SqueezeCore: a minimal audio OS running Squeezelite

[SimoneF]

SqueezeCore is a project that I had in mind for a long time for personal use. 
Now that it's "finished" (aka working) I thought it was worth making it available to anyone.

The main purposes that I have taken into consideration are: a comfortable, fast, plug & play os, which requires (pretty) no configuration and reduced to a minimum to be installed on a thin client (or other low power hardware) used as a player.

The result is an o.s. of 17MB which runs on ram. 
The first time it is turned on, a quick configuration of the squeezelite parameters is required (which is optional, it can be avoided by directly editing a file while preparing the USB drive); after this, at every boot and on any computer you'll plug the USB flash drive containing SqueezeCore you can start listening to music in 3 seconds.

Of course, since SqueezeCore is working only as a client you need, as prerequisites, another computer with a Logitech Media Server installation.

Download and installation guide: SqueezeCore

it's still in "beta" because I've tested on a limited amount of devices. Feedbacks appreciated.

[franz159]

8 hours ago, SimoneF said:

SqueezeCore is a project that I had in mind for a long time for personal use. 
Now that it's "finished" (aka working) I thought it was worth making it available to anyone.

The main purposes that I have taken into consideration are: a comfortable, fast, plug & play os, which requires (pretty) no configuration and reduced to a minimum to be installed on a thin client (or other low power hardware) used as a player.

The result is an o.s. of 17MB which runs on ram. 
The first time it is turned on, a quick configuration of the squeezelite parameters is required (which is optional, it can be avoided by directly editing a file while preparing the USB drive); after this, at every boot and on any computer you'll plug the USB flash drive containing SqueezeCore you can start listening to music in 3 seconds.

Of course, since SqueezeCore is working only as a client you need, as prerequisites, another computer with a Logitech Media Server installation.

Download and installation guide: SqueezeCore

it's still in "beta" because I've tested on a limited amount of devices. Feedbacks appreciated.

what kind of devices have you tested it with?

[SimoneF]

7 hours ago, franz159 said:

what kind of devices have you tested it with?

All the computers that I have at home: an HP Omen laptop, an Asus eeepc netbook, a HP thin client t5740

[franz159]

1 hour ago, SimoneF said:

All the computers that I have at home: an HP Omen laptop, an Asus eeepc netbook, a HP thin client t5740

Ah ok, sorry foe my ignorance, it is only Windows then.

[SimoneF]

1 minute ago, franz159 said:

Ah ok, sorry foe my ignorance, it is only Windows then.

What do you mean? The os Is Linux based.

[franz159]

6 minutes ago, SimoneF said:

What do you mean? The os Is Linux based.

Can I boot it on a Raspberry Pi3?

[SimoneF]

1 minute ago, franz159 said:

Can I boot it on a Raspberry Pi3?

No it's for x86 not for arm. Check picoreplayer for arm

[franz159]

1 minute ago, SimoneF said:

No it's for x86 not for arm. Check picoreplayer for arm

Thanks, for the moment being I'll stick to Moode and Gentooplayer then 😎

[SimoneF]

2 minutes ago, franz159 said:

Thanks, for the moment being I'll stick to Moode and Gentooplayer then 😎

Nice choice, love them too! 

[SimoneF]

UPDATE:
I have released a version with a custom RT kernel.

From the FAQs:

"It is a specific build with a custom Real Time kernel; the hardware requirements are different from the generic version:
Minimal Hardware Requirements for RT:
CPU: Only Intel, Only Core2Duo and newer (Xeon, Core i3 i5 i7, new Pentium and Celeron). 2 core 4 thread (recommended 4 physical cores).
The Other requirements are the same of the generic one.
In the RT version the difference is not only in the kernel but there are other tweaks under the hood like:
The player runs on a isolated core with round robin scheduler.
All the DAC USB interrupts are isolated on one core.
The remaining core are for kernel and the remaining interrupts and software running."

[SimoneF]

Update:

New release for the RT version. Now setting a static ip is supported (which is needed if you connect the client directly to the server pc, without a router between)

[GodfatherX64]

hi simone

love squeezecore and thanks for you  work

 

is there an updated version for squeezecore with the latest squeezelite app?

it has been s long time since the release of v1 and the beta RT version

 

again thanks for your work

 

[SimoneF]

 

On 1/3/2024 at 2:45 PM, GodfatherX64 said:

hi simone

love squeezecore and thanks for you  work

 

is there an updated version for squeezecore with the latest squeezelite app?

it has been s long time since the release of v1 and the beta RT version

 

again thanks for your work

 

 

Hi,

 

I appreciate your support! I stopped developing new versions since it was really stable, and also because I lost all the sources after my laptopt broke.

 

I will consider taking up the project again during this year (no ETA) mostly to update all the drivers needed for the most recent hardware. On the squeezelite side there aren't really any new updates.

[GodfatherX64]

20 hours ago, SimoneF said:

 

 

Hi,

 

I appreciate your support! I stopped developing new versions since it was really stable, and also because I lost all the sources after my laptopt broke.

 

I will consider taking up the project again during this year (no ETA) mostly to update all the drivers needed for the most recent hardware. On the squeezelite side there aren't really any new updates.

 

Wow, thanks for your response; I'm looking forward to it.

I know it is a proprietary project, but I see great potential in it because there is little to no x86 headless squeezelite OS; it would be great if you consider starting it again as open source on github or any git repo you like and let others contribute to it with your approvals to keep it updated constantly.

 

Thanks again Simone, and have a great day.

[botrytis]

Daphile is the same and free - just saying.

 

Nice to have more than one though.

[GodfatherX64]

13 hours ago, botrytis said:

Daphile is the same and free - just saying.

 

Nice to have more than one though.

 

I agree with you, but what I like the most about Squeezecoer is its small footprint burned on a flash drive and being compiled with core os is a pulse. 

[botrytis]

5 hours ago, GodfatherX64 said:

 

I agree with you, but what I like the most about Squeezecoer is its small footprint burned on a flash drive and being compiled with core os is a pulse. 

 

You can do the same with Daphile. You do not have to install it on a HD - it will run in memory from a memory stick.