Raspberry Pi3 / Glyph case / Volumio Music Streamer and NAS.

Hi All

I’ve had a broken Glyph storage unit in the loft for a while, it’s one of those things that we put away because ‘It might come in useful someday’. Well it’s day has come. With my recent spell of unemployment came a re birth of my interest in the humble Raspberry Pi. I have a few around the house running Kodi, MotioneEyeOS and Rasbian so the installation of Volumio has been on the horizon for some time but I wanted a one box music streaming solution for the living room. My plan is to remove the internal HDD and PCB and replace them with a Raspberry Pi3, HiFiBerry HAT 1.0 DAC and a 500GB SSD. See standard configuration and dry build pictures below. I already have the Raspberry Pi and HiFiBerry DAC setup and configured to stream music from the local SSD (MP3’s) and Spotify via the Volumio Operating System. As I have RCA output on the HiFiBerry DAC I can pipe the output through my Rotel amplifier in good old stereo in the living room. Before this I had to plug my mobile phone into the back of the amp to stream Spotify, as some of you may know the output of the mobile phone is not too good so the DAC / Rotel combination works perfectly now. Volumio is controlled via the web browser on my mobile phone.

I also have a Raspberry Pi3 with an Inno MakerAMP HAT in the shed, this can see the living room Volumio / NAS unit over the wreless network and stream the locally stored MP3’s. This is also managed via the phone web browser.

Here’s a few links to the hardware used:

Raspberry Pi3 (Shed): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raspberry-Pi-M … mp;sr=1-11
Inno Maker HiFi AMP HAT: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 … &psc=1
Inno Maker Case: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 … &psc=1

Raspberry Pi3 Living Room: Same as above.
HiFiBerry DAC + Standard 1.0: https://www.hifiberry.com/dacs
Glyph storage unit: https://www.glyphtech.com/sites/default … 0Guide.pdf

Pictures of the project so far:











First working dry build images below. I need to tidy the cabling up obviously but save for that and a wipe with a cloth it’s working Ok.

I’m still waiting to take delivery of a USB to SATA cable, this will enable me to remove the external USB SDD drive and use the 500GB internal SSD as per my original plan. I’m also waiting for a pair of 90 degree RCA connectors which will connect to the DAC phono outputs. I’ll be soldering these to a pair of RCA connectors which will be fitted to the rear blanking plate. The plate is removed completely at this stage until I get the rest of the connectors and cables ready.

I’ll also be removing the temporary white connector blocks from the left hand side of the unit. I’ll be shortening the cables accordingly and using a solder / heat shrink finish.

I also want to get the ‘Activity’ LED working but that’s the last thing I’ll work on.

Not bad for an hours tinkering :slight_smile:




There’s a problem !

I have used a 12v to 5v converter to bring the power down but when I plug in the external USB device Volumio can’t see it. If I use the standard RPi power supply the SSD hard drive works fine with Volumio. I took the USB drive to another RPi I have and again it works Ok with the standard RPi power supply. When I move the drive back to the new Volumio unit it doesn’t work. It’s as though there’s not enough power to run the SSD. I checked the voltages with my multi meter and the feed input to the converter is 10.5v and the output to the RPi board is 7.9v.

Do you have any suggestions as to why the SSD external USB drive doesn’t work properly in the unit?

I have also found that this unit falls asleep after being left for a while. The unit I have in the shed stays ‘awake’ forever but the living room unit falls asleep on me, only waking up again after I complete a manual re boot by turning it off then on again at the mains. Can anyone suggest what may be causing this as it’s a bit of a pain in the neck :slight_smile:

Hi TrebzUK
I’m not sure I’ve understood this right but if you’re seeing 7.9V on the PI board I’d be concerned that it was seeing excess voltage. The nominal spec is 4.75V to 5.25V for the raspberry pi. Try the RPi power unit and I hope the over-voltage hasn’t damaged anything. Then fault find or replace the 12V to 5V converter. Good luck!

Also, an unloaded voltage of 5V or the 7.9V you are measuring does not mean that the 12V-5V converter can supply enough current to run the Pi and USB drive.
You probably want at least 2 Amps at 5 Volts to make sure the Pi and USB drive have enough power.

Hi All

Just a quick reply as I’m on my way to work, I bought this converter for the RPi:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CPT-UL-1-DC-DC-Converter-Regulator-12V-To-5V-3A-15W-Vehicle-LED-Display-Power-UK/332978525900?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Is it suitable or have I bought the wrong type of unit, if it’s not the right type of unit can you post a link to one that would better suit the RPi

Thanks

Trebz

5 Volts at 3 Amps should be more than enough.
Is the PSU supplying that converter able to deliver enough input current?

Still not clear to me why these supply rails are out of spec. I’d have expected the 12V supply to be within 0.5V. 10.5V perhaps suggests excess current taken or perhaps a faulty supply? A 12V to 5V converter might take ~1.5A when loaded to 3A - assuming it’s switched mode. If you are not using the 12V for anything other than powering the RPI + HAT + SSD via a 12V/5V converter I’d be tempted to use a mains power supply such as the RPI power brick which would also give you a good connector for the RPI. Then dispense with the existing 12V supply entirely.

My thoughts exactly r.e: Dumping the 12v power supply.

It’s shame as I wanted the 12v to power an internal fan or two and to also utilise the much stronger ‘Kettle Lead’ power supply as it’s much stronger and robust in comparison to the RPi USB power supply.

Not to worry though as the case will have more room for additional drives if I need them in the future.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys :slight_smile:

You could just attach a flying 3 pin UK mains socket to the back of the IEC mains inlet inside the case and then plug your power brick (now inside the case) into that. So then you’d keep the tidy mains wiring of the IEC socket.
Alternatively, you could buy a purpose built 230V ac to 5V power supply from the likes of RS, CPC.Farnell or Digikey. I haven’t checked any of them but one of them almost certainly sells something suitable with CEI safety certification.

On a positive note I don’t think you’ll need any cooling. If you’re bothered about cpu temperature perhaps a glue on heat sink if this doesn’t interfere with the HAT? The pi3 doesn’t run as hot as the pi4 and unless you’re considering adding some heavy duty plugins (perhaps digital room correction?) it should have a decent safety margin against overheating and throttling back.

I’m a bit of a noob with electrical hardware, can you provide links to suitable hardware as per your suggestion.

You are right about temperatures and fans, it’s overkill really but I just thought ‘There’s a power supply in there already so why not use it’ etc.

I also fancied having the front power switch available for the RPi. That would have been nice.

:slight_smile:

First of all some advice: you shouldn’t undertake any mains wiring unless you understand the necessary safety measures. All high voltage exposed metallic contacts must be insulated to prevent accidental electrical shock as just one example.

Here’s the sort of mains socket I had in mind (check whether it will sit sideways in your case)

Probably similar from diy stores. Etc.

If you wish to use a separate 230V to 5V converter here’s one that might fit the bill?

Shutting down Volumio should be done from the App on your phone/tablet etc - this does not turn off the power but shuts the cpu down. Starting it again is not quite so simple. You can restart it by disconnecting then reconnecting the power (remember to shut down the App before you switch off the power). There may be a possibility of re-awakening the cpu using the GPIO pins on the RPI as an alternative to the rather crude method of breaking the power. You’ll need to research the Volumio pages. I haven’t looked into this as I intend to leave my RPI permanently enabled.