fitbit

In 2021, Google acquired Fitbit. Not much changed right away. Recently, I switched my device’s account from Fitbit to Google before the deadline to do so in 2025. This was prompted by a hard reset of my Pixel 8 which was having “touch screen” issues. Immediately, I lost the ability to log into the Windows app (no way to login with Google credentials). I guess I should have seen that coming as Google dropped support for PC and Mac apps in 2022. My device also stopped recording my sleep and started reporting spinning activity incorrectly. After two calls to support, it ends up the device was somehow switched to “clip” mode vs. “wrist” mode.

If you’ve used any Fitbit devices, you’ll know that they don’t last forever. My original Flex lasted quite a few years but the Inspire 2, without a rubber wrist band to protect it, gets quite a bit of abuse. For some months now, it’s been cumbersome to use the on-screen display. There’s not too many options replacing it: the Inspire 3 and Inspire HR just really cost more money, and I’m not ready to switch to a watch-type device like the Pixel Watch 2. Plus, the Google Fit app doesn’t connect to any Fitbit devices directly (though I think it can if you connect the apps through Google’s HealthConnect. Kinda strange, Google). But fitness tracking is great for my health and addictively so; which is a good thing as my motivation for exercise remains constant. And at a replacement cost of $62 for the Inspire 2 from Amazon.com, it’s a lot less expensive than a gym membership!

ropieee

My local Microcenter received a shipment of Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W boards, and at $15, I just couldn’t resist picking one up. With this 64bit board, I can now run Ropieee, which is a very elegant Raspberry Pi image with the RoonBridge service installed, which enables the Pi Zero as a Roon endpoint. Volumio was fine (using Squeezelite) but using RoonBridge optimizes my whole Pi Zero-Schiit-AudioEngine setup for Roon.

First, I had to solder a 40 pin header on my Zero 2 W. I then downloaded the Ropieee image and wrote it to a microSD card with Raspberry Pi Imager. After booting, I had to wait for Ropieee to create an ad-hoc network so I could connect it to my wifi. Once connected to my home network, I enabled the Audio HAT as “Hifiberry DAC”, rebooted the Zero and viola, it showed as an endpoint in Roon. The installation process is all well-documented on Ropieee’s website, and everything was a breeze and worked right away. I even made a donation!

On the web:
RoPieee | RoPieee: a RoonBridge ready-to-go image for Raspberry Pi

apple iMac G4

One of the more fun things I do is recycle computers. This Apple iMac G4/800 came across my desk the other day and I couldn’t resist a little tinkering. But first I had to find that three-prong power cable; fortunately it’s common with Dell chargers. After wiping the 60GB drive (the recycle part), I reinstalled OSX 10.4 Tiger from a DVD on the iMac’s internal SuperDrive. That’s the latest OS that the computer would run – I don’t even think I have MacOS 9 media. This little guy has 768 MB of RAM and a built-in modem (!), and it ran quite well. Unbelievably, Software Update worked, but to get to the latest version of Tiger, I had to go 10.4->10.4.1->10.4.3->10.4.11. Even more unbelievable was TenFourFox, a PowerPC version of Firefox that actually works. I used a build from InterWebPPC. The web was pretty slow and I didn’t put the time in to get everything web-wise working, but here you are, an ancient but beautiful computer from 2002 looking at a website from today.

pi zero w, raspiaudio+v2 and volumio, follow up

Here are some usage notes:

The Pi Zero W was released in February 2017 (at a cost of $10), so that Xmas photo must have been of me with the original Pi Zero.

I get an error when attempting to play from a DLNA source while the Squeezelite plugin is enabled;  to clear I have to manually turn Squeezelite plugin off. Also, the issue with my DLNA server appearing/disappearing is evidently a known issue with Volumio. Per a helpful user on their community site, “What fixes it for me is to turn UpNP Browser off and on.” That’s a lot of work. I’ll just use this Pi Zero/Raspiaudio/Volumio rig exclusively with Roon, especially considering the sound output on my two computers switches as the KVM switches.

I ended up feeding the output to my new Schiit Magni+ Heretic (an absolute steal at the $59 closeout price!) and that to the second input of my Audioengine A2s. The sound is quite impressive, and gives me a continuous playing source while on both computers. Sure, I could buy better components, but the I like using what I had on hand and it was an fun project to complete.

And here’s a shout-out to Schiit: They dropped the price on the Heretic between the time I ordered mine and wrote this post, and without hesitation, they refunded me the difference. That’s fantastic!

pi zero w, raspiaudio+v2 and volumio

I’m back to being an itjerk! I ordered a Schiit Magni+ Heretic edition because it was a last call and, you know, no excuses… Headphone amp for my Sennheiser HD414s? Possible amp for another Roon endpoint? Just a cute little thing that I wanted? Yep, I bought it, $99 delivered. [EDIT: Schiit dropped the price $20 and without hesitation refunded me the difference. SWEET!] As I waited for it to arrive, I pondered a couple of things: First, Headphones. Those iconic yellow cushions for my Sennheisers were nasty dry-rotted and need to be replaced, but do I really need a new pair? Are the Grado SR325s worth the purchase? Second, what type of endpoint would I want for the Magni+? WiiM? 1Mii? Another Hifiberry? Something more expensive?

A few days later, in the midst of a bitter cold spell, I woke up bored but curious. Coffee in hand, I set sights on a big wooden IKEA box of electrics and electronics in the man cave and decided to dive in. Everyone has a box like this: chock full of cables, parts, adapters, power supplies and useless things you just can’t ever get rid of. A box of Raspberry Pi devices and miscellany piqued my interest. The 3B+ used to be hidden behind the TV, but it hadn’t been on in years, while the Pi Zero W had never been tinkered with. [As a side note, while cleaning up various SD cards and thumb drives in the box, I found a picture of me with the Pi Zero W from Xmas 2015 – must have been a stocking stuffer.] As I dove in to obsolete electronics and cables-r-us, I realized it was time for a new adventure!

The Pi Zero W is a tiny, cheap little thing ($5, well, in 2015), with most of the functionality of a Pi. The Raspiaudio AUDIO +V2 DAC is made to fit right on top of the Pi Zero W, functioning just as a Hifiberry DAC would. The card was only $20 delivered from Amazon, the Pi Zero a sunk cost. As it was a W (wireless) model and not a WH (wireless, header), it meant I had to purchase a 2×20 pin header ($6 for five of them) to solder on to the board in order for it to accept the DAC. Solder tips: Put a new tip on the iron, use very thin gauge solder (.015) and get a magnifying glass! I downloaded Volumio for the Pi Zero’s OS. I haven’t used it before (though I did find that I registered for their community site in 2014) but it was one of a few OSes that Raspiaudio had installation instructions for on their site, and it has a Roon Bridge plugin.

It took a while to find the header part at Microcenter (proverbial needle in a haystack), but the soldering went fine. I installed Volumio with the Raspberry Pi Imager software, but used the image I downloaded directly from Volumio (and not the one RPi provided). The Pi Zero W case also had a top with an opening, so I just snapped the Audio +V2 on top and powered it all up. Setup went OK with the Android app on my phone. I enabled the I2S DAC (as a HifiBerry DAC) under the Playback Options and DLNA Browser under Sources (which oddly enough takes quite some time for my DLNA server to appear under Media Servers, and most inconveniently, disappears without reason). The software was updated to v3.601.

When I went to install the Roon Bridge plugin (which requires a free account with Volumio), it didn’t install. Ugh. “Platform armv6l is not supported!” Why is that? Well, it’s because the Pi Zero is a 32bit device and Roon Bridge needs 64 bits (that the Pi Zero 2 provides). Roon and Hifiberry developers are upfront about the unspectacular performance the single core BCM2835 chip on the Pi Zero and have chosen not to provide support for it. What to do? Do I want to upgrade to the newer (and more expensive) Pi Zero 2? No! Quick research uncovered and old friend – a Squeezelite plugin – that works with Roon! I had to enable Squeezebox Support in Roon’s settings, open port 9000tcp in my linux box’s UFW and the enable the plugin in Volumio. After a reboot, I’m streaming from Roon to my new little endpoint, and you know what? It sounds pretty sweet!

Iasos, 1947-2024, RIP

raspberrypi imager

When did this come out? What a joy! Raspberry Pi Imager – for Windows, Mac and Linux – is the easiest way to prepare SD cards for your Raspberry Pi. Select your hardware model, choose from the various OSes available and select your drive to format. Viola! Done! One can even set hostname, user login, and wifi settings.

However, for Volumio, I had to install from the image to get their Android app to set it up properly.

On the web:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

freac snap broken, ubuntu refresh?

Something went wrong with my installation of Ubuntu. I went to rip a CD and my installation of freac was unhappy – it wanted me to downgrade. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up installing fuse and all hell broke loose. Settings went missing, right-click on the desktop menu was missing items, yikes! What to do? I reinstalled Ubuntu Desktop Minimal and not only did I get everything back, but my computer feels snappier than ever. However and most importantly, if you installed the Minimal package, be sure to reinstall the Minimal package otherwise you get a whole load of packages you may not want!

sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop-minimal

A little more info: It seems that snap for freac 1.1.7 isn’t happy but the current state of Ubuntu 22.04.3. I still like freac as a ripper but the snap does not work. I downloaded previous version 1.1.6 from github and had to do install this to get it to run as an AppImage:

sudo apt install libfuse2

Remember to make the AppImage executable. Hey freac, please respond to email. Your software is too good to not work!

EDIT: 01/31/24 freac is back as a snap, and it’s version 1.17. Two issues: I had to turn off “Enable Parallel Processing” under Options>Resources in order to get it stable on my Ubuntu 22.04LTS computer. Second, I had issues with permissions to my /mnt directory with the Snap, but solved it by adding the parameter “–devmode” when installing.

pixel 8

I’m a little disappointed reading that I’ve had my Pixel 5 for only three years. But the battery isn’t what it used to be. With all the traveling 2023 has brought, I am unable to get through a full day with the camera on. I guess I could replace the battery… but maybe I just want a new phone?

I sprung for the Pixel 8 as soon as it was announced last week. I got a great deal with my Google Fi account, $300 off the $699 price plus $90 trade-in on the old Pixel 5. This justifies the purchase even more, especially considering how much I overpaid for the old phone.

Google delivered the phone a day earlier than expected, and I was off to the races setting it up. I opted for an eSim, but will keep the sim card just in case. Not every app installed, most curious was Accuweather. I had to log in to many apps again, some knew my password, some didn’t. Fitbit was troublesome too. I also had to sign into my work wifi and eduroam, as well as setup my Duo app for the new phone (scan the barcode). It looks as though most of my data copied over, including my ringtone, Euphoria by Neu! And I did remember to pair my phone with my Prius.

As for the phone itself, it’s a lot bigger than I expected. It feels chunkier and heavier, well, because it is chunkier and heavier than my old Pixel 5. It’s a little disappointing, I will miss the elegance of that old phone. I turned Gestures off in Settings>System>Navigation Mode, probably because I am old school. Also, getting used to the fingerprint sensor being on the front of the phone; added thumbs to help. I don’t really notice much difference with the new Android 14.

Final verdict: It’s just another phone, the latest of my Android life adventure. As I celebrate another year on this planet, I am reminded that most of my life was spent without a cell/smart phone.

developers > keep focus to the current window

Have you ever been typing away at a computer and another window pops up, or the mouse hovers over something that then pops up? Or typing a sentence on Facebook and the last word highlights to some user name? What about typing congratulations in Outlook or Word? Balloons galore? Ever have to cut/paste that? Or how about texting away on your phone and a notification pops up over what you’re doing? ARGGGH! Okay developers, quit with the cutesy stuff and keep the focus on the THE CURRENT WINDOW BEING USED. ALWAYS. NO DISTRACTIONS. Thank you.

ac3 pulseaudio

When you’re an executive producer and the artist sends you some surround sound files to listen to, well, you better listen to them. Easier said than done when it’s some DTS .cpt files rather than an .iso. I put an SPDIF card in my latest linux box, but ran it to my two-channel receiver. Moving it to my multi-channel receiver, I quickly realized that I was missing all the surround components for Pulseaudio.

Well, I’m not going to make a long story short; I’m not sure if I could retrace my steps even if I wanted to! But, here’s an outline:

After mucking about, I brought everything back to working life by following https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2022/04/pipewire-replace-pulseaudio-ubuntu-2204/ this very helpful post. Steps 1-4 and a reboot fixed nearly everything, I just had to add the following to get Gnome Sound Control responsive again.

sudo apt install libcanberra-pulse

Starting with a rock-solid two channel sound, it was time for surround drivers. The route was to get the Digital Stereo IEC958 to output to Digital Surround 5.1 IEC958/AC3. This took a couple of big, scary, unguided steps in the dark! First I created /etc/asound.conf and modified /etc/pulse/daemon.conf per https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DigitalAC-3Pulseaudio but honestly the same info is all over the web, with lots of different variations. Choose recent and choose wisely!

Then I did combo of two posts to get the A52 drivers installed. Yep, both fumbling around. First was the two steps from Oblib outlined here https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1608804 It kinda worked but kinda not. Then from this, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DigitalAC-3Pulseaudio I downloaded and ran the DigitalAC-3PulseaudioInstaller script and then did this extra step to the files I created with Oblib’s post.

sudo cp libasound_module_pcm_a52.so /usr/lib/`uname -i`-linux-gnu/alsa-lib/

Phew! Once that was done, a reboot was in order (after various alsa reload and pulseaudio –starts) and viola, I had this wonderful display on the old Marantz surround-sound receiver.

Even more fun was listening to

speaker-test -c6 -t wav

I know my posts have slowed down over the years, but I still like to be an itjerk every once and a while.