Installation on ASRock Beebox N3000

Help and Support
1

Hello, I would like to start using Volumio PC with my ASRock Beebox N3000 but I have some questions before I start.

I am wondering where I should install Volumio and what method I should use depending on which way I choose.
The Beebox N3000 is a small pc that has an onboard mSATA slot and one SATA connector for a 2.5 HDD. So you can have both drives working at the same time. One for boot and one for media. Here are a few possible configurations I was thinking of trying for Volumio.

  1. Flash the .img using Etcher to a 2.5 SSD and install it internally to the Beebox. Music is located on external HDD.
  2. Flash the .img using Etcher to a mSATA drive and install it internally to the Beebox. Music is located on external HDD.
  3. Flash the .img using Etcher to a mSATA drive and install it internally to the Beebox. Music is located on internal HDD.
  4. Flash the .img using Etcher to a USB drive and boot the Beebox from USB. Music is located on internal HDD.
  5. Flash the .img using Etcher to a USB drive and boot the Beebox from USB. Music is located on external HDD.

Are all these combinations do-able? Are any of them recommended over the others? I am looking for the easiest method preferably without having to do any configurations by command line.

I also have seen a few posts about booting from a Volumio USB and then using commands to install it to the internal SSD. Is this necessary? Is it not possible to just flash it to a SSD and then put the SSD back in the PC and set it as the boot drive in the BIOS?

Thank you for any advice!

2

Well, I went with option 2 and everything seems to be working fine. Now I am working on tagging my 600 albums correctly.

I have one more question if anyone is reading this.

The Beebox has an IR remote. Is there a way to get it to work with Volumio? It would be nice to pause and maybe skip tracks with the remote.

3

There is an IR remote plugin if you have a look in the Plugins section. No idea how configurable this will be for your particular remote though.

1 Like
4

Thank you for the suggestion but I am not seeing that plugin in the list. Are plugins behind the paywall?

5

If you are on the Buster release then the plugins are current disabled on the beta…

6

I don’t think I am using a Buster release. I only downloaded the .img file from the main page. It says version 2.909.

In my Plugins section there are only Music Services, System Tools and Miscellanea.

7

I think the IR remote plugin assumes compatibility only with arm based boards.
You would have to install it manually, and tweak things to get it working with your device…

1 Like
8

Thx for the info. I will look into installing it manually. Tweaking it might be beyond my abilities but I will give it a shot!

9

Do want amazing audio or do you want a bunch of features that are cool. Volumio on pc is to be as close to “headless as a pi” as possible. Everything you do moves you away from PURE! My pc’s have no drives let alone features! Less is the key. After setup and debug, no heyboard, mouse or monitor. Pc is quiet like this, Features dont sound good at all, I dont even have volume control on the pc​:wink: i use passthrough in the pc setup and control volume on the reciever where it belongs! Not one feature in the pc, except amazing sound from a 50$ thrift shop pc. Remember use thumbdrive for volumio HIFI, boot to diferent drive to use pc as pc. Boom how do u like me now,:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: If you want more exact plan, look at as dual boot issues in github. Keep your PCing seperate your precious amazing volumio HIFI. Im interested in seing your chosen path . K.I.S.S. is what i told myself, less is more,:guitar::sunglasses::trumpet: Steven