I confess that it was moOde audio I had a go at porting, not Volumio. An LE image with MPD on its own (no Kodi, less video stuff) came in about 90MB in size which is much nicer than the typical 400MB-1.2GB of debian based things.
This is what I was getting at. I just have a feeling that the developers of Volumio and other audio OS would be better using LE as a starting point for a dedicated (no compromise) audio OS.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've never tried the MPD add-on. That'll be tonight's project.
That said, as nice as it is to keep receiving these suggestions, they aren't really tacking the meat of what is a slightly academic question. I feel that everyone's getting distracted by the bloating issue.
I was after your opinion as to whether a customised and streamlined Kodi / LibreElec would make a better starting point for an audio player OS than Debian Jessie + chrome browser. I have a feeling that it would, and that an audio player JEOS based on Kodi would have a better chance of succeeding than Volumio. Could be wrong though; usually am.
Thanks for the suggestion. However, I tried RuneAudio before I settled on Volumio. While RuneAudio is a little less resource hungry, it's not as nice an experience as Volumio. And with no update in over 2 years RuneAudio has the feel of abandonware, and has even less chance of mainstream acceptance and attracting and enthusing 3rd party development.
The original post wasn't an appeal for recommendations or alternative solutions. More of a theoretical question. Could Kodi / LibreElec provide a better starting point for a lightweight and cross-platform dedicated music system? That was all.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I've already tried Yatse, Kore and all the other Kodi remote apps. They work OKish for music, but are next to hopeless for web-radio, audiobooks and podcasts. It was the frustration with these clumsy make-do options that lead me to try Volumio + touchscreen. Which works like a normal hi-fi or radio. No need to switch on a TV or hunt for a smartphone. Just tap the touchscreen and away you go.
Once you try Volumio you realise just how much audio on Kodi is compromised by a structure designed primarily for video content. Don't get me wrong, LibreElec is fantastic for video. I use it everyday for films, shows and live TV. It's just not a great solution for a home hi-fi in a kitchen or bedroom or wherever.
I just wondered if it'd be possible to make something like Volumio but with a lighter and more robust chassis, and with more chance of mainstream acceptance and 3rd party development.
I've never been entirely convinced by music & audio on Kodi / LibreElec. Not that it sounds bad or that it's especially difficult to play music, web-radio or audiobooks. It's rather that in practical terms playing audio content via a system based around a TV screen and with video playback as the primary focus is a bit wasteful and clumsy. It's a set-up that doesn't really work too well in the situations in which I listen to music & audio. Which is why I was pleased to discover Volumio. An OS which in conjunction with Pi3 and Pi touchscreens is providing the basis of audio systems in my workshop and kitchen.
However, as great as it is to have no-compromise digital music systems, I can't help thinking that Volumio is a bit bloated and demanding for a music and radio player. Though I imagine it's a bit late for the Volumio developers to change course, I wondered if you could create a better audio system with a JEOS like LE as the basis rather than customising Debian jessie + chrome browser.
If you gutted the non-essential stuff from LibreElec, created a skin and web interface dedicated to audio, and made the GUI touchscreen-friendly, wouldn't you have something potentially a good deal better than Volumio? Especially as the greater public awareness of and familiarity with Kodi / LibreElec would make it more likely to attract the interest of 3rd party add-on developers. And possibly even official apps from Spotify and the like. Maybe even an embedded music store.
I'm not implying or demanding that anyone should take up arms and get to work with the above, it's more of a question of curiosity and wishful thinking.
Thomas
I just came to this forum with the intention of posting a similar Thank You to the developers. I hope it's OK add to a second.
This morning I was thinking about how often I use LibreElec and how it has quickly become something upon which my family depends. We really appreciate the time and effort of those who develop and maintain this project. And the community that surrounds the project seems so kind, friendly and helpful. I wish that more of life was like this. It's why I try to support the project with donations whenever I have some spare cash. Which I'm going to do right now.
Thanks very much for the link and the good news. And sorry for the slow reply - I'm not here too often.
I'm not sure if this is a bug report or an observation, but I'd very much like to know why it's happening and if there's anything I can do to improve the situation.
[BTW, I'm using the latest LE with Wetek Play2 & Core.]
My audio output is set to Pulse. I listen almost exclusively via a pair of BT headphones. After powering on my box I connect the headphones via the LE settings add-on. 80% of the time the playback will have an audio lag of a second or so. The 20% perfectly synced playback can't be relied upon for more than 30 mins - at some point the audio stream will be interrupted by an audible glitch which introduces the aforementioned audio lag.
However, there is a workaround with which I can guarantee the BT audio will always be perfectly synced and infinitely reliable.
1. Connect the headphones via the LE settings add-on.
2. Switch the audio stream to HDMI.
3. Play a few seconds of video with the audio streamed through the TV.
4. Stop the playback.
5. Switch the audio stream back to Pulse - I can hear the Pulse audio reconnect to the headphones.
6. Return to my library and play a video. The audio now 100% synced and undisturbed.
Why is this happening? And is there an easier and less cumbersome means of obtaining a reliable BT audio stream?
Thanks for your time.
Thomas
Hi,
I am trying to use a PCTV 292e TV tuner stick with my Wetek Core.
How I can convince the Core & TVheadend to recognise the stick?
Thanks for your time and any help you can offer.
Thomas
I've just been informed that LE on the Core is running the 3.10 kernel and the stick is only supported from 3.16 onwards. I had mistakenly assumed that the Core was running 4.9. Sorry for the bother.
Blimey. Or at least possibly-maybe blimey. I'll start clearing a space in the cupboard. Perhaps put the skeletons on ebay.
Thanks for taking the time to even consider the idea.
Q. Do you know what would be really great?
A. A lightweight TVheadend (backend server) OS.
For the Pi, Odroid and perhaps even Wetek devices.
Dedicated and simplified. Almost plug and play.
Access a remote GUI from a desktop. With easy to configure wi-fi. And easy to add usb or remote storage.
Anyone with the technical ability feel like taking this under their wing? Or is this a daft idea?
Thomas
Hello Everyone,
I have a Wetek Play 2 running the latest LE. With the audio streamed exclusively to a pair of BT headphones.
Everything works fine. The only small irritation is the requirement to reconnect the BT via the LE settings add-on every time I power up the headphones.
I've added the LE Settings to my Eminence 2 home screen for easier access, but I was wondering if it might be possible to create keyboard / FLIRC remote shortcuts with which I could toggle the connection to the phones. Perhaps with some sort of action that includes phones' name (DR-BTN200) and address (00:18:09:1E:08:6A).
Thanks for any advice or help you can offer.
Thomas
I use LibreELEC on my wetek core on NAND just fine, perhaps you didn't do the install correctly?
Thanks for the spam. I fix what I can. If you see something that needs fixing feel free to make a PR.
The install problem might have been my fault. The SD card was an old class 4 and could be a bit dodgy. I used a class 10 for OE. I'll try again with a better card.
And I don't believe that you "couldn't care less....." that's why I donated to LibreElec.
just try it and find out for yourself.
I tried the beta on the Core and was greeted with: can't access tty.....
However, the OpenElec version installed and works just fine. It does appear to be a little quicker and it seems to require less grunt. I'll try again with LE when the stable version is released.
Will LibreElec on my Wetek Core & Play 2's NAND be faster and less demanding than the Kodi App + Android OS?
The current arrangement isn't exactly sluggish, but it'd be nice if there was an extra incentive to install LE.
Thanks for your time.
Thomas
why do you decide don't buy rpi 3 which has better support from chip producer ?
I'd prefer something which can play 10bit hevc.
Hi everyone,
I intend to buy either an Odroid C2 or a Wetek Hub.
Which do people think is likely to have the longest support from LibreElec?
Thanks for your time.
Thomas
OK, so I decided to buy a PCTV 292e stick and add it to a Cubox-i running the latest alpha of LibreElec, and then see how it went. So far it's wenting pretty well. There's the occasional stutter with HD channels but most everything seems to be working. No doubt the small glitches can be ironed away with a few tweaks or a better aerial.
