FPP 8.1 Released!

[dkulp]

FPP 8.1 Released!

This is mostly a bunch of bug fixes as we work through many of the issues users have discovered in 8.0.  Many crashes and other bugs have been fixed, but a few enhancements were also done.

NOTE: The OS level has changed. To get all of the updates, you will need to use the fppos upgrade method or use a new image.

Enhancements

• Allow proxying of WebSocket connections
• Add device type/model to Log banner to aid in debugging/reproducing issues
• Remove some unnecessary reboots from the network settings page
• BeagleBone - update Linux kernel to 6.11 (OS Level Change)
• BeagleBone - update wifi drivers, fix 8192cu driver (OS Level Change)
• Add ability to enable WPA3/SAE Wifi authentication
• eFuse capes - Advanced mode ability to configure automatic retries
• Asynchronously ping UDP controllers for faster startup, particularly if many are offline

Bug Fixes

• Update file item count in File Manager on item deletion
• Fix detection of RGBMatrix (Pi LED panels) at boot and don't load snd_bcm2835
• Fix NTP not able to update time if NTP server specified
• Workaround for controllers that are not putting their IP address in the ping/discovery packets
• Fix Command Presets layout when warning alerts are present
• Fix "Test Pattern" button on Beagle based capes not starting test pattern
• Fix "Insert Random Item from Playlist" not being random
• Fix problems with Remotes staring video if they need to jump to the middle of the video
• Delay Pi power warning until it occurs multiple times
• Fix many issues on Channel Outputs page if Cape EEPROM does not contain a "provides" attribute
• Fix Kiosk mode no able to be disabled
• Fix issues with GPIO expanders on Pi5 not being properly numbered
• Fix problems starting sequences that are greater than 2G in size
• Only display "Icon for help" message if help messages actually exist
• Fail/Warn (instead of hang) if RGBMatrix configured on Pi5
• Fix some crashed when background threads add/update timers (MQTT reconnect main offender)
• Fix some crashes if VLC fails to start (log instead of crash)

Installation Instructions

If you have a system running 8.x, you can go to the FPP about page (about.php) and click on the "Manual Update" button. At that point, a big green "Upgrade" bar should appear on the main status page. Click on that to start the update process. It may take a long time to upgrade. Likely 5-10 minutes. You will need to reboot after the upgrade is complete to finish the upgrade process.

For users of FPP 7.x or older, you MUST do a full "OS Level" upgrade via FPPOS or re-image instead of attempting to upgrade directly from any older FPP version. FPP 8.x requires the latest Debian 12 operating system.  There are two ways to do so:

• Re-image - you can backup your 7.x configuration, create a new image, and restore the configuration.

• In-place upgrade - this requires you to have FPP 5.5 and all the updates for 5.5 or FPP 6.x/7.x already running on the device. Download the appropriate "fppos" file to your computer. Make sure the file extension is still fppos (some browsers will rename it). Upload it to the "File Manager" on the FPP instance. Then go to the about page. Under the normal "Manual Upgrade", a new Upgrade OS button should appear. Click it and wait a LONG time. When done, it should reboot into 8.1. At that point, go to the Uploads tab of the FPP File Manager and delete the fppos file. An alternate method to do an in-place upgrade if you are only upgrading one device AND the device has internet connectivity, is to select the 8.1 fppos (download) file and then click on the Upgrade OS button. This will download the fppos file and then install it as mentioned above. This will still take a LONG time and if you are doing this on more than one device, you will essentially be downloading the same file multiple times so is probably not the best way.

NOTE: In SOME cases, the reboot will fail due to library replacement. In that case, a power cycle may be required to get it back up and running.

Selecting an image
For Raspberry Pi series including Pi B, Pi B+, Pi 3, Pi 3+, Pi 4, Pi 5, and Pi Zero use this image
https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/releases/download/8.1/FPP-v8.1-Pi.img.zip

For Beaglebone Black, Beaglebone Green, PocketBeagle, and Beaglebone Green Gateway use this image
https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp/releases/download/8.1/FPP-v8.1-BBB.img.zip

[Santacarl]

Upgraded from 8.0 to 8.1 on a FPP 3 and Fpp 4.  The volume control is inoperative in each case.  The audio does play however but I have no idea to what level/volume.  Also, when exiting and shutting down both FPP's, I got an error message "Can't set volume to xx (xx being the level I had on 8.0 installations.)

Anyone else seen this?  Is this an bug or some new feature that I need to set up?

[Poporacer]

Did you upgrade from FPP Vers 3 and 4? If so, you might have missed an intermittent step. In order to use the fppos upgrade to version 8.x, your FPP device needs to be upgraded to at least version 5.5 and all the updates available.

[Santacarl]

I was already running 8.0 from a fresh install....didn't upgrade from 5.x.  Formatted the sd and started fresh with a new install of 8.0