Latest Release: 23rd January 2013 – CHANGELOG
Download SqueezePlay OS v1.09 – (155MB) MD5
Download SqueezePlay OS for Internal Memory v1.09 – (155MB) MD5
- If you are using a version of SqueezePlay OS older than v1.05, installing the latest release is highly recommended.
I’d noticed that some people on the Joggler Forums were making more use of SqueezePlay as a replacement for the native operating system, loading it in preference to the Tango interface. I’d also toyed with the idea of running a few background services on a Joggler, but these were all things that were going to be tricky on a system as specialised as the OpenPeak one. So, I decided to make my own Linux distribution based on Ubuntu.
What Is It?
SqueezePlay OS, as I’ve been inventively calling it, is a small Ubuntu installation built using debootstrap and designed to run SqueezePlay for Joggler. You can download it, flash it to a USB stick, plug it into your Joggler and be up and running in no time. It’s also designed to look neat, with no console output on boot (although verbose output is easy to turn back on) dropping you straight into the SqueezePlay user interface.
After the first version was released it was clear that people wanted to install it onto the internal flash memory of their Jogglers, completely replacing the OpenPeak system. It’s taken a bit of work, but as you can see from the download box there’s now a specialised copy of SqueezePlay OS that can be written to the Joggler’s internal storage using the latest Reflashing Tool.
Why?
It’s true that there are a couple of other ways of running SqueezePlay; either on a full desktop installation for the Joggler, or on the native operating system. I decided to make this to keep things as small, quick and stable and possible. There are no extraneous programs waiting to pop up and distract you, and no Tango user interface to restart and push SqueezePlay into the background. The system will never bug you for attention – it’s just SqueezePlay and you.
Oh, and it has fully hardware accelerated video decoding courtesy of BuZz’s PPA, should you ever need it.
Instructions
You can run SqueezePlay OS either from an external memory stick, or from the Joggler’s internal storage.
There are benefits to both methods; if you run Logitech Media Server on a dedicated machine somewhere on your network, internal storage may be the preferred option. However, if you wish to store music on a device attached to your Joggler, want to swap back to the default operating system easily, or fancy installing additional software onto SqueezePlay OS, then a USB device may be a better option.
- Important: Please note that I always compile kernels for the Joggler with an 80°C thermal trip point. If you are unhappy with this, you need to add thermal.psv=70 to the
grub.cfg file before booting.
- Also Important: If you install to internal memory and then install Logitech Media Server as well, space gets very tight indeed. In fact, if you have a large music collection, you may even find that LMS can’t save it’s databases. If you use LMS, I don’t recommend installing it to the internal memory.
Quick Installation Instructions
If installing to a USB device, the quick version is:
- Download SqueezePlay OS from the link above and write it to a USB device of at least 1GB capacity.
- Power off your Joggler and insert the USB stick into the side socket.
- Power on your Joggler.
If you want to install to internal memory, follow the instructions on the Reflashing Tool page for writing an alternative OS image file and use the ‘SqueezePlay OS for Internal Memory’ image. Please don’t use the standard image on the internal memory (or vice versa) as you will definitely run into problems.
If your Joggler fails to boot, try another USB device.
Full Installation Instructions
Download SqueezePlay OS from the link above and follow the instructions for your operating system.
Linux
Open a Terminal window and run sudo fdisk -l to find your device name. Then:
sudo umount /dev/sdX*
gzip -dc sqpos103.img.gz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX bs=1M
Where sdX is your USB device.
Mac OS X
Open a Terminal window and run sudo diskutil list to find your device name. Then:
sudo umount -f /dev/diskX*
gzip -dc sqpos103.img.gz | sudo dd of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m
Where diskX is your USB device.
Windows
Download Win32DiskImager, then unpack the .img.gz file using a tool like 7-zip. Run W32DiskImager.exe and select the unpacked .img file. Choose the drive that corresponds to your USB stick and use ‘Write’ to write the image.
Usage
Generally, using SqueezePlay OS is identical to using any other installation of SqueezePlay for Joggler. However, there are a few more functions and options that are not present in other versions.
Initial Setup
Once booted you will be walked through the normal setup process for SqueezePlay, except you will find that there’s an additional step to configure network settings.
The system is DHCP only (well, the system isn’t, but the applet is if you get my meaning) and if you’re on a wired connection you should simply be able to ‘Accept and Continue’. If you’re using wireless, choose the wireless option, enter your network name and WPA password, then hit ‘Apply Changes and Reboot’. When the system comes back up, all should be well.
Should the message say that no network address has been assigned, hit the Back arrow and wait for a few moments. It is likely that the system is waiting for a response from your DHCP server. If this message persists, check your network connection and make sure your router is set up to distribute addresses by DHCP (most are by default).
When you’re happy with the details displayed at the top of the Network screen, choose ‘Accept and Continue’ and choose the mysqueezeplay.com service or your local Logitech Media Server.
From then on, it’s a reasonably normal SqueezePlay!
Additional Features
If you head through the menus to Settings > Advanced > Additional Features, you will find a few added extras.
AirPlay
The AirPlay option turns your Joggler into an AirPlay audio receiver using a piece of software called shairport. It takes a couple of minutes to perform a background installation, then your Joggler will appear as a destination on your AirPlay-compatible devices as a place to zap music to.
The AirPlay name is the same as the one you enter in Settings > Squeezebox Name, so if you have more than one Joggler running SqueezePlay OS make sure you give it an appropriate name, otherwise things will get confusing quickly!
Logitech Media Server
This option will automatically install Logitech Media Server on SqueezePlay OS without messing around on the command line. Simply press the ‘enable’ button and wait while LMS is downloaded and installed for you. Then visit the address shown on the installation screen with your browser to begin configuring server options, such as the location of your music.
Network Mount Point
Here you can specify a network mount point, which is a handy thing to be able to do if you run Logitech Media Server on your Joggler, but store your media files on some other system (such as a server or NAS device). You have a choice of NFS or SMB protocols, where SMB would be the option to choose if you’re using Windows File Sharing. However, if you possibly can, use NFS. It has much lower CPU overheads than SMB and many NAS devices support it just fine.
If you use SMB, you must supply a valid username and password for the share (guest access won’t work).
Your shared area will be attached to /srv/media, so point your LMS installation to the contents of that directory. Hitting the ‘Disable’ option will unmount the share and remove the configuration (including any usernames or passwords you entered).
Secure Shell
This installs the SSH server software to allow you to connect to your Joggler over a secure terminal connection. Once you’re in, you can make advanced configuration changes – and get your Joggler to do pretty much anything you might want.
Troubleshooting
Things never go perfectly smoothly, so here are a few suggestions.
“It says ‘No network address has been assigned’ on the Network screen.”
If you know that everything on your network is okay, then it is likely that you’ve just whizzed through the preceding screens before the Joggler was given an IP address by your DHCP server. If you press the Back arrow button and try again, the applet will recheck your network configuration.
If you still get no IP address, make sure that your DHCP sever is functioning correctly and that you have the correct interface selected. If you’ve chosen the wireless option, double-check your WPA passphrase and network name. That name also needs to be broadcast, not hidden.
“I use WEP, not WPA for my wireless network. Will it work?”
Nope. WPA only, I’m afraid – although it is configurable if you get on the command line; the Ubuntu Forums may be of help. And you know your WEP passphrase? It can probably be cracked in under 10 seconds, so please consider switching to WPA.
“How do I make the audio output louder?”
The master output level defaults to around 70%, as this was the maximum volume I found the internal speakers would take before sounding rattly and distorted. However, if you’re driving external speakers from the 3.5mm jack output you probably want this to be increased.
There is now an option under Settings > Audio Settings > Interface Configuration that will remove the audio output limit.
“I want to tinker. How do I access the command line?”
There’s a magic button hidden in Settings > Advanced > Additional Features. Happy tinkering!
“I like the verbose boot. How do I get that back?”
Just edit /boot/boot.nsh, changing any instances of grubq to grub.
- I hope that you find SqueezePlay OS useful, so please leave a message either here or on the Joggler Forums. Many thanks to Jools Wills (BuZz) for the kernel patches, many Joggler tweaks and advice. If in doubt, I’d nick it from his releases. ;)
tags: joggler,
linux,
squeezeplay,
ubuntu