninstall NAA, reboot and then reinstall it.

[creativepart]

1 hour ago, stefano_mbp said:

Just 10 minutes, more or less.

Based on your comment I was going to go ahead with the firmware update to 5.2 but when I started it I got a message window telling me to expect 4 to 6 hours for the update to install.

 

So, I'll postpone that until bedtime tonight.

[stefano_mbp]

@creativepart … it probably depends on the server load

[creativepart]

So I finally got around to attempting to update my SMS200 Ultra via the Eunhasu utility from 5.1 to 5.2 and it failed twice. I don't have any USB discs attached to the SMS200. I'm on a Mac with the latest OS Monterey 12.3.1

 

I don't know where it failed at, I ran it and when I came back a few hours later there was a Failed notice on screen. Tried it again and got the same result.

 

It suggested that I use the disc image route.

 

When I go to the download 5.2 disc image link there are two files, an .img.gz and a .img.md5. I assume the md5 is some sort of checksum.

 

I downloaded them both. the .img.gz and unpacked it.

 

I don't want to over write my microSD in the SMS200 because it's working. So, I'll buy a new one. Two questions:

1. Can I use a microSD larger than 8gb - the unarchived disc image is 8.06 - so I assume I can

2. What do I do with the sMS-200_20211122-V0.5.2.img.md5 file? Anything?

[5-pot-fan]

Hi,

Look on previous posts for useful/appropriate tools for writing the .img file to your new sd card. I use 32Gb ones now - they are pretty cheap.

Write the file and test it.

the .md5 file is as you suspect - a hash/checksum file and is not involved in writing to the new card.

It is straightforward, but if you have problems then a) you can try again and b) you still have the previous card!

[Mahler and Bach on Computer]

I bought three 32GB memory cards.  I have tried to burn the latest firmware into each of them.  Unfortunately, Sotm SMS 200 cannot read either of them.  
 

any suggestion?

[5-pot-fan]

I have used Win32diskimager(preferred by me)  and also Balena Etcher.

Do you think the sdcard took the image successfully?

 

[audiobomber]

The SOtM Imager did not work for me, had to use Balena.

[5-pot-fan]

If you used Balena for the previous card then that should be OK, so the next question is why the latest image is not working. My 2 experiences of such were 1) faulty card 2) faulty download of the image from sotm.

Assuming you have new cards try a fresh download, and if you run Windows then also try Win32diskimager to write it.

Also, I assume your sotm is reading the previous card Ok and is not faulty in some way?

[creativepart]

I bought a new 32gb card and applied the image using the DD-Image application that SoTM provides links to for Mac. I have the same issue as @Mahler and Bach on Computer (wow, long username). The SMS200 Ultra just sits and doesn't load the OS. I tried it a couple of times - nothing.

 

Normally, when it's booting you see the network activity lights. Also, my router can't find Eunhasu on the network. Period. Not at any IP.

 

I removed the 5.2 MicroSD and put the 5.1 back in and voila... everything loaded normally

 

Anybody with Mac experience have a suggestion? I wonder... if I booted my Mac into Windows 11 and use the windows app if I could have better luck?

[Tommd64]

My thoughts ; the Sms200(ultra) isn’t capable for more than 16gb . Best advise keep your latest update and burn a new one on 16gb.(like i did mine)

[creativepart]

I tried Balena and it failed around 11% in 3-times in a row.

 

One of the issues is once you put the image on the mSD card the Mac loses track of it. And what Balena said on the failure was that it couldn't find the disk. When you re-insert the SD into the Mac card reader the disk isn't recognized. If you wait a minute or so you'll get a popup that says the card isn't recognized and then you can choose an Ignore option and the Mac will see it in the Disk Manager and Balena and DD-Image will see the card.

 

But as the image is put on the card the Mac seems to loose it again. So, even though DD-Image says it's completed 100% I'm more inclined to believe Balena that it loses the card and can't finish writing to it.

 

I would reformat the card - because a new card is always recognized - but the last time I tried that it bricked the card and I had to buy a new one.

[creativepart]

11 minutes ago, Tommd64 said:

My thoughts ; the Sms200(ultra) isn’t capable for more than 16gb . Best advise keep your latest update and burn a new one on 16gb.(like i did mine)

It's not that. Turns out my old v5.1 mSD card was already a 32gb card. So, yeah, the SoTM works fine with 32gb mSD cards.

[creativepart]

I run a newer M1 (ARM) based Mac. I have Win 11 ARM installed on a virtual drive. Windows seems to recognize the disk without a lot of issues. I keeps wanting to reformat it. But at least it is seen.

 

So, I downloaded the Win32diskimager app and I'm trying to write the image in Windows now.

 

It's been a long time since I had to do this - but using Win to write this image rings a bell for me. It seems like a long time ago I had to do this on another SoTM "update."

[creativepart]

Well, that didn't work either. 4% into the disk imaging it loses the disk and can't write to it.

 

Good thing my 5.1 works great.

 

I was able to reformat that 32gb mSD card, but it took a lot of finagling - first I had to format it in Windows, but Win thought it was only a 289mb card. But it put FAT on it. Once FAT was on it then the Mac recognized it and I could reformat it - in FAT again - on the Mac and now it's 32 gb again.

 

After reformatting it I did try to disk image it again in Windows - but it failed again at 4% with an IO error.

 

I'm pretty much at a loss of what to do next. As long as I can reformat it and salvage the mSD to try a different approach I don't mind messing with it over and over again.

 

Actually, it's been years since things just didn't work on my computer. This kind of reminds me of before I switched to Mac.

[Mahler and Bach on Computer]

6 hours ago, creativepart said:

I bought a new 32gb card and applied the image using the DD-Image application that SoTM provides links to for Mac. I have the same issue as @Mahler and Bach on Computer (wow, long username). The SMS200 Ultra just sits and doesn't load the OS. I tried it a couple of times - nothing.

 

Normally, when it's booting you see the network activity lights. Also, my router can't find Eunhasu on the network. Period. Not at any IP.

 

I removed the 5.2 MicroSD and put the 5.1 back in and voila... everything loaded normally

 

Anybody with Mac experience have a suggestion? I wonder... if I booted my Mac into Windows 11 and use the windows app if I could have better luck?

I used the exactly the same process with the brand-new card of the named-brand.  Not working as you reported.

[creativepart]

1 hour ago, Mahler and Bach on Computer said:

I used the exactly the same process with the brand-new card of the named-brand.  Not working as you reported.

Are you by any chance on a Mac? Maybe a M1 Mac? Just wondering if that could be an issue?

[stefano_mbp]

2 hours ago, creativepart said:

Are you by any chance on a Mac? Maybe a M1 Mac? Just wondering if that could be an issue?

I’m on Mac, an old MacBook Pro late 2011, and I could burn the image without any issue (btw … the OTA 0.5.2 update failed for me too)

Lately I used ApplePi-Backer v2 (https://www.tweaking4all.com/software/macosx-software/applepi-baker-v2/) and I think it more reliable than Balena Etcher (Mac only).

Be aware that since few updates (sorry don’t remember when exactly) an 8GB card is not enough anymore, must be at least 16GB… and a 32GB works too.

[5-pot-fan]

Not sure if this is relevant - but someone mentioned the card was formatted to "fat". It needs to be formatted to "fat32" and as long as this works you will get a card with something under 32Gb space.

[Mahler and Bach on Computer]

Wonder if anyone ever succeed and share the best practice with the rest of the group here.  If no one ever succeed, then we may just have to wait.  People can ask questions for the person who has succeeded to dig out more variables which may impact on this process.  

[stefano_mbp]

I succeeded, burning the sd on Mac with ApplePi-Backer (see my previous post, sometimes Balena Etcher is faulty), no need to unzip the image, ApplePi-Backer will do it itself.

The micro sd is a Sandisk 16GB (Sandisk Ultra Class 10)

Don’t bother formatting the sd, during the burning process it will be formatted again …

Just insert the burned sd in the SOtM, power it on and wait, the first boot will be longer than usual … it seems that from now there will be two consecutive boots, the green led start blinking, after a while it shut down and then it restart again, wait until the complete boot process will end.

Now you’ll be able to connect to the eunhasu web page to configure it.

[creativepart]

Thanks I'll give this a try and report back.