OLD: mpdPup - Simplified MPD Music Server/Jukebox - v0.9.2

[ldolse]

Hi Jean-Louis, welcome to the forum, and thanks for giving mpdPup a shot.

- how can I get french keyboard (nobody is perfect )

Right click on the desktop, at the top go to 'Desktop', and then 'chooselocale'. That said I'm not 100% sure the french keymaps are there. You don't need to type anything but ascii into the config wizards, so you should be ok regardless.

- is it okay if my F HDD is formated in NTFS or should I reformat it to ExFAT. I do not know what is better

Doesn't matter. Windows abstracts this from the clients (i.e. mpdPup will have no idea about the underlying filesystem)

- how can I find the private IP address from my server named SERVEURJLP ?

Is SERVEURJLP your windows server? Just go to the command line and type 'ipconfig'. If you mean on the mpdPup server, I recommend choosing the static IP option when you go through the wizards.

- what is the exact syntax I should use to indicate the shared documents on my server ?

mpdPup has a wizard to walk you through this, you don't need to worry about the exact syntax. You just need to know your file server's IP, name of the share you created, music directory, and user/pass.

[Jean-Louis P]

edited

[Jean-Louis P]

Hi Idolse

Thanks for your first replies, I have understood for the keybd. BTW i think there might be a little mistake in the help message when you enter the setup with F2 : it is written in the samples below puppy pfix=fr instead of puppy pkeys=fr).

I have tried several times but have not been happy until then, even after have burnt again the compact flash card.

I think the problem originated at a moment where I was asked to save the mpdpup config and initially choosed the compact flash card.

After a while as nothing was happening I tried on a HDD partition but there were several (My intent was initially not to use the HDD but I don't know where to store the config.

Now when I boot I have an error message "problem recognizing media setup" then I get the prompt stating "Patch mode 38 to resolution 1024x600 complete" and not the mpdwizard. I could retrieve it through xorgwizard or xwin but am unable to enter the name of the sound device : no more characters may be entered ...

I keep trying

Jean-Louis

[Jean-Louis P]

former mpdconfig was remaining in /mnt/home
deleted it and it seems to roll on
... but still no possibility to type in Sound Output Name

[ldolse]

Are you saying it won't let you type the sound output name because it can't work with the french keyboard at all? Is it only broken inside of Xwindows, or is the terminal broken too? For Xwindows please try the chooselocale function I mentioned before and see if that works. If you can't get the keyboard working in X at all, but you can type ASCII from the terminal, then just exit Xwindows and type 'mpdwizard' at the CLI, and you'll get the CLI version of the Wizard.

It would help a bit if you could describe your overall hardware configuration with regard to all the storage you have - usually if you're booting from compact flash you don't also need an internal hard disk. How are you booting off of the compact flash? Usually people only use compact flash when they have a CF-SATA adapter - do you have some kind of reader on a USB port?

Any of the internationalization support comes from upstream, i.e. Puppy Linux proper, so for the keyboard issue I think you'll get better support in other parts of the puppy linux forum - which I see you've been attempting, please let me know if/when people have provided solutions. Any solutions other forum members are able to provide I'll integrate into mpdPup.

That said, I know a lot of users from various countries have successfully set this up (I've seen success reports from Greece, Germany, Korea, & China to name a few), I'm sure most of them were probably using non-american keyboards, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

Edit - a third option to solve the keyboard problem (guaranteed to work) would be to do the setup remotely. Install putty and follow the SSH setup instructions from the first post. At that point you'll be doing all the typing from your primary PC, which of course will already be working perfectly with your keyboard.

[Jean-Louis P]

Thanks Idolse for your time, I will try to be more precise

I have been able to configure mpdwizard from the cli level, including the recognition of the file server.

When I boot all message seem to go well, last one I could get is "recognizing media device "
Then I have the messages
"Patch mode 38 to resolutionn1024x600 complete" then
"# music directory mounted, starting mpd"
but nothing comes, still #
So I start xwin and got sent to MPD setupwizard when I try to launch the Media Player
I can see in the wizard what I have configured but cannot overwrite the data with the keyboard. Eg change the sound card label from "son" to "carte son". When I go to the rxvt, keyboard is not working either. I restart X server, still the same.

I have now an AudioPlayer on top of my screen, but selecting it displays a white square and disappears.

About the HW
- the screen resolution of the Asus is normally 1024 x 600 but xorgwizard only recognizes 800 x 600
- the SDHC flash card is in the integrated reader and seems to work fine
- I have an internal HDD of course, still with windows on it. the mpdpupsave files are saved there in /mnt/home/

Its now 5:40 AM cant sleep and I am desperate (:-(

Best regards

[ldolse]

Nothing is supposed to happen after it says that message - it sounds like it's probably working. MPD 'should' be running in the background. The easiest way to validate this is to type:

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mpc status

And if MPD is happy you'll see this:

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volume:100%   repeat: off   random: off   single: off   consume: off

If it's not running you'll see this:

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error: Connection refused

If you get the above you can start mpd manually by just typing 'mpd' at the CLI.

If it wasn't running then you're probably seeing an issue that one other previous user ran into - for some reason some hardware doesn't like 'nice' which I've been using to give MPD higher system priority. If this is the case type this command at the CLI:

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nano /etc/init.d/20.mpd

Find the line that says:

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nice -n 15 mpd

and delete 'nice -n 15'. Then ctrl-X to exit and 'Y' to save the change. Then reboot. This issue will be fixed in the next release.

Other more interactive clients built into mpdPup are ncmpc and ncmpcpp, both are CLI clients -- there are no XWindows clients. There isn't any reason to launch Xwindows again unless you want to use the point-and-click wizard. Not sure what player you mentioned running in Xwindows, but sounds like something I should delete. It does sound like there is some issue with Xwindows and the French keyboard - if you get a change to change the locale from XWindows (Right Click on Background -> Desktop -> Chooselocale) let me know if that fixes the keyboard issue.

The main way most users interface with MPD is externally, e.g. from a Windows or Mac machine, an iPad, iPhone, or Android device.

Edit - I see the audio player button - I'll fix that in a future release to do something useful, I think it's a legacy of mpdPup's past.

[Jean-Louis P]

Idolse

The problem is that I cannot type anything in the CLI, so cant check if the mpd is up. Anyway, I have to fix that problem even if it was. Was just too busy these last two days but have to start again. I'll check also on another HP Laptop to see if it is HW related or myself related

Good news I am learning the basics of Linux, which was (partially) one of my objectives

I'll keep you posted
BR
Jean-Louis

[ldolse]

Hi Jean-Louis, please follow the SSH setup instructions instead of doing any local configuration with the monitor/keyboard if the keyboard is completely failing to work. Also after some more thought I believe that MPD is indeed failing to start, so try editing the /etc/init.d/20.mpd file as mentioned in my previous post before rebooting from your SSH session.


To be honest I've never heard of a foreign keyboard not working at all - the more typical case is that the extended keymaps fail but ascii still works.

[Jean-Louis P]

Hi Idolse

To wrap up
- config done
- keyboard in CLI is working. Did suppress the nice command as you advise
- still no keyboard in X mpdconfig or even rxvt
- putty SSH allows me to enter the user root but not the password


After boot i have a prompt
#music directory mounted, starting mpd
then nothing happens

after a while enter will give me back the prompt #
mpc status : connection refused
mpd
Failed to stat directory /mnt/home/mpd/playlist no such file or dir
Failed to load database : failed to open database file mnt/homr/mpd/database : no such file or dir
database : couldnt start parent directory of db file /mnt/home/mpd/database no such file or dir

I tried a function pfix clean at boot, did not changed

I checked and could not find the directory mpd on my HDD where is the mpdpupsave.2fs file.
The HDD is mounted (NTFS)
The Flash card is mounted
Did try to change the preferences in the drives to "mut", did not change anything.

I think I am the third one in the lucky strikes ad
Any ideas ?

[ldolse]

Hi Jean Louis,

Sorry for the delayed reply. These messages state the cause of your error:

mpd
Failed to stat directory /mnt/home/mpd/playlist no such file or dir
Failed to load database : failed to open database file mnt/homr/mpd/database : no such file or dir
database : couldnt start parent directory of db file /mnt/home/mpd/database no such file or dir

That error means you've installed mpdPup in a way that's not fully supported, because the mpd home directory isn't in the Puppy Linux home directory (the MPD home directories are on the SDHC card). I didn't catch that you were installing your savefiles on the Windows partition. The assumption is that the save file would be on the same drive as the base files - that is in this case the SDHC card. The good news is that this is very very easily fixed.

Just type this at the CLI:

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mkdir -p /mnt/home/mpd/playlists

After that mpd will be able to start.

[clar2391]

I'd like to try Puppy MPD on my MacBook Air before I buy a dedicated music server PC. I realize this is probably overkill, but I'd like to see (and hear) it in action. I've tried all the ways I can find to create a bootable USB flash drive, but none of them seem to work on the MacBook Air. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[ldolse]

I'd like to try Puppy MPD on my MacBook Air before I buy a dedicated music server PC. I realize this is probably overkill, but I'd like to see (and hear) it in action. I've tried all the ways I can find to create a bootable USB flash drive, but none of them seem to work on the MacBook Air. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hi clar2391, thanks for the interest. Unfortunately Macs are notoriously difficult to make work - Linux can run on the hardware, but getting it to boot is daunting if not impossible. On Macs with CD drives it can be done using the CD, but that's not an option in your case.

The guide I've found with the most promise with regard to doing this is here:
Mac OS X Lion: How To Boot A Linux Live System From An USB Drive & How To Update Any OCZ SSD’s Firmware
Those instructions are for Ubuntu, but I would think it should be basically the same for Puppy, unless it has to be 64 bit for some reason.

[clar2391]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried the instructions, both 32 and 64 bit with Puppy MPD, and I was able to boot, it brought me to a Grub menu prompt. I hit Tab to see the commands available, but I didn't know where to go from there.

[multiblitz]

I have a question....using the Alix board, I have issues like hickups when playing hires material. Any hints how to improve this ?

[ldolse]

I have a question....using the Alix board, I have issues like hickups when playing hires material. Any hints how to improve this ?

I actually get that as well, but apparently not everyone does. The fix for me has been to unplug and re-plug the USB Audio device after the system has finished booting. Somehow re-initializing it like this fixes it. I leave my system on all the time it's not a big deal to do this on the rare occasions I restart it.

I'd love to find a more permanent fix, but I don't have any idea what the issue is.

[ldolse]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried the instructions, both 32 and 64 bit with Puppy MPD, and I was able to boot, it brought me to a Grub menu prompt. I hit Tab to see the commands available, but I didn't know where to go from there.

Hi, let me give it a shot - if you got to a GRUB menu that's pretty promising. Not sure what you mean by 32 and 64 bit - there is only a 32 bit version of mpdPup.

[clar2391]

Sorry, the EFI booter has a 32 and a 64 it file. I used the bootX64.efi and then the bootX32.efi, with the same results.

[ldolse]

Sorry, the EFI booter has a 32 and a 64 it file. I used the bootX64.efi and then the bootX32.efi, with the same results.

I realized that once I downloaded the archive and tried it myself. I see now that the ISO needs to be modified to support Ubuntu's style of bootup. I think this can be accommodated relatively easily, but I need to do a bit more testing - will keep you posted.

[multiblitz]

one question....how difficult would it be to have a choice between standard mpd and mopidy ? If i got it right mopidy does the same as mpd, but adds spotify...even mpad works with it....that would be extremely cool...highend for your own discs through mpdpup plus the flexibilty of spotify....my sonos system would be obsolete....