fruitbox MP3 jukebox

[Hitman51]

I have narrowed down my issue as presented earlier. I copied a handful of songs from my USB to the /home/pi/Music Folder and it worked. So that means my problem lies with the USB. The system can see it and its contents, however it will not play from it through fruitbox. It will play from VLC player without issue, so the issue has to lie with a setting in fruitbox. Am I missing something? Again, all music displays, it will not queue up a song to play though. Thanks!

[Becky's Dad]

I have narrowed down my issue as presented earlier. I copied a handful of songs from my USB to the /home/pi/Music Folder and it worked. So that means my problem lies with the USB. The system can see it and its contents, however it will not play from it through fruitbox. It will play from VLC player without issue, so the issue has to lie with a setting in fruitbox. Am I missing something? Again, all music displays, it will not queue up a song to play though. Thanks!

Hmmm possibly a permissions issue, to see who has ownership try entering this :

cd /mnt/usb/
ls -l

This should show you who owns the 'Music' folder
Then:

cd Music
ls -l

This should show you the contents of your Music folder and who 'owns' them, something like
"-rwxr-xr-x 1 pi pi 5481938 Dec 17 22:02" shows that pi is the owner, it may indicate 'root' as the owner. Post back the results.

I would suggest unmounting the usb drive :
sudo umount /dev/sda1

and then remount it:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb

open the editor
sudo nano /etc/fstab

and add/edit the file:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb vfat defaults,,user,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail

[Hitman51]

I have narrowed down my issue as presented earlier. I copied a handful of songs from my USB to the /home/pi/Music Folder and it worked. So that means my problem lies with the USB. The system can see it and its contents, however it will not play from it through fruitbox. It will play from VLC player without issue, so the issue has to lie with a setting in fruitbox. Am I missing something? Again, all music displays, it will not queue up a song to play though. Thanks!

Hmmm possibly a permissions issue, to see who has ownership try entering this :

cd /mnt/usb/
ls -l

This should show you who owns the 'Music' folder
Then:

cd Music
ls -l

This should show you the contents of your Music folder and who 'owns' them, something like
"-rwxr-xr-x 1 pi pi 5481938 Dec 17 22:02" shows that pi is the owner, it may indicate 'root' as the owner. Post back the results.

I would suggest unmounting the usb drive :
sudo umount /dev/sda1

and then remount it:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb

open the editor
sudo nano /etc/fstab

and add/edit the file:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb vfat defaults,,user,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail

USB reads as follows: drwxr-xr-x 3 codyg codyg 131072 Mar

Pi Music folder reads as follows:

-rw-r--r-- 1 codyg codyg 1370 Mar 8 16:06 fruitbox.db

[Becky's Dad]

I have narrowed down my issue as presented earlier. I copied a handful of songs from my USB to the /home/pi/Music Folder and it worked. So that means my problem lies with the USB. The system can see it and its contents, however it will not play from it through fruitbox. It will play from VLC player without issue, so the issue has to lie with a setting in fruitbox. Am I missing something? Again, all music displays, it will not queue up a song to play though. Thanks!

Hmmm possibly a permissions issue, to see who has ownership try entering this :

cd /mnt/usb/
ls -l

This should show you who owns the 'Music' folder
Then:

cd Music
ls -l

This should show you the contents of your Music folder and who 'owns' them, something like
"-rwxr-xr-x 1 pi pi 5481938 Dec 17 22:02" shows that pi is the owner, it may indicate 'root' as the owner. Post back the results.

I would suggest unmounting the usb drive :
sudo umount /dev/sda1

and then remount it:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb

open the editor
sudo nano /etc/fstab

and add/edit the file:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb vfat defaults,,user,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail

USB reads as follows: drwxr-xr-x 3 codyg codyg 131072 Mar

Pi Music folder reads as follows:

-rw-r--r-- 1 codyg codyg 1370 Mar 8 16:06 fruitbox.db

Thats your issue !
The Music folder is showing that its a file (-), that you have Read (r), Write (W) but no Execute ie 'run' privilages (-), and that 'Group' have Read only (r--) and 'others' also have read only (r--) and that there is only one (1) user.

I'm guessing that when you mounted the usb you may have done it with 'mkdir -p /mnt/usb' not 'sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb/'.
mkdir would only give the correct permissions if you created it within /home/pi/ folder ('your' folder) but as its being created outside of that folder you need to do it as a 'superuser' ie 'sudo' to grant the execute privilage. Please note, I'm not a coder just a google researcher ! so I could be wrong.

You need to change the file permissions within the Music folder
Try:
cd /mnt/usb
chmod -R 755 /Music
and recheck the permissions
ls -l
you should hopefully now see -rwxr--r-- 1 and it'll work

[Hitman51]

I was able to mount the usb and access, it but it still will not play from the mounted location. Everything looks correct, but it still will not select the song.

[Becky's Dad]

I was able to mount the usb and access, it but it still will not play from the mounted location. Everything looks correct, but it still will not select the song.

What size usb stick are you using ? is it formatted to fat32 ?
I would put a few tracks on a newly formatted usb stick and try again

[Hitman51]

I was able to mount the usb and access, it but it still will not play from the mounted location. Everything looks correct, but it still will not select the song.

What size usb stick are you using ? is it formatted to fat32 ?
I would put a few tracks on a newly formatted usb stick and try again

It is a 256GB. Was newly formatted when I put the songs on as exFat

[Becky's Dad]

I was able to mount the usb and access, it but it still will not play from the mounted location. Everything looks correct, but it still will not select the song.

What size usb stick are you using ? is it formatted to fat32 ?
I would put a few tracks on a newly formatted usb stick and try again

It is a 256GB. Was newly formatted when I put the songs on as exFat

I believe the latest pi's can read exfat but wether theres a limitation in fruitbox I have no idea. An rpi3 wouldn't even see the drive.
I would try a smaller drive thats fat32 (I believe upto 64gb are fat32 normally) and chances are pretty good it will play.

[Becky's Dad]

Autorun / Autostart fruitbox v2.04 on rpi 4

OK, firstly I'm not a coder, but having just got a rpi4B I wanted it to autostart the same as my rpi3B+ does.
After a couple of hours messing around and with googles help I've got it working. I'm not saying this is the only way to accomplish it or the best way - its just how I managed to get it to autorun / autoboot / auto start.

I know others have struggled so heres how I managed it:

1. Create a bash script:
Open a terminal and navigate to pi folder by typing:

cd /home/pi/

# type:

nano /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh

# Once the editor opens type the following:

#!/bin/bash

NOTE: Formatting is important here. The 'shebang' above must be on the very first line of the file (line 2 won't do,
even if the first line is blank). There must also be no spaces before the # or between the ! and the path to the interpreter.

Add the script for launching fruitbox:

cd /home/pi/fruitbox
su pi -c '/home/pi/fruitbox/fruitbox'

[NOT su pi -c '/home/pi/fruitbox &' as required to run pi3, the '&' is not required]
Save the file [Control O to write contents to /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh, Enter to confirm write to file,Control X to quit nano editor]

2. Make the bash script executable:
Type:
chmod 755 myfruitbox.sh

3. Now to try and make it autorun:
edit the autostart file to add the bash script at the end:
Type:

sudo nano /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

the existing autostart file should read like this:
@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
@xscreensaver -no-splash

Add the following line:

@lxterminal -e bash /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh

Save the file - [Ctrl O to write file, Enter to confirm, Ctrl X to exit]

This autoruns to the Terminal but I found it requests a password to run fruitbox, so to get round this restriction copy the above to a user config file ....[The config file overrides the global autorun file on boot]

Type:
nano /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
and once the editor opens edit/add to give the following as above:

@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
@xscreensaver -no-splash
@lxterminal -e sudo bash /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh

Save the file - [Ctrl O to write file, Enter to confirm, Ctrl X to exit]

#4. Issues encountered:
#Trouble making the bash script executable ? make sure in step 1. above you use nano not sudo nano to create the bash script to ensure file ownership is 'pi' not 'root' (I think that is what caused me to have to delete the bash script and try again)
# Trouble creating or writing to /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/ ? I did on a couple of attempts but this seemed to fix it:
# Try typing:
# whoami
#you should get response 'pi'
# type:
# mkdir -p /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi
# then type:
#nano /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and edit as above


# That's it - sudo reboot
##It Works !

I swear I have read and completed this at least 3-4 times and still cannot get this to work. Has anyone else tried this? I am still hopeful. "Becky's Dad" you have the best instructions I have seen to date, but I must be missing something. Help!

Had issues myself on a new build - it seems adding a soundcard and editing the /boot/config.txt to #dtparam=audio=on would prevent the autorun. Not sure why.
I got to a stage where I could get it to work where @lxterminal -e bash /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh would autorun but require a login or @lxterminal -e sudo bash /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh whwere it would autorun but no sound output.

Revisited it and made a few changes, and it works for me even with the /boot/config.txt edited with #dtparam=audio=on to disable the onboard sound.

So here's the updated version, give it a go !

### UPDATE ! UPDATE ! UPDATE ! UPDATE ! ###

1. Create a bash script:
Open a terminal and navigate to pi folder by typing:

Code: Select all

cd /home/pi/

create a file and open the editor:

Code: Select all

nano /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh

# Once the editor opens add/type the following:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/fruitbox && ~/fruitbox/fruitbox

NOTE: Formatting is important here. The 'shebang' above must be on the very first line of the file (line 2 won't do, even if the first line is blank). There must also be no spaces before the # or between the ! and the path to the interpreter.

Save the file [Control O to write contents to /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh, Enter to confirm write to file,Control X to quit nano editor]

Make the bash script executable:
Type:

Code: Select all

chmod 755 myfruitbox.sh

2. Create the user’s session configuration directory:
Type:

Code: Select all

mkdir -p /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi

3. Copy the default autostart file into the directory created above and edit it:
Type:

Code: Select all

cp /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/

Open the editor

Code: Select all

nano /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart 

note:This does not require root or sudo.

Add the following command to the bottom of the list:

Code: Select all

@lxterminal -e bash /home/pi/myfruitbox.sh

# That's it - sudo reboot
## It Works ! (at least it does for me !)

[stana]

Hi.
Just new to fruitbox and find it a very nice piece of software for the pi. I have designed a skin for my pi jukebox and wondered how i can share it.
Thanks

[Becky's Dad]

Hi.
Just new to fruitbox and find it a very nice piece of software for the pi. I have designed a skin for my pi jukebox and wondered how i can share it.
Thanks

Hi, I've previously uploaded to dropbox and share the link on facebook digital juke builders or message it via facebook to Mike Kingsley and he might add it to the fruitbox github/download page so it will be included in any future download of fruitbox

[fruitbox]

Hi.
Just new to fruitbox and find it a very nice piece of software for the pi. I have designed a skin for my pi jukebox and wondered how i can share it.
Thanks

Hi, I've previously uploaded to dropbox and share the link on facebook digital juke builders or message it via facebook to Mike Kingsley and he might add it to the fruitbox github/download page so it will be included in any future download of fruitbox

Great!

Zip it up and email it to me (rpi-fruitbox at outlook dot com) and I'll add it to github.

Cheers
Mike

[stana]

Cheers Mike.
Just added some extras.
I will do that now.
Sent as 2 emails as the file was too big.
Regards
Stana

[stana]

Hi.
Just new to fruitbox and find it a very nice piece of software for the pi. I have designed a skin for my pi jukebox and wondered how i can share it.
Thanks

Hi, I've previously uploaded to dropbox and share the link on facebook digital juke builders or message it via facebook to Mike Kingsley and he might add it to the fruitbox github/download page so it will be included in any future download of fruitbox

Great!

Zip it up and email it to me (rpi-fruitbox at outlook dot com) and I'll add it to github.

Cheers
Mike

Hi Mike.
Just noticed that there were a few background files in the folder that need removing as they were used for developing the skin.
if you remove those before adding to the github then it will reduce the file size.
cheers
Glyn

[cyberpin2001]

Possibly Alsamixer default volume is too low.
Try this - Bring up a terminal, type in alsamixer, F6 to choose soundcard "bcm2835 Headphones". Hold up arrow key to increase volume.

Many thanks for the suggestion Becky's Dad. I tried that thanks and unfortunately it didn't make a difference. If you or anyone else has any other ideas of what I can check they would be greatly appreciated

I have tried a few things to increase the volume when playing songs through Fruitbox, but I still can't get the same volume that I get with VLC set to 100%. Is there any other option I can change to boost the volume higher, or maybe change drivers? I guess VLC could be doing some processing to the volume to increase it. Thanks

Thanks again for the suggestion and apologies for the long delay in replying - I was away for a while.

I played with all those settings and unfortunately it is still the same. As I plan to use a Amp with the Jukebox I guess the lower volume in Fruitbox (set to 100%) vs the volume in VLC player (set to 100%), then it shouldn't be an issue. it is weird though.

Just a quick couple of questions for Mike if it is okay before I drop the subject of the volume level I described . - Mike- from within the Fruitbox code what library, etc. is being used to play the audio for a song? Also I don''t know if anyone else has tried playing a song in VLC to compare the volume level with Fruitbox? Also I have the record crackle, etc. playing at the start of a track. Would two sounds playing at the same time, cause an issue with the volume level for the music volume, after the crackle sound has started playing? I did try a skin that wasn't using the crackle and it didn't seem to make a difference, but I am just throwing that out there in case there is some kind of 'balancing' of the volume levels within the code. Thanks.

[cyberpin2001]

As previously mentioned I am planning a Jukebox build using Mike's excellent Fruitbox software.

I have adapted the Wurly skin slightly to have some mechanical record loading sounds to match the video, a vinyl crackle, etc. I also adjusted it for a 4:3 ratio screen that I plan to use. I will share the skin once it is finalised.

I did a quick mock-up of how the wall-mounted Jukebox will look. I am no artist, so I just used images of wood, etc. to show a rough look and feel.
The Jukebox will be 940mm high by 540mm wide and will have a depth of 155mm. I will use woodgrain affect veneered MDF which is 19mm thick with the 1mm veneer (ie:18mm + 1mm).

I previously built a full size virtual pinball cabinet back in 2010/11 (Rocketpin on vpforums under the user name settingsons) which I still play until this day, plus a Mame bartop around 2013 I think it was. I was the first to add a Jukebox to a virtual cabinet back then using dwjukebox - as it needed to run on the second screen it wasn't possible due tot the nature of the software so I created the PinJukeLaunch utility to accomplish it. I did the carpentry and wood cuts myself using ply, but for this build I am planning to use an online wood service to do most of the cuts including the square cut out for the monitor (cutmyplastic.co.uk).

Here is the mockup:



The bottom section with a grill will have two Harman Kardon (JBL) car speakers behind it. The section above is a window which will house some some kind of Jukebox themed lighting and maybe parts of vinyl records. The button panel will use an IPAC2 and a mix of illuminated rectangular and triangle arcade buttons.

The amp will be tucked away somewhere behind. It is quite small.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08D3JK7BH? ... ct_details

Speakers:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07X8PRDD9? ... ct_details

Will update progress.

[stana]

Hi cyberpin2001
The design looks great. I was thinking of a wall mounted jukebox myself. At the moment i have it running through my tv but would like it in it's own cabinet. look forward to seeing the progress.
regards
stana

[cyberpin2001]

Hi cyberpin2001
The design looks great. I was thinking of a wall mounted jukebox myself. At the moment i have it running through my tv but would like it in it's own cabinet. look forward to seeing the progress.
regards
stana

Thanks Stana. I will definitely post progress, and once I have accurate measurements I will share them in case it helps someone also planning a wall mounted Juke.

Cheers

Vic

[stana]

Hi cyberpin2001
The design looks great. I was thinking of a wall mounted jukebox myself. At the moment i have it running through my tv but would like it in it's own cabinet. look forward to seeing the progress.
regards
stana

Thanks Stana. I will definitely post progress, and once I have accurate measurements I will share them in case it helps someone also planning a wall mounted Juke.

Cheers

Vic

Cheers Vic
I built an arcade machine a few years back and still use it now.
just sorting out a man cave and thought a wall mounted jukebox would look cool in there.
Fruitbox is a very useful piece of software and very easy to customise.
I too edited the video of the jukebox internals to match the sound.
I also edited it so it was still and didn't look as though someone was filming it by hand.
if you would like the skin i think that Mike is going to put it on the github.
Regards
stana

[cyberpin2001]

Hi cyberpin2001
The design looks great. I was thinking of a wall mounted jukebox myself. At the moment i have it running through my tv but would like it in it's own cabinet. look forward to seeing the progress.
regards
stana

Thanks Stana. I will definitely post progress, and once I have accurate measurements I will share them in case it helps someone also planning a wall mounted Juke.

Cheers

Vic

Cheers Vic
I built an arcade machine a few years back and still use it now.
just sorting out a man cave and thought a wall mounted jukebox would look cool in there.
Fruitbox is a very useful piece of software and very easy to customise.
I too edited the video of the jukebox internals to match the sound.
I also edited it so it was still and didn't look as though someone was filming it by hand.
if you would like the skin i think that Mike is going to put it on the github.
Regards
stana

Thanks for that. The skin sounds interesting - I will check it out. Agree the software is great in terms of how configurable it is, and how you can switch skins easily for a different look and feel.

The man cave sounds cool - I am using a boxroom (small bedroom) to house the Virtual Pinball Cab and Mame Bartop, but will put the wall mounted jukebox in a downstairs room, so when we have people over for drinks/dinner they can pick the tracks they like.

.

[fruitbox]

Just a quick couple of questions for Mike if it is okay before I drop the subject of the volume level I described . - Mike- from within the Fruitbox code what library, etc. is being used to play the audio for a song? Also I don''t know if anyone else has tried playing a song in VLC to compare the volume level with Fruitbox? Also I have the record crackle, etc. playing at the start of a track. Would two sounds playing at the same time, cause an issue with the volume level for the music volume, after the crackle sound has started playing? I did try a skin that wasn't using the crackle and it didn't seem to make a difference, but I am just throwing that out there in case there is some kind of 'balancing' of the volume levels within the code. Thanks.

Hi,

Sorry for delay in replying...the mp3 files are decoded using the libmpg123 C library. This produces raw audio samples, which are then sent to the audio output using the Allegro audio playout routines. These also handle the sound effects and mixing of the different sound sources together, as well as being able to modify the overall volume. Mixing sounds won't cause any volume changes.

As far as I remember, there are no other places in the code where it's possible to modify the volume, but when I get the chance I'll have another look.

Cheers
Mike

[cyberpin2001]

Hi,

Sorry for delay in replying...the mp3 files are decoded using the libmpg123 C library. This produces raw audio samples, which are then sent to the audio output using the Allegro audio playout routines. These also handle the sound effects and mixing of the different sound sources together, as well as being able to modify the overall volume. Mixing sounds won't cause any volume changes.

As far as I remember, there are no other places in the code where it's possible to modify the volume, but when I get the chance I'll have another look.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks Mike for the detailed explanation. I don't want to waste your time especially if it is only me who experiences a different level of volume between Fruitbox and VLC both playing at 100% volume. If someone else is able to see if they get the same then I guess it confirms there is a difference which might be worth checking out. Might be the Allegro library of course.

Cheers

Vic

[Becky's Dad]

Many thanks for the suggestion Becky's Dad. I tried that thanks and unfortunately it didn't make a difference. If you or anyone else has any other ideas of what I can check they would be greatly appreciated

I have tried a few things to increase the volume when playing songs through Fruitbox, but I still can't get the same volume that I get with VLC set to 100%. Is there any other option I can change to boost the volume higher, or maybe change drivers? I guess VLC could be doing some processing to the volume to increase it. Thanks

Thanks again for the suggestion and apologies for the long delay in replying - I was away for a while.

I played with all those settings and unfortunately it is still the same. As I plan to use a Amp with the Jukebox I guess the lower volume in Fruitbox (set to 100%) vs the volume in VLC player (set to 100%), then it shouldn't be an issue. it is weird though.

Just a quick couple of questions for Mike if it is okay before I drop the subject of the volume level I described . - Mike- from within the Fruitbox code what library, etc. is being used to play the audio for a song? Also I don''t know if anyone else has tried playing a song in VLC to compare the volume level with Fruitbox? Also I have the record crackle, etc. playing at the start of a track. Would two sounds playing at the same time, cause an issue with the volume level for the music volume, after the crackle sound has started playing? I did try a skin that wasn't using the crackle and it didn't seem to make a difference, but I am just throwing that out there in case there is some kind of 'balancing' of the volume levels within the code. Thanks.

Had a quick play with VLC today on my laptop and noticed the volume was a lot louder than the default media player.
If you go to Tools > Preferences > Audio and look at the Effects options half way down the page you will see an option "Normalise volume to:" and its default setting is 2:00. Knock it back to 1:00 and you'll probably notice its the same as fruitbox volume.

[cyberpin2001]

Had a quick play with VLC today on my laptop and noticed the volume was a lot louder than the default media player.
If you go to Tools > Preferences > Audio and look at the Effects options half way down the page you will see an option "Normalise volume to:" and its default setting is 2:00. Knock it back to 1:00 and you'll probably notice its the same as fruitbox volume.

Thanks for that, and apologies for the delay in getting back.

Well done for spotting that! Funnily enough in my Raspberry Pi VLC player the box is unticked but the value is set to 2. However if I tick it and set it to 1, then the volume does indeed decrease, to an even lower level than Fruitbox. Put it back to 2, but untick the option (which is odd), and the volume is considerably louder.

The thing is, on the new amp I have with car speakers I set the volume dial on the amp about one quarter of a turn (0.25) for really good volume. With Fruitbox I turn the dial closer to halfway (about 0.4). This is interesting because whatever VLC is doing with that 'Normalise' option, it is good. I wonder if this could be a setting somewhere in the Alegro library or an option elsewhere?

Cheers

Vic