SPIS

Simple PI SendSpin client

A minimal Raspberry Pi OS Lite image for Raspberry Pi that runs SendSpin - a high-quality audio streaming protocol for Home Assistant's Music Assistant.

Features

• Minimal footprint - Built on Raspberry Pi OS Lite with only essential packages installed
• Onboard audio by default - Uses the Raspberry Pi's 3.5mm headphone jack out of the box, no extra hardware required
• Optional USB DAC support - Switch to a USB audio device via /etc/asound.conf if you want higher-quality output
• Auto-start service - SendSpin starts automatically on boot in headless mode via systemd
• Low latency - Direct ALSA hardware access for minimal audio buffering
• Raspberry Pi optimized - Built specifically for Pi 3/4 hardware

Supported Hardware

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B / B+
• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Quick Start

Download Pre-built Image

Download the latest image from Releases

Look out for the *.img.xz files. The *.CREDENTIALS.txt files contains the initial root password.

Flash to SD Card

Linux / MacOS

dd if=spis-0.1.0-aarch64.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
sync

Or Raspberry PI Imager

Windows

Use Rufus or the Raspberry PI Imager

First Boot

1. Insert SD card into Raspberry Pi
2. (Optional) Connect a USB DAC if you don't want to use the onboard headphone jack
3. Power on
4. The player will automatically connect to Music Assistant on your network
5. Default credentials: root / a randomly generated password published alongside the release as *-CREDENTIALS.txt (change immediately!)

Configuration

Network Configuration

Ethernet: Works automatically via DHCP

WiFi: SSH into the device and configure via the points below

Enabling WiFi

1. SSH into the device (via Ethernet, or a monitor/keyboard connected directly)
2. Set the WiFi country (required before the radio can be used, see Troubleshooting below):

   raspi-config

   Navigate to 5 Localisation Options → L4 WLAN Country and select your country.
3. Connect to a network using nmtui (interactive) or nmcli:

   nmtui
   # or non-interactively:
   nmcli connect "SSID" password "your-password"

4. Verify the connection:

   nmcli device status
   ip a

Hostname

Changing the hostname also changes the name of the SendSpin device in Music Assistant.

hostnamectl set-hostname mynewname

Audio Device

By default, the system uses the onboard 3.5mm headphone jack (ALSA card Headphones). To use a USB DAC or another device instead:

1. List audio devices: aplay -l
2. Edit /etc/asound.conf and change the config to your device's card number
3. Restart sendspin: systemctl restart sendspin

Building from Source

Automated Build (GitHub Actions)

Every tagged push (v*) triggers .github/workflows/build-image.yml, which builds a ready-to-flash image and publishes it as a GitHub Release:

• spis-<version>-aarch64.img.xz - the flashable image
• spis-<version>-aarch64-CREDENTIALS.txt - the random root password generated for that build (you'll be forced to change it on first login)
• version-info - build version metadata

Manual Installation

See INSTALL.md for complete step-by-step instructions to build your own image from scratch.

This method is recommended if you want to:

• Customize the installation
• Understand how the system works
• Build for different hardware configurations
• Troubleshoot issues

Troubleshooting

Audio Issues (Pops/Crackles)

Check buffer settings in /etc/asound.conf. Increase buffer_size if needed:

buffer_size 16384

SendSpin Not Starting

# Check service status
systemctl status sendspin

# View logs
journalctl -u sendspin -e

# Manual test
sendspin --headless

USB DAC Not Detected

# List USB devices
lsusb

# Check ALSA devices
aplay -l

# Check kernel messages
dmesg | grep -i audio

Credits

• Tycho-MEC/SASS for the base of this fork
• SendSpin by the SendSpin team
• Raspberry Pi OS
• Home Assistant and Music Assistant