Snakeoil Forums - v0.1.5-pre-release-20160617b

This is the second beta release of 0.1.5, featuring a bug fix, and several new additions. Before we go into the details, here's some other information:

PROMOTE SNAKEOIL
Now that the Snakeoil Squad think the whole platform is stable enough 90% of time, we now need your help to promote Snakeoil!

If you think Snakeoil is the best sounding system so far, or if you think Snakeoil is the easiest Linux Operating System you have ever used, please promote Snakeoil OS and spread the name of Snakeoil in your social group. At the bottom of every blog post and widget thread is a widget that allows you to share the content you're currently reading on your social media.

Other things you can do is to sign up to the forums and post your testimonial, or better yet do so on other sites [Image: heart.png]

. Help and install Snakeoil on your mate's audio system too if you can.

IMPORTANT
Cryo Treatment (0.1.4) will check for type compatibility but prior versions do not. If you are using an older firmware version please double check and download the correct firmware that matches the architecture of your machine. i.e. install the i686 firmware if you are using 32 bit Snakeoil, and amd64 if you are using 64 bit Snakeoil. (Download the amd64 version even if you are using an Intel chip. I know it's weird but we can blame history for that [Image: shrug.png]

)

Download:[attachment=51][attachment=52]

Changelog
Changes since v0.1.5-pre-release-20160613

(Small Update: 20160617b) Fixed bug when removing a storage in music tab doesn't do anything [Credit: Doncentric]
Fix bad HTML tags in Music tab when saving > 1 mount points [Credit: Doncentric]
Load the default English language file (always works) if the multi-language file cannot load
Disable kernel tweaking, kernel upgrade and password reset when in LiveCD mode
Strip referrer information when accessing snakeoil websifte from the snakeoil web interface to protect your privacy. Tested to work with Chrome (not sure if true for other browsers).
Removed irqpoll for boot options as it is not doing anyhing (makes sense I guess as RT kernel is totally pre-emptive)
Improved error detection when starting players from VNC (i.e. there will be a msg if the player fail to start)
NAA, Roon and other players require manual configuration, as such you should be allowed to start them without configuring ALSA output devices in the Hardware tab.
Now show player status in software tab so you are better informed if things goes wrong. It will also display a message if your selected player requires manual configuration. You no longer need to ssh into the machine and see if your player is now started or not as all the information is now shown from here.
Strip high ASCII characters (e.g. ASCII colour) when displaying output from a deb install. (This makes NAA install more legible)

As usual please refer to the reference guide and FAQ if you havn't done so already. If this your first time updating the firmware and you are feeling apprehensive, please follow this short video guide:

I have tested the new 64 bit pre-release version (snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160617b-amd64.fw)
Not sure what exectly has been changed but in my setup it decreased the sound quality. For some reason it is more harsh than the previous prerelease (snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160613-amd64). Switched back to the previous prerelease. Of course all setups are different so YMMV.

Hope this helps! :-)

(18-Jun-2016, 12:35 AM)Leonard Wrote: [ -> ]I have tested the new 64 bit pre-release version (snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160617b-amd64.fw)
Not sure what exectly has been changed but in my setup it decreased the sound quality. For some reason it is more harsh than the previous prerelease (snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160613-amd64). Switched back to the previous prerelease. Of course all setups are different so YMMV.

Hope this helps! :-)

The software players binaries themselves are not changed, only the web interface is. In theory that shouldn't affect the sound quality, but when testing different firmware images at another person's place. Subjectively it does, which is strange and puzzling. [Image: think.png]

That's about the time when I implemented the "Clear Cache" feature. Every time you change a software player, or update the firmware that function is run automatically. But it's hard to tell if it works or not.

Can't even theorise a proper reason: perhaps it's the sector stored on the SSD/USB/storage, perhaps it's the memory location where the program is stored. Just can't think of a solid enough plausible reason to find the root cause.

And interesting enough, this affects people differently, e.g. I may find firmware X works best on my system, others will prefer firmware Y. Ditto with different software players and kernel combinations. Everybody just prefer different thing as their listening techniques are never the same.

That's my design goal of Snakeoil, it provides you the flexibility of choice [Image: cool.png]

, the power to choose. Because in my mind I believe everybody is unique.

For tweakers, Snakeoil has exposed enough things on the web interface for you to tune the Operating System to the way you want it.
For people who aren't tweakers, Snakeoil is just simple and easy enough to not overwhelm (still a work in progress).

(17-Jun-2016, 11:33 AM)agent_kith Wrote: [ -> ]This is the second beta release of 0.1.5, featuring a bug fix, and several new additions. Before we go into the details, here's some other information:

PROMOTE SNAKEOIL
Now that the Snakeoil Squad think the whole platform is stable enough 90% of time, we now need your help to promote Snakeoil!

If you think Snakeoil is the best sounding system so far, or if you think Snakeoil is the easiest Linux Operating System you have ever used, please promote Snakeoil OS and spread the name of Snakeoil in your social group. At the bottom of every blog post and widget thread is a widget that allows you to share the content you're currently reading on your social media.

Other things you can do is to sign up to the forums and post your testimonial, or better yet do so on other sites . Help and install Snakeoil on your mate's audio system too if you can.

IMPORTANT
Cryo Treatment (0.1.4) will check for type compatibility but prior versions do not. If you are using an older firmware version please double check and download the correct firmware that matches the architecture of your machine. i.e. install the i686 firmware if you are using 32 bit Snakeoil, and amd64 if you are using 64 bit Snakeoil. (Download the amd64 version even if you are using an Intel chip. I know it's weird but we can blame history for that )

Download:

Changelog
Changes since v0.1.5-pre-release-20160613

(Small Update: 20160617b) Fixed bug when removing a storage in music tab doesn't do anything [Credit: Doncentric]

Fix bad HTML tags in Music tab when saving > 1 mount points [Credit: Doncentric]

Load the default English language file (always works) if the multi-language file cannot load

Disable kernel tweaking, kernel upgrade and password reset when in LiveCD mode

Strip referrer information when accessing snakeoil websifte from the snakeoil web interface to protect your privacy. Tested to work with Chrome (not sure if true for other browsers).

Removed irqpoll for boot options as it is not doing anyhing (makes sense I guess as RT kernel is totally pre-emptive)

Improved error detection when starting players from VNC (i.e. there will be a msg if the player fail to start)

NAA, Roon and other players require manual configuration, as such you should be allowed to start them without configuring ALSA output devices in the Hardware tab.

Now show player status in software tab so you are better informed if things goes wrong. It will also display a message if your selected player requires manual configuration. You no longer need to ssh into the machine and see if your player is now started or not as all the information is now shown from here.

Strip high ASCII characters (e.g. ASCII colour) when displaying output from a deb install. (This makes NAA install more legible)

As usual please refer to the reference guide and FAQ if you havn't done so already. If this your first time updating the firmware and you are feeling apprehensive, please follow this short video guide:

Hi,

I'm currently running 0.1.3 and would like to try out the 64bit version, do i have to upgrade the OS to 0.1.4 first before applying this firmware?

thanks
Trung.

(18-Jun-2016, 04:43 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,

I'm currently running 0.1.3 and would like to try out the 64bit version, do i have to upgrade the OS to 0.1.4 first before applying this firmware?

thanks
Trung.

No need to, you just need to download the 32 bit (i686) version:
snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160617b-i686.fw

There are several changes to the web interface once you update to 0.1.5, things are moved around slightly: e.g. vmlinuz and firmware upgrade are now in the System tab, as are cyclictest, top, reboot and shutdown..

(18-Jun-2016, 05:20 PM)agent_kith Wrote: [ -> ]
(18-Jun-2016, 04:43 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ]Hi,

I'm currently running 0.1.3 and would like to try out the 64bit version, do i have to upgrade the OS to 0.1.4 first before applying this firmware?

thanks
Trung.
No need to, you just need to download the 32 bit (i686) version:
snakeoil-0.1.5-pre-release-20160617b-i686.fw

There are several changes to the web interface once you update to 0.1.5, things are moved around slightly: e.g. vmlinuz and firmware upgrade are now in the System tab, as are cyclictest, top, reboot and shutdown..

Great. Thanks. [Image: thumbs.png]

(18-Jun-2016, 05:26 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ]Great. Thanks.

Cool, let me know how it goes.

(18-Jun-2016, 05:27 PM)agent_kith Wrote: [ -> ]
(18-Jun-2016, 05:26 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ]Great. Thanks.

Cool, let me know how it goes.

Arghh...i'm gettting excited too soon Smile

somehow my Snakeoil web interface doesn't have the 'Snakeoil' menu for me to upgrade the firmware. Can you please point me to where i can enable it?

(18-Jun-2016, 06:41 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ] somehow my Snakeoil web interface doesn't have the 'Snakeoil' menu for me to upgrade the firmware. Can you please point me to where i can enable it?

Get excited again, you have a PM.
[Image: ahaaah.gif]

Make sure you download the i686 version and apply that only...

(18-Jun-2016, 07:20 PM)agent_kith Wrote: [ -> ]
(18-Jun-2016, 06:41 PM)c.trung Wrote: [ -> ] somehow my Snakeoil web interface doesn't have the 'Snakeoil' menu for me to upgrade the firmware. Can you please point me to where i can enable it?

Get excited again, you have a PM.

Make sure you download the i686 version and apply that only...

Great thanks Agent Kith. Will do.