AudioLinux and NUC Troubleshooting and Tuning

[greenleo]

5 hours ago, look&listen said:

Maybe @greenleo repost AF install & setup guide here?? Nice for start of thread 

Hi L&L and other CAers,

 

A new version of AL lxqt is coming.  This version will greatly simplify the basic operations of the AL in GUI mode.  I'm testing it and also trying thing that CAers here or CAers in the "mother" thread may find interesting.  Will report if new things come up and produce a walk through with images if possible.

 

Regards.

[greenleo]

1 hour ago, davide256 said:

It would be nice if LXQT had a reboot option that switched  headless <> GUI. Far easier to make/save changes in GUI mode than to do it all through command line

in headless, than switch back to headless/no GUI.

Headless and lxqt are different things.  Larry mentioned in the "mother" thread that it's very difficult to make an lxqt a headless.  I asked him there and that's his reply.

 

Anyway, headless is used as an endpoint and the lxqt used as an control PC.  In this case, there is no reason to switch back and and fro.

[greenleo]

CAers,

 

I've just learnt how to make a network bridge.  It took Piero and me a long time, many thanks for Piero.  Hope that a walk through may be produced in a few days.  Lots of command has been used.  I need to organize my thoughts and think the screen captures needed.  Hope that it can be done in a few days.

[greenleo]

12 hours ago, davide256 said:

All headless means is that there are no drivers for input/output peripherals... you access the OS remotely over IP connection. WIth LXQT you do have

the added overhead of more drivers loaded  but you can just physically unplug the input devices and you can disable the GUI from loading. 

I'm running LXQT as Roon endpoint on Raspberry Pi and I have the same option with PC.

The main disadvantage of LXQT is it requires more RAM... my RAM disk consumes 8gb of RAM for OS and Roon database. You have to jettison the peripherals

driver database (headless)to get AL to run on only 8GB of RAM

You may login to headless directly and change the options.  Not necessarily remote.  I do this often.

 

The beauty of headless as an endpoint is that electrial noises may be reduced as far as possible.  I do not use Roon, hence no further input.  I use HQP in the lxqt, the control PC to the headless, the audio PC that runs the NAA and find the SQ very satisfying.

[greenleo]

4 hours ago, simonklp said:

 

Hi greenleo, the procedure for setting up the network bridge in AudioLinux lqxt and headless had already been stated in the AL website. A detailed guide can also be found in the following web link in the website:

http://www.audio-linux.com/html/bridge.html

 

Piero had already stated the procedure quite explicitly there. But you may probably want to elaborate on it or share your experience, if you wish. Cheers.

Thank you Simon.  

 

My walk through intended would be more verbose, with more checking or images illustrated.  To me, wordy things for laymen (like me) are very scary.  Piero helped me a lot and I promised that I'll share the knowledge with the CAers as a feedback.

 

As a matter of fact, I didn't know that a guide already exist.  I'll withdraw my walkthrough now as it's no longer necessary. 

 

Cheers

[greenleo]

22 minutes ago, tapatrick said:

I like pictures too so I hope this might help with setting up BIOS. Unused USB ports can be disabled too, I just have to find out which is which.

 

If those more knowledgeable could add to this, it would be much appreciated. 

Hi Patrick,

 

Thank you for the images!  The 3rd one that shows the secure boot was not clear and this could be crucial for the newbies.  Any possibility to show it clearly?

 

Regards.

[greenleo]

32 minutes ago, tapatrick said:

Not sure why this one is not clear @greenleo  The secure boot box is off/unticked

Great.  It's unchecked.  This is what the newbies needed.

 

I could see a white box and not sure checked or not, hence the request?

 

Thanks for the reply.

[greenleo]

1 hour ago, Narcissus said:

Guys, did any of you’ll use a grounding strap or anti static gloves while fiddling with the NUC? Is it ok to not use either and just make sure you’re touching some metal and not working on a carpet, would that suffice?

 

In the endpoint NUC, would it matter where you install the 4gb ram, upper or lower slot?

 

Is your NUC compatible with a smart TV or do we need to connect a Computer monitor? Larry had concerns about making it work on a regular Home TV.

I installed the RAM in the lower slot simply because it would be easier to add RAM in the future.

[greenleo]

My tricks on the temperature control of a dual box setup.

 

When I boot up from the USB, it's running the extreme mode for best SQ.  Remove the USB.

 

After the listening session, attach the USB wireless keyboard adapter.  Command alconf and choose  the standard mode.  Then the CPU may rest.

 

In the next session, command again and then change it to extreme mode.  Detach the wireless adapter.

 

The processes repeats.  Here you go.

[greenleo]

3 hours ago, gsquared said:

Thanks to a lot of help from Piero, I was able to get my NUC8i7BEH running headless Al with 8 GB of RAM (diskless - running Al and Roon DB in RAM). But even sitting idle, I am getting a message that reads "Core temperature above threshold, cpu clock throttled (total events = 1). Then a series of lines, then NOHZ: local_softirq_pending 80. 

 

Anyone have any suggestions of a possible mis-configuration I've made?

 

Here's a screenshot:

 

Try use the standard mode when the headless is idle. 

 

If you're using the headless as a Room server, I guess it's very taxing and the temperature will rise.  Probably much lower if it is used an Roon bridge (end point without Roon certification).

[greenleo]

AudioLinux Installation Guide 1:

Skill Level: computer illiterate (like me) who can use Windows to point and click
Resources: RUFUS 2.18 and the image of AudioLinux (both from the respective official sites)

Enviroment: Win7

 

Steps:

1. Launch Rufus (USB Disk should be auto-detected.)
2. Choose the DD option
3. Select the image
4. Burn the image to the USB disk
5. Everything will be erased.  click OK to proceed.
6. Wait till 100% and the close button comes up again.
7. Click Close and Unplug your USB Disk (Windows will not recognize it now).

Screen captures attached.

 

* The example illustrated here is AL lxqt 3.0, the GUI version.  Headless version may be installed in the same manner.  This is the simplest, foolproof guide that I can think of.  The software and steps were chosen for good reasons, fool-proof.  Other methods exist.

[greenleo]

On 11/30/2018 at 1:28 AM, look&listen said:

Maybe @greenleo repost AF install & setup guide here?? Nice for start of thread 

The installation guide has been rewritten and posted.

[greenleo]

16 minutes ago, mozes said:

My first attempt to install AL headless on my Acer laptop.

I burned the image on a USB flash using Rufus but when I boot the laptop I am getting this error message

"Security Boot Fail"

Any suggestions for troubleshooting?

Mozes,

 

In the UEFI,

 

Switch off the security boot.  Choose Linux as the boot OS if necessary.

 

tapatrick has done brilliant screenshots.  Don't waste it.

 

[greenleo]

6 hours ago, lmitche said:

Yes, that's right. Also run 4gb of ram, disable every circuit you can and it may boot on the lps1.2. It's inconsistent at best here, so I'm not recommending th

Inconsistent in terms of can/cannot boot up or SQ good/bad?

[greenleo]

5 hours ago, davide256 said:

mmm. Received  NUC7PJYH  last nite, straight forward to configure it for USB boot, disable unused peripherals, and get AL headless up and running in RAM as Roonbridge.

But not finding it to be an improvement from overclocked Pi3b+/AL/LPS 1.2 so far; sounds like an improved version of microRendu for detail but tone colors and dynamics

don't "pop" like they do with RPI3. Ran it off 19/12V for HDplex, but could not get it to complete  boot on 12V/ LPS 1.2. Appreciate suggestions above, would really like to

see if  better PS solves.

 

Also 2 simple questions

1) does it matter which USB port is used for boot?

2) does it matter which port is used for asynch USB connection?

.

That's strange.  Mine running Headless NAA can be booted up by LPS-1.2 consistently.

 

1) Seems little difference between USB ports used for boot.  I tried only the front two, though.

2) No idea.  Never tried swapping.

 

A followup Q.  Any SQ difference when boot with different USB sticks?  Well, I know that the answer "should be" No.  But we never know.

[greenleo]

41 minutes ago, Middy said:

pushed the mobo back against the where connectors protrudes

@Middy,

"connectors protrudes" are the HDMI ports, LAN ports, ..., correct?

 

How do you do the pushing?  Do you hold the USB ports on the front side or insert something between the metal and the mono as a lever?

 

43 minutes ago, Middy said:

Pull the plastic and metal side away from the mobo. 

This is the front side, the side that has a power button?

 

45 minutes ago, Middy said:

connectors and ensure they are all undone

Only 3 sets of connectors, wide black, small 4-pin white and two point form connector for the WiFi attenna?  Correct?

 

Only two screws needed to be unscrewed from the mother board, correct?

 

There are lots of soft paddings sticked on the ports, should I keep them or take them apart?

54 minutes ago, Middy said:

Fingers on both hands together

Sorry, cannot understand the meaning of the sentence above.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

[greenleo]

@austinpop

 

Hi Rajiv, For your current NUC, which is NUC7i7DNBE, is the size of the dc plug also 2.5, like the NUC7CYJH?

[greenleo]

39 minutes ago, seeteeyou said:

 

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/mini-pcs/nuc-kits/NUC7i7DN_TechProdSpec.pdf#page=53

 

Thank you very much!

[greenleo]

Hi,

 

I'm going to complete the Network Bridge Walk-through in a few days.  Just need to double check that it works.  Before this, the novice CAers may want to consider the following:

 

1. Do you need a Network Bridge?

If you're using a star topology, that is everything connected to a router (or switch), there is no need to use the Network bridge.

 

2. What is a Network Bridge.

A control PC is linked both to the router and the audio PC.

 

* In principle LAN1 can be a WiFi connected to the router as shown in the mother thread "A novel ...".  In practice, my walk-through will handle only the LAN case.

 

[greenleo]

1 hour ago, look&listen said:

 

"control PC" = audio server?

"audio PC" = endpoint device?

Yeap

[greenleo]

51 minutes ago, davide256 said:

Trying to run Roonserver headless on the NUC7PJYH, using USB attached SDXC storage.... mounting USB drives is driving me crazy. This is what I see using blkid for the drives

(480/128 gb storage)

Can anyone guide me on how to format the lines properly for mounting?

/dev/sdb1: UUID="6C96-68C4" TYPE="exfat" PTTYPE="dos" PARTUUID="7f653070-01"
/dev/sdc1: UUID="3233-6437" TYPE="exfat"

 

 

USB should be automounted in lxqt.

[greenleo]

20 hours ago, simonklp said:

I notice that no matter it is AL lqxt or headless, there is always a problem of running HQPE with the "poly-sinc-lp" filter for playing Redbook to DSD512. The problem is that just when the music started to play after the initialization time of about a minute or so, there is always some error messages saying like "… no body care … irq #136 … disabled …", or similar. The HQPDcontrol also returns an error message of "failure to connect to HQPlayer".

 

However, I haven't encountered this kind of problem for HQP on Windows.

 

Have any of you also encountered this problem on AL?

Why use HQPE in lxqt?  Why not HQP desktop in Linux like what you did in Windows?

[greenleo]

9 hours ago, rettib2001 said:

I have up until now been using an nuc7i7bnh as a combined server and endpoint.

 

Today I tried it as an endpoint using my macbook pro as a server (knowing that it isn't highly regarded as an AL server but hey, in lieu of anything better suited to the task I tried it any way). 

 

Well... The sound quality was much better than the nuci7bnh on its own. Crazy. 

 

Conclusion I need a second nuc. 

 

I'm edging towards a nuc7pjyh with a fanless case powered by a Paul Hynes SR4 (which I should receive before the end of the year) but I'd just like to know whether or not my i7 nuc, which has a tdp rating of 28, could be powered by the SR4 (2a/20a transient) 

 

In 'endpoint' mode the cpu usage is only about 3/4% and aside from one stick of 8gb ram there nothing else connected to it. 

 

If it can it opens up the option of a much more powerful server. 

For the SR4 that outputs 19V and 2A ， there are headrooms for 28W tdp.  I trust that SR4 has >80% efficiency.  I may be wrong.

[greenleo]

17 minutes ago, lmitche said:

There are typically three functions in audio playback software:

 

Controller = the process running the GUI typically laptop, tablet, or phone and displaying the view of music index and metadata pushed from the server with playback controls

Renderer = Streamer or Endpoint with connection to DAC

Server = the process indexing the music and pushing the music to Renderer as requested from the controller

 

Most audio software implementations use this model.

 

This is based on the MVC (Model, View, Controller) paradigm typically used in most GUI based development environments.

 

These processes can live on one machine or be spread across multiple machines.

 

In my experience the best SQ comes from separating these functions into three machines. One could use four with a Nas acting as a virtual disk to a server.

Great post, Larry.    This is also the model for ROON, correct?

[greenleo]

Just now, lmitche said:

Yep, your browser as well.

So for the best SQ, the renderer should be in headless (audio PC, the end point), the server should be in headless (server PC that holds the files) as well and the control PV (a tablet, say) that's in the same subnet as the server.  The perfect ROON model.

 

For HQP users, NAA in headless(audio PC), HQPE in headless (server PC that holds the files) and the control PC using browswer connected to the HQPE.

 

Are these descriptions correct?