B3 Troubleshooting

BBC Radio problems

1st October 2024: BBC stations are not currently working. vTuner (our radio station provide) is currently in negotiations with BBC to provide links to the BBC services after changes by the BBC in September.

Make sure you try these first if possible

  • Turn B3 off and on
  • Install the latest software: Main Menu>>Settings & Tools>>Maintenance>>Web Upgrade
  • Re-index the disk: Main Menu>>Settings & Tools>>Maintenance>>Scan Disk

If your B3 displays a blank screen

This could be related to the internal SD card attached to the Raspberry Pi. It could be loose or it could be corrupt. It is relatively easy to re-seat or replace the SD card so it is worth trying - before resorting to returning the B3 for repair.

This pdf decribes how to change the SD card.

  • If you need a new SD card and your B3 is under warranty email us at thebrennanb2@gmail.com.;
  • If your B3 is out of warranty you can order an SD card here.
  • If you would prefer us to fix your B3 email us.

Don't worry your music is not stored on the SD card so it is highly unlikely you wil have lost any music.

Display shows Waiting For Disk

It is normal for the display to show "Waiting For Disk" when B3 is starting up and it should go away within a few seconds though it can take longer.

If the B3 displays Waiting for Disk for more than a minute this is sometimes a transient condition that will be cleared by turning B3 off and on.

If the Waiting for Disk is permanent then this points to a hardware fault and we need to repair the B3.

Wifi difficulties

Which dongle is which

The WiFi dongle is marked 802.11n and the Bluetooth one is V5.0 or CSR4.0 or V4.0

If you are having problems connecting the B3 to your home WiFi

  • Check you have the WiFi dongle (802.11N) plugged in (the B3 should be switched off before connecting/disconnecting the dongles). Leave the Bluetooth dongle (V5.0, CSR4.0) unplugged while setting up WiFi.
  • Check you are using the correct password (the one you use to connect your computer, phone, etc to WiFi). Passwords do not usually contain spaces.
  • Move the B3 closer to your router while trying to connect.
  • Try - Main menu >> Settings & Tools >> Maintenance >> Advanced >> ‘Reset WiFi and reboot’ and then run ‘Setup WiFi’ – Settings & Tools menu – again.
  • Try switching off your router and leave it off for 5 minutes >> switch the router on and wait for your other devices to reconnect before trying the B3 again, You may have to repeat ‘Reset WiFi and ‘Setup WiFi’ again.

You can see the Wifi signal strength (after you have picked a network and entered the password) using Main Menu>>Settings & Tools>>Maintenance>>Advanced>>Wifi Strength. This will display a negative number. A number in the 30s is very good. A number in the 50s and 60s is low and might explain difficulties.

BBC radio stations

Due to recent changes at the BBC you may have to retune your BBC Radio Presets. For example here is how to retune a BBC Radio 2 preset

  • Open the web UI and click on the vTuner tab
  • Type BBC into the Search vTuner panel and click the spyglass
  • Click the play arrow, to the left of BBC Radio 2 and check the station plays
  • Click the three dots to the right of BBC Radio 2 to open the Presets list
  • Click on the existing Radio 2 preset to overwrite it with the one currently playing.

Repeat for the other BBC stations

Software updates

You can find details of recent software releases here.

You can find the date of the software on your B3 using Main Menu>>Settings & Tools>>Stats

To upgrade the software use:  Main menu >> Settings & Tools >> Maintenance >> ‘Web Upgrade’. The software will be downloaded and the B3 will restart itself.

B3+ Activating the internal DAC

Main menu >> Select Output has with options for Speakers only, DAC Only and Speaker + DAC.

Selecting ‘DAC Only or ‘Speaker + DAC’ turns on the Line Out and Optical.

Compression

The B3 does not automatically compress the ripped music files. This is started by selecting ‘Compress Now’ from the Main menu.

We suggest you do this after ripping 20-30 CDs and run it overnight.

Missing music and/or cannot see recently ripped music

B3 generates an index of the music stored on the hard drive which it uses to locate
and play your music. The index may be out of sync with the contents of the hard drive (or SSD) so try running Scan Disk.

Main Menu>>Settings& Tools>>Maintenance>>Scan Disk

This can take a few minutes depending on how much music you have

Scan Disk is the go to command for any playback or missing music issue.

IP address change

Your Wifi router can sometimes change the IP address assigned to the B3.

If you are using the Brennan app tap on the Hifi icon at top right to open 'Discovery'. Tap the refresh (round) arrow to make the app search for available devices. It should find the new IP Address for the B3. Select it to connect.

It doesn't happen very often but you can prevent your router from changing the address using the router admin panel. Instructions vary from router to router so you may have to Google for instructions. Typically you need to use a browser to access a special page at a fixed IP address - on my router its 192.168.0.1. I then had to select the B3 in Advanced->DHCP section. And then I clicked on Add rule. This reserves the currently assigned address for future use.

Red or Amber Warning Triangles

If your B3 shows a warning triangle that means it is either full (red) or 90% (amber).

You should check the stats in Settings & Tools > Stats.but the Brennan can run out of memory before the disk is full. There are internal limits to the memory for tracks, albums and artists.