PipeWire Backend and Bug Fixes

This update contains a brand new PipeWire backend with full synchronisation -- your feedback is welcome on this. The update also contains a number of bug fixes.

Enhancements

• A totally new PipeWire backend featuring full synchronisation.

Bug Fixes

• Stability improvements for the PulseAudio backend.
• Fix a crash when the Avahi subsystem became disconnected. This is normally a rare occurrence, but Shairport Sync was not dereferencing obsolete data correctly when it happened.
• Set and reset Bonjour flags correctly when it's a Classic Airplay session in AirPlay 2 operation.
• Fix a number of FreeBSD compilation errors and warnings.
• Fix various errors when breaking into an existing session to terminate it. Thanks again to aaronk6.
• Fix some debug message errors, sigh. Thanks to Nathan Gray.

Security Updates, Bug Fixes and Enhancements

This update contains important security updates, bug fixes and enhancements. NQPTP must also be updated, and it should be updated before updating Shairport Sync.
The Shared Memory Interface version of both Shairport Sync and NQPTP is now 10, i.e. smi10.

Notes

1. When updating NQPTP on Linux, be sure to remove the old service file as directed in the README.
2. Having completed both updates and installations, remember to restart NQPTP first and then restart Shairport Sync.

Security Updates

• A crashing bug in NQPTP has been fixed.
• The communications protocol used between NQPTP and Shairport Sync has been revised and made more resilient to attempted misuse.
• In Linux systems, NQPTP no longer runs as root -- instead it runs as the restriced user nqptp, with access to ports 319 and 320 set by the installer via the setcap utility.

Enhancements

• A new volume control profile called dasl-tapered has been added in which halving the volume control setting halves the output level.
  For example, moving the volume slider from full to half reduces the output level by 10dB, which roughly corresponds with a perceived halving of the audio volume level.
  Moving the volume slider from half to a quarter reduces the output level by a a further 10dB.
  The tapering rate is slightly modified at the lower end of the range if the device's attenuation range is restricted (less than about 55dB).

  To activate the dasl-tapered profile, set the volume_control_profile to "dasl_tapered" in the configuration file and restart Shairport Sync.

  Many thanks to David Leibovic, aka dasl-, for this.

• On graceful shutdown, an active_end signal should now be generated if the system was in the active state. Addresses issue #1647. Thanks to Tucker Kern for raising the issue.

Bug Fixes

• This release, 4.3.1, fixes a bug in Version 4.3 that prevented Shairport Sync from being added to Home.
• Fixed a bug that causes the Docker image to crash occasionally when OwnTone interrupted an existing iOS session. Thanks to aaronk6 for the report.
• Fixed a cross-compliation error caused by not looking for the correct version of the ar tool. The fix was to substitute the correct version during the autoreconf phase. Thanks to sternenseemann for raising the issue and the PR containing the fix.
• Updated the mDNS strings for the Classic AirPlay feature of AP2, so that it does not appear to provide MFi authentication. Addresses this discussion.
• Always uses a revision number of 1 when looking for status updates on the DACP remote control port. This follows a suggestion in Issue #1658. Thanks to ejurgensen, as ever, for the report and the suggested fix.
• Fixed a statistics bug (the minimum buffer size was incorrectly logged) and also tidy up the statistics logging interval logic for resetting min and max counters.
• Added an important missing format string argument to a call in the Jack Audio backend. Many thanks to michieldwitte for their PR.

Maintenance

• Stopped using a deprecated FFmpeg data structure reference.
• Stopped using deprecated OpenSSL calls. Thanks to yubiuser for their PR -- which did some of the updating -- and for their guidance.
• Run workflow-based tests on PRs automatically. Thanks to yubiuser for their PR.

Security Updates, Bug Fixes and Enhancements

This update contains important security updates, bug fixes and enhancements. NQPTP must also be updated, and it should be updated before updating Shairport Sync.
The Shared Memory Interface version of both Shairport Sync and NQPTP is now 10, i.e. smi10.

Notes

1. When updating NQPTP on Linux, be sure to remove the old service file as directed in the README.
2. Having completed both updates and installations, remember to restart NQPTP first and then restart Shairport Sync.

Security Updates

• A crashing bug in NQPTP has been fixed.
• The communications protocol used between NQPTP and Shairport Sync has been revised and made more resilient to attempted misuse.
• In Linux systems, NQPTP no longer runs as root -- instead it runs as the restriced user nqptp, with access to ports 319 and 320 set by the installer via the setcap utility.

Enhancements

• A new volume control profile called dasl-tapered has been added in which halving the volume control setting halves the output level.
  For example, moving the volume slider from full to half reduces the output level by 10dB, which roughly corresponds with a perceived halving of the audio volume level.
  Moving the volume slider from half to a quarter reduces the output level by a a further 10dB.
  The tapering rate is slightly modified at the lower end of the range if the device's attenuation range is restricted (less than about 55dB).

  To activate the dasl-tapered profile, set the volume_control_profile to "dasl_tapered" in the configuration file and restart Shairport Sync.

  Many thanks to David Leibovic, aka dasl-, for this.

• On graceful shutdown, an active_end signal should now be generated if the system was in the active state. Addresses issue #1647. Thanks to Tucker Kern for raising the issue.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that causes the Docker image to crash occasionally when OwnTone interrupted an existing iOS session. Thanks to aaronk6 for the report.
• Fixed a cross-compliation error caused by not looking for the correct version of the ar tool. The fix was to substitute the correct version during the autoreconf phase. Thanks to sternenseemann for raising the issue and the PR containing the fix.
• Updated the mDNS strings for the Classic AirPlay feature of AP2, so that it does not appear to provide MFi authentication. Addresses this discussion.
• Always uses a revision number of 1 when looking for status updates on the DACP remote control port. This follows a suggestion in Issue #1658. Thanks to ejurgensen, as ever, for the report and the suggested fix.
• Fixed a statistics bug (the minimum buffer size was incorrectly logged) and also tidy up the statistics logging interval logic for resetting min and max counters.
• Added an important missing format string argument to a call in the Jack Audio backend. Many thanks to michieldwitte for their PR.

Maintenance

• Stopped using a deprecated FFmpeg data structure reference.
• Stopped using deprecated OpenSSL calls. Thanks to yubiuser for their PR -- which did some of the updating -- and for their guidance.
• Run workflow-based tests on PRs automatically. Thanks to yubiuser for their PR.

Important Bug Fixes and Enhancements

This release consists of enhancements and important bug fixes to Shairport Sync Version 4.1. For information on the new features of 4.1, including AirPlay 2 support, please see the Version 4.1 Release Note.

Important

If you are updating an existing installation of Shairport Sync, you must also update NQPTP. The reason is that this update to Shairport Sync requires NQPTP with Shared Memory Interface Version smi9 and will not work with older versions.

For details of the enhancements and bug fixes in this release, please refer to the RELEASENOTES.

Enhancements and bug fixes

General

This release consists of enhancements and bug fixes to Version 4.1. For information on the new features of 4.1, including AirPlay 2 support, please refer to the 4.1 Release Note.

Enhancements

• Use the TCP keepalive facility to close a play session if the client connection drops for a minute.

Metadata Enhancements

• Add FramePosition (phbt), FirstFramePosition (phb0), OutputRate (ofps), OutputFormat (ofmt), StreamType (styp), ServiceName (svna), ClientName (snam) properties to the D-Bus interface and to the metadata stream (codes in brackets).
• FramePosition/FirstFramePosition metadata is generated only if the progress_interval in the metadata section of the configuration file is non-zero. The progress interval can also be set by a new SetFramePositionUpdateInterval method in the D-Bus interface.
• FramePosition/FirstFramePosition metadata is of the form <RTP Frame number>/<Local Time> where the local time, in nanoseconds (a 64-bit number), is the precise time that frame should be played. The metadata is generated when the frame is placed in the output buffer, and is thus generated audio_backend_buffer_desired_length_in_seconds (usually 0.2 seconds) before the time in question.
• Add xesam:albumArtist and xesam:composer metadata (if available) to the metadata bundle presented in the D-Bus interface.
• Add a new metadata item: sps:songdatakind, derived from the asdk metadata token, to the metadata bundle presented in the D-Bus interface. If 0 it seems to indicate an item of a specific duration such as an audio track; if 1 it seems to mean the stream is of unknown duration, for example an internet radio stream.

Docker Enhancements:

• Launch the shairport-sync app as root user within the Docker container rather than as the user shairport-sync.
• Add the configuration file and the sample configuration files back into the Docker image.

Bug Fixes

• Fix a bug that prevented multiple classic AirPlay instances being recognised. The bug was that the 12-digit classic AirPlay service name prefixes for each instance were all identically derived from a MAC hardware address. The fix was to modify the generation of prefixes to depend on the service name as well as the hardware address.
• Fix a bug that prevented play to the the PulseAudio backend from resuming after a pause. The bug was due to changes in the way pauses were handled and the fix was to reopen the stream if it is closed whenever a play or latency request was made.
• Fix a long-standing bug which didn't close the socket used for the RTSP connection, potentially exhausting the sockets available.
• Fix a bug in audio_alsa.c when there is no hardware device name.
• Add a configuration check for the xxd program when building for AirPlay 2.
• Fix a compilation bug on certain platforms by trying to use AC_CHECK_LIB to find libavcodec if the PKG_CHECK_MODULES check fails.

Documentation

• Include and reference the HTML version of the man page.

Really Big Update -- AirPlay 2!

Version 4.1 brings support for AirPlay 2 operation. It works with iOS, iPadOS, macOS, HomePod mini and Apple TV sources, but not with Windows.

Limited support is available for HomeKit – Shairport Sync speakers can be added to the Home app, though not all features are working.

AirPlay 2 operation requires a companion program called NQPTP and requires a somewhat more powerful system. Please see AIRPLAY2.md for more.

Note that you can still build Shairport Sync to support "classic" AirPlay (aka "AirPlay 1") as before.

The various guides for building and updating Shairport Sync have been consolidated into BUILD.md.

Here is a brief initial list of the high-level new features and changes:

• AirPlay 2 support.
• Improved libao backend for better compatibility with HomeBrew installations.
• Improved MQTT and D-Bus facilities.
• Metadata improvements.
• Automatically-generated Docker images.

There have been many many bug fixes and enhancements to the core operation of Shairport Sync.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to Shairport Sync now and in the past.

Really Big Update -- AirPlay 2!

Version 4.1 brings support for AirPlay 2 operation. It works with iOS, iPadOS, macOS, HomePod mini and Apple TV sources, but not with Windows.

Limited support is available for HomeKit -- Shairport Sync speakers can be added to the Home app, though not all features are working.

AirPlay 2 operation requires a companion program called NQPTP and requires a somewhat more powerful system. Please see AIRPLAY2.md for more.

Note that you can still build Shairport Sync to support "classic" AirPlay (aka "AirPlay 1") as before.

The various guides for building and updating Shairport Sync have been consolidated into BUILD.md.

Here is a brief initial list of the high-level new features and changes:

• AirPlay 2 operation.
• Improved libao backend for better compatibility with HomeBrew installations.
• Improved MQTT and D-Bus facilities.
• Metadata improvements.
• Automatically-generated Docker images.

There have been many many bug fixes and enhancements to the core operation of Shairport Sync.

Changes

Changes in 4.1-rc1:

• Bug fixes: close DAC when SPS goes inactive under the "auto" setting.
• Fix some minor Makefile issues.
• Documentation: Improved "Events.md" page.

Changes in 4.1-rc2:

• Bug fixes: Fix a memory allocation crashing bug. Fix two memory leaks.
• Start using libgcrypt again to avoid a memory leak in libcrypto.
• Documentation updates.

IMPORTANT -- the libgcrypt library is now needed (again) for building Shairport Sync -- see the BUILD.md guide.

Changes in 4.1-rc3:

• Bug fix: Fix an elusive crashing bug when a session key is missing from an AirPlay 2 play request.
• Enhancement: Add a new information/debugging option --displayConfig or -X.
• Enhancement: Improve debug messaging with libdaemon.
• Enhancement: Help message update.
• Enhancement: The xmltoman library is no longer needed.
• Enhancement: Improve the use of lightweight git tags used by GitHub to tag releases.
• Documentation: Update man page.
• Documentation: Add a page on adjusting synchronization to match other speakers.

Changes in 4.1-rc4:

• Bug fix: Fix a bug that delayed metadata appearing in the D-Bus, MPRIS and MQTT interfaces.
• Docker: Additional command line arguments to the docker run command are passed to the shairport-sync application on the AirPlay 2 docker image.
• Docker: Use the s6-overlay system on the Classic docker image.
• Enhancement: Clean up the generation of Play/Pause/Stop conditions. Add true Pause for AirPlay 2 Buffered streams.
• Documentation: Some cleanups and updates.

Changes in 4.1-rc5:

• Docker: start using latest and rolling tags like Ubuntu and use development tags as well.
• Enhancement: tidy up the --display_config output to skip empty stanzas and to note if there are not active settings whatever.

Automake Building Bug Fix

Version 3.3.9 is a single bug fix release.

Bug Fix

• Version 3.3.9 fixes a build failure with convolution raised since automake 1.16.5 and https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/automake.git/commit/?id=f4a3a70f69e1dbccb6578f39ef47835098a04624
  Further details in Fabrice Fontaine's original PR to the development branch. Many thanks to Fabrice Fontaine for the bug report and for the fix.

Details

• Please refer to the RELEASENOTES.md for full details of Version 3.3.

Bug Fixes and Enhancements

Version 3.3.8 brings many bug fixes and enhancements and is recommended for all users.

Enhancements

• Documentation for the MQTT interface. Many thanks to minix1234!

Bug Fixes

• Fix a bug in the alsa back end. In the interval between checking that the alsa device handle was non-NULL and actually using it, the handle could be set to NULL. The interval between check and usage is now protected.
• Fix a bug in the alsa precision timing code. Thanks to durwin99, Nicolas Da Mutten, mistakenideas, Ben Willmore and giggywithit for the report.
• Fix a bug that caused Shairport Sync to hang, but not actually crash, if an on-... script failed.
• Fix a crash that occurred if metadata support is enabled during compilation but turned off in the configuration file. Thanks to Tim Curtis for the report.
• Fix a crash that occurred playing from AirPower on Android. Thanks to Ircama for the report.
• Fix the configure.ac file so that --without-<feature> configuration options are not interpreted as --with-<feature> options instead! Thanks to David Racine for the report.

Details

• Please refer to the RELEASENOTES.md for full details.

Version 3.3.7 – Bug Fixes, Enhancements and a New Feature

Version 3.3.7 brings many bug fixes and enhancements and a new feature and is recommended for all users.

• For the PulseAudio backend pa, added a new server entry to the pa section of the configuration file, allowing you to specify a connection to a remote or a local system PulseAudio instance instead of letting PulseAudio choose. Thanks to Guillaume Revaillot for this new feature.

• Please refer to the RELEASENOTES.md for full details.