Allo Sparky USBridge

[ambre]

Hi Rahul  & Pirpiri82,  Many thanks.

 

I have downloaded the version delivered by Rahul already set the parameters. Immediately after  start-up  a proper handshake.

Marvellous. Will (re)start this evening a few times to check whether it remains stable. 

 

Ps. In the previous /present version 6.1 I have turned everything off except Roon, HQ-player and Neta-data. Could this be the reason that the USB-setting was/is not right. Because you can change  the DAC settings in Sqeezelite and MPD accordingly?

 

Very best regards, Andreas

 

 

 

[ambre]

Hi Daniel & Rahul,

 

Possibly a silly  question?

 

1) How can I control 2 x DietPi devices via the Allo Web Gui at the same time? I have a Sparky UsBridge and Raspberry P3 with latest Allo Gui Version Software.

 

     1) DietPi_RPi-armv7- (Stretch) _AlloGUI.7z. Ps. Changed from HQ-Player distro to DietPi this afternoon.
     2) DietPi_SparkySBC-ARMv7_V6.7z

 

If the DietPi.local command is typed, how can I see which device and/or software I control or change?

 

2) I have  noticed also conflicts with HQ-player. There are two NAA programs/deamons running.  Sparky UsBridge and on Raspberry P3.  I can address only ONE HQ-player output device at once=>> thats normal.   But as soon I like to change within HQ-player to another  NAA-device the control over the first NAA-device is completely lost.

 

I can play from Roon at the same time 1x HQ-Player and the second and more devices as part of Roon DietPi Software.  

But as soon as I like to change/alter the setting screen within HQ-player (please see attached picture ) the control / connection with the first NAA-device has been lost.

 

As soon I release the Roon DietPi device which was playing at the same moment from Roon  I can control this as HQ-Player NAA device. But  the connection with the first NAA HQ-Player device is lost . Only when I shutdown the second NAA  I can recover the first NAA device again.

 

If this isn't possible within DietPi & HQ-Player  than I will need a work around. For instance: Disable on one  device the NAA DietPi software and use only Roon.  And vice-versa on the other DietPi device.  

 

Please your advice.

 

Very best regards, Andreas

[PunkRiot]

3 hours ago, ambre said:

 

 

Ps. In the previous /present version 6.1 I have turned everything off except Roon, HQ-player and Neta-data. Could this be the reason that the USB-setting was/is not right. 

 

 

 

In my case that was the issue. After doing changes: host name, static IP, and save settings via GUI the USB setting in the configuration file was changed to 1. I had to manually changed back to 0. 

 

You can change via GUI the host name so can use different name to connect to both devices. Also check the IP addresses of both. But remember, in my case saving settings by GUI change the USB mode.

[jtwrace]

On 2/6/2018 at 9:28 AM, PunkRiot said:

I downloaded from this link two days ago, this was 6.1 with Allo GUI.

7z file under this link is updated on regular basis so yo will have the newest Allo GUI image there:

Download Image:

• Sparky SBC: http://dietpi.com/downloads/images/DietPi_SparkySBC-ARMv7-Stretch_AlloGUI.7z

So what you're saying is the link is updated even though the date of the post is old?  

 

It's working now! 

[PunkRiot]

This is at least my understanding and experience so far. There is one blog post and link there. The binaries under that link are being regulatory updated. The blog post is not changed. 

 

Dear Allo team, I know you did a lot of measurements. SO from design perspective, what is the best power scheme for USBridge?

I am considering two options:

1. LPSU, 5,2V/3A to feed USBridge. J28 closed. USBridge feeds Sparky.

2. LPSU 5V/1,5A to feed USBridge, J28 open, stadanrd allo PSU to feed Sparky

 

Which will give better working environment for USBRdige and will result in clean, stable USB input? Or it doesn't matter? 

Also is there any command in DietPi to check how much power is send via USB to the DAC? 

 

 

PS. I really love this device. So now both my systems are using Allo devices, DigiOne for the loudspeaker system and USBridge for the Headphones. Great work guys!

 

[shang_2000]

On 2018/2/5 at 3:00 AM, Daniel Knight said:

Web interface passed local testing.

Can you confirm:

- SBC device used

- IP address of the system

- URL used to access web interface (should be http://IP)

Re-brush the system（dietpi for allo sparkySBC ：February 3 version） , the previous problems have been solved!

[shang_2000]

@Daniel Knight

[sonycman]

Hello!

I'm a new Sparky SBC owner.

Just received the board and tried it with AlloGUI sd card image.

 

And I cannot find, how to power down the board correctly?

 

AlloGUI did'nt have any power off option, and built in power button does'nt work either...

 

Why is that?

How should I power the board off?

[ALLOaudio]

On Allo web GUI view system settings  , power off option available.
This power off will not Off the system completely, need to unplug the power cable or power off DC adaptor.

[sonycman]

1 hour ago, ALLOaudio said:

On Allo web GUI view system settings  , power off option available.
This power off will not Off the system completely, need to unplug the power cable or power off DC adaptor.

Oh, I might overlook it then, thank you.

 

But what about the button? On the board?

It didn't work for sure.

[sonycman]

Has anyone succeeded playing .dff or .dsf files through Sparky in audio renderer mode?

 

I've got a USB DAC and using JRiver as DLNA server/controller, outputting stream to AlloGUI Sparky.

No sound from my DAC while .dsf files played

 

There is no DSD Native/DoP switch in the AlloGUI?

 

regards,

Vlad.

[volpone]

On 02/02/2018 at 10:47 AM, ALLOaudio said:

we recommend to use the eMMC because its much less likely to get corrupted than SD.

for about 10$-15$  you can buy yourself on amazon a sheet of silicone heat sink pad 2mm thick and cut it.

you will have plenty of stock to replace it when needed. 

 

Hi, i'm in Europe (France) and Sphinx 2mm heat sink pad you recommend is not currently available.

https://www.amazon.com/SPHINX-100x100x2-Heatsink-Conductive-electronics/dp/B01A9RHAH4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1517568672&sr=8-6&keywords=silicone+heat+sink+pad

 

Any alternative available to order in Europe with good thermal conductivity  ?
Current thermal "white" pad used in my USBridge "out of the box" is quite good,  temp is only 39/40°C idle with alu case. So, if needed after disassembling SBC to reflash eMMC,  i would like to replace it with equivalent quality pad.
 

Thank's.

[ALLOsupport]

1 hour ago, volpone said:

 

Hi, i'm in Europe (France) and Sphinx 2mm heat sink pad you recommend is not currently available.

https://www.amazon.com/SPHINX-100x100x2-Heatsink-Conductive-electronics/dp/B01A9RHAH4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1517568672&sr=8-6&keywords=silicone+heat+sink+pad

 

Any alternative available to order in Europe with good thermal conductivity  ?
Current thermal "white" pad used in my USBridge "out of the box" is quite good,  temp is only 39/40°C idle with alu case. So, if needed after disassembling SBC to reflash eMMC,  i would like to replace it with equivalent quality pad.
 

Thank's.

@volpone

if you know linux commands and you have spare sd card , can flash eMMC without disassembling the box. Little care need to be taken.  refer below document.

https://github.com/sparkysbc/sparky_linux_images/blob/master/sparky_built-in_emmc_flash_from sd.pdf

 

[volpone]

1 hour ago, rahul_kc said:

if you know linux commands and you have spare sd card , can flash eMMC without disassembling the box. Little care need to be taken.  refer below document.

https://github.com/sparkysbc/sparky_linux_images/blob/master/sparky_built-in_emmc_flash_from sd.pdf

 

Thank you very much @rahul_kc , very interesting to avoid disassembly !

I wasn't aware Sparky boot from SD card when SD card and eMMC are both in place.

 

So step 0 is to flash a SD card with any DietPi for Sparky version, then follow process as described in your doc, correct ?

 

Only drawback seems disassembly still required to remove jumper J28 isn't it (distinct PSU for SBC and USBridge) ? 

 

[ambre]

On 7-2-2018 at 5:50 PM, ambre said:

Hi Rahul, Pirpiri82 and PunkRiot, 

I have downloaded the version delivered by Rahul already set the parameters for USB=0.

 

The version delivered by Rahul works fine. My TEAC 501 is detected direct at start at 384 kHz  (=info screen Teac).  

This is new for me.  Roon and HQ-Player are running now flawless.

 

By PunkRiot: You can change via GUI the host name so can use different name to connect to both devices. Also check the IP addresses of both. But remember, in my case saving settings by GUI change the USB mode.

Has this " bug"  been corrected as soon as you change or save / save the USB setting in Allo WEB GUI matters to 1 instead of 0?

 

Will try to change the host name on my Raspberry P3 DietPi application for runing solely Roon on the Raspberry.  And disable HQ-Player NAA. This due to the problem of running two or more HQ-player NAA's via DietPi at the same time causes conflicts.

 

 I do hope not to connect the monitor and keyboard to restore the USB-setting via the SSH and Linux commands. 

 I want to remain a layman in this field. 

 

Very best regards, Andreas

[ambre]

3 hours ago, rahul_kc said:

@volpone

if you know linux commands and you have spare sd card , can flash eMMC without disassembling the box. Little care need to be 

https://github.com/sparkysbc/sparky_linux_images/blob/master/sparky_built-in_emmc_flash_from sd.pdf

 

I am completely lost.

 

I can only detect one micro SD card slot  on the Sparky. So far I can see there is no SD-card holder on the USBridge. Reading the Sparky documentation:   External Storage: Micro SD up to 32GB and eMMC slot up to 64GB for storing information and loading operating systems.  Is this the same slot ? 

 

Another Issue: I am not able to flash to EMMC card delivered Allo.com  by means of the SDXC-microcard holder placed in my iMac and/or Mac mini.  This card isn't detected at all. 

 

I have also tried to update my version DietPi V159 on  EMMC to Version 6.1 via the Allo Web GUI but this isn't function too. 

 

Please advice.

 

Very best regards, Andreas   

 

[Facel]

1 hour ago, ambre said:

 

I can only detect one micro SD card slot  on the Sparky. So far I can see there is no SD-card holder on the USBridge. Reading the Sparky documentation:   External Storage: Micro SD up to 32GB and eMMC slot up to 64GB for storing information and loading operating systems.  Is this the same slot ?

 

Thes are 2 differents location eMMC is plugged on the back of the Sparky SBC and Micro SD is accesiible via a slot

 

The e MMC card is internal => you must open the USBridge , disconnect the sparky card from the USB card in order to access the eMMC memory

 

The micro SD card has an external acces on the same side as the power supply.

You can use a micro SD=> SD card adaptor if you only have an SD slot on your computer

 

 

[stareIO]

I also had no luck with microSD—>SD adapters (on MacBook Pro). Dedicated reader with microSD slot worked though. I used a Lexar “pop-up” multi-slot USB3 reader.

[ambre]

Thanks Starel0.

Is it the attached type ?

 

 

[stareIO]

@ambre — yup, that’s the exact one.

[ambre]

Dear 

3 hours ago, Facel said:

There are 2 differents location eMMC is plugged on the back of the Sparky SBC and Micro SD is accesiible via a slot

The e MMC card is internal => you must open the USBridge , disconnect the sparky card from the USB card in order to access the eMMC memory.  The micro SD card has an external acces on the same side as the power supply.

You can use a micro SD=> SD card adaptor if you only have an SD slot on your computer

 

Hi Facel

Facel many hanks for your reply. It's  now clear for me. I wil buy a dedicated reader with microSD-slot.

 

Hi Daniel & Rahul,

Maybe a possibly a stupid observation.  But I was till this afternoon not aware that you could use the Sparky UsBridge without a SDXC card.  I have always placed a SDXC-card or the delivered EMMC-card that was delivered by Allo.

 

Ps. The EMMC card  could not be updated via the Allo WeB GUI. Therefore I had to switch to a high speed SDXC card and flash manual last updates.   I really hope that the Allo Web GUI wil be functional again at short notice for  OS-updates. Besides that I could access the EMMC-card via a SD card adaptor. Please see also earlier post by Starel0.

 

I have reread the manuals on the Website of Allo concerning the Bridge. This was completely unknown to me.  What is the purpose of the delivered EMMC card etc.....? IMO absolutely not well described in the manuals by ALLO!

 

Possible Work Around for USB drivers problem. 

I have accessed the Allo Web GUI of the Raspberry P3. I have disabled the NAA. But changed in MPD  and Share Point. Frequency to 384 kHz and 32 bit depth and saved. 

 

Problem resp. conflict with 2x NAA at the same time running might be solve . I can now access my second DSD Dac via Roon.

The main DSD-DAC via  Roon & HQ-player as NAA (1x).  Will be continued 

 

Have a nice weekend,

Regards Andreas

 

[ambre]

16 minutes ago, stareIO said:

@ambre — yup, that’s the exact one.

Thanks again

[endlesscycles]

Is there a sound quality difference between dietpi and volumio from the usbridge when controlled by bubbleupnp?

 

I've read all 40 pages and could have missed it.

 

Also, do either have a better track record with airplay? Those are the two ways my system is interfaced with at the moment. Roon may or may not make a comeback in my house.

[shang_2000]

The problem is still not solved! Can not choose 32, a choice of 32, the system has no sound, can not play, only select 24_3 and u32be, can not choose 32 and u32be，i use suqeezelite!

[shang_2000]

@Daniel Knight,The problem is still not solved! Can not choose 32, a choice of 32, the system has no sound, can not play, only select 24_3 and u32be, can not choose 32 and u32be，i use suqeezelite!