My new 3 watt dead-silent USB Linux music server. Pics Added.

[nyc_paramedic]

Originally Posted by siriri

Wow, great help again. It would take me years without your help. I will apply all your suggestions.

I already tried to reconfigure locales as you told me but the following message appeared :

----------
voyage:~# dpkg-reconfigure locales
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
LANGUAGE = (unset),
LC_ALL = (unset),
LANG = "fr_CH.UTF-8"
are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C").
debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
debconf: (No usable dialog-like program is installed, so the dialog based frontend cannot be used. at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/FrontEnd/Dialog.pm line 75.)
debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline
debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Readline
debconf: (Can't locate Term/ReadLine.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /etc/perl /usr/local/lib/perl/5.10.0 /usr/local/share/perl/5.10.0 /usr/lib/perl5 /usr/share/perl5 /usr/lib/perl/5.10 /usr/share/perl/5.10 /usr/local/lib/site_perl .) at /usr/share/perl5/Debconf/FrontEnd/Readline.pm line 7.)
debconf: falling back to frontend: Teletype
Package `locales' is not installed and no info is available.
Use dpkg --info (= dpkg-deb --info) to examine archive files,
and dpkg --contents (= dpkg-deb --contents) to list their contents.
/usr/sbin/dpkg-reconfigure: locales is not installed
-----------

I then tried to install locales. So, first I entered apt-get update. There seems to be a problem with the /etc/apt/sources.list as some of the package sources can not be found and some other problems occur also. Then, when I enter "apt-get install locales" the result is the following :

----------
W: Not using locking for read only lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock
E: Unable to write to /var/cache/apt/
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
----------

Well, anyway, I will stop disturbing you for a while now.

Try the command: remountw (changes the filesystem to read/write)
Then: apt-get install locales
Then after locales is configured, the command remountro (to remount as read only; you might get: mount: / is busy. don't worry for now)




If you haven't already, please subscribe to the Debian mailing list. There's a great group of folks there who are very smart. *But* they do ask that you check the archives and/or use Google before posting a question that might have been answered a million times over.

[siriri]

I wanted to report that I was able to install the setup which nyc_paramedic has suggested.

If I was a Linux geek, this would not be anything to talk about. But the fact is, I was and still am a Linux beginner (although I learned already a lot during this installation process).

So, I can confirm that it is possible for (almost) anybody to install this silent, low-consumption, cheap, bit-perfect audiophile music server.

If you are willing to learn some details about Linux and the world of Open-Source, the only thing you need is some patience and perseverance. Linux is mostly more difficult to use because most people are used to Windows or OSX. It's really just a matter of getting used to it.

I wrote a step-by-step tutorial which contains all the details of the installation (including the valuable hints nyc_paramedic told me). This tutorial is my own experience installing the music server. This should make it accessible to any Linux newbie.

There might be one or two typos in this tutorial, but mostly it should be correct. Please contact me if you find any error or if you have comments related to this tutorial. You can comment on the blog.

This music server is awesome and deserves to be known by many people interested in building a high quality music server.

[edselfordfong]

cool thread. I'm wondering about doing something similar, but have a few questions.

Instead of buying a new board, I want to hack an old laptop I have around. What I'd like to do is ditch the monitor and keyboard, and replace the fan with a big old heatsink for quietness. I'd put the whole ugly mess in a wood box, cutting plenty of holes for air.

I'd retain the wired ethernet, headless, music-elsewhere-on-the-network, MPD, dedicated USB dac server concept, controlling MPD from another computer on the network.

First, is there any advantage to ditching the hard drive and running the thing from a usb flash drive? I just like the idea of no moving parts, but there might not be much of an advantage to doing this. I guess heat, sound, and speed are the concerns. The flash drive should boot much faster than a 5,400 rpm IDE drive, right?

Secondly, would voyage linux be a good choice here, or should I find some other lightweight distro? I have at least 512 meg ram, should be enough to do everything in ram, right?

anything else I should think about?

any help would be appreciated!

[ezzieyguywuf]

Hey nyc_paramedic. Awesome DIY project! I want to make something just like this, but I I'd like for it to be a server and client at the same time. Optimally, I'd like something like your Alix SBC that could read music off of my external HDD via usb and then send that information out via usb (or optical or coax). Is that too much processing to ask of an SBC? And also, does the SBC have to be bought pre-furnished, is is that something that a DIYer could hack together?

Thanks for any advice you can give me! I saw how much help you gave this guy and thought I'd check to see what you could help me with

[nyc_paramedic]

Originally Posted by ezzieyguywuf

Hey nyc_paramedic. Awesome DIY project! I want to make something just like this, but I I'd like for it to be a server and client at the same time. Optimally, I'd like something like your Alix SBC that could read music off of my external HDD via usb and then send that information out via usb (or optical or coax). Is that too much processing to ask of an SBC? And also, does the SBC have to be bought pre-furnished, is is that something that a DIYer could hack together?

Thanks for any advice you can give me! I saw how much help you gave this guy and thought I'd check to see what you could help me with

You could run a USB hard drive, but do you really want to? It makes better sense to have the USB dedicated to serving music. What if you bought one of those small NAS boxes that looks like a USB external enclosure and then pipe your music via Ethernet?

I don't think the Alix will have any issues as far as processing power when it comes to having USB loaded with a disc and to a DAC, but there might be issues with sound quality.

But try to understand the beauty of having *zero* noise from fans or drives on your listening room if you have a small NAS located elsewhere. With free software, such as FreeNAS, you could recycle any old Pentium box and load it up with a dirt cheap terrabyte disk.

I'm pretty sure the PC Engine computer only come pre-built. There's a lot of surface mount parts. If you're looking to melt some solder or do more "hacking" you might need to look into using and ARM based board, such as the Beagle Board.


One more thing: I mention in many of my posts that this music server is "inexpensive". But please don't mistake that for the system being "cheap".

I truly believe the alix/mpd combo offers world class sound with the current USB DAC technology. You have a small dead silent computer that is extremely power efficient. You're running a very robust, open source, and free operating system that is as customizable as anything *and* you could look "under the hood" and tinker with the source code to your heart's content.

The MPD software is *very* stable and the current 0.15 release offers many new features. *And* the developers are very responsive to their users. I put this request in: 0002094: Disabling any mixers. useful when MPD is used in an audiophile setup and pre-amplifier volume is preffered. - Mantis Look how quickly they took care of it.

I hope I answered all your questions.

[oldskoolboarder]

Hmm. Sounds like an opportunity to use my Plug Top.

PlugComputer Community

[ezzieyguywuf]

Man my last post didn't post for some reason. Thanks for the info nyc_paramedic. oldskoolboarder, I will check the link.

nyc_paramedic: I do not know what a NAS is, and I do not think that is the solution I'm looking for. Let me try to do a littel more explaining:

This is my current setup. External HD --> USB Cable --> Lenovo Thinkpad T60P --> USB S/PDIF --> Audia-Gd Compass Digital-In.

What I want to do is eliminate the Thinkpad, because it really is tethered down by the two USB cable that are recquired just to listen to music. Heres what I want:

External HD --> USB Cable --> Some sort of SBC --> USB S/PDIF --> Audio-Gd Compass Digital-In

Let me know what you think. Thanks for your responses!

[nyc_paramedic]

Originally Posted by ezzieyguywuf

nyc_paramedic: I do not know what a NAS is, and I do not think that is the solution I'm looking for. Let me try to do a littel more explaining:

This is my current setup. External HD --> USB Cable --> Lenovo Thinkpad T60P --> USB S/PDIF --> Audia-Gd Compass Digital-In.

What I want to do is eliminate the Thinkpad, because it really is tethered down by the two USB cable that are recquired just to listen to music. Heres what I want:

External HD --> USB Cable --> Some sort of SBC --> USB S/PDIF --> Audio-Gd Compass Digital-In

Let me know what you think. Thanks for your responses!

NAS stands for Networked Attached Storage. Simply, it is any computer with a hard disk whose purpose is to server files to clients. Browse this link at Newegg to see some real world examples of available off-the-shelf NAS boxes: Newegg.com - Network Attached Storage, NAS, Network Storage, Network Storage Devices, Network Storage Hard Drive, Shared Network Storage

In my humble opinion that having a small file server (chuck it int he closet or the basement) is easier and more convenient. With any decent NAS or FreeNAS you could also mirror your disks in case there's a failure.


You could run the USB disk and DAC off of the two USB ports on the ALIX. I don't know if you'll have sound quality issues. I'm using the ALIX with standard 100bit ethernet. Song changes are near instantaneous.

There's no reason why you wouldn't at least try the setup your looking for and see it it works.

[ezzieyguywuf]

You could run the USB disk and DAC off of the two USB ports on the ALIX

That is definitely the sort of answer I needed. Now my last question is, is there any way to build my own SBC that would serve the same purpose, for under $125 (or whatever the ALIX currently runs for)? I ask for two reasons: one, I'm a little strapped for cash right now (car problems) and two, I think it'd be good DIY experience to build something like this. My only experience thus far is building a Cmoy, so keep that in mind.

Also, where would the sound quality issues you mentioned come from. Isn't all I need for the ALIX to decode FLAC files and to send the 0's and 1's to my external DAC? Wouldn't the DAC be where any sound quality issues would begin? Am I missing something here?

Wolfgang

[error401]

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me this idea. I've been using the ALIX boards as pfSense firewalls at my clients' for a year or so now, and they're great. Never thought to set them up as mpd boxes though, that's really genius, and I'm going to build one up this afternoon.

Cheers!

Edit: I thought it might be worth adding that if you want traditional IR remote control support, it shouldn't be difficult to add. 'Windows Media Center' remote controls, which are cheap and widely available and come with a USB receiver, are well supported in LIRC (Linux Infrared Remote Control), and there are several MPD clients for LIRC control.

[nyc_paramedic]

Originally Posted by error401

Just wanted to say thanks for giving me this idea. I've been using the ALIX boards as pfSense firewalls at my clients' for a year or so now, and they're great. Never thought to set them up as mpd boxes though, that's really genius, and I'm going to build one up this afternoon.

Cheers!

Thanks! I had been using a (now discontinued) WRAP board with m0n0wall for quite some time. Stable as all heck.

When I saw that PC Engines was offering the new Alix boards with USB I had this incredible eureka moment. Until then I was stumped on how to run linux & mpd on an x86 machine without waisting my time and money on feature-laden micro-atx, mini-itx boards and noisy swicthing PSU's.

All the credit should really go to PC Engines; the developers of MPD; the developers and volunteers of Linux, Debian and Voyage Linux.

If the server meets or exceeds your expectations, please send any of the aforementioned a small donation.

(I like to think of myself as someone who took some very interesting pieces of "Lego" and put them together in a unique way to get a task accomplished, albeit in a most elegant fashion.)