AP Linux v4 install instructions
April 16, 2017
How to add new disk in AP-Linux
April 20, 2017
Hi folks. New AP-Linux is finally out. Sorry you had to wait this long, but as many of you don’t know, this is a project that I’m working on my free time. So you know how it is. What has been changed and what are the news? New AP-Linux brings support for newer hardware. That means things like new Intel’s processors like Skylake and Kaby Lake. Things that you have been trouble installing AP-Linux on like Intel’s NUC’s. The installation is totally different again. You will be able to install AP-Linux next to your Windows or Mac machine. No more single entire disk for AP-Linux only. But in order to get away with this, you will have to know about disk partitioning. Even I am totally against using wireless on AP-Linux, wireless configuration is now simplified. But don’t judge the sound with wireless devices enabled. Also new AP-Linux will come unlocked from the start. No more unlocking the system before an update or making changes. Also support for Roon player is there. You will able to use one of the best players on the market with AP-Linux. Isn’t this good? Does new AP-Linux sounds better? I will let you decide. 🙂
Since donations and adds on the AP-Linux couldn’t cover the cloud hosting servers and download costs, I had to implement some kind of per download charges. There will still be free downloads, but with limited availability. Thanks everyone who donated the project. There is one company who decided to help AP-Linux project. JPLAY. Buying their JCAT USB card through AP-Linux web site, you will be sponsoring AP-Linux project. You can buy JCAT USB card here, and download page for new AP-Linux-v4 is here.
Happy installing!
70 Comments
Hey, so I went ahead and made a purchase to support you. So… Where’s my download? Why is my order on hold?
For some reason, Paypal asks me to confirm every transaction. Can you download now?
How are you guys doing Paypal – I don’t see the button on the check out?
Jeff
Oh, my link just appeared! Never mind! Thank you!
I just paid and about to install. Let me see see the sonic difference between AP4 and Voyage MPD Linus.
Hello Marko,
can we use an additional ssd, like your Samsung 850 M.2 for music storage. Are additional settings needed?
Sincerely,
Damir
Of course you can use additional SSD. When you add disk, first you need to create a partition, then create file system on that partition, and then add it to /etc/fstab file.
Hello mlerota.
Thank You very much. Even better and the best of them all. I tried everyone, except HQ Player. So, in my system, V4 is the best SQ.
But please, teache me how to make my SSD visible to file manager anda cantata.
Hou can I automount them?
Please, tell me the commands. My Arch Linux skills are very very poor.
Sorry.
Best regards.
Armsan
I made a little document. Cheers. https://www.ap-linux.com/documentation/how-to-add-new-disk-in-ap-linux/
Thank You for your great support, but:
1. I think i did everythinh right and I can see my sda1, as ssd-disk1, at “df” command;
2. At file manager in +other locations, the ssd-disk1 is not available:
3. So how can I copy music files to it?
4. It seems that it isn’t auto-mounted automatically;
5. But if I run this command the reply is:
[~]# mount /ssd-disk1
mount: /dev/sda1 is already mounted or /ssd-disk1 busy
/dev/sda1 is already mounted on /ssd-disk1
What did I do wrong?
Thanks for your help.
Armsan
my biggest question is how much is hosting? couldn’t you do this through torrent?
Sorry mlerota, what do you mean by system unlock?
Can someone point me to the doc page where is explained how to unlock ap-linux v3, please?
I’ve only read that should be documented
I just installed this on a Intel DN2800MT board. I added Roon Server.
With just a few hours of listening, this is the best sounding Roon Server setup I have had.
I was using WIndows Server 2012 R2 with AO.
The soundstage is extremely wide and the tone is perfect.
I am using this on my headphone system with another DN2800MT Bridge ( that I am now going to install APL on), Holo Spring Dac, Bottlehead Crack and HD650 cans.
THANK YOU!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff.
where is v4 changelog?
Hello, installation V4 was okay, because I’m used to Deebeaf player and I want to install it, proceed the installation instructions and I can not get into the terminal. After entering the name su give a password Muser but I report poor distribution of identification, it is possible to somehow circumvent or modify the password in the terminal? thank you
Just set up 4.0 – big, big thanks to you!
I think there is an improvement in the sound quality – more detailed, clearer than 3.1, but 3.1 seems to be smoother. But I use different PCs to compare and can only use my Headphone Setup, my main(better)setup is out of work for a while. I listened to a 256k/bits radio stream and thought: Unbelievable, is this HiRes? (I think it was Robert Lucas, maybe a very good recording)
I had some problems when I setup 4.0 – if the username is to short no user will be created, but autologin looks for this user………. and when I installed it new Grub made real problems, the only way to solve this was to format the disk with Windows.
Where can I change the keyboard-layout(I tried everything) and conky and fluxbox menue – in 3.1 I found the files, in 4.0 I am searching and searching – not a real problem on a headless setup. Congratulation to V 4.0!!! You are not only knowing how it should sound you know how to do!
In terminal “nano .fluxbox/startup” and add this line: setxkbmap hu&
Save the file and you have Hungarian keyboard 🙂
In terminal “nano .fluxbox/startup” and add this line: setxkbmap hu&
Save the file and you have Hungarian keyboard :-).
This was tested on Ryzen? There is any reason why it should not work on Ryzen? My Configuration is Ryzen 1700X with Corsair H100i v2, Asus Prime X370-Pro, Asus Xonar U7 and 2 X MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X SLI both watercooled.
If I use a USB interface–eg Gustard U12–my DAC is no longer seen by AP Linux. Is there a way round this?
It might be that you did not disable your internal sound card in the bios. I have a NUC and only by disabling this, the usb dac was seen by ap-linux. Maybe this helps?
I am waiting for your answer
“where is the v4 chancelog?”
Changed on dd.mm.jjjj at hh.mm.ss
Does this still only work on i386 and x86_64? or is arm now supported too (Raspberry Pi)?
Not sure how much your distro is related to RuneAudio distro (listed in the links below) but RuneAudio does have Raspberry Pi support, so perhaps you do too.
Thanks.
Still only x64.
Great to hear AP4 is out. Does it support DSD256 natively or DoP?
Thanks!
Native DSD is supported…
2 more questions:
What is the minimum processing speed required for DSD256?
How many CPU cores does AP-Linux 4 make use of?
(I may try to run from Minnowboard Turbot with 1.46 GHz processor.)
Many thanks, Thomas
Ok, it does not belong to this forum and you will not get the sonic quality you can get with AP-Linux. For arm install armbian and then mpd. And then look at: https://lacocina.nl/audiophile-mpd. I tried all I could get for my Cubox-i(I had bought it!), but……….I don’t know what they are doing there.
But as described above you can get a real nice sounding music server and if you want to get a samba server and a real working mini-pc. (For AP-Linux you only need a cheap x86_64 barebone)
I download .ISO from free site and use Rufus to put on a USB drive, I got extraction error.
My downloaded ISO file size is 93027 KB, can anyone verify if this correct size?
Can I burn this ISO file to a CD and boot from a CD and expect work the same as USB drive?
Thanks in advance
Thats 93 mb, the V4 iso is 828 MB (roughly 828000 KB)
Please tell me the upconversion setting of cantata.
Ex. (Wav 44 k) -> cantata -> (192 k data) -> dac
Edit MPD.conf , add new text line format “192000:*:*” or if not work “192000:32:*” , save and restart MPD .
It show like this example
mixer “none”
format “192000:*:*”
Hi,
I add new text line as following and restart PC, but DAC displays 44.1kbps.
Please advise me other setting, if cantata have up convert function.
mixer “none”
format “192000:32:*” ( * : DAC number )
Everytime it’s surprising me! I’m trying out this and that and think “Yes……….ok……?….?”
But when I’m listing with AP-Linux I immediately think “Yes, that’s it!”
Thanks again!
I meant “listening”! Sorry!
Hi,
This is best OS for computer audio. Thanks.
When switching tracks to DSD, I get the clicking noise. How to get around the issue?
It’s the DAC. Cannot help it I think. Some DACs doesn’t click, some do…
Hi – Haven’t got a response, so I’ll try again:
What is the minimum processing speed required for DSD256?
How many CPU cores does AP-Linux 4 make use of?
Many thanks, Thomas
It uses all the cores. For CPU any i3,i5, core2duo and newer. I wouldn’t use
Atom CPU’s.
I’d like to try a Minnowboard, with Atom, because it has pins for I2S output which is compatible with my DAC.
Do you think AP-Linux-V4 can be configured for I2S output?
Does this work with pci based audio cards like my onkyo wavio se-200 PCI LTD
A note that I play DSD 256 flies from my NAS on a DN2800MT board which uses a N2800 atom processor. I am running Roon bridge on AP Linux 4.0. No problem.
Jeff
Hi
I use a Pentium dual core pc as my player. I know it’s very old cpu but it does work for me and somehow like the SQ from it
Will I be able to use AP Linux on it ?
I can understand it won’t be absolutely fluid
Also not an expert with Linux and plan to run roon bridge on AP Linux. Does it come pre installed or I need to download and install if ?
As I understand installing software on Linux is not as easy as one click in windows
If it does work with my pc, I will happily pay and download
But very thanks for developing a dedicated OS for the audio community
Yes you can. And it will be fluid. Dual core is pretty good CPU. Roon doesn’t come preinstalled. But it’s easy to install it.
Thanks for your reply
Do I use this headless and control it via browser or it will have an interface like say Ubuntu?
Seocndly do I have options to uninstall apps I won’t be using ?
I plan to install only roon bridge because that’s what it would be used for
Lastly any pointers to a guide expalning how to install application on Linux
I will make the payment in a while so I can download it
Thanks again
You can use it headles if you are going to use roon bridge and yes you can uninstall everything.
Cool
I will download within few hours
I hope credit card is accepted as mode of payment.
If I want any further help do I post here ?
Thanks k
Hello – I just wanted to say thank you for the work you’ve done! I’m new to arch / ap-linux, and have had a great time learning how to get this up and running. It has definitely made a huge difference getting away from a Windows-based system. I even put a second one together for my dad using Roon Server :).
For your DAC compatibility list – The Fiio E18 is working flawlessly on the following:
JRiver Media Center 23 for Linux
Dual-Core Atom w/8 GB RAM
FiioE18
Carver C-2 Pre
Dynaco ST-70 Tube Amp / Hafler DH-120 SS Amp
Energy Connoisseur C-7
Hi
I did finally did a paid download of AP linux and it happened without any issues.
I am not well versed with Linux but i guess i just have to follow the instructions and it should be done.
Now my only issue is that the earlier LInux OS i used has made 3 partitions and one EFi partition. I am guessing that i have to remove all those 3 partitions first and then do the mounting and AP linux installtion
I am OK to format my whole hard drive
So if someone can help me what command should i use to do that and basically remove all previous partitions made
Thanks in advance
Just start installation with usb disk and when the system boots type: “fdisk -l” to see the disks and partitions. Then type “fdsik /dev/sdX”. Replace X with the disk you want to modify for example “fdisk /dev/sda” and then you will enter fdisk program. Type ‘p’ then ‘d’ to delete partitions. When you are satisfied with changes, type ‘w’ which means write changes. You will then exit fdisk and then reboot and do installation.
Hi
Thanks for the quick reply
I folloed your instructions. My HDD has 3 partitions
/dev/sdb1 which is boot partition size – 100 MB
/dev/sdb2 size 1 GB
/dev/sdb3 size 149 GB
when i eneter into any one partition and press d , it says “NO PARTITION IS DEFINED UET”
I know i might sound very silly asking lame questions but my Linux skills are next to nil
Can you help me further with it
If fdisk is not working for you try gdisk program or any other that you might know.
Are there facilities to use an IR remote for Start, Stop, Fwd & Back so the better half doesn’t have to use my tablet? I’m just about to buy an Intel Celeron NUC NUC6CAYH (which has an IR receiver) & I’m undecided whether to install Windows 7 or your OS. The IR remote is one of the deciding factors, part of the WAF to consider.
I’m looking forward to trying this out.
Thanks.
I’m a total newbie with Linux so an easy install is a must. I assume I just burn the download to a USB stick & boot the NUC from there.
I also assume I can use any Android app like BubbleUPnP but can I also install LMS so I can use SqueezeCommander, my favourite.
Need help,
Installed V4 on several computers and updated the system according to the instructions given with success.
On a HP PRO book 430, installation works perfectly. After the system was updated with Suy, the on board keyboard is no longer recognized. But it recognized an attached usb keyboard.
Reinstalled and get it updated several times, the results is still same. what should I do?
Wait for Arch guys to fix it. Run another ‘pacman -Suy’ command later today or tomorrow. Ask on Arch forums.
After severy updates with -Suy, the onboard keyboard still not being reconized.
Touchpad works fine, attached USB keyboard works fine as well.
Do I need a clean install again?
I have many audio files on an old networked Windows Home Server. Is it possible to access this from AP Linux?
Sound quality appears better in regular WAV file, but DSD sounds worst than 3.1, and the sample rate showing on my DAC is different, any idea?
Maybe there was an update in the kernel driver for your DAC so you got different results.
If someone wants to play Spotify and/or Tidal headless with AP-Linux and Kodi:
Look at “http://koditips.com/tidal-kodi-addon-stream-music-tidal/” for Tidal
and here you find the Spotify repository: “https://github.com/marcelveldt/repository.marcelveldt/tree/master/repository.marcelveldt”
(Install it the same way described in the first link)
Do all the Addon settings – you need a (non-free) account – maybe you have to login several times and to reboot. Select your soundcard in Kodi (if there are several options use the SPDIF one and check audio output with conky)
To start kodi remotely connect with ssh to AP-linux – from a Terminal: ssh yourusername@ip-adress, type your password and then:
export DISPLAY=:0
kodi
Now kodi should start in AP-Linux and it stops if you close the ssh connection!
(Ignore all messages in the terminal)
Use kodi’s webinterface from a browser (ip-adress:8080) or use a kodi remote app.
You can use Spotify Connect, but first you have to start the spotify addon.
It’s not perfect – sometimes songs stops or repeat again, but that’s not a real problem.
The sound is not as perfect as with “pure” AP-Linux, but it’s ok, you can enjoy music.
(Maybe this would be better at the install instructions?)
You do not need to start first kodi’s webinterface or a Remote app if you want
to use Spotify Connect. It’s better to use only Spotify Connect because else kodi could become confused.
Set “Best Match” in kodi’s audio settings and not “Optimized”! and disable every downmix options or similiar. Spotify streams have to be always 44,1khz – Tidal non MQA streams too.
With Tidal MQA streams you should have 48khz(e.g. Neil Young – The Visitor) but some should have 44,1khz. Check it with Conky. There is no real MQA encoding otherwise there should be
88,2khz or 96khz or more with a hardware encoding DAC – maybe you can to use audio-passthrough with a hardware encoding DAC. But it gives a little benefit.
In your home directory there is a file called “.zshrc”
Put this line in it:
alias runkodi=’export DISPLAY=:0 && kodi’
Now you only have to type runkodi when connected by ssh.
I know nothing about Ubuntu, but tried several times to install this AP linux to my computer and finally did without hairloss, thank you !
Dear Marko Lerota!
Let me thank You for the opportunity to enjoy the Music, with a capital letter, using your wonderful AP-Linux system. I’m just a happy that there are such wonderful people as You, who bring the real audiophile enjoyment with their excellent work.
Thank you very much!
I was hoping to get some items clarified please!
I had zero issues installing with your documentation, a few things as per your suggestion, kudo for that! I have not had a chance to listen yet, as my dac is out for repairs!
1.) At the first install script, it is asking for a username and password. What username and password is this. I ask only as once installed the /storage/Music directory is now /home/(myusername)/Music and storage in file manger is not accessible.
2.) On one boot I have a 192.168.1.XX address on the next boot I get a 192.168.0.XX and sometimes that will change while live! Any suggestions?
3.) What is the easy way to setup a share from an Unraid server (linux) no user or pass (nobody) I have been playing with this for a couple days, I can get a cifs mount while live, but upon reboot it is no longer available. I have tried several different options in /etc/fstab with no luck! google smbclient is not getting it done. In voyage.mpd it is simple as adding the require cifs share to my fstab and done. My knowledge of Arch is not that strong which may be my downfall here.
Thank you for your consideration, I look foward to comparing the SQ vs. Voyage upon the return of my DAC from the shop.
1. It’s your username to login. Whatever you choose.
2. If you want static IP, check your MAC address and modify your DHCP server to give you address you want
or read about static IP in Arch Linux documentation.
3. Arch is strong like every Linux when it comes to networking. You should read official Arch documentation.