My troublesome offline music server
I've had a Volumio install running on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ for several years.
Well, perhaps "running" isn't the best word.
"Limping along" would be more accurate.
In the last couple years, it's started randomly seizing. Usually during playback, but sometimes when merely idling. The app stops being responsive, and when it comes back, it's forgotten how much music I have loaded and the entire file structure of the storage. That means I have to rescan the attached storage for media, wait for the scan to complete, hope it doesn't seize up in the midst of the scan, and then resume playback.
But when you're hoping on the alarm feature to play gentle music from your specifically curated playlist just for that purpose... those recovery steps don't happen. Because I'm asleep.
I've had a few theories on what could be causing it, based on some known information:
- Volumio runs all of its processing off the pi's RAM.
- My microSD cards have suffered through many re-write cycles over many years.
- My audio library is massive (and still growing).
In ascending order of estimated price to remedy, my theories were:
- ~$15 - MicroSD card degradation
- ~$20-100 - Problems with my media storage (USB-A flash drives)
- ~$100-150 - Pi degradation
- ~$150 - Insufficient RAM
- difficult to price - Wrong tool for the job
Last year I replaced my media storage.
I went from a couple of cheap flash drives that I bought in bulk off newegg (reputable brand but pitiful volume) to a single, much larger drive. I went from two nearly full drives to one half-empty drive... and if anything, the problem might have actually gotten worse (though the worsening could also be blamed on the fact that my media collection keeps growing).
A few days ago I replaced the microSD cards.
And it ran fine while I was watching it. But then I went to sleep and it seized again. It should have played all night, but stopped after about two hours.
I'm not looking forward to testing the remaining theories.
If it's merely Pi degradation, buying a new 3B+ would theoretically solve the issue. But if that isn't the issue, then I have another 3B+ that I've wasted money on, and dealing with returns or trying to resell it is a headache I don't really want to deal with.
If it's a RAM issue, then I'd be looking at buying a 5. I do--in theory--have a use for a 5 if that doesn't solve the issue (which is to say retiring my 10+ year-old gaming PC and switching to a Pi for my primary device), but I'd much prefer making that transition when I'm in the midst of divorcing myself from shore power.
I do believe the Pi 5 might have more processing power than the cheap HP laptop I bought last year that I reflashed with Linux Mint and have been using like a netbook.
If it's the wrong tool... then I'm kind of at a loss.
Volumio wasn't my first choice when it came to media solutions. I think it was like fifth or sixth...
Essentially, I'd gone online looking for options, found a list, and worked my way down it. Volumio just happened to be the first one that I could both (a) make work and (b) was intuitive and easy for me to use.
I'd have to go through that trial and tribulation again.
Maybe you can help. Here's what I'm looking for:
- Something with low power draw.
I'm happy to have a dedicated device that does nothing but media storage and playback. Actually, that's my preference. - Something that works both online and off.
Volumio runs headless using an app on my phone, but it's well within my capabilities to hook up an offline/local-only network to handle that functionality. Beyond that, Volumio only uses internet access for two things, updates and last.fm, and I have no concerns about disregarding those when running in offline mode. - Something that can handle a lot of media.
When I started this, I had about a thousand music tracks. I'm now currently sitting at about twenty thousand tracks, covering music, audiobooks, and guided meditations, which is hogging about 200GB in storage. - It mustn't break the bank.
Pis and other micro computers are nice. Well, raspberry used to be nice, and then they started doing some suspicious things, but Volumio is designed to work on a Pi and I don't have the disposable income or programming knowledge to try to make it work on someone else's microcomputers that it wasn't designed for. - I'd like a remote of some kind, but that's a significantly lower priority than the rest of the list.
The app for a headless Volumio is perfect for me. I use a device that's going to be running anyway as the remote, and I don't have to concern myself with operating a keyboard, supplying power to a monitor, or navigating convoluted menus on a low-budget on-device screen.
What you'll note that isn't on my list is music fidelty. And that's because my ears mostly can't tell the difference between $50 Logitech 2.1 "surround" speakers bought more than a decade ago and pricey Bose behemoths.
Hell, even if you've got a vague suggestion, I'll take it over wandering aimlessly through message boards trying to find rare instances of someone with a similar budget trying to do the same thing. Unfortunately, it's the money criteria that always seems to trip me up.
Leave a comment or continue reading: last month's posts.
