And now the volumio news…
A new and improved Volumio version for Raspberry PI
Raspberry Pi is the most popular platform, even if it’s the worst performing one of the supported devices. I’m not just talking about mere computing power. You may be aware that Pi suffers of a “less than optimal” implementation of the shared USB\Ethernet Bus. But we can see maybe the light at the end of the tunnel. An improved USB driver is currently under development (and I really hope it will be included in the mainline kernel…). Take it as an USB audio fix II. I examined a little what it does, and I’m really not sure it will be improving performances in all scenarios. But for the majority of people (and systems), this should grant a listening experience without crackles, noises and pops. Here you can find an extensive explanation of what this new driver does.
Thanks to Tux for suggesting this fix
Other improvements you’ll find in Volumio Beta 1.2
- An handy script to update Volumio’s webUI (thank you Ebsy)
- Logging to RamDisk, this reduces click and SD Card wearing, you can now find the logs @ /run (source)
- Hifiberry Digi support, just activate it like you would do with other i2s DACS
- Other minor improvements
As usual, you can find the new image in the download section .
PLEASE NOTE: It would be extremely important to know your experience with this Version, since it features some experimental fixes that could lead to some instabilities. I created an ad-hoc thread for this release, please report your experience there.
VOLUMIO goes to CeBit
Next week in Hannover there will be one of the most interesting IT fairs in the world: CeBIT. If you will be around, you will find me talking about Volumio, on the 12th of March at CeBIT’s barcamp. So if you want to know how Volumio was born, built, developed and what are future directions, or just want to throw me rotten potatoes or your bra, just come there.
RASPBERRY PI system rebuilding
I’m now devoting my (few) free time to improve even more the Raspberry Pi Volumio system. I’m now building a minimal debian FS from scratch again, recompiling some core packages to further push performances. Results are encouraging, but this task is time consuming and there will be lot of patience needed, both for me and for you. I’m also wondering to abandon the beloved debian wheezy in favour of the brand new and shiny Jessie… If you have some suggestion, just let me know via comments below.
WebUI radical redesign is about to start
You know that Volumio features a brilliant WebUI that was coded by ACX and ORION for RaspyFi. I’m now taking care of improving it and adding some more functionalities. But, the more I dig into that, the more I feel that PHP soon or late will become a bottleneck.
This is also because I recently fell in love with Node.js, and I’m starting to learning how to develop with this amazing framework.
So, what I’m planning is a whole system redesign, using Node and Socket.io . What I really like is that we could have an integrated system that will be lot more efficient and flexible. I also think, this will save lot of time in the long run, since there are thousands of modules that could be used.
This will take months to be done, so don’t expect anything to land on your devices soon. When I will have a more coherent idea of the approach and the system design, you’ll be the first to know and I will share both the code and the progresses. If you have any suggestion, again, let me know via comments or forum.
A new Repo and DOCS are now available
Ok, this project lacks proper documentation. And it just doesn’t make sense to keep all the stuff I have just on my Hard Drive. So, I set a brand new docs system, based on Read The Docs . This way, everyone can contribute by committing to Volumio Docs Repo on github.
Now the Docs are empty, I’m waiting for some vacation to upload all my knowledge into that. If you want to start contributing, here you can read how to do that.
Then we have the Volumio Repo. It is not a standard Debian Repo, so don’t expect to do apt-get with it (at least for now). It just contains a bunch of files that could be useful, also for non Volumio users. You can find all the kernels I compiled, for example. Plus some other stuff. The Repo is powered by h5ai by Lars Jung, thank you mate!
Here are the links
CUBIEBOARD2 and CUBIETRUCK VOLUMIO porting is on its way
Yes. For those of you craving to listen their favourite tunes with Volumio on cubies, developement is on its final stages. Really like those boards, filled with accessories. Expect the images to be done in about a week.
That was it! Que viva Volumio!