Upgrade software

[Cynthia Gagne]

Attempting to learn from other postings, I attempted to upgrade my B2 software to make sure I have the most recent version.  (I do not know how to find the recent B2 software version information on the internet.)  However, I get the message 'Download Failed'

My B2 Status says:

Software Version B2B Oct 22 2021 12:29:15
19170 tracks in 1436 albums 701 artists
0 WAV 19170 FLAC 0 MP3 0 AAC
Capacity 2000.00G Used 393.96Gb

My system is connected via ethernet to my router.  My UI on the computer works. I do not have a wifi dongle plugged in.

Any advice?  Please take into account that I am not tech savvy.

-cynthia

[Ray Dion]

Aloha Cynthia,

Looking at your B2 Status you have a recent version of software. The B2B in the status means the operating system is the current version. 

The most current version of software is 

Software Version B2B Mar 10 2022 10:05:42
13815 tracks in 1026 albums 296 artists
0 WAV 13815 FLAC 0 MP3 0 AAC
Capacity 2000.00G Used 320.19Gb
USB 0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists 0 Youtubes

Since you have a working ethernet your upgrade should be very simple. Under the Setting menu chose:

Ray

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Cynthia,

You are very close to being up to date; there is one more release since October which is B2B Mar 10 2022.

Below is the link to the 'Latest Software' webpage.

https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/latestSoftware

To do the normal web upgrade, go to the front panel and select 'Settings' --> 'Web Upgrade'.  (Do not use 'Settings' --> Maintenance' --> 'SW Upgrade').

This should work for you.

I have plugged your stats into my 'Estimator Spreadsheet' and your B2 looks very good as far as expected disk usage goes.

.

[Cynthia Gagne]

Thank you for the link to the page that tells me the date of the latest B2 software so I can compare it with the date of my software version.

My steps to update the software:  using the front panel. I selected 'Settings' --> 'Web Upgrade'. result in the message "download failed" on the front panel.

i then put the B2 into standby, turned it off, waited about a minute, and turned it back on.

Again, I used the front panel  and selected 'Settings' --> 'Web Upgrade'. and again, it resulted in the message "download failed" on the front panel.

I know I'm not tech savvy, but I am unhappy with failure (OK, it was the download that was labeled as 'failed', not me, but it still seems sad to not succeed at what seems to be such a simple task.)

-cynthia

[JFBUK]

Hi Cynthia,

this sounds like a network issue.

Do you have an IP address displayed on the scrolling front panel display  of your B2 ?

e.g. 192.168.0.101

can you successfully play an intrenet radio station on your B2 ?

John

[Cynthia Gagne]

Hi John, 

Yes, I have an IP address, and my computer UI uses it (and it is bookmarked), and this web UI interface has been controlling the albums I've been playing.

I have never played an internet radio station on my B2 before, so I just tried it.  I was not successful getting a station using the front panel of the B2 (and it is cumbersome to spell out), but using the Web UI, I easily found a station, and it plays music for me.

Source Internet Radio Playing 98.2%

Station Big Blue Swing

-cynthia

[JFBUK]

Hi Cynthia,

I just ran a fresh web upgrade of my B2 just to make sure there was not a problem with the Brennan website and my upgrade worked OK.

The fact that you have an IP address and that internet radio works would indicate that the network is OK.

The only other thing that I can think of is that your SD card which holds the operating system and Brennan software has  a problem, possibly lack of space.

One way to check the space on the SD card is to switch to using it for storage temporarily

From the menu

>SETTINGS>MAINTENANCE>USE SD

The B2 will restart

In the Web UI click on the cog wheel and check your usage stats

it will show used space on the SD card not the HDD

Post the stats here

you can revert to using the HDD

>SETTINGS>MAINTENANCE>USE HDD

The B2 will restart again

John

[Cynthia Gagne]

John, thank you for the details for how to get this information.

Software Version B2B Oct 22 2021 12:29:15

0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists

0 WAV 0 FLAC 0 MP3 0 AAC
Capacity 5.90G Used 0.00Gb

USB 0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists

[JFBUK]

Hi Cynthia,

That kills the SD  storage  space theory I think.

As your B2 is otherwise working OK I am dubious the SD card is faulty.

It is possible to upgrade via a USB drive but we still need to get to the bottom of why your web upgrade is failing.

Hopefully someone else will have an idea.

John

[PMB]

Hi John and Peter,

It sounds like the SD Card is not allowing 'writes' and a replacement card may fix the issue.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Ray Dion]

Two questions

1. Could you not verify write to the SD card by leaving it pointed for storage at the SD card and rip one CD? Then run the SCAN DISK again for the stats.
2. Something I noticed in Cynthia's post about 20 hours ago. She indicates that she puts the B2 in Standby and then shuts it off. This is different from holding the Play/Stop button and seeing "Saving" on the display. This could cause issues with the SD card as the OS is not shutdown properly.

Ray

[JFBUK]

Hi Ray,

I think your suggestion is a good one as it should tell us whether the SD card is accepting writes or not.

Cynthia,

can you give this a try ?

John

[Peter Lowham]

Hi John & Cynthia,

The spare space on the SD card only refers to the the partition that has been reserved for the music tracks, and it is still possible that the Linux/B2 application partition is full (this is where all of the B2's software is kept).

So, in this case, it looks like the SD card is an 8GB card, with 5.9GB reserved for music storage.  That leaves 2.1GB for the B2 application and Linux software which lives in a partition '/dev/root'.  This is normally shows at about 12% used.

One possibility is that if the 'Get Mydb' process has been run, that CDDB lookup file is 1.1GB in size.  That would take your '/dev/root' usage up to 72% as mine is showing below.  Then, if the B2 has ever crashed, it might have gone into a process called 'coredump' which produces a very large file, essentially a copy of all of the memory and processes.  This would eat up all of the remaining space in 'dev/root'.

# df -k
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used     Available  Use% Mounted on
/dev/root              1882244   1272552    496028  72%     /

None of the above really matters in this case as it would require Linux knowledge to fix it.  The quickest and easiest way to fix this would be to either re-flash the existing (micro)SD card or to get a replacement card.

Regards,

Peter.

[Cynthia Gagne]

Ray,

I changed settings to point to the SD card.

I ripped one CD, and then ran Settings> Scan Disk

My status of the SD now shows

Software Version B2B Oct 22 2021 12:29:15

12 tracks in 1 albums 1 artists
12 WAV 0 FLAC 0 MP3 0 AAC
Capacity 5.90G Used 0.43Gb

USB 0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists

0 Youtubes

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the system crashed at some time.  We have had several power outages this winter, and it is certain that the unit was not properly stopped any of the times the power went out.  

Also, Ray's statement that I am not using the appropriate method to stop the unit is quite true.  I never read these instructions on the Getting Started brochure.  On the Webpage, in the Basics. I don't see any instructructions to tell me the proper way to stop the B2.  I have been relying on the B2 Menu Summary for my choices of actions, and there is no reference there.

Peter, you say 

    | The quickest and easiest way to fix this would be to either re-flash the existing (micro)SD card or to get a replacement card.

I see that on https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/Techy  there is a section on the SD card.  

Would it be advisable to get a replacement card, and what are the specifications for an appropriate replacement card?  I have a B2 that was purchased Sept 2021.  When I look at the Brennon Shop, there are options and this leads me to the questions " is this an 'early' model or a 'late' model"? and "Does my unit need a card one with, or without a side slot?"  I ordered a Replacement OLED  from Brennan Shop about a month ago and it still hasn't arrive,  This makes me a bit reluctant to depend on ordering the replacement card.

When I download the file that is associated with link labeled "here", I get the file b2bSDImage18June21.zip  Is this what is expected?  Then the next bit of instruction is to do a Web Update, but, of course, that is what started this entire thread. my Web Update failed.

 

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Cynthia,

The fact that your B2 can rip a CD to the SD card but fails to do a web upgrade suggests to me that the SD card application code partition is full and this is why the web upgrade is failing.

The easiest way to fix this would be to order a new card from Brennan.  Your B2 is a  'late model' and 'without a side slot'  and the card format is 'microSD'.

I would not worry about the long delivery time for the OLED.  There is currently a world wide problem with manufacturing and shipping electronic components, but Brennan are very good at shipping out the microSD cards, so you would probably get it within  2 days of ordering if you are in the UK.

Regards,

Peter.

[Cynthia Gagne]

Hello Peter,

I just ordered a card Without a side slot from the Brennan Shop.  I live in North Carolina, USA, so I won't be so lucky as to get it in just a few days.  But I will be patient.

As a quick question, do you think the replacement SD card might also resolve my WiFi issues?  I've tried two new antenna dongles, and many locations within the house, (nearer to the router, farther, inbetween), and lots of resetting of the WiFi on the B2, resetting of the router (which is very disruptive to other equipment) and ultimately resorted to an ethernet connection.  This is ok, but I can't connect it to my home sound system while it is plugged into my router because of the separate locations in the house.

-cynthia

[Ray Dion]

Please post the result of the SD card. I think we are all interested. 

As far as the WiFi goes it is probably best if you start a new thread. Recommend you include the models of the dongles you tried already.

I saw a little bit on the 'Troubleshooting" page on the brennan.co.uk website. I thought this was the most interesting if signal quality/strength is the issue:

Update January 2021

Paul found that this 5GHz Wifi Dongle with an RT5572 chipset was compatible with B2. So it may give better performance when teamed with newer 5GHz routers.

Ray

[PMB]

Hi Cynthia,

Did you order the SD Card from our UK site - link - ?

Please email us on -  thebrennanb2  @  gmail  .  com  - leave out the spaces, with your contact details and we will sort an SD Card for you.

If you ordered the OLED from our UK site, it's probably in transit.

Concerning the WiFi issue, other owners have had good results using power-line adapters similar to this - link - check your local Amazon site.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[JFBUK]

Hi Peter,

per your comments on whether the   '/dev/root'  partition could be full and thus preventing a successful download for a web upgrade.

Does you know whether the menu option of a 'SW Upgrade' of the existing SD card from a USB drive using an appropriate b2.tar.gz or b2b.tar.gz file would be another way to get round a lack of space

for a web upgrade ? 

I assume it depends on whether the SW Upgrade still finds sufficient temporary work space to execute its upgrade process and that its space requirements are

less than those for a web upgrade.

Thanks

@ Paul from Brennan

If it turns out that the web upgrade was indeed failing due to lack of space maybe a future enhancement could be to display

a more meaningful error message to that effect ?

Thanks

John

[Peter Lowham]

Hi John,

From what I can see, the 'SW Upgrade' process copies the file from the USB device to '/var/www' as the name 'b2b.tar.gz'.  This requires about 1.4MB of disk .  However, the process then unzips the file into a second file called 'b2b.tar'  (in /var/www/) and this requires about another 5MB, thus you need about 6.5MB free to process.  

Then the Upgrade process copies the new B2 files over the old ones.  

I think that the 'SW Upgrade' and the 'Web Upgrade' are almost the same process.  I think (but haven't proven it to myself yet) that the 'Web Upgrade' processes the B2 application code changes only, while the 'SW Upgrade ' processes the B2 application code AND can apply some changes into the Linux O/S area.

Regards,

Peter.

[JFBUK]

Thanks Peter

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Cynthia,

I have produced the attached 'PDF' document titled 'Reflashing SD Card using balenaEtcher' which is intended to bring together various instruction sets that enable the reflashing of microSD cards.  If you want to try this out, just follow the instructions and let us know how you got on.

You can get a new microSD card from Best Buy or similar reputable retailer.  Don't buy memory devices from from Amazon or eBay as most of these are fake and will corrupt your data.  A 16GB microSD card is ideal.

Regards,

Peter.