Progress on Boss 2 driver issue

[Tim Curtis]

A summary and an update, now that Moode Audio 8.3.4 and 8.3.5 are out.

Both 8.3.4 and 8.3.5 are still based on kernel 6.1.21, which has the broken driver for the Boss 2. It appears from the relnotes that this kernel was introduced in 8.3.1. (Personally, I can confirm only that the driver works in 8.2.x and does not in 8.3.3 and 8.3.5.)

Regarding updates and patches with the new versions: I have 4 RPi4+Boss2 machines. 3 were at at 8.3.3 and patched as described above, which results in a kernel version reported as "6.1.34-v8+". I successfully updated these machines in place from 8.3.3 to 8.3.5. The update log warns that the step which replaces the kernel fails, because the existing kernel version is newer. This also means that the patch does not need to be re-applied, you can just update and reboot as expected, and the working patched kernel remains.

My final machine was running 8.2.x (unpatched, because 8.2.x runs a working v5.x kernel). I forgot to note which revision of 8.2 and kernel version I was running. I successfully updated this machine in place to 8.3.5 and *then* applied the driver patch. It works fine now with a patched 8.3.5.

As mentioned in the final 2 posts by user pelwell on this thread, the kernel patch will be in the next RPi kernel released after 6/20/2023 (with superficial research, I have not found a release date). The first Moode Audio version released after the fixed RPi kernel will have the fix. Meanwhile, patching the broken Moode 6.1.21 kernel is easy, and you need to do it only once: updating in-place to higher Moode point releases will not* overwrite your patched kernel with a broken kernel, but will overwrite your patched kernel after the upstream kernel is also patched. It's not relevant to Moode users, but potentially of interest: the patch is queued for Linux kernel 6.4 (upstream of RPi kernel), and it will be backported to earlier 6.x Linux kernels.

* ...unless a new Moode version bumps its kernel to >= 6.1.35 before the next (i.e. fixed) RPi kernel is released. I'm not sure if this could / would happen, but if it does, I'll revise / reply to this post.

Good info :-)

Correct that the Katana and Boss2 patches were included in the big glop of commits for kernel 6.1.35. Based on past experience I'd expect at least one more 6.1.x kernel release before the end of the year from Raspberry Pi before they jump to the 6.4 branch. Their latest commit from a few days ago was 6.1.46.

[mashwell]

Two questions......I've been sitting on 8.3.0 for a while now, seeing if I can fix the kernal issue by just installing/updating to a new version of Moode. I primarily use the box as a roon endpoint, so I don't really need the latest features and can live with 8.3.0 release for a while. That said, I do want to keep current.

Do you know when we would see the kernal fix as part of a Moode release? or are you still waiting for some things before you include the kernal fix as part of a new Moode version/upgrade?

If I decide to go the patch route prior to Moode inclusion, can I patch 8.3.0 directly and upgrade to 8.3.5 or do I need to upgrade to some other Moode version prior to installing the kernal patch?

[Tim Curtis]

Two questions......I've been sitting on 8.3.0 for a while now, seeing if I can fix the kernal issue by just installing/updating to a new version of Moode.  I primarily use the box as a roon endpoint, so I don't really need the latest features and can live with 8.3.0 release for a while.  That said, I do want to keep current.

Do you know when we would see the kernal fix as part of a Moode release?  or are you still waiting for some things before you include the kernal fix as part of a new Moode version/upgrade?

If I decide to go the patch route prior to Moode inclusion, can I patch 8.3.0 directly and upgrade to 8.3.5 or do I need to upgrade to some other Moode version prior to installing the kernal patch?

We only use official Raspberry Pi kernel packages to ensure stability. Currently moOde uses kernel 6.1.21 which is the latest official kernel package.

A quick run of apt update / apt list --upgradable on an 8.3.5 system does not show a new kernel package yet.

Code:

pi@moode:~ $ sudo apt update
Get:1 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security InRelease [48.4 kB]
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye InRelease                                                                                        
Get:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates InRelease [44.1 kB]        
Get:4 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian bullseye InRelease [23.6 kB]                
Get:5 https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/moodeaudio/m8y/deb/raspbian bullseye InRelease [5,190 B]
Get:6 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security/main armhf Packages [242 kB]
Get:7 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security/main arm64 Packages [240 kB]
Get:8 http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security/main Translation-en [158 kB]
Get:9 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates/main arm64 Packages [14.9 kB]
Get:10 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates/main armhf Packages [14.9 kB]
Get:11 http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates/main Translation-en [10.1 kB]
Get:12 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian bullseye/main armhf Packages [314 kB]
Get:13 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian bullseye/main arm64 Packages [308 kB]
Fetched 1,424 kB in 5s (284 kB/s)  
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
12 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
pi@moode:~ $ apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
ffmpeg/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavcodec58/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavdevice58/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavfilter7/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavformat58/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavresample4/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libavutil56/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libpostproc55/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
librsvg2-2/oldstable-security 2.50.3+dfsg-1+deb11u1 arm64 [upgradable from: 2.50.3+dfsg-1]
librsvg2-common/oldstable-security 2.50.3+dfsg-1+deb11u1 arm64 [upgradable from: 2.50.3+dfsg-1]
libswresample3/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
libswscale5/stable 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt5 arm64 [upgradable from: 8:4.3.6-0+deb11u1+rpt3]
pi@moode:~ $

I'll check again before doing the release admin/testing for upcoming 8.3.6 (Q3) and hopefully a new kernel package >= 6.1.35 which is the kernel containing the Allo fixes will be in the upgrade list :-)

It looks like just a few posts earlier @chaetura mentioned that the kernel patch won't interfere with moOde in-place updates. The patch will however not include our three driver enhancements: pcm1794a 384k, aloop 384k and the rtl88xxau driver for Comfast CF-912AC WifFi Adapter. If you don't use any of these then it won't have any effect on your setup.

[kenship]

Hi,

I've been using 8.3.0 and with 8.3.7 released I want to try it.

I installed it on a new SD and of course I have no sound from BOSS 2. I tried

$ sudo rpi-update pulls/5510

Ran it a few times, based on what I saw I have problem downloading and couldn't extract the file. The last statement was:
Invalid artifact specified. Response: 404

I wonder if any one knows whether I have done wrong or there's another solution that I can try.

Thanks!

[tomaxsas]

just run rpi-update

[kenship]

just run rpi-update

Works! Thanks!

[chaetura]

As expected, Moode 9.0.0 works out of the box with the Boss 2 on RPi4. Subsequent Moode versions will also work (unless we have the bad luck of a new bug affecting Boss 2).

[dad33]

long using 8.xxx, sounds very very good on allo boss2 rp4.
Fresh install on 9.0 works out of thge box. The volume is noe about 40% higher. Tested it about 30h now.
Unfortunately it sounds not as good as the 8.xx version on
my hifi system. But it is very fast.

[Nutul]

The volume is noe about 40% higher. Tested it about 30h now.
Unfortunately it sounds not as good as the 8.xx version on
my hifi system. But it is very fast.

You shouldn't need any burn-in.
Neither in moOde, nor in any other player, FWIW... it's just your biased expectations. Give it a couple of days and you'll see (well, ehm, hear...) everything sounds fine again.

[dad33]

The volume is noe about 40% higher. Tested it about 30h now.
Unfortunately it sounds not as good as the 8.xx version on
my hifi system. But it is very fast.

You shouldn't need any burn-in.
Neither in moOde, nor in any other player, FWIW... it's just your biased expectations. Give it a couple of days and you'll see (well, ehm, hear...) everything sounds fine again.

? not burn in. On 8.x the sound knob on 100% is as loud as 40% on 9.0. The new kernel as well souds different, very clean..a litle bit digital. You hear this only on a good wideband system.