[Saturn94]

A recently Roon update revealed an issue with some older streaming devices.  If I’m understanding it correctly, it relates to devices running out of date OS.

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/information-on-roons-march-6-2024-connectivity-incident-inability-to-connect-to-roon-services-qobuz-tidal-and-kkbox/267402

Have any Salkstream owners, especially those with older units, been affected by this?  I bought my Salkstream in 2016, but the hard drive was replaced in 2020.  The OS hasn’t been updated since.  Fortunately, I wasn’t impacted by this issue.  But, Roon’s statement above makes me wonder if the OS should be updated for security reasons and continued compatibility with Roon in the future.

My Salkstream is currently running Arch Linux 5.8.5.  It appears the current version available is 6.7.6.

Thoughts?  Advise?

Thanks. 🙂

[jsalk]

If you can use a terminal to access the StreamPlayer, upgrading is fairly easy.  The command is "pacman -Syu" (without the quotes).

Linux made some changes to the way they compress files and older versions of Linux do not have the capability to de-compress the files for installation.  In this case, it will download the files and start trying to process, but will produce an error.  If this happens, you will need to send the drive to me so I can install the latest version of Linux on it.

Either way, there should be no issues down the line.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

If you can use a terminal to access the StreamPlayer, upgrading is fairly easy.  The command is "pacman -Syu" (without the quotes).

Linux made some changes to the way they compress files and older versions of Linux do not have the capability to de-compress the files for installation.  In this case, it will download the files and start trying to process, but will produce an error.  If this happens, you will need to send the drive to me so I can install the latest version of Linux on it.

Either way, there should be no issues down the line.

- Jim

Thanks Jim. 😀

A few questions…

If I just stay with the version I currently have, 5.8.5, am I at increased risk for any security issues?

If I attempt the update and get the error message you mentioned, does this leave my Salkstream unusable until the update is completed by you?

If the update completes properly, does it affect any settings that were made before, ie proper output settings for HDMI, Optical spdif, Airplay, etc?  Any additional setup steps involved other than just running the command line you mentioned?  I remember when the hard drive was last replaced you had to make some adjustments (remotely) to get Airplay to work properly.

Any other “gotchas” I should be aware of?

I greatly appreciate your continued support.  I hope you are enjoying retirement! 😀

PS - Does Roonserver need to be stopped before running pacman -Syu?  If so, how is that done?  Thanks!

PPS - I came across this.

https://archlinux.org/news/now-using-zstandard-instead-of-xz-for-package-compression/

Is this the change in compression you were referring to?  If so, I see the change occurred well before you replaced my hard drive (replaced November 2020), so I’m thinking it should be fine just to run pacman -Syu?  Speaking of which, I saw some instructions about updating that said use the command sudo pacman -Syu.  Do I need to type in sudo?

[jsalk]

Thanks Jim. 😀

A few questions…

If I just stay with the version I currently have, 5.8.5, am I at increased risk for any security issues?

Likely not.  That is failrly current.

If I attempt the update and get the error message you mentioned, does this leave my Salkstream unusable until the update is completed by you?

You aren't likely to have an issue, but if you do, it will simply skip the upgrade and you'll be fine.[/quote]

If the update completes properly, does it affect any settings that were made before, ie proper output settings for HDMI, Optical spdif, Airplay, etc?  Any additional setup steps involved other than just running the command line you mentioned?  I remember when the hard drive was last replaced you had to make some adjustments (remotely) to get Airplay to work properly.

It should not affect any of those.  It may upgrade some drivers or required code, but it knows what it needs to do.

Any other “gotchas” I should be aware of?

None that I am aware of.

I greatly appreciate your continued support.  I hope you are enjoying retirement! 😀

PS - Does Roonserver need to be stopped before running pacman -Syu?  If so, how is that done?  Thanks!

No, it will only touch Linux and should have no effect on Roon.[/quote]

PPS - I came across this.

https://archlinux.org/news/now-using-zstandard-instead-of-xz-for-package-compression/

Is this the change in compression you were referring to?  If so, I see the change occurred well before you replaced my hard drive (replaced November 2020), so I’m thinking it should be fine just to run pacman -Syu? [/quote]

I don't recall off-hand, but I think the compression changed when they went from 4.xxx to 5.xxx.

Speaking of which, I saw some instructions about updating that said use the command sudo pacman -Syu.  Do I need to type in sudo?

That would not hurt.  But you would already be logged in as the super user so you don't really need that.  If you were a regular user, you would have to use sudo as you would not have permissions to make the changes.

By the way, when upgrading there may be some packages that are no longer used with multiple options to replace them.  You will have to select which to use.  Just use the default (usually # 1) and you'll be good.

I hope that helps.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Likely not.  That is failrly current.

You aren't likely to have an issue, but if you do, it will simply skip the upgrade and you'll be fine.

It should not affect any of those.  It may upgrade some drivers or required code, but it knows what it needs to do.

None that I am aware of.

No, it will only touch Linux and should have no effect on Roon.

PPS - I came across this.

https://archlinux.org/news/now-using-zstandard-instead-of-xz-for-package-compression/

Is this the change in compression you were referring to?  If so, I see the change occurred well before you replaced my hard drive (replaced November 2020), so I’m thinking it should be fine just to run pacman -Syu?

I don't recall off-hand, but I think the compression changed when they went from 4.xxx to 5.xxx.

That would not hurt.  But you would already be logged in as the super user so you don't really need that.  If you were a regular user, you would have to use sudo as you would not have permissions to make the changes.

By the way, when upgrading there may be some packages that are no longer used with multiple options to replace them.  You will have to select which to use.  Just use the default (usually # 1) and you'll be good.

I hope that helps.

- Jim

Thanks Jim.  That’s very helpful. 

[Saturn94]

Likely not.  That is failrly current.

You aren't likely to have an issue, but if you do, it will simply skip the upgrade and you'll be fine.

It should not affect any of those.  It may upgrade some drivers or required code, but it knows what it needs to do.

None that I am aware of.

No, it will only touch Linux and should have no effect on Roon.

PPS - I came across this.

https://archlinux.org/news/now-using-zstandard-instead-of-xz-for-package-compression/

Is this the change in compression you were referring to?  If so, I see the change occurred well before you replaced my hard drive (replaced November 2020), so I’m thinking it should be fine just to run pacman -Syu?

I don't recall off-hand, but I think the compression changed when they went from 4.xxx to 5.xxx.

That would not hurt.  But you would already be logged in as the super user so you don't really need that.  If you were a regular user, you would have to use sudo as you would not have permissions to make the changes.

By the way, when upgrading there may be some packages that are no longer used with multiple options to replace them.  You will have to select which to use.  Just use the default (usually # 1) and you'll be good.

I hope that helps.

- Jim

Hi Jim.

I tried running the update, but I get this error;




I’m guessing it means the site from which it is trying to retrieve the update is no longer available?

Edit:  Some googling revealed archlinuxfr.db no longer exists.  How to proceed?  Is it as simple as editing the mirror list so it pulls the update from a different site?

[jsalk]

Hi Jim.

I tried running the update, but I get this error;




I’m guessing it means the site from which it is trying to retrieve the update is no longer available?

Edit:  Some googling revealed archlinuxfr.db no longer exists.  How to proceed?  Is it as simple as editing the mirror list so it pulls the update from a different site?

Yes, edit the mirror list to include just a few US sites and you should have better results. You can delete a lot of foreign servers or comment them out with #.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Yes, edit the mirror list to include just a few US sites and you should have better results. You can delete a lot of foreign servers or comment them out with #.

- Jim

I found a current list of mirror sites.  Can I just copy and paste a few of them to the ect/pacman.d/mirrorlist file?  Someone mentioned it says on the ArchWiki site that pacman -Syyu should be run after updating the mirrorlist file.  Is this correct?

Thanks again! 😀

[Saturn94]

Yes, edit the mirror list to include just a few US sites and you should have better results. You can delete a lot of foreign servers or comment them out with #.

- Jim

(***See update/edits at end of post***)

I added a few of the current USA sites to the mirrorlist file and it still comes back with the exact same error.  It’s as if it’s still defaulting to the no longer existing repo.archlinux.fr site.  I don’t see anywhere in the pacman conf settings referring to that site, it only refers to the mirrorlist file.

EDIT:  I just noticed under etc/ there is a file called pacman and a file called pacman.conf.  Included at the bottom of the pacman file is this (it’s not in the pacman.conf file)

[archlinuxfr]
SigLevel = Never
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/$arch

Am I correct this is saying that the Salkstream is running the custom package archlinuxfr and updates are found at http://repo.archlinux.fr/$arch?  I read somewhere ( here:  http://repo.archlinux.fr/ ) that this site is gone.  Does this mean the particular version of archlinux (archlinuxfr) cannot be update, and a new version would have to be installed?  Or can I just edit the pacman file so that it doesn’t default to the non existent site?  If so, what exactly what text there should I edit?

UPDATE/EDIT:  With the help of someone on the Roon Forum (here's the thread, today's activities starts at post# 30, or skip to post 58 to skip to where I made progress and got the update to work  https://community.roonlabs.com/t/help-updating-arch-linux/267561/31 ).  Long story short, I think I may have jumped the gun a bit.  I got archlinux to update, albeit there were some warning messages at the end that seem to indicate some missing drivers (according to the person on Roon forum helping me).  After the update, the Salkstream rebooted fine and Roon is working; optical spdif output, streaming to my Squeezebox Touch, and streaming to iPad/iPhone are all working fine.  However, now the HDMI output does not work and AirPlay seems to be missing.  I'm guessing the warning messages are related to these drivers/features missing?  Would it be better to continue this conversation via email?  I saved a copy of the warning messages if you would like to see them.  Also, any help you could offer to get HDMI and AirPlay working again would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.  I greatly appreciate you time and help!

UPDATE/EDIT2:  False alarm on the HDMI output.  I noticed in Roon audio settings that one of the HDMI options looked different than before.  I enable that HDMI option and now it works.  I just had to change which HDMI option I was using.  So the only thing not working now is AirPlay.  I'll need help fixing that one.

[jsalk]

UPDATE/EDIT2:  False alarm on the HDMI output.  I noticed in Roon audio settings that one of the HDMI options looked different than before.  I enable that HDMI option and now it works.  I just had to change which HDMI option I was using.  So the only thing not working now is AirPlay.  I'll need help fixing that one.

Try re-installing it with the command pacman -S shairport and see if that fixes it. It may ask if you want to replace it.  Say yes.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Try re-installing it with the command pacman -S shairport and see if that fixes it. It may ask if you want to replace it.  Say yes.

- Jim

Thanks.

I’ll give that a try later today.

Also, I found an old email (from 2016) you sent in reference to Shairport not outputting via the optical output on my Salkstream.  You mentioned Shairport defaults to USB (I don’t use USB as an output), so you attached a new shairport-sync.conf file to change the default output setting to optical.

Is it ok to use this old conf file again?  Do I need to remove/delete the existing conf file before adding the file you sent?

I’ll let you know how it goes. 😀

[Saturn94]

Try re-installing it with the command pacman -S shairport and see if that fixes it. It may ask if you want to replace it.  Say yes.

- Jim

Hi Jim.

I reinstalled shairport as you suggested then replaced the existing conf file with the conf file you sent to me in 2016 (I knew there was a reason I kept all those emails!  ).  After rebooting the Salkstream, AirPlay now seems to be working properly both as a Roon endpoint and streaming from my iPhone using the Apple Music app.

It was suggested to me on the Roon forum that I should be updating ArchLinux on a regular basis (weekly, or at least monthly) to avoid issues; that waiting years between updates can cause problems.  What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you again for your help!  You should be teaching a masters class in customer support/service!