Allow Users to Return to BluOS 3.XX While 4.0 is Fixed
While I appreciate all the effort the BlueSound Team put into 4.0, and am interested in the new look and new features (Server Mode) the simple matter is that since I upgraded my Node no longer functions the way it did before.
I took it out of the box on Christmas Day ‘21, connected it to my system and the network and within moments it worked. A few days later, I started ripping my more than 3,500 CDs as I could now access them using the BluOS app on a 2TB drive connected into the back of my Node 2i.
Since that day I have taken it for granted. It always worked. As I added new ripped albums and more than a few downloaded Hi-Res FLAC downloads, the Node 2i reindexed and there they were for me to enjoy.
On Tuesday, while listening to a boxed set of classical music ripped on the HDD, I got the prompt to upgrade to 4.0. I did so without any thought because previous updates went in quickly and perfectly.
Yes, I was one of many that didn’t pick up on the new way the BluOS app would handle a connected USB or HDD. Mea Culpa. That said, I think a better presentation of this new approach would have avoided much of the “I can’t see my HDD files” panic.
Turns out, my Node 2i can see my HDD. It just can’t index it. Something the previous version did probably close to a hundred times over that last few years as I added more ripped files to the HDD.
Despite the best efforts of the member of the support team who has patiently dealt with my many questions, this key function Does Not Work.
My CDs are in storage some distance away. So, rather than me having to go get them, is it not possible for BlueSound to provide a file so that I can go back to the previous version before 4.0
I have every confidence that they will fix this and all the other issues. But in the meantime I would like to be able to use my Node 2i the way I did before.
BlueSound should provide links for the last BluOS 3.00 versions of the Controller firmware and the Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile apps.
[Oct 24, 2023 Update]
I just received the following message in response to my HDD issue from the BlueSound Technical Support Analyst who has been patiently helping me:
”After speaking with our engineering team regarding your specific issue they have been able to replicate it here in our labs. Our engineering team will be looking into this further and be providing a fix for this issue in a future firmware update.
Unfortunately, we here in technical support are not provided a timeline on future development and releases so I can not say for certain when this update will become available. However, rest assured that our engineering team will be doing everything they can to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Our engineering team may reach out to you directly if they require any further specifics about this issue you are experiencing.”
I have been involved many times with a major upgrade of a platform and the immediate aftermath. Not only from the perspective of a client, but also a representative of the company providing the service, and later on as a VP with a global consulting firm that carried out international transformations. Being the face of the Brand in this situation is not easy.
IMHO, the BlueSound team are doing an excellent job working through these issues, and keeping those who submit trouble tickets well informed.
I’ve lived in the local community where BlueSound is based as part of Lenbrook since the company was first created. They are relatively small team who are quite active in our community. So, I am confident that they will get this done. It may not be as quick as we would like, but they are doing this themselves and not farming the work out offshore.
I also appreciate the tone of this forum. While many of us are frustrated, the people here communicate directly but in a civilized manner. This is a refreshing change to the flame wars driven by keyboard warriors that is the norm pretty much everywhere else.
And that is greatly appreciated by this NAD, PSB, and BlueSound systems owner.
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I guess I'm saying not to lose hope and to retain faith in your own ability.
Personally, I think that it's well overdue that this episode be ended, and I'm damned if I can think why no-one has pulled the plug and engaged reverse gear.
Because of the internet, this isn't a little secret know to a few. It'll be spreading fast, and Bluesound's rivals are probably rubbing their hands with glee right now.
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This is intended to be my last post on this topic. In answer to your question the recycle bin contains nothing.
After another whole day struggling with windows and bluos, things have improved and now the only unresolved problems are disappeared playlists and a windows Bluos controller 4.0.1 that simply doesn't work most of the time. I will have to recreate playlists (extremely time consuming) and use the Android controller until a working Windows one is released.
For anyone with similar problems: I got to this point by (a) uninstalling the old android controller and downloading the latest version 4.0.4 (b) factory reset on the vault (c) factory reset on the node (d) mapping the reset vault to the PC (e) using Android to re-index the Vault and rebooting. All the CD files magically reappeared and could be seen by Windows file explorer and also both controllers. The vault factory reset didn't work fully at first because the vault is usually plugged into a Google Mesh unit and that network is plugged into my fast router. I had to plug the vault into the router directly and then reset, wait for the wifi to came up and then plug it back into Google Mesh. It worked. Hurray. Not realising that the USB backup drive format attached to the vault was incompatible with Windows I plugged it into the PC and attempted to recover its contents. Windows said the drive was corrupted and - eventually - I reset it and the drive now works with Windows. Too late... I must have deleted all the backups including playlists. Why Bluos recommend a local drive with an EXT4 format incompatible with Windows is beyond me (if the vault fails how to you get at the data??).
The Windows controller 4.0.1 is utterly hopeless. It always finds the vault but may or may not find other players, the very useful v3 search functionality is missing (according to Bluesound it will be added back in a future release), when it does find all the players it canot see the tiny test playlists I created using the Andoid contrller, it sometimes freezes on playback and it gets confused if the Andoid controller is in use at the same time. These Windows problems are really non-trivial. is anyone at Bluesound listening?
Backup is a problem ...do I trust v4 to handle a local USB drive backup ? Hmmm. And even if I did why would I want a backup in EXT4 format? (it appears that converting EXT4 to/from NTFS is not straightforward). The simple choice would be to add the vault's mapped NTFS format CD files and playlist file to the daily backup to my Synology NAS although the sheer volume of data may well be a nuisance. But given that my CD data changes infrequently these days it will be a one-off problem and simplicity is good.
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Quote from Ian Sheperd:
<<Personally, I think that it's well overdue that this episode be ended, and I'm damned if I can think why no-one has pulled the plug and engaged reverse gear.>>
I tend to agree even if it appears as a commercial risk. I do think Bluos has such an appeal of perfection that it could well be justified.
Anyway I do think an option to leave the choice and provide a downgrade for app and firmware in one go will be greatly appreciated.
I am struggling with the fact that the optical interface is not functional at this time!
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A month into 4.0 and look at all the bugs still present. A few fixes haven been released for the most concerning problems but overall this will take a looooooong time to straighten out :(
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How do you know this will take a very long time? In that case a revert install should /would be made available IMHO
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I base this on the speed at which Bluesound is releasing updates and fixes. Look at this forum and see for yourself. There are quite a few longstanding issues that just won't get fixed. That was a already problem with 3.0 but add to that all the issues introduced by Bluesound with 4.0 and the list only gets longer. You would expect more frequent updates in the last weeks even if it only were to fix some of the annoying GUI issues that 4.0 introduced. But no...
You can forget reverting to 3.0, I believe they mentioned on this forum that reverting isn't possible.
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I do understand why that should be a problem.
As far as my knowledge goes, it is possible to create an image disc on USB stick to change the Linux part, the 'firmware'
I have not looked if older versions of the client app are available online.0 -
If you find out, please share here... a lot of users will be thankful :)
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Yesterday, I finally updated my Windows laptop to V4.0.2 only to find that the search function wouldn't work correctly. So, I uninstalled V4 and went back to V 3.20.6, which works correctly.
(The good thing about Windows is that we can retain installation files and install whatever version of the controller app that we want to. With iOS and iPadOS, however, that is more difficult to achieve unless you're a wizard.)
Also, I suspect that a number of the issues are to be found within the player's firmware, over which we have no version control at all once we've installed the latest version. It's that firmware that ought really to be rolled back, and I can't believe that a rollback routine hasn't been created. My recollection is that Bluesound didn't want to offer a rollback option due to the confusion that it might create, and not because it isn't possible. It's just software and data.
My suggestion would be to create a firmware upgrade that actually installs V3 but disguises it as a "new" version called, say, V4.3, and make it optional so that those who are benefiting from any new V4 features don't lose out. V 4.4 could then be a fully tested upgrade of V4, to be released when it is truly ready.
Now to put on my Captain Hindsight cap.....
I was taught at school that, when conducting chemistry experiments, one should only ever change one variable at a time. Otherwise, it would be impossible to determine the cause of any changes in the results.
Also, when I worked on Year 2000, my own imperative was not to change anything other than date-related functionality and proprietary apps that weren't Y2K-compatible, as any unnecessary changes simply risked delaying the project, risked increasing the budget, and risked creating additional unnecessary potential points of failure. The same should always also always be applied to projects that relate to legislative changes that come with immovable deadlines.
Bluesound, however, seems to have broken these rules and changed far more than was necessary to get V4 in place. Empirical evidence, for instance, would suggest that V3 controller software works fine with V4 firmware, so there was no need to update the controllers during the initial rollout of the new V4 player firmware.
It would have been better to simply stand still from a functionality perspective, i.e. give us V4 firmware that did everything that it did in V3 and that talked happily to V3 controllers but that did no more than that. That would have been a strong foundation upon which to build subsequent incremental changes.
Anyway, we are where we are, and I still believe that reverse gear, perhaps disguised as a forward gear, would be a better option than forcing users to live with something that should never have been deployed in its current state.
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Hello, good thread!
I found the3.18.7 version on the German site , but prefer the more recent .20 version.
Can you give me an update link or shall I furnish my email address?Question:
When reverting firmware; does application needs to be downgraded as well?
Regards,
Hugo
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