Audiolinux Server configurations, Software, Hardware, and Listening Impressions

[renan]

Well finally done. The option clean was the solution.

 

Thanks to all for your support and constructive comments. 

[luisma]

31 minutes ago, renan said:

Well finally done. The option clean was the solution.

 

Thanks to all for your support and constructive comments. 

HI, don't know if could be your case but just flashing the drive doesn't expand the partition that AL uses, in my case after flashing I mount the drive on a Ubuntu virtual machine and expand it. I think this can be done within AL too I have check.

When you doing the cleaning you are freeing some space and that's why it worked......... For now!

 

[luisma]

From the AL install section

6) Launch gparted and extend the ext4 partition until covering the remaining part of the hard disk (this will fix also GPT size errors. note that you will need more than the default size for Roon database)

Then a little later

If you install from Windows, you can use Rufus version 2.18 with option "dd" or Etcher
--> In this case you will miss step 6) of installation guide above. For a possible solution see this guide case 1)  but installation with these applications is not recommended.

 

 

 

[renan]

Thanks luisma for the additionnal informations.

 

I flashed the image on 32 Go usb stick with rufus on windows.

 

Then on ubuntu used Gparted to extend the ext4 partition

 

Then connect the usb key to my player pc and install AL.

Use cpu core separation for audio (half) 

Activate Roon Bridge (Roon server in on another pc under fedora)

enable ramroot

and listen to music

 

Try some others stuff (extreme etc...)

 

so nothing fancy...

[renan]

in fact enable ramroot

reboot

wait 20 min that the system load in Ram

and listen to music

[luisma]

cool then, 

[AnotherSpin]

17 hours ago, renan said:

in fact enable ramroot

reboot

wait 20 min that the system load in Ram

and listen to music

 

20 min seem to be very long time. It takes a minute or so here. Anyway, it is great that it load at all)

[renan]

well i checked and it take at list 15 min to load the 3-4 Go of the system in RAM. Yes I think this is quite long but never had something different with AL in Ramroot on my pc player.

My pc player is :

motherboard supermicro x10sba-o celeron intel j1900

8 Go RAM

Belkin tweaked PCIe USB card connected to the DAC

usb flash drive

12V linear power supply 

[lmitche]

27 minutes ago, renan said:

well i checked and it take at list 15 min to load the 3-4 Go of the system in RAM. Yes I think this is quite long but never had something different with AL in Ramroot on my pc player.

My pc player is :

motherboard supermicro x10sba-o celeron intel j1900

8 Go RAM

Belkin tweaked PCIe USB card connected to the DAC

usb flash drive

12V linear power supply 

Are you using a usb 2 or usb 3 drive?

[renan]

52 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Are you using a usb 2 or usb 3 drive?

Didn't think about it.

 

Just checked and:

USB stick is connected to the USB3 port but my drive is a usb2 ..... So I have to change for a usb3 drive?

[lmitche]

3 hours ago, renan said:

Didn't think about it.

 

Just checked and:

USB stick is connected to the USB3 port but my drive is a usb2 ..... So I have to change for a usb3 drive?

Thought so. No need to change if you are happy with the 20 min load.

[renan]

OK usb3 10 time quicker... you convinced me ☺️

[botrytis]

No - a USB 2.0 drive will only transfer at USB 2.0 speeds, even plugged into a USB 3.0 port. 

[renan]

yes an usb3 drive on an usb3 port will go 10 time faster then my usb2 drive on the usb3 port. I think we agree.

[sukyung]

audiolinux headless
intel i350 v2 or x540 t2 net card
Can I use it?

[gsquared]

Does anyone know if AL will boot on a Mac Mini? I tried but it looked like the thumb drive was not recognized. 

[Superdad]

42 minutes ago, gsquared said:

Does anyone know if AL will boot on a Mac Mini? I tried but it looked like the thumb drive was not recognized. 

 

It sure will. 

I run AL on a Mac mini (powered by JS-2 natch) with HQ Player Embedded and Roon Server (which in turn feeds an AL NUC/LPS1.2 NAA endpoint). Works a treat! [A 1,000 thanks to @lmitche]

[AnotherSpin]

15 hours ago, gsquared said:

Does anyone know if AL will boot on a Mac Mini? I tried but it looked like the thumb drive was not recognized. 

 

You need to flash a USB stick for mac OS exactly to the instructions from AL site.

[gsquared]

23 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

It sure will. 

I run AL on a Mac mini (powered by JS-2 natch) with HQ Player Embedded and Roon Server (which in turn feeds an AL NUC/LPS1.2 NAA endpoint). Works a treat! [A 1,000 thanks to @lmitche]

 

Thanks Alex.

 

I got mine to work. For some reason, when I boot to the Mac and hold down the Option key, the AL icon is called EFI boot. But it works.

 

I don't have any experience with HQPlayer Embedded. Are you able to use a Roon controller with HQPlayer Embedded?

[Superdad]

15 minutes ago, gsquared said:

I got mine to work. For some reason, when I boot to the Mac and hold down the Option key, the AL icon is called EFI boot. But it works.

 

Yes, that is exactly as it should be.

 

15 minutes ago, gsquared said:

I don't have any experience with HQPlayer Embedded. Are you able to use a Roon controller with HQPlayer Embedded?

 

Yes indeed. I run Roon on my desktop iMac (or iPad) and play to Roon Server on AL Mac mini which in turn feeds HQ Player Embedded on the same Mac mini.  

Larry (@lmitche) did the Linux magic which allows Roon Server to mount/watch the network shared music drives attached to my desktop iMac.  So the only connections to the Roon/HQPe Mac mini are the JS-2 LPS, a short Ethernet cable to my Cisco Catalyst switch (soon to be a you know what), and the thumb drive I boot from.  (I don't Ramroot this machine as I don't want to work about the Roon database--and I don't think it makes a difference the way it does on the NAA endpoint NUC; I do plan to pull the internal SATA drive from this machine when I have a chance.)

I have to say that running AL/HQPe on the Mac mini/JS-2 (versus HQP Desktop under MacOS) was a huge jump in SQ for my system.

[lmitche]

Hi @Gavin1977,

 

Your VRM writeup was interesting.  Many thanks for the effort.

 

In interpreting the results you should consider transient response as well as ripple. My observation is that transient response trumps ripple as a predictor of sq for a power supply.  This property is part of the magic of the Paul Hynes supplies.

 

Transient response is seldom measured in reviews of atx power supplies. They seem to focus on ripple instead. 

 

Here is an old but good explanation of the problem.

 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/2404/5

 

Understanding this, it should be no surprise that it is easier to find a high transient power supply to power a low current device like a nuc than a high transient power supply for a high current motherboard and processor.

 

You are lucky to have the one of the few high current high transient power supplies in the SR7. If I owned the same I'd be thinking about moving back to a single box solution. In the meantime an hdplex 200 watt powering a high current server and low current SR4 or LPS1.2 powering a NUC is the best of both worlds.

[Gavin1977]

3 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Hi @Gavin1977,

 

Your VRM writeup was interesting.  Many thanks for the effort.

 

In interpreting the results you should consider transient response as well as ripple. My observation is that transient response trumps ripple as a predictor of sq for a power supply.  This property is part of the magic of the Paul Hynes supplies.

 

By what I hear, I think you're completely right.

[renan]

On 8/25/2019 at 3:12 PM, lmitche said:

Are you using a usb 2 or usb 3 drive?

Well thank for your comment.

 

Finnally with usb3 key all interaction for installation are quicker. And know only 6 minutes to boot in RAM root. Not yet very low but much better than 20 minutes.

Thanks

[bodiebill]

57 minutes ago, renan said:

Well thank for your comment.

 

Finnally with usb3 key all interaction for installation are quicker. And know only 6 minutes to boot in RAM root. Not yet very low but much better than 20 minutes.

Thanks

 

Is that for the LXQt version?

Here, with a MX-ES 3.0 usb stick, AL Mini loading into RAM takes 2'30" after pushing the start button.

[renan]

AL Headless. Well the type of processor and memory should also come into account? i don't know.