Jump to content
IGNORED

AudioLinux and NUC Troubleshooting and Tuning


rickca
Message added by austinpop

Summary of useful findings and recommendations

 

This section will be a living repository of useful info from this thread. It's very similar to a wiki and will be maintained by a small group of thread moderators.

 

Before you get started please refer to the Audio-Linux website to ensure you have the latest info and the proper versions of the OS. Audio-Linux.com  

 

**** Updated for AL 1.30 menu 118 or later.

 

  "First Run" setup for headless.  

 

Setup your NUC with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the NUC BIOS settings.  From the menu note the IP address of the machine to SSH into.  From a MAC the macOS terminal program supports SSH:

324537708_ScreenShot2019-01-28at3_02_19PM.thumb.png.739dc7f9cdb05e04da806c7c66877332.png

 

Then it is simpler to cut and paste into the terminal session. After entering the password for the audiolinuxuser you will be presented with the AL headless menu:

 

1518375894_ScreenShot2019-01-28at3_04_18PM.thumb.png.a7b2867a163f8f014e56e52ff69f94b4.png

 

Option 8 takes you to the command line for the following basic setup.  You will need to be the Root user for this setup and the su command first:

 

su

 

Fix the time zone:  (this is my timezone - look in directory /usr/share/zoneinfo)

 

timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago
 

Setup and Start NTP daemon (to keep the system time in sync)

 

*** the config file is now properly filled in.

 

Now Start the daemon

 

timedatectl set-ntp true

 

 

NOTE: Sometimes the system takes a little while to get synced up.
 

Set hostname  (this provides a unique name for the machine on your network.  Replace <NAME> with your chosen name)

 

hostnamectl set-hostname <NAME> 
 

Once the above items are set up your machine is ready to be configured for say a Roon bridge/endpoint. That is done using the AL menu.  To return to the menu do the following commands.

 

exit

menu

 

----------------------------------

 

For most of us, the following basic settings are key.

From the configuration menu:

6. START and enable Roonbridge

15. SET Realtime Priority to extreme

16. ENABLE ramroot (reboot after)

 

Return to the main menu and reboot the NUC using 

 

11 Reboot

 

------------------

Roon Server setup is a bit more complex and we will cover it completely a bit later.  The key is where you are booting from and where the Roon database is stored.  In general; say a 32gb OPTANE "SSD".

 

  • You have to partition the SSD into a boot drive and a storage drive.  
  • The transfer the USB stick install to the boot partition.  
  • Reboot from the boot partition.  
  • Do the basic setup. Timezone and name
  • Transfer the Roon Database to the storage drive
  • Start the Roon Server
  • .....

 

----------------- 

The machine will reboot and from the display attached to the NUC you can watch it boot up and load into RAM.  Once the AudioLinux menu is showing the endpoint should be available in Roon.    This completes the basic startup sequence.  The system is ready to start testing.    

 

 

Recommended Posts

5 minutes ago, rickca said:

 

I made a copy of my USB stick on a hard drive of my Windows 10 machine by using ImageUSB.  It has an option that says 'Create image from USB drive'.  It actually creates a .bin file that is the size of your USB flash drive.  You can then use ImageUSB to create a new USB flash drive ... that's how it's supposed to work, I haven't tested my backup procedure yet!

 

What I'd like to know is whether there is a way to create an .img file from the USB flash drive similar to the .img file we downloaded from Piero's site.

 

Yeah this is maybe a dumb question but would the Save System menu option create a clone if we put a different USB flashdrive in?

 

I'm guessing that's almost certainly a no.

 

In which case would a Clone Current System menu option be a possibility @hifi25nl ?

 

Cheers,

Alan

Synergistic Research Powercell UEF SE > Sonore OpticalModule (LPS-1.2 & DXP-1A5DSC) > EtherRegen (SR4T & DXP-1A5DSC) > (Sablon 2020 LAN) Innuos PhoenixNet > Muon Streaming System > Grimm Audio MU1 server > (Sablon AES) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC > PS Audio M1200 monoblocks > Salk Sound Supercharged Songtowers

Link to comment

@BigAlMc the procedure I used with ImageUSB on a Windows 10 machine is much faster than copying between two USB flash drives on something like NUC7PJYH.  It took about 10 minutes for a 64GB stick.  You just need space available on a hard drive or SSD.  I will report back here once I've created a new USB stick from the .bin file and tested it.  I'm currently waiting for delivery of another 64GB stick.

 

I certainly agree that we need a best practice method of making a backup copy of a working system.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment

Is there any other  fanless case for NUC7i7DNHE, than Akasa Plato X7D? I just got one but don't like the idea of connecting cables inside for power, USB, etc. That sort of defeats the whole idea of small footprint (that includes cables, extension wires, etc. in my mind).

Link to comment
24 minutes ago, sig8 said:

Is there any other  fanless case for NUC7i7DNHE, than Akasa Plato X7D? I just got one but don't like the idea of connecting cables inside for power, USB, etc. That sort of defeats the whole idea of small footprint (that includes cables, extension wires, etc. in my mind).

I don't think there is anything yet. I sent mine back, thought it was too big.

I took the fan out of the original case, replaced the heatsink compound with arctic silver and left it at that, temps are 44 degrees.

 

Link to comment
20 minutes ago, LTG2010 said:

I don't think there is anything yet. I sent mine back, thought it was too big.

I took the fan out of the original case, replaced the heatsink compound with arctic silver and left it at that, temps are 44 degrees.

 

Are you using it as a server or an endpoint? I don't think this case is necessary for an endpoint, even in extreme mode. Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.

Link to comment
2 minutes ago, sig8 said:

Are you using it as a server or an endpoint? I don't think this case is necessary for an endpoint, even in extreme mode. Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.

Yes, its an endpoint used in balanced (not low) power. It's not ideal the copper heatsink is perforated to allow air flow from the fan, if I get some spare time I might make up a new heatsink from solid aluminum or copper.

As a server I guess things will get hotter.

Link to comment
54 minutes ago, sig8 said:

Is there any other  fanless case for NUC7i7DNHE, than Akasa Plato X7D? I just got one but don't like the idea of connecting cables inside for power, USB, etc. That sort of defeats the whole idea of small footprint (that includes cables, extension wires, etc. in my mind).

I think the big footprint is for the heatsink-the chassis in this case.  Apart from the size, I quite like this chassis because it's pretty slim in terms of height.  The cooling seems well thought if you're using NVME as well.

Link to comment

I just opened the NUC and Akasa case. NUC has a very good copper heat sink with fins, I don't think you will do any better with any heat sink in the available space. What they have is very good in the available space.

 

Akasa case is another story, it is a big hunk of aluminum, but they have black anodized aluminum contact surface, ..... really? I have to do some research, but that black anodizing will work as an insulator between CPU and the heat sink, meaning it would prevent heat to transfer to the heat sink. They should have left that part bare IMO. It will transfer heat to ambient due to large surface area, but if heat from CPU to contact area cannot transfer easily, what good is the larger surface area. I don't think  I am going to deploy it. 

 

But for those who are or would use it in original case, just disconnect the fan connector from board and leave that fan and the copper heat sink in place, best is to remove fan and leave heat sink in place to allow free air movement in and around the copper heat sink. 

Link to comment

Piero just clarified for me that selecting Update Kernel from the menu actually downloads packages that are already compiled for the kernel.  This is brilliant because compiling the kernel on a NUC could take a really long time.  

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, sig8 said:

I just opened the NUC and Akasa case. NUC has a very good copper heat sink with fins, I don't think you will do any better with any heat sink in the available space. What they have is very good in the available space.

 

Akasa case is another story, it is a big hunk of aluminum, but they have black anodized aluminum contact surface, ..... really? I have to do some research, but that black anodizing will work as an insulator between CPU and the heat sink, meaning it would prevent heat to transfer to the heat sink. They should have left that part bare IMO. It will transfer heat to ambient due to large surface area, but if heat from CPU to contact area cannot transfer easily, what good is the larger surface area. I don't think  I am going to deploy it. 

 

But for those who are or would use it in original case, just disconnect the fan connector from board and leave that fan and the copper heat sink in place, best is to remove fan and leave heat sink in place to allow free air movement in and around the copper heat sink. 

 

The black anodized aluminum contact surface for the hear sink on Plato x7d struct me as well. Never seen one like this before. I also have their other case Newton JC that doesn't have this and have the bare aluminum exposed. However, installing it as is and have it set at balanced power mode with AL extreme (I am still running 0.5 and which is extreme2 in later version), the CPU temps hovers around 32-33C which isn't too bad.   

Link to comment
34 minutes ago, rickca said:

Piero just clarified for me that selecting Update Kernel from the menu actually downloads packages that are already compiled for the kernel.  This is brilliant because compiling the kernel on a NUC could take a really long time.  

 

This is how it should have been for all the packages, not only the kernel. I don't see any reason why we have to go the route of compiling packages like many distro does for development. Using prebuilt packages also saves space since you don't need development tools in your root filesystem, which means faster boot time if you are running ramroot ?

Link to comment
9 hours ago, hifi25nl said:

Audiolinux headless release notes

 

Version 0.8

1) Kernel updated to linux-rt-bfq-4.19.10.8-2

2) Full system update

3) Menu updated to version 084 with hard disk mount option and file-system resize in ram mode (experimental)

4) Added system time update at boot

 

You can update... almost everything from previous versions installing the new Audiolinux menu 084 and updating the system and kernel

 

Is LMS/Squeezelite included in 0.8 or do we still need to install it separately ?

Link to comment

@ray-dude thank you so much for taking the time to document those procedures in detail.  It's extremely helpful.

I was just thinking that it would be useful to find out exactly what various menu items do under the covers.  It's a very good way to learn.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
11 hours ago, LTG2010 said:

Yes, its an endpoint used in balanced (not low) power. It's not ideal the copper heatsink is perforated to allow air flow from the fan, if I get some spare time I might make up a new heatsink from solid aluminum or copper.

As a server I guess things will get hotter.

 

Personally I much prefer the Akasa cases to the plastic cases Intel ships the NUCs in but that will very much be a personal taste thing.

 

As for the temperatures I kept an eye on it and when scanning my library in Roon with all 8 cores enabled in Roon the 4 cores got to about 49. Quite high but well within reasonable operating temps for i7 CPUs.

 

In normal (Roon) usage I'm seeing 31/32 on the endpoint and 37/38 on the server. (i7DNBE & i7DNKE boards).

 

The Akasa cases are cool when you touch them  - i.e. no sense of them being hot or heating up.

 

image.thumb.png.6daf5823cda349438e3b63a27c33c179.png

 

 

Cheers,

Alan

Synergistic Research Powercell UEF SE > Sonore OpticalModule (LPS-1.2 & DXP-1A5DSC) > EtherRegen (SR4T & DXP-1A5DSC) > (Sablon 2020 LAN) Innuos PhoenixNet > Muon Streaming System > Grimm Audio MU1 server > (Sablon AES) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC > PS Audio M1200 monoblocks > Salk Sound Supercharged Songtowers

Link to comment
24 minutes ago, BigAlMc said:

In normal (Roon) usage I'm seeing 31/32 on the endpoint and 37/38 on the server. (i7DNBE & i7DNKE boards).

Those are very nice temps.  How much of an impact on sound quality did you find by replacing the original NUC cases with the ones from Akasa?

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
9 minutes ago, rickca said:

Those are very nice temps.  How much of an impact on sound quality did you find by replacing the original NUC cases with the ones from Akasa?

 

At the risk of getting kicked out this terrific forum I can't say I put a lot of effort into listening to the contribution of the cases. ?

 

Was more focused on listening to the overall SQ.

 

Also taking the boards out the original case and setting it up in the new case takes a while so I'm not sure I'd trust my audio memory to compare the two.

 

The end result sounds amazing but does the case make much of a difference? No idea. Sorry.

 

Cheers,

Alan

Synergistic Research Powercell UEF SE > Sonore OpticalModule (LPS-1.2 & DXP-1A5DSC) > EtherRegen (SR4T & DXP-1A5DSC) > (Sablon 2020 LAN) Innuos PhoenixNet > Muon Streaming System > Grimm Audio MU1 server > (Sablon AES) Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC > PS Audio M1200 monoblocks > Salk Sound Supercharged Songtowers

Link to comment
15 hours ago, rickca said:

 

I certainly agree that we need a best practice method of making a backup copy of a working system.

The dd method is pretty straight forward, I doubt whether you can clone an archlinux disc (make it bootable) outside of a Linux environment, so would be interested to hear how you get on.

In my dd example I chose a block size (bs) of 64K this is standard and less prone to errors especially if there are other things going on,

( I was listening to music at the time :) ) but this can be increased, to 128K, 256K, 512K, 1024K, etc if its more speed you want, it depends on your processor power and quality of media used.

Link to comment
9 hours ago, ray-dude said:

If you want to create an .img file, you need to have a remote file server mounted.

I don't think a dd is going to give me what I want.  The original .img file we download from Piero's site is something like 6 GB for headless.  If I dd from a 64GB source USB flash drive, a dd is going to result in a 64GB file, isn't it?  So the question is how does Piero create the .img file he distributes?

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment
2 minutes ago, hifi25nl said:

You can make a reduced size image only if you have not expanded the partition to cover all unallocated space.

I never did anything to expand the partition on the USB flash drive.  I just used Etcher to put the downloaded .img onto a USB flash drive.  Maybe I just don't understand what dd does.  I thought it did a sector by sector copy of the entire USB stick rather than just copying the allocated space.  I know when I tried to dd from one USB stick to another USB stick it copied the entire thing even though I never expanded the partition on the source drive.

 

So I guess I have some misconception.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...