Multiroom music setup on Raspberry Pi with TinyCore Linux (RAM only OS)

These are the steps taken to have MPD on piCore 14
Newer version might work as well (or maybe even better), but have not been tested.

Set up piCore

1. Download the piCore image
2. Unpack the .zip file and write the .img file to the SD-Card (using USB Image Tool for example)
3. Move the SD-Card to the Pi, plug the Pi into the network and plug in the power source
4. SSH into the Pi (using Putty for example)
   Login using tc / piCore
5. Execute backup shell command after the first boot to save generated unique SSH keys which will be used during next boots.
6. Expand the partition:
   1. Start the partition tool: sudo fdisk -u /dev/mmcblk0
   2. List partitions with p command and write down the StartLBA and EndLBA of the second partition
   3. Delete second partition with d than recreate it with n command
      Select p for Primary Partition and 2 for Partition Number
      Use the same starting sector as deleted had and use the default value for Last Cylinder
      Exit fdisk with w command
   4. Reboot the Pi: sudo reboot
   5. After reboot expand the partition: sudo resize2fs /dev/mmcblk0p2 (may take a while)
7. Optionally install the nano text editor (or keep using vi): tce-load -wi nano
8. Install ALSA: tce-load -wi alsa alsa-utils
9. Install tools to create extensions tce-load -wi squashfs-tools

Configure ALSA

1. Configure ALSA: sudo alsamixer
2. Save config: sudo alsactl store
3. Add the following lines to /opt/.filetool.lst:
   etc/asound.conf
4. Add alsactl restore to /opt/bootlocal.sh
5. Save changes to ROM: backup

Install MPD

1. Install compiler: tce-load -wi compiletc meson ninja
2. Install dependencies: tce-load -wi boost-dev cmake curl-dev dbus-dev expat2-dev faad2-dev git glib2-dev icu-dev lame-dev libfmt-dev libgcrypt-dev libid3tag-dev libmad-dev libsndfile-dev mpg123-dev sqlite3-dev
3. Fix libid3tag:
   1. Create a temporary directory: mkdir -p /tmp/libid3tagExt/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig
   2. Unpack package: unsquashfs -d /tmp/libid3tagExt /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional/libid3tag-dev.tcz
   3. Create /tmp/libid3tagExt/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/id3tag.pc containing:

      prefix=/usr/local
      exec_prefix=${prefix}
      libdir=${exec_prefix}/lib
      includedir=${prefix}/include
      
      Name: id3tag
      Description: ID3 tag reading library
      Version: 0.17
      Requires:
      Libs: -L${libdir} -lid3tag
      Cflags: -I${includedir}
      

   4. Remove exisiting package: rm /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional/libid3tag-dev.tcz
   5. Repack new package: mksquashfs /tmp/libid3tagExt /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional/libid3tag-dev.tcz
4. Reboot: sudo reboot
5. Install libmpdclient:
   1. Download the latest tarball for libmpdclient from https://github.com/MusicPlayerDaemon/libmpdclient/tags, for example: wget https://github.com/MusicPlayerDaemon/libmpdclient/archive/refs/tags/v2.22.tar.gz -O libmpdclient-2.22.tar.gz
   2. Unpack the tarball: tar -xvzf libmpdclient-*.tar.gz
   3. Go into the unpacked directory: cd libmpdclient*
   4. Configure the source tree: meson setup output
   5. Compile: ninja -C output
   6. Install libmpdclient into temporary directory: DESTDIR=/tmp/libmpdclientExt ninja -C output install
   7. Create extension: mksquashfs /tmp/libmpdclientExt /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional/libmpdclient.tcz
   8. Add libmpdclient.tcz to /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/onboot.lst
6. Install MPD:
   1. Download a tarball from https://www.musicpd.org/download/mpd, for example: wget https://www.musicpd.org/download/mpd/0.23/mpd-0.23.15.tar.xz -O mpd-0.23.15.tar.xz
   2. Unpack the tarball: tar -Jxvf mpd-*.tar.xz
   3. Go into the unpacked directory: cd mpd*
   4. Configure the source tree: meson setup output/release --buildtype=release --prefix=/usr/local -Dlibmpdclient=enabled -Dadplug=disabled -Dao=disabled -Dbzip2=disabled -Ddsd=false -Dffmpeg=disabled -Dfluidsynth=disabled -Dgme=disabled -Did3tag=enabled -Dipv6=disabled -Djack=disabled -Dmikmod=disabled -Dmms=disabled -Dmodplug=disabled -Dmpcdec=disabled -Dnfs=disabled -Dopenal=disabled -Dopus=disabled -Doss=disabled -Dpipe=false -Dpulse=disabled -Drecorder=false -Dshine=disabled -Dshout=disabled -Dsidplay=disabled -Dsmbclient=disabled -Dsoundcloud=disabled -Dsoxr=disabled -Dtwolame=disabled -Dupnp=disabled -Dwavpack=disabled -Dwave_encoder=false -Dwildmidi=disabled -Dzzip=disabled -Dzeroconf=disabled
   5. Compile: ninja -C output/release
   6. Create a temporary directory: mkdir -p /tmp/mpdExt/usr/local/etc
   7. Install mpd into temporary directory: DESTDIR=/tmp/mpdExt ninja -C output/release install
   8. Copy config: cp doc/mpdconf.example /tmp/mpdExt/usr/local/etc/mpd.conf
   9. Create extension: mksquashfs /tmp/mpdExt /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/optional/mpd.tcz
   10. Add mpd.tcz to /mnt/mmcblk0p2/tce/onboot.lst
7. Reboot: sudo reboot
8. Create config directory: mkdir ~/.mpd
9. Copy over config: cp /usr/local/etc/mpd.conf ~/.mpd/mpd.conf, or to another filename if you're going to run multiple MPD instances
10. Make some changes to the config:
    1. Enable the log_file & pid_file (remove the # at the start of the line)
    2. Change the name of the log_file and the pid_file if you're going to run multiple MPD instances
    3. Enable user and group and set it to tc and staff respectively
    4. Change port if necessary
    5. Add as many audio_output as locations you want to stream to:

       audio_output {
           type         "snapcast"  # outpouts in a way SnapClients can connect to the audio stream
           name         "location"  # name of the location this stream will be used
           port         "1704"      # unique port number
           format       "44100:16:2"
           mixer_type   "software"
       }
       

    6. Run mpd once to test and to create a database file: mpd ~/.mpd/mpd.conf (and mpd --kill after a little while)
    7. Enable the db_file in the config (remove the # at the start of the line)
11. Have MPD auto start on boot: sudo nano /opt/bootlocal.sh, add mpd /home/tc/.mpd/mpd.conf to the end
12. Save the changes: backup
13. Reboot: sudo reboot

Accessing NAS share

1. Install cifs: tce-load -wi cifs-utils samba4 filesystems-KERNEL

2. Create a file containing the login credentials of the share /home/tc/.smb:

   user=username
   password=xxxxxx
   

3. Add a line to /etc/fstab: //192.168.x.xxx/sharedfolder /mnt/shared cifs credentials=/home/tc/.smb,vers=1.0 0 0

4. Make fstab saved by adding etc/fstab to /opt/.filetool.lst

5. Create a script for mounting /opt/mount.sh:

   #!/bin/sh
   mkdir /mnt/shared
   until cat /etc/fstab | grep shared
   do
     sleep 1
   done
   sleep 5
   mount /mnt/shared
   

6. Give the script execution rights: sudo chmod +x /opt/mount.sh

7. Add the script to /opt/bootlocal.sh: /opt/mount.sh &

8. Save the changes: backup

9. Reboot: sudo reboot

Connecting it all together

1. Set the correct library location in ~/.mpd/mpd.conf: music_directory "/mnt/shared"

Exclude files from filetool back-up

1. Add some lines to /opt/.xfiletool.lst:
   home/tc/.mpd/log*
home/tc/.mpd/pid*