One of the things you may wish to do with Convergence Jukebox is create an always on Jukebox to both random play your music and allow you to do credit plays when you feel like listening to a specific song.
Here’s how you set one up using any Raspberry Pi (Version 1 or 2);
- Follow the NOOBS setup instructions at https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup. to format and prepare your SD card on your Windows computer. The video on the page explains exactly what to do.
- Keep in mind that if your SD card is 32 gig or larger –and you’ll want to use a large card if you plan to put lots of music on your Jukebox– it has to be formatted as FAT32. Information on this can be found at https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/sdxc_formatting.md
- The SDFormatter recommended in the NOOB setup instructions at https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup is capable of formatting large SD cards in FAT32 format.
- Next step is to install PuTTy and WinSCP between your Windows Computer and your Raspberry Pi. This will allow you to transfer files between the two computers. An explaination on how to do this can be found at http://bit.ly/1NVLAWP, while a concise video on how to do this can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyNii3UcHPw
- The layout on the Convergence Jukebox requires 720p resolution. Edit the R-Pi configuration file so the Raspberry Pi will output 720p using HDMI.
- Information on the required video setting can be found at http://elinux.org/RPiconfig#Video
- Edit the R-Pi configuration file so the Raspberry Pi will output sound to the appropriate output. In this case the setting is HDMI to your computer monitor.
- Information on the required audio setting can be found at http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting#Sound
- Download convergencegui.py, convergencejukebox.py, convergeneplayer.py, gui_launch_pi.bat, run_gui_py, jukebox.png, success.mp3 and buzz.mp3 from the Convergence Jukebox GitHub site at https://github.com/bradfortner/convergence_jukeboxUltimately you want to create a /home/pi/python/jukebox subdirectory to house the Convergence Jukebox python software. If you don’t know how to do this it is done by:
- From your Raspberry Pi’s /home/pi directory create a python subdirectory.
- From the /home/pi/python directory create a jukebox subdirectory. This is the subdirectory at home/pi/python/jukebox whereconvergencegui.py, convergencejukebox.py, convergeneplayer.py, gui_launch_pi.bat, run_gui_py, jukebox.png, success.mp3 and buzz.mp3 are to be placed. Transfer them…..
- These three functions can be done using WinSCP on your Windows computer. First create the subdirectories and then make the transfers
WinSCP Transferring Appropriate Files T0 /home/pi/python/jukebox Subdirectory From Windows Computer To Raspberry Pi.
- Two files require execute permission. They are gui_launch_pi.bat and run_gui_py. You can change their permissions using your Raspberry Pi’s File Manager (as shown below) by;
- Selecting the folder where the files are located.
- Right clicking on the file.
- Select Permissions tab.
- Changing the execute Access Control to Anyone.
gui_launch_pi.bat and run_gui_py Files permissions must be changed to anyone in order for Convergence Jukebox to operate.
- Download a zip file containing 79 creative commons mp3’s from http://bit.ly/1nHJCUG. These are mp3 files containing properly formed ID3 tags and will work right out of the box with Convergence Jukebox.
- When downloaded unzip them in a folder on your Windows Computer
- To operate, Convergence Jukebox requires Python 2.7 with the following libraries added to it;
- hsaudiotag – sudo pip install hsaudiotag
- mpg321 – sudo apt-get install mpg321
- pillow – sudo pip install pillow
- ImageTk – sudo apt-get install python-imaging-tk
- PyRSS2Gen -sudo pip install PyRSS2Gen
- So the mouse cursor will disappear once your jukebox starts operating install Unclutter – sudo apt-get install unclutter
- To start jukebox when your Pi is booted, edit the Raspberry Pi’s autostart file by typing sudo nano /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart. Add the following two lines of code (above @xscreensaver -no-splash) as shown below;
- @/usr/bin/python /home/pi/python/jukebox/convergencejukebox.py
- @lxterminal
Edit autostart found in /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/ by adding the two lines as shown above.
- While in the same file edit and add the following ato the end of the file to disable screen blanking;
- place a # in front of the @xscreensaver -no-splash
- @xset s off
- @xset -dpms
- @xset s noblank
- save and exit the file
Final edit to autostart file found in /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi subdirectory
- Reboot your Raspberry Pi.
Screenshot Showing First Boot Of Convergence Jukebox. On First Boot It Stops And Asks For You To Transfer At Least Fifty MP3’s Into Its /home/pi/python/jukebox/music Subdirectory.
- If all was done correctly your Raspberry Pi should reboot and Convergence Jukebox will stop (as shown above) asking you to add mp3’s to it’s music directory.
- Unzip the zip file that you downloaded earlier containing the 79 creative commons mp3’s into a folder on your Windows computer.
- Using WinSCP transfer the 79 songs from the folder on your Windows computer to the /home/pi/python/jukebox/music subdirectory on your Raspberry Pi.
Using WinSCP transfer the Creative Commons mp3’s downloaded earlier from your Windows computer to /home/pi/python/jukebox/music subdirectory on your Raspberry Pi.
- Reboot your Raspberry Pi
It will take up to 3 minutes for Convergence Jukebox to create a database of the 79 songs in its music directory and once done the GUI will appear and the Jukebox will start playing them randomly.
Convergence Jukebox 