B2 Stop playing randomly and now more often it makes it through 1 song

[Michael Christie]

The unit is connect via the audio cord directly to my pre-amp.  I have removed the wi-fi and blue tooth.  I have updated the software and ran the scan disk several times....  Seems to be a software bug.  The red light is on and the unit shows the last song and is non-responsive to any manual functions....  Any suggestions?

[JFBUK]

Hi,

are you saying the controls on the front panel are having no effect or that the credit card remote is not working ?

If the former then your only option is to power recycle the B2.

was the B2 powered on when you removed the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth dongles ?

If so this is the likely cause of the freeze up.

John

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Sounds like a software issue.

First , how did you update the software with the WiFi removed? (did you mean you updated then removed the WiFi dongle)!

Have you disconnected the power at any point without first pressing and holding in the Stop/Play button until "saving" appears on the front display? not doing this and powering off while the B2 is active can (and eventually will) cause problems.

First power off the unit  and wait 30 seconds then power it up again. The problem may go away.

If the problem remains then you are going to need to either re flash or replace the B2 Software which lives on a little SD Card inside the B2 (not the big HDD). 

If this need to be done come back and we will guide you through the possible processes 

Fred

[Michael Christie]

This issue has been going on for months...  For the most part I can get a couple hours of uninterrupted music.  However the random freezing has become worse.  When it freezes the front control panel is non-functional.  Today all I can get is one song and it freezes; again and again.  So after reading the blogs they said it could be the wi-fi dongle, ( I could not see how..) so I removed it with no effect.   Removing the blue tooth had no effect other than disable the remote.  Using the Microsoft solution... turning it off, resting and turning it back on dose not work.  Regarding the updates, the wi-fi dongle was in.  I only removed it today to prove it was not the issue.  So it sounds like I need to replace or reflash the software on the SD card.  Could the card itself be corrupt?  So ready when you are to do the software fix.

[Daniel Taylor]

It could be the SD card itself.  Often, just the software on it gets corrupted.  But sometimes the card goes bad - they do eventually.

To reflash the card, read the short instructions on this page: Techy Stuf near the top of the left column.  After you do that, if the problem still persistes and you want to try a new SD card, 8 GB or larger capacity will be fine - I'd buy the smallest you can find.  Be sure and buy from a reputable dealer, not eBay or the like - there are fake cards out there which will only cause you problems.

[Michael Christie]

Reflashed the card, however noticed one of the drives was unreadable.  Placed the SD card back and got 4 songs before freeing up.  Going to buy another SD card today....  Will update after flashing the new card.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi chtistie,

I am confused by what you said here

"Reflashed the card, however noticed one of the drives was unreadable."

Which drive were you talking about.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi Christie,

When the B2 freezes, try looking at the debug monitor - it may tell you what the B2 was trying to do, prior to the freeze. Have a look at this article - link - for how to do this.

If posting the debug, please do it as an attachment rather than within the post.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

I am also having similar issues with my B2, not had any problems for some time until the last few days. The B2 starts to play then just stops for no reason, a few seconds of silence and then it tries the next track and the same thing happens.

Any thoughts on this. I have reflashed the SD card but problem continues.

I have attached a debug report for anyone who understands this king of stuff.

Many thanks Paul

[JFBUK]

Hi Paul,

from the debug it looks like your B2 is playing back the audio on your Sonos system ?

Can you give more detail on your setup ?

Are you able to play back just on your B2 e.g. using headphones connected to the line out jack , and does the same issue occur ?

John

[riley1...@gmail.com]

John

Just tried playback via headphones and problem doesnt occur. So I gues it must be an issue with 

sonos. I listen to my music by sending the music from the B2 to the sonos speakers.

I have a number of speakers and two speakers set up as a stereo - which i know caused some issues sometime back when this method of playback was in its early days.

Paul

[JFBUK]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for confirming.

There are some experienced B2 + Sonos users (not me) on here so hopefully one of them can suggest a fix.

John

[john.h...@gmail.com]

Hi I have a large Sonos setup some in pairs and home theatre once you send to a Sonos device it's played by Sonos as it loads the songs to the queue b2 can still control but it's Sonos controlling for songs to skip or stop it's usually wireless interference , do you have any speakers wired 

[riley1...@gmail.com]

No I dont have any wired speakers set up

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Just tried forget sonos and then find sonos speakers. This may have resolved the problem.

So not really sure what that means in regards to what the actual issue was but if it works then all is ok.

[PMB]

Hi riley1...,

If it happens again try clearing the 'Queue' using the Sonos app.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Just as an update, problem is still occuring. I have been trying with two sonos set up as a stwereo pair which has worked fine for sometmie now, apart from recent issue. The problem was still there. Just tried with a single move sonos and its all working fine. Anyone else having issues with stereo pairs?

Regards Paul

[Peter Lowham]

Hi riley1...,

Looking through your posts, it seems to me that the problem is at the Sonos end.   I have two reasons currently for thinking this which are:

1.  When you play tracks to Sonos, the B2 uploads the tracks to Sonos and then the B2 waits for something else to do.  At this point, the Sonos is in full control of playing the music. The B2 does not stream to the Sonos.   You can see this if you open up the Sonos app on your phone or mobile device, you will see all of your chosen tracks in a play queue on the Sonos.  Also you can switch the B2 off and this music will continue to play until the Sonos has played the last track.

2.  You have tested the B2 output through headphones and the fault does not happen, which suggests that the B2 is working correctly.

A further thought is that could there be a problem with mixing the Sonos move with the other speakers?

Also is all of the Sonos software up to date?  That includes the Sonos app and each of the Sonos speakers.

I have a pair of Sonos One speakers and they work perfectly, so much so that I am thinking of purchasing another pair.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi riley1...,

Have you done a Web Upgrade recently, as there was a fix for the Sonos Roam a while ago?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[riley1...@gmail.com]

Yes I did an upgrade last week.

[Michael Christie]

The B2 software partitions the SD card into various drives.  One of the drives even on the new card I just bought says it is corrupt.

[Michael Christie]

I purchased a new SD card, flashed it, and so far it seems to be working.   1 day at least....

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Christie...,

If you are seeing a 'corrupt' type message when you are viewing the SD card on a PC, then that is normal.  When the SD card is flashed, it creates 3 partitions on the SD card where are:

(1) The boot partition - FAT32 - which the PC can read.

(2) The Linux & B2 App code partition - EXT2 - which the PC cannot read directly, hence the error.

(3)  The music storage partition - FAT32 - which the PC can read.

You can download a free piece of code to your Windows PC called 'Ext2 Volume Manager' and once this is running your PC will read the EXT2 partition quite happily.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Riley...,

When the B2 stops playing, after one track, take a look at the debug monitor and copy the last few lines (say 10 lines) and attach it.

Have a look at this article about using the debug monitor - link

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Michael Christie]

Sorry for the delay, have been traveling for a couple of weeks.  Anyway here is the update:  I purchased a new flash drive, flashed it and it seemed to work well for a couple of days before by traveling.  Today after 6 songs the unit froze again.  Front panel is non-functional as in the original issue.  Turned it off and on and I got 10 songs out of it before it froze.  Interesting note, while playing in normal mode meaning going from completely playing album to another it seemed not to be an issue.  When playing random, which by the way is not random as when I turn the unit off the first song and random list is exactly as previously played.  Not sure if this matters or not, but unless I turn random off then on again, it does not paly randomly...   if that makes any sense.  So what next?

[Thomas Mangano]

I have not read the total thread…..

But I had a freeze problem also. A new sd card did not my fix problem either.  When I had the freeze problem like you, when I turn unit off and on, like you it repeated the songs that were played after the last save I did.  With the help of the resources here I found my freeze was caused by a  specific problematic USB port.  When I moved my WiFi dongle to the other USB port my problem went away.  In my case I did not have as quick or the number of freezes you had.  

Again have not read the whole thread and I am not sure if you are using both USB ports, but your problem sounds like my problem with was USB port.

[Michael Christie]

I have both ports connected as I like to link via wifi to my computer for song selection even though I am playing directly into my stereo, anyway I will pull each out and see if there are improvements....  thx  

[PMB]

Hi Christie,

Let us know how it goes.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Michael Christie]

Sorry a lot of traveling lately....  So today I start the experiment again....  I start to listen to the B2 with the WIFI dongle out.  I get maybe 30 minutes and it freezes.  So I do the Bill Gates solution; I turn it off and then on again.  But I remove the Bluetooth dongle, so now they is nothing in the USB ports and ....  6 songs later and it freezes.  So now what?  

[PMB]

Hi Christie,

Please email us on -  thebrennanb2  @  gmail  .  com  - no spaces, with a brief description of the problem and we will get back to you.

BTW we are now using a new Forum site - link - https://www.thebrennanforum.com/

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Mike T]

I hope its not the same  problem I had the same  symptoms  with with my B2  (twice!)  It was a faulty hard drive and needed replacement!

My JB7 hard drive  has just gone as well  (2nd  time) - I am going to get Audio Tec to replace with a solid state conversion and hope this may be a lasting solution!

I am sorry to say whilst the Brennans are a brilliant & unique product -  (when they work) the parts/ quality control and /or construction are not!

I have a Hitachi 8 track from 1973 that has been less trouble than my Brennans since 2012 !

... Stick with it !

Mike

[PMB]

Hi All,

Please use our new Forum at - https://www.thebrennanforum.com/ - for all new posts.

Paul

Brennan Support.