Pi Zero 2 W moOde setup fail

[Phorize]

Thank you all for your replies.
Just to clarify: I have followed the instructions as laid out in the setup.txt, using Raspberry Pi Imager, setting a hostname, username + password, wireless lan settings, ssh enabled. However, those settings weren't carried over. They were blank in the network settings when I accessed moOde via its IP address ("hostname".local didn't work).
So when that didn't work, I tried the Access Point method by only enabling ssh and setting a username + password, but the MoOde network never showed up.
In the meantime, I have bought a new SD card (Samsung PRO Plus 512 GB) and a Lexar SD card reader (LRW450UBAMZN) and again followed the instructions, but again to no avail.
I'm beginning to think that the Pi is faulty, as some of you suggested. I'll try a different software to check. Maybe Volumio?

What device is hosting the WiFi AP? I had this issue with a unifi uap, turned out to be a firmware issue with the AP itself.

 

[maxm272]

What device is hosting the WiFi AP? I had this issue with a unifi uap, turned out to be a firmware issue with the AP itself.

I was under the impression that the Pi would do that. I dimly remember it working like that last time I set it up - I connected to the MoOde SSID with the password "moodeaudio" and configured the wifi settings back then. But now when I leave the network configuration blank before flashing the image to make the Pi enter the AP mode, it doesn't - at least there's no MoOde SSID and I get a prompt at the web ui to set an AP password. Once I do that, the site keeps loading forever

 

[maxm272]

Volumio doesn't work either. I cannot connect via volumio.local or its IP address. I used Raspberry Pi Imager and configured all the settings as before. I tried that twice and noticed something the second time: the passwords for the username and the network were already set but as a very long and seemingly random string of letters and numbers. I put in the correct passwords, but it didn't work then either. Could that point to incorrect writing/storing of the data I put in?

 

[Phorize]

Volumio doesn't work either. I cannot connect via volumio.local or its IP address. I used Raspberry Pi Imager and configured all the settings as before. I tried that twice and noticed something the second time: the passwords for the username and the network were already set but as a very long and seemingly random string of letters and numbers. I put in the correct passwords, but it didn't work then either. Could that point to incorrect writing/storing of the data I put in?

I would definitely check your wireless ap settings. When I had this problem my dual band AP wasn't offering a 2.4 GHz connection due to a firmware bug. You need to eliminate the possibility that you are trying to connect the pi to a 5 GHz receiver. If that was the case it could explain neither volumio or moode working.

Going back to the write process-when you do this what is the output of the image verification process at the end? Again if you had some kind of write problem independent of sdcards it could explain the problem happening across irrespective of the os you are using.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

In my experience neither Moode nor Volumio run well on the Pi Zero 2 W if you use the MPD/SMB library. The Volumio DLNA source will work. The smallest Pi that works for me is the 3A+. I think that the size of the library makes a difference there. To install Moode from scratch it's necessary to use Raspberry Pi Imager because Moode requires a different password and userid from the defaults in order to load for the first time. You can also set your wifi up from Imager. Balena Etcher won't work for Moode because of the userid/password requirement. I've done a Moode install from scratch on several different Pis using Raspberry Pi Imager with no problems with the initial load.

For the zero 2 W Picoreplayer or DietPi will work, or the minimal Pi OS with Squeezelite.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Volumio doesn't work either. I cannot connect via volumio.local or its IP address. I used Raspberry Pi Imager and configured all the settings as before. I tried that twice and noticed something the second time: the passwords for the username and the network were already set but as a very long and seemingly random string of letters and numbers. I put in the correct passwords, but it didn't work then either. Could that point to incorrect writing/storing of the data I put in?

I believe that both Moode and Volumio substitute a randomly generated value for pwd/userid ands will display that although they keep the originals in encrypted form.

 

[Gee2]

I tested RPI Imager and my Raspberry Zero 2. I put in the info for one of my wifi networks and my user info and both were transferred to the SD card with Moode. The user info is used to SSH into the Linux console of Moode (can be done in the browser. See Configure-System-Security). The Pi Zero connected to my wifi network.

But now when I leave the network configuration blank before flashing the image to make the Pi enter the AP mode, it doesn't - at least there's no MoOde SSID and I get a prompt at the web ui to set an AP password. Once I do that, the site keeps loading forever

When you tick the Configure Wireless Lan box in RPI Imager you have to fill in the SSID field. You can omit the password but then it doesn't automatically join the wifi network. The Configure Wireless Lan might just be for joining your home wifi network and not Moode's Access Point.

Moode's Access Point (AP) mode enables access to moOde over its own private 2.4 GHz WiFi network but you loose network/internet connectivity. AP mode is handy on a boat or in a car or perhaps the office but you have to have you music locally connected to the Pi Zero.

By the way. The Pi Zero uses 2.4 GHz WiFi. If your inhome router uses only 5GHz it won't be seen by the Zero 2.

 

[Tim Curtis]

Hi,

I just want to clear up some misinformation about moOde setup and security.

Starting with our 8.3.0 release (March 2023) we aligned with the Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye security practice of (1) not including any embedded login or WiFi userids/passwords in an ISO image and (2) leaving SSH in its default disabled state. This was done because there are many ways to maliciously exploit embedded credentials in ISO images given that users often don't ever change them after booting up. It's a significant benefit to you that our images employ improved security.

Our Setup guide explains how to easily prep the ISO image using the Raspberry Pi Imager to set a login userid and password of your choosing, WiFi SSID and password, enabling SSH, choosing a host name (8.3.7 release), etc. Your choices will be imported into moOde's configuration during first boot. This process is much more convenient for setting up WiFi than the legacy process of waiting for moOde to boot up in Access Point (AP) mode.

Regarding AP mode, there is no embedded AP password on the ISO image and since this element is not part of the Pi Imager schema yet it has to be entered via the WebUI Network Config screen. A notification message to this effect will be displayed on the screen.

On the Network Config screen, the entries displayed in the password fields are the Pre-Shared Key (PSK) representations of the plaintext passwords that were entered either via the Pi Imager or the Network Config screen. This is what is stored locally instead of plaintext passwords and doing it this way helps improve security.

For more info on setup and configuration visit the Download page at https://moodeaudio.org There are links to the Pi Imager, Setup guide etc.

A few more things to mention are that the OS in moOde is essentially stock RaspiOS and is built using the same pi-gen utility and work flow thats used to make the official RaspiOS releases. The kernel version is what's shipped with the given release of RaspiOS plus our three value add kernel drivers: aloop 384K, pcm1794a 384K and the rtl88xxau driver for the nice Comfast CM-912AC WiFi adapter. Our component parts for example MPD, shairport-sync, camilladsp are our own custom builds and are packaged using standard Debian packaging. There are absolutely no kernel or OS "sound tweaks" or any such thing.

Just an FYI that the majority of tech support for moOde is provided in our own Forum at https://moodeaudio.org/forum, and developer support is provided in our project Git repos at https://github.com/moode-player

I'll try to periodically monitor this Forum and help out (time permitting) but if you really need tech support for a question or issue, visit the Support page at https://moodeaudio.org to easily request a Forum account.

Remember that moOde is Free Open Source Software (FOSS). There are no Ads, nags for subscriptions, analytics/tracking or any other such technology in our player. The source code is public and can be freely examined in our Git repo. Preference, configuration and player operational data is stored on the local boot media and is not provided to any 3rd parties. This is our contribution to improving privacy for our users.

-Tim

 

[Roland68]

Or try following the only officially supported set up method which is set out in the official documentation.


Edit: read the whole thread and now understand what you were suggesting

And maybe you'll read my two posts first and understand that my only intention was to give the thread creator the tip to test the hardware of the Pi Zero 2 W with another software.
Just a hardware test, nothing more!
I'm not interested in moOde and its installation, otherwise I would have written something about it.

@maxm272
Yes, in that case I would simply test the hardware with a Volumio installation.

 

[Roland68]

Volumio doesn't work either. I cannot connect via volumio.local or its IP address. I used Raspberry Pi Imager and configured all the settings as before. I tried that twice and noticed something the second time: the passwords for the username and the network were already set but as a very long and seemingly random string of letters and numbers. I put in the correct passwords, but it didn't work then either. Could that point to incorrect writing/storing of the data I put in?

I haven't seen that at Volumio with the Pi Zero 2 W or with any other PI.
At this point I would suggest a WiFi connection with an official Raspbian version. Everything else makes no sense at this point.

 

[maxm272]

I would definitely check your wireless ap settings. When I had this problem my dual band AP wasn't offering a 2.4 GHz connection due to a firmware bug. You need to eliminate the possibility that you are trying to connect the pi to a 5 GHz receiver. If that was the case it could explain neither volumio or moode working.

Going back to the write process-when you do this what is the output of the image verification process at the end? Again if you had some kind of write problem independent of sdcards it could explain the problem happening across irrespective of the os you are using.

That was it! The network repeater I'm using down here in the basement defaulted to a 5GHz network, and once I split the signal to 2.4 and 5GHz networks to connect to the 2.4GHz network, everything worked as expected. My bad
Thank you everyone for your help, it's greatly appreciated! And thank you @Tim Curtis for your presence on this forum!

 

[Nutul]

I haven't seen that at Volumio with the Pi Zero 2 W or with any other PI.
At this point I would suggest a WiFi connection with an official Raspbian version. Everything else makes no sense at this point.

Volumio sell their "Primo" unit, which has a Pi inside IIRC.
I myself had Volumio installed on a RPi 4 about 3 or 4 years ago.
On what hardware do you see it working, usually?

 

[Roland68]

Volumio sell their "Primo" unit, which has a Pi inside IIRC.
I myself had Volumio installed on a RPi 4 about 3 or 4 years ago.
On what hardware do you see it working, usually?

I'm not aware of any restrictions. I have installed Volumio on the Zero's and Pi 4 so far. But it also runs on X86/X64 platforms.
The Volumio devices account for at most a small single-digit percentage of all installations. These are devices for users who don't want to bother with purchasing individual components or installing Volumio.

 

[maxm272]

Slight correction. It works almost as expected.
I still have to scan for networks and manually enter the password as well as set the country and then save the settings. With an old 200GB SD card, that works. With the brand new 512GB SD card, though, after hitting "Save", the "Reconnect" text appears and then the page loads forever - but nothing happens. When I close the WebUI and open it again, there is no internet connection and I can't access any of the pages.
Now my question is, can I copy some file(s) from the 200GB SD card onto the (freshly imaged?) 512GB SD card to work around that problem?

 

[Nutul]

Slight correction. It works almost as expected.
I still have to scan for networks and manually enter the password as well as set the country and then save the settings. With an old 200GB SD card, that works. With the brand new 512GB SD card, though, after hitting "Save", the "Reconnect" text appears and then the page loads forever - but nothing happens. When I close the WebUI and open it again, there is no internet connection and I can't access any of the pages.
Now my question is, can I copy some file(s) from the 200GB SD card onto the (freshly imaged?) 512GB SD card to work around that problem?

Again... this is a typical symptom of misflashed SD card => user cannot save the settings (among other things)...
Did you indeed flash the new 512GB SD card with the Raspberry Imager, taking care to specify a username, a password, specify a wi-fi SSID + passphrase, etc. etc. PRIOR to flashing the image...?

@maxm272 come over at moodeaudio.org and request to join the forum; we'll be glad to help you fix your issues if being collaborative is in your priorities.
From the web page:
Contact the Forum to request an account.
Be sure to include your preferred userid (at least 5 characters) in the Email message and an account will be promptly created.
mailto:[email protected]

 

[Tim Curtis]

Hard to say what's causing @maxm272 issue. We only get occasional reports these days of image issues now that most of our users are familiar with the Pi Imager process.

There's a bugfix for WiFi country code import from Pi Imager in the upcoming 8.3.8 release (Q1 2024).
Below are the release notes.

################################################################################
#
# 2024-MM-DD moOde 8.3.8 (Bullseye)
#
################################################################################

Security

- NEW: Option for secure HTTPS mode (Experimental)

Updates

- UPD: Bump to CamillaDSP 2.0.1
- UPD: Bump to mpd2cdspvolsync 1.0.0
- UPD: Bump to squeezelite_1.9.9-1449+git20230814.8581aba-1
- UPD: Add HTTP proxy option to MPD Config
- UPD: Add disc and track to logic for showing now-playing icon in track list
- UPD: Add SBC quality mode option to Bluetooth Control
- UPD: Add mixer name 'A.Mstr Vol' for MERUS(tm) Amp piHAT ZW
- UPD: Update Bluetooth to support Multiroom audio
- UPD: Update Squeezelite to use ALSA _audioout device (support CamillaDSP)
- UPD: Improve help text on the Configs, Preferences and Quick help
- UPD: Improve Audioinfo line height so a bit more info shows on screen
- UPD: Allow for month (YYYYMM) in Date tag to improve Album/Year sort
- UPD: Allow for "AlbumDate: YYYYMM" in Comment tag to improve Album/Year sort
- UPD: Allow @ (at sign) in manually entered SSID in Network Config
- UPD: Display actual station format instead of VBR (Variable Bit Rate)
- UPD: Display month name in Audio info if Date tag contains YYYYMM
- UPD: Trim leading zero from track number in Tag/Album views (for CUE)
- UPD: Refactor REST API commands (refer to Setup Guide for info)

Bug fixes

- FIX: getEncodedAt() bits assignment for lossy
- FIX: Incorrect index used when switching to Radio view via station click
- FIX: Move Queue item range to end of Queue not working
- FIX: CoverView Automatic display not activating
- FIX: Popup on-screen keyboard not activating
- FIX: Audioinfo not showing correct info for Multiroom receiver
- FIX: Audioinfo not showing correct Audio chain for Squeezelite renderer
- FIX: Browser title not being updated when importing host name
- FIX: Volume not restored correctly when Spotify Connect and CamillaDSP volume
- FIX: Import WiFi country code from Pi Imager not working
- FIX: Chromium fails to start after host name change

 

[maxm272]

Again... this is a typical symptom of misflashed SD card => user cannot save the settings (among other things)...
Did you indeed flash the new 512GB SD card with the Raspberry Imager, taking care to specify a username, a password, specify a wi-fi SSID + passphrase, etc. etc. PRIOR to flashing the image...?

@maxm272 come over at moodeaudio.org and request to join the forum; we'll be glad to help you fix your issues if being collaborative is in your priorities.
From the web page:
Contact the Forum to request an account.
Be sure to include your preferred userid (at least 5 characters) in the Email message and an account will be promptly created.
mailto:[email protected]

Yes, I configured both cards the exact same way, and Raspberry Pi Imager reported every time that the write was successful. And I'll gladly join the forum. Thank you!