BBC Radio 1 Stream

[bruceyv83]

This is an awesome project, and i'm up and running quickly.

The problem I'm now trying to solve is the BBC Radio 1 stream in the UK. The BBC don't allow TuneIn to stream BBC content while in the UK, and the only streams I can find online are HLS which I understand are not compatible with Bose. So I created locally hosted converter that takes a HLS stream and converts it to an mp3 stream on my LAN. But when I try to validate the stream in SixBack I get the error: ✗ blocked: host 192.168.1.20 resolves to non-global address 192.168.1.20
Is there another way to achieve streaming Radio 1?

[tostmann]

You've actually got the right approach — the Bose firmware can't decode HLS (.m3u8), so converting it to an MP3 stream on your LAN is exactly the way to get BBC Radio 1 onto the speaker. The only thing in your way is the "Add stream" validation step.

Current status: when you add a custom stream, SixBack validates the URL through a hosted validator, and that validator (a) refuses private/LAN addresses on purpose as a safety measure, and (b) couldn't reach a device on your home network anyway. So right now the UI has no way to accept a LAN stream — even though your speaker, which is on the same LAN, would play it without any problem.

What's coming: I'm going to add an "add anyway / local stream" option over the next few days that skips the hosted validation and stores the URL straight on the device. The speaker fetches the stream directly, so a LAN/self-hosted URL like your transcoder will just work. (I'll keep a light format check so HLS .m3u8 URLs are still flagged, since the speaker can't decode those.)

If you want it working today, there's a manual path — the device's own API isn't gated by that validator, so you can add the stream directly to it:

curl -X POST http://<your-sixback-ip>/api/streams \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"name":"BBC Radio 1","stream_url":"http://192.168.1.20:PORT/your-stream.mp3"}'

It'll then appear as a tile in the Stream tab, and you can drag it onto a preset like any other station. I'll post back here once the in-UI option ships.

[bruceyv83]

That's awesome, and glad to hear I was on the right track.
Just an fyi, the left hand frame (where you select the stream etc) doesn't scroll. So on my laptop I can't get to the buttons at the bottom. The main frame scrolls fine.

[tostmann]

Thanks for the heads-up — good catch, that's a real bug.

The left media rail wasn't scrolling on shorter (laptop) viewports: the panel was height-capped with no scroll of its own, so when you opened the "add a stream by URL" form the controls at the bottom (+ Add & validate, Export/Import) got clipped off-screen. The main content area has its own scroll, which is exactly why only the left rail felt stuck.

Fixed now — the rail panel scrolls whenever its content doesn't fit, so the bottom buttons stay reachable (the Spotify connect panel had the same root cause and is covered by the same fix). It'll land in the next release; you'll get it over OTA, or you can re-flash.

And the "add anyway / local stream" option for your LAN transcoder is still on the way as promised — I'll post back here once it ships.

[tostmann]

Quick update: v0.8.13 is out and includes the sidebar scroll fix — the left media rail now scrolls on laptop-height viewports, so the buttons at the bottom of the Stream tab are reachable again. Update via System → Check for update (or it arrives with the periodic check).

The "add anyway" option for LAN-only stream URLs is still on the list — that one comes separately.

[bruceyv83]

The scroll bar works, thanks for the fix.

I tried your manual method for adding a local stream, it worked but... I set preset 1 to my local stream and it works. If i turn the speaker off and back on again to preset 1 it still works. But the moment i change to a different preset and then try and go back to preset 1 it stops working. Speaker just has a flashing white led, and I can see the speaker trying to access the Icecast stream.

The only way to recover was to set preset 1 to another station, then, set it back to my radio 1 stream and it works again until I change preset.

I'm not sure where the problem is, my streaming maybe?
Don't waste any effort trying to fix the manual add, I'm happy to wait for the UI integration. But I wanted to let you know just in case it helps.

[tostmann]

@bruceyv83 — this shipped. v0.8.19 adds the "Add anyway" path for exactly your LAN-transcoder case.

What changed: when the hosted online check can't reach your URL or rejects it as a private/LAN address (the non-global address error you hit), an Add anyway button now appears right next to that error. It skips the hosted validation and stores the URL straight on the device. Your speaker is on the same LAN as the transcoder, so it fetches the stream directly — no validator in the path. A self-hosted converter URL just works now.

One guardrail stays: there's still a light client-side format check that hard-blocks HLS (.m3u8) on this path too, because the Bose firmware has no HLS decoder. So your HLS → MP3 transcoder approach is still exactly right — point SixBack at the MP3 output of your converter, not at the upstream .m3u8, and hit Add anyway.

To get it: System → Check for update (OTA), or the web flasher's Update existing button — both keep your WiFi and presets.

Tested end-to-end on a SoundTouch 10 with a LAN-only MP3 URL. Let me know how BBC Radio 1 plays once you're on it.

[bruceyv83]

Yeah, the add anyway works, thanks for adding. However, I still have a problem that if I change away from from Radio 1 preset to another preset then the Radio 1 preset no longer works. The only to get it working again is the map the preset to something else then map it back to my local stream.

[tostmann]

Thanks for the detailed report, and good to hear the "Add anyway" path is working for your LAN/Icecast presets.

I can partly reproduce this. On my test speaker, a cold first select of a custom LAN radio preset connects but never starts playback (flashing white LED, no audio) — exactly your symptom. Re-arming via SixBack (push/play) reliably kicks it off. What I could not reproduce is the persistent failure: once it has played once, re-selecting after switching presets and back stayed reliable across preset switches, AUX, and standby. So the "fails every switch" part did not show up here.

To narrow it down:

• Your speaker model + firmware version.
• Does your transcoder/Icecast cap concurrent listeners or hold the old connection open? The speaker can be slow to drop the previous TCP socket on switch, so a listener-limited source may refuse the re-connect — exactly the white-LED state.
• Point the same preset at a plain, always-on MP3 URL (not the transcoder). That isolates source vs. speaker.

[tostmann]

One shortcut for the first two questions: in Settings, turn on Share diagnostic snapshots (off by default), then hit the 📋 Snapshot button for that speaker. It uploads your speaker model, firmware and live source/preset state to me, so I can check it without the back-and-forth. The plain-MP3 isolation test is still the useful one for the every-switch behaviour.

[tostmann]

Thanks for the snapshot, and especially the SomaFM test — that's the decisive bit: your stream isn't the problem. A public, always-on station with plenty of listener headroom fails exactly the same way as your LAN transcoder, so your converter, your Icecast and the listener count are all ruled out. (The lingering old connections are real — the speaker is slow to drop the previous socket on a switch — but with a 100-listener cap that's not what blocks the reconnect.)

The snapshot shows a SoundTouch 10 on firmware 27.0.6, with Radio 1 as a custom internet-radio preset and 2–6 as TuneIn. That split is the tell: TuneIn is a Bose-native cloud source the speaker keeps "warm", while a custom internet-radio preset goes cold once you switch away — and the next plain hardware-button press then connects but never hands the stream to the playback engine (your flashing-white-LED state). Re-mapping recovers it because it forces a fresh push that re-arms the source.

The awkward truth: the Bose firmware sends no event when you press a physical preset button. SixBack drives everything over the network, but a hardware press is invisible to it, so it can't re-arm the cold source for you. That's a hard limit of the frozen firmware, not something I can patch.

I can reproduce the cold first-select failure on the bench, but not the "fails on every switch" persistence — my test unit runs a slightly older 27.0.x release than your 27.0.6, so a firmware-version difference is my leading suspect.

For now the dependable trigger is to start the preset from the SixBack web UI (click/play the slot) rather than the hardware button — that re-arms and plays every time. Not the physical-button experience you want, I know. I'm looking at keeping a custom-radio source warm in the background so the button survives a switch; the catch is any keep-alive risks a brief interruption, so I want it right rather than stuttering. It's on the list, and your report moved it up.

One quick check if you don't mind: after switching away and back, does triggering Radio 1 from the app play reliably while only the hardware button fails? If so, that pins it exactly and tells me where to aim. Thanks again — textbook bug report.

[bruceyv83]

So my setup also fails while pressing the presets in Sixback web UI, most of my testing has been using that rather than the physical buttons.
By app do you mean the old Soundtouch app? I dont seem to have the ability to select presets on it anymore.

Interesting how TuneIn stations are handled differently.

[tostmann]

Quick clarification first: by "app" I meant the SixBack web UI, not the old SoundTouch app — and you're right, that one can't select presets anymore since the shutdown, so ignore that part.

More important, you've corrected me — thanks. I checked: SixBack's preset play button currently just emulates a physical button press, so it goes down the exact same cold-select path and fails identically. My "reliable via the web UI" was wrong.

The useful bit is why re-assigning the stream to the slot recovers it: that action takes a different path that re-resolves the stream before playing — the same way the Bose-native sources like TuneIn are resolved on every play, which is exactly why TuneIn never goes cold and a static custom URL does. And that re-resolve path is fully under SixBack's control, unlike the physical button. So I can make the web-UI play button re-resolve custom-radio presets the same way, which should make playing from the UI reliable. The physical button stays limited (SixBack can't see the press), but the UI shouldn't be. I'll try it and report back.

[tostmann]

Reported back as promised: this shipped in v0.8.20.

What changed: clicking a Custom Stations (custom internet-radio) preset in the SixBack web UI now re-resolves the stream before playing, instead of just emulating a preset-key press. That's the path that reliably engages the speaker's playback engine, so a custom-radio preset plays from cold — including after you've switched to another preset and back. In other words, the exact thing that was failing for you from the UI now works.

I verified it on a SoundTouch 10: from a cold source, the old button-press path left it stuck (the speaker connects but the playback engine never starts — your flashing-white-LED state), while the new path starts playback every time. Both your LAN transcoder and a plain public stream came up cleanly.

One honest caveat I want to keep straight: this fixes the web-UI play (and push/preview). The physical preset button on the speaker still has the underlying limitation — the Bose firmware sends no event when it's pressed, so SixBack can't re-arm the source for it. For custom radio, trigger it from the web UI and it'll be reliable.

To get it: System → Check for update (OTA), or the web flasher's Update existing button — both keep your WiFi and presets. Give it a try and let me know how BBC Radio 1 behaves now.

[bruceyv83]

Much better switching between presets via the Sixback UI now. I'll be keeping an eye to see if you manage to solve the physical buttons problem