New project x86

Help and Support Help
1

I’m new to this forum, so I’m sorry in advance for my questions.

But I’ve been looking for information on the forum for several weeks now, and I can’t find answers to simple questions.

I plan to build a music player not based on Raspberry, but based on an x86 + external DAC board. If it was a Windows operating system, I wouldn’t have any questions. But I want to make my player based on OS Volumio, and there is very little information for x86 boards:

  1. For Raspberry and for Windows, there is support (not software, but hardware) for volume control knobs (i2c-based encoder), but I have not found whether there is such support for x86 in OS Volumio and whether there is a plugin for this functionality

  2. For Raspberry and for Windows, there is support for a remote control (infrared and Bluetooth remotes), it would be convenient to have an Apple TV remote, but I have not found whether there is such support for x86 in OS Volumio and whether there is a plugin for this functionality

  3. To control the volume of the amplifier from Volumio (DACT physical attenuator) I used a stepper motor and I didn’t find any hardware device support for x86 in OS Volumio

If there is no answer to all these questions, then one of the solutions is to connect to my motherboard via USB - RP2040, as the main interface for all GPIO interfaces, and for this board to make a separate plug-in in OS Volumio (x86), through which you can connect any peripherals.

Well, two more questions: does OS Volumio (x86) support image output to 2 screens, and is there a list of graphics cards so as not to buy a graphics card blindly. And the second question about the “turn on/off” mode from the remote control: is there an option in OS Volumio (x86) to switch the motherboard to sleep mode (if the motherboard supports this mode), and does OS Volumio (x86) support output from sleep mode using the remote control (for any household appliances this the mode works out of the box).

And if possible, a question to the administration of the forum: I saw that in the 3rd version of Volumio, a plugin for chatGPT is being tested, which helps to find music. And could you add chatGPT to the forum search, because it is very, very difficult to find answers.

2

Hi @final,

If you already know upfront, that you’re going to rely on GPIO I would not suggest using a x86. We did some test for the MPD_OLED plugin on a x86 using the DollaTek CH341A.
Every plugin that relies on rPI libraries will be problematic and need to be recompiled from source.
With your requirements, step motor, IR and volume control, I would go for a rPi.

3

Thank you for your reply! I know for sure that my player will run on x86. The Raspberry board does not give such sound quality, it is too noisy, and not very fast (I planned a GPIO board only as one of the options, like a usb-i2c adapter). The best sound can be obtained only with an external DAC, and x86 will provide graphics and speed. For x86 (for windows and linux), there is great support for drivers and peripherals: an infrared usb port, a usb volume control, and hundreds of thousands of other equipment. I looked at your plugin: you can connect a lot of equipment through the i2c converter, and this equipment will work well (it has been tested on windows and linux systems, and has been working for many years). Why doesn’t OS Volume support it all out of the box, then why do users pay for Volumio (even for your plugin they had to update the Linux kernel)?

4

Please don’t start pulling things out of their context.

  • The rPi is more then adequate to produce bit perfect audio, it even received EISA awards for doing this.
  • Whatever hardware you’re planning to use, the default audio circuits on these hardware are bare minimum, so an external DAC will always benefit.
  • No-one pays for plugins. These plugins are created by the community (people like you and me) and are free.
  • Volumio is a dedicated OS for streaming bit perfect music, it’s not a full blown OS. This also means it is not compatible with every hardware out there, as that’s not the main purpose. On request drives can be added.
  • Kernel update? not sure where that came from, I only mention kernel headers.