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Beocreate will not configure

Willem Jan

March 05, 2019 22:59

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Hi there

tried all images I could find, all updates via ssh given in the posts of this community, from Mac and Win platforms, wired and wireless access, to no avail. I will not get my brand new Pi 3B+ with Beocreate board get configured using your setup tool.

Problems:

 - tool gets stuck searching

 - tool gets stuck connecting

 - tool gets stuck configuring sound system

 - tool does not respond at all after opening link.

So, quite ready to send it all back.

Unless...there is a way around the tool. Could I adjust parameters using ssh directly? Including establishing bluetooth connections etc?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks, Willem Jan

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23 comments

• 0
  
  Josselin Collier March 06, 2019 21:19

  +1. I have got the same troubles...

   

• 0
  
  De Adi March 06, 2019 21:23

  Two days ago i tried all 3 .img, no sound or no connection via B&O Setup. Even with Cmake build. 
  
  I stick with my old backup.
  
  Don't send it back. it's an awesome device. They will figure it out.

• 0
  
  Willem Jan March 06, 2019 21:27

  'Glad' to hear (not glad at all of course, but good to know that there is at least one similar case, requiring  a solution).
  
  I do think that the entire configuration will just result in changes in the files on the pi. So, knowing which files to change and what parameters to choose should be a simple solution. I would guess the web-interface is just doing that.
  
  Any help available, anywhere? Maybe somebody who developed the web-interface?

• 0
  
  Josselin Collier March 06, 2019 21:31

  Thanks for your answer De Adi. I ain’t feeling alone anymore. After browsing the forum, I found out that I may have an Eeprom problem too. I have the rainbow screen on every startup. 

  Let’s see if someone has the answer ! 

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team March 07, 2019 09:10

  @all: I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble. Our colleagues from B&O will look into this and help debugging it.
  
  One thing that is important: If you're using a Windows PC, you have to install the Bonjour Print Services for Windows first.

  If you're ok with just Airplay and Spotify (no BT audio at the moment), you can alternatively try HiFiBerryOS:
  https://github.com/hifiberry/hifiberry-os
  
  There is no GUI on this, it is just pre-configured and expects to be connected via Ethernet. We'll work on a guide for WLAN soon.
  
  Best regards,
  Daniel

• 0
  
  Willem Jan March 07, 2019 14:02

  Thanks Daniel.
  
  I did install Bonjour, on a Win10 PC with Firefox. Did not help. Neither did switching to a Macbook with Safari.
  
  Airplay and Spotify would at least be something. I'll try. No WLAN is a bit an unfortunate limitation however, in my case. And BT would really do the job, of course.
  
  So, looking forward to further help from B&O for the interface (or alternatives, which would be fine)!

• 0
  
  Tuomas March 07, 2019 14:15

  Hi all,

  first of all, my sincerest apologies for the issues. I'm responsible for the development of the BeoCreate setup tool and I'll do my best to assist you.

   

  First: set Wi-Fi country:

  This has turned out to be important, and something we overlooked in the current setup tool. If the correct country isn't selected for Wi-Fi, it may not connect to your networks because of different frequencies. If you can connect to the Raspberry Pi one way or another (either through BeoSetup hotspot, via Ethernet or with a display, keyboard and mouse), run sudo raspi-config, go to Network Options and then Wi-Fi to select your country.

   

  If the setup tool won't connect to the product and you haven't completed guided setup (stuck at "searching" or "connecting"):

  As suggested by Daniel, you need to have Bonjour installed on a Windows PC, and I recommend using Chrome as the browser. On a Mac, Safari is your best bet. Make sure to have the setup tool open before connecting to the BeoSetup hotspot.

   

  If you completed the guided setup but get stuck at restarting or at "searching" or "connecting":

  This is a frequent issue, and is caused by an error in saving the name that you entered for the system during setup. To get past this, you need to connect to the Raspberry Pi via SSH with its IP address and manually rename the system with the following commands. We're using Beovox CX 50 as the example name:

  1. Give the human-readable name: sudo hostnamectl set-hostname --pretty "Beovox CX 50"

  2. Give the network name: sudo hostnamectl set-hostname --static beovox-cx-50

  For the network name, observe the following: replace spaces and periods with hyphens, remove non-ASCII characters (ä, ö, æ, for example) and do not have hyphens at the end of the name.

  3. After this, you can do sudo reboot to restart the system.

  In the setup tool, click on Add Sound System (you may have to click on Sound Systems first to get to the list of sound systems, if the option is not present in the welcome screen) and enter the name you typed in step 2.

  The tool should now connect to the product and show a list of different settings. If not, please let me know and we can debug this further.

   

  Finally, I wanted to share a bit why we're in this situation and what's happening in the future.

  The current setup experience was created as a quick, short-term solution (in other words, not very easy to maintain and grow) when we launched it last year – it was the intention that it would be replaced by the Bang & Olufsen iOS/Android app, which is used for setting up our other products. Unfortunately this hasn't happened and it's not on the immediate roadmap. Because of this, we're working on an all-new setup GUI/backend – BeoCreate 2.

  This will be a fresh start to fix all of the current problems once and for all, and to make the software scale in the future when we want to add new features and improve existing ones – pretty important. The catch here is that I don't have enough hands to both fix the current version and get BeoCreate 2 out in a reasonable timeframe, and I have decided to focus on the latter.

   

  You've already been patient, I can't thank you enough for that, and it's a lot to ask for some more patience and understanding, but I promise it'll be worth it in the end.

   

  Yours truly,

  Tuomas from Bang & Olufsen

• 0
  
  Willem Jan March 07, 2019 20:32

  Thanks Tuomas. Understand the situation. Pity of the app. Am afraid however that your BeoCreate2 will take some time still, and am not so sure that the current version will solve my problem. We'll see. Appreciate your help.
  
  I did set up the country, using a wired connection, and raspi-config. Not the webinterface: never got that far.
  
  I did put Bonjour on the PC, using Firefox. However, did not work. Nor did switching to Safari on a Macbook. Still, web-interface hangs at, indeed, searching or connecting.
  
  Now the part of the name. I do not get it. You mean to say I can choose any name I like? I did, actually, and chose (very original) beocreate. Still, nothing happened.

  As I understand, it is this name (i.e. beocreate, in my case) that should appear when choosing a sound system? (if I ever get that far)
  
  Since nothing happened after searching or connecting when I tried the last number of times, I still have the feeling that I miss something. And before spending another evening, maybe any more hints?

  As I implicitly understand, there is no easy command line workaround for the web-interface?

• 0
  
  Willem Jan March 08, 2019 20:10

  Hi there,
  
  giving up. Spent another few hours following your advices above,and some others found in this community. Really appreciate all the information shared but, even after re-installing from github,
  
   - there is no BeoSetup hotspot to be found (although the script tells me it has started the service)
  
   - see no BT identification (idem)
  
   - web-interface gives no response whatsoever (although again the script tells me to have started and sudo forever list shows a service)
  
   - parameter file found but without any explanation a bit too hard to find out what to do
  
  I do believe it is a marvellous product, would have loved to hear it playing, but this seems to go a bit too far in tweaking to see any progress at all.
  
  Wish you well. Maybe next time.

• 0
  
  Tuomas March 08, 2019 21:05

  Hi,

  I'm very sorry for your troubles. Something seems broken in a way that's beyond anything I've seen before.

   

  Regarding the system name, about which you asked: the current web interface is unable to automatically "discover" the BeoCreate system on your network once it has been renamed during setup (this is one of the things that'll change with BeoCreate 2), but you instead have to type in its name so that the interface will know to look for it. This is a hard limitation of web browsers.

  When you first boot up a freshly installed system, it will be called beocreate-4ch-blank.local, and the web interface is hard-coded to look search for a device with this name, which is how it appears to automatically find the product. During setup, when the system is renamed, the web interface will also update the name it searches for accordingly. When everything works, that is.

   

  You understand correctly that there isn't really a centralised command line interface for what BeoCreate server does. For the most part, it controls other programs in the Raspbian Lite system. These essential things can be accomplished completely independently from it:

  • Connecting to Wi-Fi networks (official guide) -> we use wpa_cli behind the scenes.
  • Installing sources (AirPlay and Spotify Connect, explained below) -> we use beocreate-installer behind the scenes.
  • Installing sound profiles (also explained below) -> we use HiFiBerry DSPToolkit behind the scenes.

  These things are normally done by BeoCreate server itself and depend on that it knows about the currently installed sound profile (see explanation about beoconfig.json below):

  • Setting a volume limit – default is no limit.
  • Selecting which channels the system plays (mono, stereo, left, right) – default in our sound profiles is mono.

   

  Installing sources manually

  Installation is handled by beocreate-installer. It currently knows how to install and configure shairport-sync (AirPlay) and spotifyd (Spotify Connect) using the following syntax: 

  sudo /home/pi/beocreate-installer install-source source-name

  Replace source-name with either shairport-sync or spotifyd. Reboot afterwards, and the speakers should become available on your devices.

   

  Manually install sound profiles

  You can find all of our current DSP profiles here. These can be installed using HiFiBerry's DSPToolkit:

  dsptoolkit install-profile path-to-profile.xml

  You can either download the XML file to the file system (in whichever way you prefer) or copy its direct URL from GitHub and paste it to the command, in which case it will be automatically downloaded.

   

  beoconfig.json

  Finally, here is an explanation of beoconfig.json file, in case it is even remotely useful:

  {
  "setup": {
  "modelName": "Beovox CX 50",    <-- Speaker model name associated with the current sound profile. Purely cosmetic.
  "profile": "beovox-cx50",    <-- Sound profile file name (without .xml).
  "flashed": true,    <-- A sound profile has been flashed to the DSP by the tool.
  "step": null,    <-- Current guided setup step – a numerical value (0 and up) indicates the setup hasn't been completed. Null indicates setup has been completed.
  "wifiMode": "autoHotspot",    <-- Wi-Fi mode – autoHotspot is the default, and at start it check for an internet connection to determine, if the hotspot needs to be enabled.
  "ssh": true,     <-- Whether SSH is enabled.
  "voicePrompts": true     <-- Whether the system will announce its IP address at startup.
  },
  "volumeLimit": {
  "value": 100,     <-- 0-100 – limits the maximum volume of the sound system
  "register": 123     <-- The actual DSP register address that stores the volume limit value. This is listed in the DSP profile XML file's metadata section as volumeLimitRegister. You need to look up this value in the metadata of the current DSP profile and put it here to be able to use this setting.
  },
  "chSelect": {
  "value": "stereo",     <-- "stereo", "mono", "left", "right" – tells the system which signals will be played through the amplifier
  "register": 456     <-- The actual DSP register address that stores the channel selection setting. This is listed in the DSP profile XML file's metadata section as channelSelectRegister. You need to look up this value in the metadata of the current DSP profile and put it here to be able to use this setting.
  },
  "balance": {
  "value": 0,     <-- Not used at the moment
  "register": null     <-- Not used
  },
  "crossoverBands": 1,     <-- Is this a full-range (1), two-way (2), three-way (3) or a four-way (4) speaker system. This affects the channel selection options: stereo is only available with two-way and full-range systems.
  "checksum": 9D70CFCE2CF81DB5E5606F2426FC8C4D     <-- Stores the unique "fingerprint" of the current DSP program (this is listed in the DSP profile XML file's metadata section as checksum). If you manually install a sound profile using DSPToolkit and still wish to use volume limit and channel selection, this needs to match with the sound profile that was installed.
  }

  If you manually change the file, restart BeoCreate server with sudo forever restart 0.

   

  Again, I am beyond sorry to have let you down and that I haven't been able to better assist you.

   

  Best,

  Tuomas

• 0
  
  Willem Jan March 10, 2019 12:00

  Thanks anyway, Tuomas. Appreciate your help a lot. Good luck with the project!

• 0
  
  ToJa March 19, 2019 13:52

  Hi,

  1 . i have a good power supply (20V 4A)

  2. bonjour is installed

  3. i used the last full B&O image beocreate-181228.img, also tried other images and raspbian with install script.

  4. i can login with ssh and i can see, that spotify, airplay and beocreate server are running

  5. aplay -l and alsamixer  are showing the device

  6. i have set the country in raspi wifi settings i can connect to the Beosetup network

  7. configuration with chrome on https://www.bang-olufsen.com/recreate/setup/ is not possible, i tried to enter the ip of the pi, it doesn't help.

  In the last 10 years i installed and configured numberless pi players (pcp, moode, volumio etc) with different hardware  from Hifiberry and Allo and never had this kind of problems. Why it is not possible to go the player ip:port and make the configuration ? I am forced to go on B&O page, start some program which is tnot working, install apple software, connect to wlan hotspot on Pi/beocreate.

  This is little strange ... ;)

  Edited by ToJa March 19, 2019 14:08
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team March 19, 2019 13:59

  Hi,

  Unfortunately there is a problem on the B&O website. Therefore, this is the temporary configuration URL:
  http://downloads.hifiberry.com/beocreate/setup

  It is planned to have the configuration locally, Tuomas from B&O is working on this.
  
  In general, you could use the Beocreate also without the B&O software with any distribution you like. You could use HiFiBerryOS or install the DSP software on any other system (it definitely works with Raspbian based systems, others might need some changes in the installation script).
  
  The DSP toolkit can be found here: https://github.com/hifiberry/hifiberry-dsp 
  HiFiBerryOS: https://github.com/hifiberry/hifiberry-os/blob/master/images/hifiberryos-20190131.img

  Best regards,
  Daniel

• 0
  
  Tuomas March 19, 2019 14:00

  Hi ToJa,

  my apologies for the issues you're experiencing. Please try to use the setup tool through HiFiBerry website instead: http://downloads.hifiberry.com/beocreate/setup/

  I hear you about not being able to just type in the IP address to the browser. This was the way we chose to implement it in the beginning, but time has shown us that it doesn't work – as you've seen – which is why this will change in the future with BeoCreate 2.

   

  Ninja-edit: Thanks Daniel, you were quicker.

   

  Best,

  Tuomas

• 0
  
  ToJa March 19, 2019 14:02

  Hi,

  thanks for the link, it works immediatelly :)

• 0
  
  ToJa March 19, 2019 14:29

  I did few steps of the setup, than after i gave the name for the device there is information "the rest od the setup is automatic" and "waiting for internet" at the bottom and nothing happens. Pi is connected to lan with internet, and to wlan using the B&O software, after 15 minutes of waiting i rebooted, beocreate was  not configured, i did the setup again, and now since 10 minutes there is a message "waiting for internet" ... Maybe pi can't be at same time hotspot and wlan client ?

   

• 0
  
  Tuomas March 19, 2019 15:27

  Hi ToJa,

  glad we're getting somewhere.

  Just to be clear, during setup, you did select a Wi-Fi network during the setup (I assume you did, because I don't think it'll let you go forward without)?

  When you see "waiting for Internet", this is what happens:

  • The Pi turns off the BeoSetup hotspot (the computer that was connected usually notices this and switches to another network)
  • It tries to connect to the network you selected earlier.
  • Only if that is succesful, it will then check for internet connection (a simple ping to Google).
  • If it detects a connection, the setup will then proceed with downloading sound settings.

  The system is a bit stupid about using LAN: if it detects that your Raspberry Pi has Wi-Fi hardware (it's Raspberry Pi 3, Zero W or has a USB Wi-Fi adapter), it will require a working Wi-Fi network during setup. After that you can use it with just LAN if you want. To be clear, using LAN and Wi-Fi together shouldn't be an issue, as long as you can establish a Wi-Fi connection during setup.

  If you can connect via SSH to the Pi, there's a simple log file at /home/pi/setup.log that should contain some messages about what has happened in the setup – this might tell us more (you can do sudo cat /home/pi/setup.log for example, to show the log).

   

  Best,

  Tuomas

• 0
  
  ToJa March 19, 2019 17:18

  Tuomas, thanks for the support :) i will try one clean installation later and report.

  Does a basic-fullrange profile provide two "normal" channels with ~2x60 W ?

   

• 0
  
  Tuomas March 19, 2019 18:13

  Hi ToJa,

  yes, Basic Full-range is just a straight pipe through the system. Once you get through the setup, you can choose how the channels are set up (stereo, all mono, all left, all right).

  I'll be here in case you need help.

   

  Best,

  Tuomas from Bang & Olufsen

• 0
  
  ToJa March 20, 2019 13:48

  Yesterday after many hours of trying i was finally able to configure Beocreate. Notebook needs lan and wlan connection, Pi needs lan and wlan. If the network is secured by firewall blocking "ping", the installation is not possible, because Pi is checking network connectivity with ping on google. Now after beocrete got a profile i wanted to use it with piCoreplayer and it works, but ...

  During the boot there is a VERY loud "plop" from the speakers, i am afraid it can destroy the tweeter. I know, that piCoreplayer is the "third party" software, but it is one of the most used players on Pi. I used pCp and Moode other dacs and spdif interfaces (Hifiberry DAC+, DAC+ Pro, Digi+ Pro, ASllo digi) and also the HB Amp2 and never heard this kind of loud plop during the boot process.

  I know that i can try to install squeezelite on B&O rasbian, but piCoreplayer is just great and i am using it since years on many devices.

  Is there anything i can do to solve this "plop" problem ? ;)

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team March 20, 2019 14:08

  You need to install another DSP profile. What profile are you using?

  Best regards,
  Daniel

• 0
  
  ToJa March 20, 2019 15:43

  I installed the "basic fullrange" profile.

• 0
  
  Raju Bitter May 09, 2019 12:26

  Did an upgrade of the software on my system, and ran into the same problem. Thanks for the detailed explanation. Love my recreated CX100, they sound great.
  Cheers, Raju