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FAQ

  • What kind of speakers do I need to use with the Time Machine?
    The analog audio comes out a headphone jack (1/8") You can connect the audio from the headphone jack into a stereo amplifier and out to regular speakers. Or you can plug the headphone jack into a pair of "powered speakers", like computer speakers. I use these in my office: (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DDDV1VR/) Another customer has used this inexpensive amplifier (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077M526SB/ref=twister_B09MRW8V61) to drive a pair of regular speakers.
  • How can I listen to other artists from the archive?
    Press the Power button for 5 seconds to enter the Menu. Choose "Collections" Choose "Add Collection" Use the Day and Year knobs to select letters in the name of the Collection that you would like to add. The letters that you enter will narrow down the list of possibilities until there are less than 30 possibilities. When you have entered enough letters to narrow the possibilities to less than 30 collections, the matching collections will be selected. Choose the collection you would like to add. Choose Finished The Time Machine will restart and the collection will be added.
  • How can I connect to a different WiFi
    The Time Machine prompts you to connect to WiFi whenever it cannot connect to the network on bootup. So, if you go to a friend's home, or change your WiFi, the Time Machine will prompt you to input the WiFi name and passkey. But what if you have two or more WiFi's in your home, and you want to connect the Time Machine to a different WiFi, even though it is already connected? To force a reconnection to WiFi: Press and hold the Power button to visit the menu Choose Wifi and follow on screen instructions
  • How can I update the software on the Time Machine?
    To update the software on the Time Machine: While the Time Machine is on, press and hold the "power" button for 5 seconds. Select "Update Code" on the menu The Time Machine will go through some changes, including a reboot. When you see the screen asking you to "Press Select Button", press "select" and the software will be updated. If you do not see the "Press Select Button", the software will not be updated.
  • Can I play Time Machine through Bluetooth?
    Update (1/19/2024): The Micro Time Machine using the Spertilo Pi does not currently support Bluetooth. (The ESP32 microcontroller _does_ support Bluetooth, but no one has written the code to send audio out via Bluetooth yet)
  • The screen is dark, how do I get it to wake up?
    The screen goes off after a half hour of inactivity. It should wake up after any action that causes the staged date to change. So, turning any of the knobs should wake it up. You can also press any button, which will wake up the screen.
  • My Time Machine comes on but I can't connect to WiFi
    See the connecting to WiFi page in the Operating Instructions.
  • I connected to WiFi, but the Time Machine doesn't play.
    Ensure that you have connected to Audio. See the Operating instructions page
  • How can I reset my Time Machine to the factory software?
    To restore the software on your Time Machine to the version that it came with, Press and hold the "Power" button for 5 seconds to enter the menu Select "Factory Reset"
  • What is the audio quality of the shows on the Time Machine?
    The shows are streamed from either archive.org and phish.in. The quality is largely determined from the quality of those tapes. We say "largely" instead of "completely" because we do NOT stream the shows in lossless formats when they are available, but instead use either .mp3 or .ogg files. The only Grateful Dead tapes which are available in lossless format are audience recordings. The soundboard shows are only available in .ogg and .mp3 (lossy) formats. I choose the .ogg by default, and .mp3 if no .ogg is available. As for the analog audio quality which comes out of the Raspberry Pi, it's probably not great by an audiophile standard, but it is quite good for just about everyone.
  • How does the Time Machine choose a tape for a given show
    On archive.org there can be many tapes of the same show. For the Grateful Dead collection, for example, there are about 8 tapes per show on average. The Time Machine chooses which tape to play (by default) for a given date according to several criteria. In order of decreasing importance, these criteria are: soundboard or audience recording, taper name in favored tapers ("miller" is default, but it's configurable), number of downloads (ie, listens), how many tracks there are, how many tracks have names, average rating. Note: the average weighting is not high in importance because it tends to be more about the show than the individual tape. If you find dates for which you think the wrong tape is preferred, let me know. Sometimes I can tweak the algorithm to fix it, sometimes I can't. So far, there are one or 2 that I think are wrong and I can't fix (yet). Also note: the Time Machine allows you to reach any of these tapes. To reach a tape which is not the default tape, press and hold the select button. This will cycle through all tapes for the staged date. When you see the tape identifier that you would like to listen to, release the select button.
  • I am new to soldering. Can you give me some tips?
    Start by soldering the screen to the board. Solder one pin and make sure that the screen is flat against the board. Adjust if necessary by re-heating that pin and moving the screen/board. Once it's flat, solder the remaining pins. Solder the buttons. These are easy. Flip the board over and solder the connector onto the BACK of the board. Again, solder one pin, make sure the connector is flat against the board (it always is, but it's good to check), and continue. Place the knobs on the board and solder one of the pins of each knob from the FRONT side. This requires the soldering iron to be used at a sharp angle, but it is the best way to ensure that the knob stays in position. You can reheat the pin and adjust if the knob looks off-kilter. Then flip the board and solder all of the pins on the knobs on the back side.
  • How can I raise and lower the volume from the Time Machine?
    Supposing you are using your Time Machine with earphones, and you don't have an amplifier volume knob to control the volume. How can you change the volume? To raise/lower the volume: While listening to music (to hear the volume), dim the screen by pressing the Month button. Then, the rewind button lowers the volume, and the ffwd button increases the volume. To wake up the screen, rotate any knob.
  • Can I connect my Time Machine to my Sonos?
    For RASPBERRY PI Based Time Machines Only !!! For RASPBERRY PI Based Time Machines Only !!! For RASPBERRY PI Based Time Machines Only !!! The guide, to connect Time Machine to Sonos What you are really doing is using a couple of programs to capture the audio stream from the Time Machine, and then cast it to your local network in such a way that the TuneIn application on Sonos can connect to it. It’s quite a nice little hack. You’ll need a Time Machine and a USB SoundCard. You can get fancy, but this is what I use: BEHRINGER U-CONTROL UCA202 External USB Soundcard If you want to be able to hardwire to your stereo or whatever AND use Sonos. You’ll need a splitter or a switch in the audio line from the headphone port on the Time Machine. Once your Time Machine connects to the wi-fi, use your network settings to assign a permanent IP address, this will make everything else useful. If you don’t know how to do this, check with the manufacturer of whatever router you are using. Also, if you cannot figure this step out, it is likely that the rest of this will be a bit tricky. For reference, I use VI as the text editor in the below example but feel free to use whatever cmd line text editor you’re comfortable with. ssh into your Time Machine then run the following, check out the link here for more context if needed. https://www.instructables.com/Add-Aux-to-Sonos-Using-Raspberry-Pi/ It’s important to make sure you in the /home/pi/ directory before installing the software and creating the .sh and .cfg files. : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/deadhead ; cd .. : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home ; cd pi : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo wget https://github.com/x20mar/darkice-with-mp3-for-raspberry-pi/blob/master/darkice_1.0.1-999~mp3+1_armhf.deb?raw=true : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo mv darkice_1.0.1-999~mp3+1_armhf.deb?raw=true darkice_1.0.1-999~mp3+1_armhf.deb : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo apt-get install libmp3lame0 libtwolame0 : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo dpkg -i darkice_1.0.1-999~mp3+1_armhf.deb : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo apt-get install icecast2 Click Yes, Click Yes, etc. deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; arecord -l Note the number after CARD, that is the number associated with your USB soundcard, you need it for the next step. : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo vi darkice.cfg Add the following to the file (press ‘i’ then cmd-v, then ESC, then ‘:’, then ‘wq!’ To save using VI). The number after the ‘plughw:’ will the number after the “CARD” when you run ‘arecord -l’ [general] duration = 0 # duration in s, 0 forever bufferSecs = 1 # buffer, in seconds reconnect = yes # reconnect if disconnected [input] device = plughw:4,0 # Soundcard device for the audio input sampleRate = 44100 # sample rate 11025, 22050 or 44100 bitsPerSample = 16 # bits channel = 2 # 2 = stereo [icecast2-0] bitrateMode = cbr # constant bit rate ('cbr' constant, 'abr' average) #quality = 1.0 # 1.0 is best quality (use only with vbr) format = mp3 # format. Choose 'vorbis' for OGG Vorbis bitrate = 320 # bitrate server = localhost # or IP port = 8000 # port for IceCast2 access password = hackme # source password for the IceCast2 server mountPoint = rapi.mp3 # mount point on the IceCast2 server .mp3 or .ogg name = Raspberry Pi : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo vi darkice.sh Add the following to the file (press ‘i’ then cmd-v, then ESC, then ‘:’, then ‘wq!’ To save using VI). #!/bin/bash sudo /usr/bin/darkice -c /home/pi/darkice.cfg : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo chmod 777 /home/pi/darkice.sh : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; sudo service icecast2 start : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; select-editor Select an editor. To change later, run 'select-editor'. 1. /bin/nano <---- easiest 2. /usr/bin/vim.basic 3. /usr/bin/vim.tiny 4. /bin/ed Choose 1-4 [1]: 2 : deadhead@timemachinev3:/home/pi ; crontab -e Run amixer controls for list of playback controls, then use the appropriate one for the numid below : deadhead@timemachinev3:~ ; amixer controls numid=4,iface=MIXER,name='Master Playback Switch' numid=3,iface=MIXER,name='Master Playback Volume' numid=2,iface=MIXER,name='Capture Switch' numid=1,iface=MIXER,name='Capture Volume' : deadhead@timemachinev3:~ ; amixer cset numid=3 70% numid=3,iface=MIXER,name='Master Playback Volume' ; type=INTEGER,access=rw------,values=2,min=0,max=65536,step=1 : values=45875,45875 Turn off your Time Machine, and turn it back on again. Browse to: http://192.168.86.47:8000 To see the following: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13LyuMLQERTm61XUfvXLP-JU8Y7_yDVIf/view?usp=sharing You can go here to make sure it is working, although the IP address will be whatever the IP address of your Time Machine is. 192.168.86.47:8000/rapi.mp3 Once you have confirmed that it is working - select a show, play the show and hear it from the above URL it is time to set up Sonos. Make sure you have the OLD TuneIn as one of your Sonos services. Open that up, select “My Radio Stations” and then “Add Radio Stations” by pressing the three buttons at the very, very top. When you add a new station you will see the following. Enter in the IP address of your Time Machine followed by :8000/rapi.mp3, in my case it is: 192.168.86.47:8000/rapi.mp3 Then give it a name, I called mine GD Time Machine (creative). One problem that I’m still working on solving is that sometimes when the Raspberry Pi restarts it assigns a random (well, 0-4) number for the streaming device. This will break your stream. You have to ssh into the Time Machine, run arecord -l to see what number the soundcard is, and change it in the darkice.cfg file and then restart. Should be good to go for a while. I’ve tried a few solutions that I’ve included in the crontab, but none of them seem to work, so I’m still looking.
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