Rune rAudio 1 Successes and Opportunities

[jaygothard]

Congrats on the new version. It seems MUCH more stable and responsive than previous versions. I have had it up for about a week now which is a record. In the past I have ended up having issues to the point where I give up after a day or two. Just wanted to offer a critique of the current offering based on what I have observed so far.

Successes:

Stability- System no longer randomly becoming unresponsive, losing mounts, refusing to play certain files, etc.

Responsiveness- In previous versions I spent way too much time staring at the pulsating "RUNE AUDIO" logo. Trying to get to certain settings would leave me at the pulsating logo until Doomsday. I like the new logo, but what I like the most is not seeing it in between screens for very long and being able to access all settings without the eternal lockup.

Sound quality- I have gone back and forth in the past regarding the sound quality of Rune .vs Volumio, but now I feel more confident in Rune in terms of sound quality. Not sure what changed, but it sounds better than previous versions.

Features- Swiping on mobile devices, breadcrumb trail in the browsing screen, dice mode, album bookmarking, etc. All features not being offered in other MPDs.


Opportunities:

File system support- I would not expect support for more exotic file systems like ZFS, but in order to be a universal player Rune should at a bare minimum support NTFS, exFAT, EXT4,3,2, and maybe APFS(Apple).

Customization- Many options that were available is earlier versions have been removed. I can no longer move the back area to the left side of the screen(should be the default if I can't choose), set instant play options, or choose to stop being warned when I replace my queue.

Covers visible when browsing files- It's the most obvious thing that I am happy to have back when I use Volumio. Seeing the small covers when browsing my collection is often useful and adds a little bling to the interface. That being said I have to say that I don't miss the mode where I can view nothing but covers.

Standard MPD out of box experience- The other two major MPDs Moode and Volumio default to a hotspot on the first boot. This allows the user to continue to use the system in hotspot mode or connect to a wireless network. This makes sense and provides a more user friendly initial user experience then having to use a wired connection or edit configuration files to connect to WIFI or enable hotspot mode.


Hoping for a stable version at some point. Its been a phat minute since the last stable version. Would like to be able to refer to people to the website to download Rune and not have to explain how to dig through the forums to find the latest image.

[R101]

Hi jaygothard,

There are one or two opportunities you mention which are already there, but not obvious. In Library settings, click on the arrow at top right. It sounds as if you might have missed those options.

Update thumbnails might be another option you would find useful.

[jaygothard]

Oh there are the missing settings. I wondered why they were removed, but it looks like they were just moved. Minus that for an opportunity.

Also minus lack of thumbnails with one caveat. Not just any .jpg file name works and Rune has to create extra .jpg files to display thumbnails. Seems a little backwards, but at least there is a way to have thumbnails while browsing files.

Found one more opportunity and its kind of a biggie. All attempts to get the hotspot feature to work have failed. I can turn on the hotspot and it shows up but then one of two things happens. It refuses to let me connect and then disappears or it connects (takes a lot of effort and luck), but I never get assigned an IP address., just a 169......

If you rely on using your MPD through a hotspot, you are sunk at this time. That was on a RP4. Maybe it works on a RP3, but even if it does the point is moot since many people have moved on to the RP4 by now.

Still liking everything else about this new version of Rune especially the sound quality.

[rern]

@jaygothard,

Try today's update for:
- exFAT drive
- Boot to access point - URL: raudio.local or 192.168.5.1

rern

[jaygothard]

That was it. Every opportunity on the list has been fixed.....except one.

The hotspot feature has been greatly improved. Haven't tested the hotspot on first boot, but I'll assume it works. The issue I'm having now is that the hotspot still refuses to connect and in the rare case that it connects, it refuses to assign an IP address. Tried this scenario on both a RP3 and RP4 and the result was the same.

Will try starting over with a newly imaged sd card and report back.

[jaygothard]

Just tested with a new image and the hotspot feature works fine. So either I changed something in my set up, like having been connected to WIFI previously or it doesn't work as an update.

Seems like Rune could be ready for a non beta release.

Thanks for the updates. Will donate soon.

[jaygothard]

Nope. Hotspot still not working even on a newly imaged card with nothing set up yet. Made the image and it worked as advertised once. Tried it again and now I'm back to it taking forever to connect and refusing to give me an IP address.

[J4K]

I'm just trying this new version out over the last few days, it's very stable and fast, Sounds better, or clearer. My only gripes are that I can't set the the sound profile, I have the cog, it just doesn't do anything, and I preferred the previous icon.


Edit: Last update I got the sound Profiles working, But to be honest I cannot hear any audible difference after trying them, so sticking with default.

Also the display no longer Displays the RA gui, and lost the ability to turn off the rpi screen, it stays grey, and ask for a password. (Password Login Disabled).

All the best

J

[jaygothard]

IMO the newer versions of Rune sound better than the older versions. By default the sound profile was enabled in the older versions and disabled in the newer versions. I'm leaving it alone for 2 reasons. If it ain't broke don't fix it and I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of trying to decide if it sounds better enabled and if so which profile sounds the best. It sounds good at the default setting and that is good enough for me to leave it alone.

I'm not saying that the ability to adjust sound profiles(not really clear on exactly what is even being adjusted) is worthless, but I don't see a point. No other MPD has this feature and if it were to disappear from Rune I would not be dissapointed.

[surfninja]