Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Drake, who notes that Reciva has announced that they are closing down effective January 31, 2021.
Check out the banner on their website:
This, of course, is not good news for anyone using a Reciva-based WiFi radio.
Indeed, the WiFi radio landscape has become quite unstable in the past couple of years. Only recently Frontier Silicon/vTuner experienced issues with their database (that was eventually sorted out). WiFi radio manufacturers Pure and Tivoli have been sold to investment firms and users have been displeased with both customer service and issues with their aggregators. TuneIn has also been forced to limit choices for UK users–a decision likely to affect other aggregators. And now Reciva, which was once one of the most popular aggregators on the market, is going to be “withdrawn.”
These are dark days for those who appreciate a dedicated WiFi radio.
Simon… I have seen the same sort of behavior out of my GD Bravado X and GD Mondo. It started first with the Bravado, and only in the past few weeks did my Mondo start doing the same thing. Luckily all my presets have survived so far.
Yes…very odd. First I had one GDI-IR2500 doing it…now I’ve got one of the GDI-IRDT200 tuners suddenly doing the same. Everything still works perfectly. I just worry eventually they’ll burn themselves out. Which would be a shame, because otherwise everything is working brilliantly.
One of them now keeps power-cycling and switching itself on.
Several months after the switch-off, my Grace Digitals continue to provide stellar service using the presets I created prior to the death of Reciva. But in the last week, several have started constantly power-cycling themselves. Switching themselves on and trying to establish a connection to the Gateway that obviously no longer exists. (I use the “Back” buttons to get out of that particular loop at Rob and others have suggested).
But I’m wondering why they’re suddenly constantly trying to connect? Anyone else having this, or found a way of preventing it from happening?
Coming up to nearly 4 years after switch-off, and my radios all continue to function beautifully using the presets I created before the shutdown. Haven’t ever felt the need to purchase replacements. All humming along magnificently. I’ve got about 7 units in various places (home, office) all giving me hours of continuing listening pleasure. Still miss the Reciva directory, but it’s fabulous to have taken corrective measures thanks to this board.
Same on my end Simon! Unfortunately however, I assigned about 40% of my 99 presets to my IIS URL, which no longer work when the ISP changed my IP address. I’ve tried to use a router with DD-WRT to mimic the old IP address, but without success so far. (Does anyone know how to do this?) And the ISP insists it can’t change my address back (I’ll bet if I was a big bank, they would!).
The longevity of our internet radios is due to assistance provided by many dedicated people in this forum– including yourself!!! A personal ‘Thank you again’ for the assistance you’ve provided me directly- which ultimately has allowed me to help others!
73,
Rob
I’ve read that Sangean is coming out this year with a replacement for the now-bricked and no longer supported WFR-20 . Has anyone else heard about this?
i have 4 internet radio devices, none of’em reciva, but 2 had portals shut down and can’t do anything with them.
3rd device is squeezebox, but is sucks as is disconnects and does’t reconnect by itself…gonna selle it.
4th device is a revo blik, the only one really working but backlight display run off…so its hard to use.
can someone point to some model that have colour display, add internet radio playlist or urls manually features, track info display…. i no longer want loose devices cuz portal shutting down
I bought a Grace Digital Mondo Elite radio a few months ago and I love it. It has a color display and tons of presets. I can play podcasts with it. It can be managed through the internet to add stations and podcasts. Highly recommend.
i found a pure elan connect instead….but thanks
My simplest and easiest recommendation is something you probably already have! Create your own .pls files (the Reciva comments in this blog [various entries] contain the format/syntax) and use VLC Player (free) in either your Android or iOS smartphone. Instant internet radio! Connect a bluetooth speaker for even more performance.
i prefer standalone devices, hittin a button and play is much less annoying than turning,pairing on/off bt each time
Has anyone tried plugging in a USB stick with a stream URL saved as a .pls file or .M3U file, then playing the file via the media player? I tried but it said not connected to internet (it was as far as I could tell). So not sure whether this much simpler method would work or whether there was another issue with my unit. I’m thinking one a stream was working you could either set it as a preset or navigate directly to the USB stick for your saved stations
That sounds like an interesting idea and thank that I’ve tried it in the past– but without success. A possible idea is/was to use USB storage connected to your local router (for those routers that have the option of network attached storage (NAS). However when trying that, there were also difficulties, which I don’t remember exactly what the issues were. Possibly the need for httpS:// rather than the needed http://, or some communication issue, or something. But I think that option needed to be implemented (if it worked) before Reciva shut down. I don’t that that would be an option now.
Good luck experimenting, and please post any successes or discoveries on this blog!
Does not work for Grace Bravado X.
A similar thing happened with Denon, Marantz and several other makers when they stopped denonradio or radiomarantz services. There is a work around for these receivers using a open source service YCast and a small python based program running on a raspberry pi. I have implemented it using a Raspberry pi as the alternate DHCP server on my Marantz receivers.
https://www.avforums.com/threads/vtuner-internet-radio-stop-working-marantz-denon-3-case.2269858/page-8 See post #177
https://pypi.org/project/ycast/
So far no luck trying get the radio to redirect the YCast server instead of Reciva. Please post if you have any ideas how to code the dnsmasq in the avforums post #177 attachment.
A hard (factory) reset is the death knell for a Reciva radio, yes? My Grace Bravado X has begun to turn itself on. I’m going to do a soft reset, but otherwise I will have to figure out how I will cope with its behavior.
For any of you considering an Ocean Digital radio, I purchased the WR-336N because that one radio uses Skytunes which doesn’t require you to create an account…I don’t know what their other two use but they force you to sign up to use the service to add stations to your radio. I know Reciva did that but this is not a British or American-controlled company anymore.
Take a look at the WR-336N vs. both the WR-210CB and WR-828F which use the signup service. The main difference for me on the WR-210CB is the amount of presets is about 250 vs. 99 for the WR-336N (which is good enough) and they can easily be rotated through the web interface as you can export and import lists of presets.
ALSO for those who had a Reciva-based Grace Digital wifi radio…you can still log into the old GD Reciva site (https://myradios.gracedigital.com) and recover all your stations (one by one). That’s what I’m doing now. I have all the URLs and now going after the station labels.
This is in response to the recent error message “Network error Reciva Gateway not responding” and is at least relevant to the CCrane WiFi1 radios.
I unplugged one of my radios briefly, and when powered on again had problems connecting. And I certainly received the ‘Network Error Reciva Gateway not responding’ error many times. As a background point, the radio did have the ‘workaround’ applied.
HOWEVER— I did get the radio working again! I don’t know for how long, or if it’s hit/miss, but I’ll describe what I’ve experienced.
It seems that the radio has/had a hard time connecting to my wifi network, at least according to the display messages. As a data point, another identical wifi radio that did not get unplugged functions fine (also with the work-around) as always.
HERE’S WHAT WORKS FOR ME NOW
For the unplugged radio, during startup:
Message: Finding Gateway
Message: Network Error Reciva Gateway not responding
For now, I seem to be getting it to work with the following:
Forget connecting to the network.
When I get the message “Network Error Reciva Gateway not responding”, I press the BACK button (which shows Select network). Then I press the BACK button AGAIN. The display shows Preset x Stopped. At that point, I select a preset from the remote or radio, and it seems to lock in and work! Every time I’ve tried this, it’s been successful!
Don’t discard your radios yet, tinker around with them, you might get them running again!
Good luck,
Rob
My experience is same as Rob’s. On my CCrane wifi radio 1, last spring I set up 99 presets, knowing Reciva would end. I can still use all of them but need to ignore the gateway and not connected to internet messages. I don’t have the know-how to setup a homegrown server, but this will at least allow me to continue to use the radio. It sometimes disconnects though and that is annoying. Thanks all.
Thank you Rob, it worked also for me with my old Sangean. I only have 6 presets.The rest I believe is lost. Very unfortunate to loose the Reciva server.
You’re welcome, good luck!
Rob
Oh my goodness, that worked! I’ve had my C Crane radio for 11 years and I can hardly live without it so I’m glad it still works. Tonight (9/20) is the first time I got that message but now it’s working again! Thank you Rob!!!!
Pam
You’re very welcome, I’m happy that my discovery also worked for you! And thank you for the feedback. Enjoy, take care, and good luck.
Rob
Thank you very much Rob. It works on my IPdio (dnt) trouble free.
That’s awesome, thanks for letting me know!
Rob
Hi Rob,
It works. Thanks for the advise.
Cheers
Philip
You’re very welcome and I’m very happy to hear that!
Rob
You mean factory reset or preset? I do not see any preset?
All the Reciva stuff revolves around the PRESETS that were entered into the radio’s memories prior to the shutdown around April 2021. Here is some more info on the topic: https://swling.com/blog/2021/10/reciva-gateway-not-responding-rob-offers-more-info-possible-workarounds/
Doing a FACTORY RESET would be the ultimate last resort if absolutely nothing else works and will probably forever close the door on possible various other options that were set up before the Reciva closure. Under those DRASTIC circumstances (reset), the only options that I’d be aware of would involve flashing new firmware (Sharpfin), or working something out with your radio’s UPnP options. I’ve had mixed results with UPnP- some radios working great with streaming, others not so much (but keep in mind that my experience is limited to two varieties ([of many] internet radios). And it’s important to note that you can experiment with UPnP settings without a reset, as long as the radio is functioning properly (as in, not totally, hopelessly locked up / unresponsive, etc.). Good luck!!
It appears the deed is done. Reciva finally shut down all the host servers of the various wifi retailers.
Sometime in the past week. I first noticed last night.
RECIVA HAS DIED!!! LONG LIVE RECIVA!!!
myradios.gracedigital.com is still up and shows my stations but the notice is there:
==========
RADIO PORTAL SHUTDOWN NOTICE
Please note myradios.gracedigital.com will no longer be functional as of Monday September 13th, 2021. Please see the complete legacy shutdown message at
https://gracedigital.com/pages/upgrade
My unit IPdio mini pro, also turned into brick on 14-09-2021. What a shame Qualcomm, I just can’t imagine milions of this kind of devices being thrown into trashes all over the world. It’s is probablt hundread of tons of electronic waste that will land somewhere in poor countries where people will manually recycle it risking their lives. And all of this just beacouse one guy (or women) decided to shut all of it down.
Btw, maybe someone will use it for hacking or so, display shows “Connecting to LAN” and “Finding Gateway” in a loop.
As I can see, DHCP gives IP to device and device is trying to connect to some reciva servwers (including 72.32.73.244 -> r1.h1.west.us.reciva.com
72.32.73.244 – -> r1.h2.west.us.reciva.com
184.106.3.184 –> r1-mid-us.reciva.com
184.106.3.184 –> r2-mid-us.reciva.com).
Maybe it is temporary issue, but it worked for year without any issue.
Looks like my CCrane 1st generation radio has finally turned into a brick. Got the dreaded “reciva gateway not responding” message yesterday.
I have two old Grace radios, a Bravado X and the original Mondo. My presets are all intact. But no access to any other stations in My Stuff, with the “gateway not responding.”
Interesting. I could not reach that web site the other day, but now I can. I hope to quickly find a replacement for the one station that I lost a week or two before Pandora was laid to rest on my Digital Mondo.
I just noticed this website, which could explain why my Grace Mondo is still working, all presets, station history, and ability to search and select for stations in the database:
https://myradio.gracedigital.com/
It appears that Grace is still supporting its older radios (for at least a while, and maybe permanently), so maybe they have found a way to not make these radios totally obsolete after all.
Thanks alg2468. I was able to use the https://myradios.gracedigital.com link to add a new station to my Grace IRDT200.
For whatever reason, all this doom-and-gloom largely does not yet apply to the C. Crane WiFi Radio. Just for kicks today, I un-blocked the 31 reciva servers in my DNS server and re-booted the radio. Lo-and-behold, except for Pandora, everything else worked – My Streams, My Stations, searching for stations by Location or Genre, etc. Attempting to go to Pandora or a Pandora Preset produced the message that Pandora stations were no longer available. But I had expected all of the 31 reciva servers (technically 30 and 1 for NTP) would be down by now, but not so!
Also, both rotel.reciva.com and myradios.gracedigital.com allow me to log in with my C. Crane credentials and I can see My Streams and My Stations there too. All very strange since C. Crane was one of the first manufacturers to announce this shutdown, but somehow it didn’t happen yet with the exception of the demise of the radios.reciva.com (www.reciva.com) web page.
tonight rotel.reciva was shut down when I checked it out.
Just tried rotel.reciva.com and it’s working for me.
A couple days ago Pandora went away on my Grace Mondo. All but one of my presets are good. The broken preset I attribute to something amiss with the stream. It does not work in TuneIn either. I use Pandora more these days then I once did, so I miss it on my radio.
Pandora vanished from my Grace Digital IRDT200 internet radio tuner as well. Also, the search for stations function has stopped working, when I checked it today after a brief power outage. It appears they finally pulled the plug on the server. My presets are still working – for now. For Pandora, TuneIn and Sirius XM, I am now using the analog audio output of a 1st gen Amazon Echo Dot connected to the AUX input of my component stereo system. It actually works well as a low cost solution, and works for Tune In and Sirius XM as well. You have to go into the Alexa app on your phone to set it up for these sources. The Echo Dot has surprisingly good audio quality when connected this way.
Really annoyed the streaming station I lost, disappeared just before the servers were shut down. Had no opportunity to replace it.
Have two Grace network tuners. The old one now only gives me the time of day. Yamaha did the same thing with old home theater receivers. XM made the maddest when they switch my fav channels to high numbers that my old tuners can’t reach. Denon did something similar and made me pay for their service.
Tom, What models of Grace radios do you own? If you are able to get to the radios to respond to the SELECT button and go to the Configuration or Settings and try doing a Factory Reset. As well, see if you can get the radio to display the software level – they may be able to be Sharpfin’d. Let us know what you are able to discover.
Note the comical banner error on this page…April 31st has never been reached yet and never will be:
http://ccrane.reciva.com/index <– first time I've seen this page
"Notice: CCrane users – with effect from 31 April 2021 this website will be withdrawn.
Please refer to your radio manufacturer or supplier. "
Hmmm…
Today is now T+100 days since April 30th.
August 8th and Reciva lives on (with the Reciva login still available on Rotel and other sites that still maintain a server on Reciva’s site).
My theory of why? They received a legal challenge and so they postponed the full shutdown. I cannot prove this.
Rotel and others may have stepped in to force Reciva to stay alive until everything is settled.
Enjoy the time you have but no new updates from any official source seem available yet.
Here’s a comparison I did, for anyone interested.
https://youtu.be/6V9eyB-DJZ4
July 12th and the Reciva site is like the old Timex watch. It keeps on ticking.
T+73 days!!!
True. And the servers are apparently still up. The ONLY thing they did April 30 or thereabouts was blank out the page http://www.reciva.com (AKA radios.reciva.com). What’s their deal, anyway?
June 28th and Reciva seems to have some life left in it. Anyone heard further news?
Don’t know if I asked here, but is a Grace Digital Elite worth picking up? Would appreciate some opinions. I only think about it because I still use Pandora quite a bit and the same for Sirius before it went away on the original Digital Mondo.
June 21st and Rotel’s Reciva site remains up and can still be logged into as I did from another browser never used with that website.
I just managed to Sharpfin my Crane Wifi radio with v257-a-865-a-414-a-015. I had tried the Sharpfin update earlier but it failed quickly, reporting an error attempting firmware update. Others had reported they could not apply the Sharpfin update to Crane radios with v257-a-865-a-407, but I had already been successful updating a Livio radio with the same firmware. I therefore presumed there must be an option in the config622.txt that changed the Reciva firmware update handshaking but looking at the Crane config622.txt along side the Livio config631.txt files I could not see any option that might do this. The only differences were model dependent options.
Since I have a 10/100 ethernet hub, I connected a machine running WireShark and collected the network traffic while I applied the patchserver test patch to the Livio radio. I then substituted the Crane Wifi radio thinking I would see the packets and data when it failed to do the patchserver update so I could understand what was different.
Much to my surprise, the test patch actually installed on the Crane Wifi. So I immediately tried the ep2.install and it worked. The firmware update failed the first or second time I initiated it with the test patch but as I was trying to start the WireShark at just the right time, I assumed I had finger problems. I think the ep2.install worked the first time.
I cannot explain why it failed earlier but worked now. The only thing that was different was the slower 10/100 hub versus the 1000 network in the house. I am assuming that WireShark shouldn’t make any difference.
I would like to suggest that others with a Crane Wifi with either v257-a-865-a-414-a-015 or v257-a-865-a-407 try connecting the patch server machine and the radio to an old 10 or 10/100 switch and attempt the firmware update a number of times – it may just be a timing problem.
For the record, I used the patchsever.exe from the patchserver_0.5 file [dated 10/7/2007] and the sharpfin-ep2.install to perform the update
FWIW, my C Crane WiFi radio is still being updated via Reciva and the My Stations list is still being sent.
Yeah, I would be stunned if Pandora still worked after server shut down. I gave some consideration to buying a new Elite with their discount but with a bT speaker and my phone or tablet media server I can listen to Pandora. Then I wait to see if a new generation radio appears.
Why do you think Qualcomm didn’t want to make a deal?
Re: Pandora. This may not be ideal but I ended up buying an audiocast m5 and connecting it to the line out of my tangent quattro reciva radio and am playing pandora through that. I am pretty happy with the result!
Appreciate the clarification… not that it makes me happy.?
From what I understand, a possible way around is as follows (and I have tested it, it works !)
1) I have opened a free web hosting domain (in my case at hostinger), say “myreciva”
2) On “myreciva” server, I have created preset files (say presetX.m3u) X ranging over the number of presets on your radio.
Each preset containing something like (different addresses for different radios) :
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1,Eurovision Song Contest MP3 128 kbps stereo
http://sc1.netstreamer.net:8030/;stream.rs04
3) I have uploaded them into my Reciva radio via “my streams” using http://rotel.reciva.com/ interface
4) I have assigned each of these preset streams to my (5) presets buttons #X
THE KEY OF THIS APPROCH IS THAT THE LINKS TO THE PRESET FILES REMAIN PERMANENT EVENT AFTER THE RECIVA AGGREGATOR GOES DOWN FOR GOOD, AND YOU CAN CHANGE THE CONTENT OF A PRESET ON YOUR OWN WEB SITE BY EDITING THE CORRESPONDING M3U FILE.
This trick was proposed earlier by Gagarin Miljkovich May 29, 2021 at 6:21 am on https://swling.com/blog/2021/03/how-to-give-your-reciva-wifi-radio-a-second-life-before-the-service-closes-on-april-30-2021/ and I am trying to reexplain to people like me who took time to understand the process and its implication. Good luck to everyone.
-FBim
This is all well and good, and indeed works for all normal stations as documented in the other discussion. But this does not address the Pandora issue that Dana was asking about. To put it bluntly, Pandora is very likely to stop working on all Reciva radios if/when they can no longer access the Reciva servers, and it doesn’t matter whether the Pandora station is stored in a preset or not. Unlike all the multitudes of internet radio stations, Pandora requires a username and password for access, so this method is not applicable.
That would be good news for me. My concern was Reciva was provided a token or somesuch to validate the Pandora account. But I was hoping Pandora was simply an app running on the radio, such as Sirius before Sirius broke it.
ROTEL’S RECIVA HOST TO SHUTDOWN ON JUNE 20TH, 2021:
https://rotel.com/blog/reciva
YOU HAVE TWO WEEKS.
I’m assuming that the firmware upgrade discussed is only for Rotel equipment. Anyone knowing different please advise. Thanks!
Appears to be that way. Only updates through the radio from Reciva are possible and my CC Wifi won’t update past what’s on it now. Short of them doing that, getting the presets into the radio through Reciva’s website, then updating your radios stations and then using Ray’s instructions to create your own preset server seems the best option to extend the life of your radio.
I have not followed those instructions myself.
Thanks Steve, my CC Wifi is on V257, but as it’s working good with my current setup, I’d be afraid to do anything now. If IIS works, it’s pretty smooth. If any glitches, it can be tedious to sort out. Good luck!
Do we know if Pandora will go away? I use Pandora a lot on my original Mondo Digital… or is it digital Mondo?
Only Reciva is affected. I’ve never heard about the other services being affected.
I’ve already tried it (by blocking the Reciva servers) and Pandora won’t work because the radio needs to access a Reciva server to get your Pandora credentials so that it can log in to Pandora. So when I blocked the Reciva servers, all my Pandora presets stopped working.
N.B. This info is for my C. Crane radio. If your Mondo keeps the Pandora credentials in the radio itself, then there’s a chance Pandora will keep on working. But I suspect all the Reciva radios work the same way – they’ll keep the credentials secure at Reciva rather than keep them in the radio where they may be insecure.
I do not have any Pandora presets, just run the Pandora app.
With the Reciva servers blocked (thus simulating the impending Reciva shutdown), when I click on , the C. Crane radio thinks a few seconds and then says “Error Loading Menu”. If I try to play a Pandora preset, it thinks a few seconds saying “Connecting”, then says “station unavailable”.
That was supposed to say “when I click on My Pandora”. This BBS doesn’t seem to like angle brackets.
It’s amazing Reciva is still up. T+36 days. I lost my cookies and had to log into Rotel first but I was able to come back to the main Reciva site. Still shows all my stuff as befoore.
Thanks. Hope it will work for my Livio Radio.(Reciva based)Don’t need a brick Again thanks for quick prompt response
See the blog post: rotel.com/blog/reciva
You’re good until at least June 20th. I would update your stations and see if a firmware update is offered before that date. If you need to add presets to the Reciva site to use Ray’s solution, you have two weeks.
What I wonder is how many other manufacturers besides them and Grace Digital have their own hosts and what their end dates are. I was still able to get to radios.reciva.com by logging into rotel.reciva.com first but I found out were good doing that for only two more weeks from today.
Rotel is actively looking for a way around this problem as of JUST LAST MONTH as you will read in the blog post.
My radio in question is a Liviothat uses Reciva. any Help?
My radio in question is a Livio that uses Reciva. Any advice on keep the Livio from being a brick?
David, I was able to Sharpfin my Livio radio without any problem. I just followed the directions and it updated without a problem – I used the PatchServer_0.5.exe and employed this to load the sharpfin_ep2.install file and I am now enjoying the Web interface, the 99 presets and the Telenet [well, I used Putty] ability to edit the config631.txt file to increase the history file size as well as a couple of other things. Livio CAN be Sharpfin’d – no problem. Just read the Sharpfin instructions a few times before you attempt the update. It works!
LONG LIVE RECIVA!!! T+33 days since April 30th!!!
I tinkered with PuTTY and BitVise SSH (and the two key files in the download) but I was not able to turn the corner on this.
Anyone who is successful with using SSH to hack into the radio, please provide VERY specific instructions.
Reciva still ALIVE!!! Maybe it will be enough time for someone to figure out how to hack it.
Frank, you made a lot of progress with the SSH testing, even if you didn’t manage to get inside the Crane radio. The Sharpfin document suggests one should REMOVE any SSH login server that was installed BEFORE trying to install Sharpfin. While I have looked around and cannot see anything about installing an SSH server on a radio, that may be just a reflection of my poor searching methodology. But you may be interested in looking at a file in the 339 meg Reciva source package I listed previously – namely reciva-dropbear-v003-r1 which contains a file containing “authorized” SSH keys – which I assume are used when the radio interacts with the Reciva server. You might be successful in gaining access to your Crane radio via the SSH server even if you cannot get Sharpfin to install properly. And if you do, you will be able to alter the config files — the source package even includes your config622.txt file. Hope you are successful!
The files are from 2013…before the CC Wifi was created. Hmmm…I wonder if there is a newer directory.
Did you discover this yourself by poking around?
I imagine I found the pointer to the Reciva source over at the iRadioForum – will look and see if I can reconstruct my discovery process – however, if you look thru the list of config files, you will see that the Crane WiFi – which I understand is a 622 model radio – config622.txt – is actually [from the top of the file] a kChampion MX-200iF-D-6 or MX-200iF-D-6 (cf797) clone. So I don’t know when the v266 version of the Reciva software came out to supersede the v257 version we have used with Sharpfin. When you look at config_parameters_622.txt it says LINE1FRAME “CC WiFi Radio”, so I assumed it was the file that was used on the C Crane WiFi radio. I recently bought a Crane WiFi radio on eBay – when it gets delivered I will look and see if I can answer these questions.
I suspect all of what you’re trying to use may be older than what’s in the radio.
I just wish there was a way to SSH into it, then I can maybe tinker with the file that stores the URLs (XML file maybe) for the presets and in effect add stations to the radio that way.
I think that’s the best strategy to use. I suspect trying to redirect the radio to look for another Reciva server may not work.
I sincerely hope someone proves me wrong.
My “new” Crane WiFI radio arrived and I was surprised to discover that it had v257-a-865-a-414-a-015 firmware — so I was “certain” that it could be Sharpfin’d. I had good results with my Grace with v257-a-865-a-349 and my Livio with v257-a-865-a-407 and there were a number of close firmware numbers that were reported as successful. Unfortunately, the “Firmware Update” never worked. I eventually resorted to a “Factory Reset” — I had previously added the Registration code to the Grace portal — and was pleasantly surprised to see I now had access to my 99 stored “My Stations” as I had on my other radios. Will keep at it and will report if successful. BTW, both the Grace [https://myradios.gracedigital.com/index.php?rt=radio/manage] and Rotel [http://rotel.reciva.com/] reported the “new additional radio”. They still recognize my RECIVA login credentials.
Steve,
Looking at the source files, there seems to be references to the CC Wifi in 3 of the config622 files, so I believe the Crane WiFi radio was already thought about and included in this collection. Moreover, there is a config-files-v372-r0 which suggests this source collection represents v372. In that directory is a “features_266-a.txt” – so I rather suspect this is source that incorporates everything up to v372. Now if I could only figure out what was ONLY included in the v266 version, life would be simpler. As I indicated elsewhere I D/L’d the BIN file for the radio – will try and find a dis-assembler.
Source code for the Reciva radios can be found at:
http://www.reciva.com/gpl/20130925.html
[ 49 files – about 339 meg]
Oops, just found this on the iRadioForum – About Sharpfin:
” it only works on firmware up to v257. It does not work on v265 or v266 (you can install it, but it just doesn’t work – any of it). Whether this is by chance or by design, we do not know. The Sharpfin developers had lost interest by then, so no-one developed it further for the later firmwares, which is a great pity. The bit with ‘only Barracuda’ simply comes about because Stingray radios all have v265/v266, so Stingrays are not Sharpfinnable. But Barradudæ with v265/v266 aren’t, either.”
Sorry about this – I should have unearthed this sooner, my apologies !!!! Too bad!
So that pretty much cements it then – the presets method outlined in https://swling.com/blog/2021/03/how-to-give-your-reciva-wifi-radio-a-second-life-before-the-service-closes-on-april-30-2021/ is the final best method for a Crane WiFi radio to deal with the impending reciva shutdown (whenever it really happens.) As of today, can still log in to rotal.reciva.com or myradios.gracedigital.com and view/change my stuff, but I blocked all the reciva servers a number of weeks ago, so my radio itself has since been operating fine on presets without reciva and getting NTP time from my local NTP server; so I don’t know if any changes I make at the reciva/grace end would get through to my radio or not, nor do I plan to find out. I can still (for the time being) use the grace website to search for a new station if I want and paste its stream URL into one of the presets on my local http server. And of course, the radio can still access my local UPnP media server to play all my ripped CDs.
Oops, Frank, sorry, it was YOUR post that furnished the Crane firmware number, not Steve. Sorry!
I spent some time looking at both the V266 BIN for the Crane and a V257 BIN for the Grace radio, eyeballing the HEX code, not the best critical investigation, I admit. However, I saw a lot of similarities in the layout of the v266 BIN and the v257 BIN. As well, there were a lot of v257 references within the V266 code. All more reason to believe that the V266 firmware is just an minor extension of their v257 code base. And, yes, I must admit that I haven’t looked at the [what appears to me right now as convoluted] source code and tried to work out what was happening. Mea culpa! I have had a lot of experience with looking at 10-20+ year old code from financially constrained environments and they don’t look very different over the years. Just saying ……
Frank, Wonderful results. I am certain you are right that port is used by Reciva to furnish the updated station lists et al. I think there is little reason to fear running the patch server against a C.Crane radio. From what I can see over at iRadioForum, the code base of the Crane radio is very similar to several other King Champion MX-200i variants. Since it is Linux, the source is in the public domain – I D/L’d it from somewhere a while ago – 49 files, 339 MB of tar.gz. I will try and find the URL and append it here.
If the v266 code base has changed the Reciva handshaking protocol, then it will fail immediately. But if the protocol is still the same as the v257 base and the code base is more or less the same, I rather suspect it might work. Every Reciva radio that interrogates the Reciva webserver probably starts the same way. I can see from my WireShark traces that the radio provides the ID of the code base installed in the very first interactions. As well, the patch server is careful to install the test patch in the TMP area just in case it might disturb something else. The machine you run the patch server from – the IP address you provide to the radio so it will try the Reciva update from YOUR machine – will let you see the interactions of both the server and the client. So you will know right away if you are successful or not.
And, yes, I was very worried that I could brick my v257 radio at first, but with experience, I am far less fearful of doing damage. I went to the Reciva site and was able to D/L what I believe is the BIN file for your radio: http://u1.ext.h2.west.us.reciva.com/sp266-a-113-a-547.bin
Try it and get a copy before you proceed. I copied the number Steve supplied, maybe yours is different.
Let’s hope it works! If so, a lot of C.Crane owners will thank you.
If you have PuTTY, try connecting to port 22 and see if it responds. I wonder if it is the port used to communicate with Reciva. I have Sharpfin’d all my radios and when I use NMAP on any of them I see 21/FTP, 23/Telnet, and 80/HTTP, not 22/SSH.
I did a search on http://iradioforum.net/ for Sharpfin and Crane and got 2 non-related hits. You might ask over there if anyone has ever tried Sharpfin with the v266 firmware. Hope you are successful as the Crane WiFi seems like a nifty radio from what I read in the manual.
PuTTY prompts “login as:” but not sure what to use. Tried ‘root’ and got the following error:
“No supported authentication methods available (server sent: publickey)”
I get that just hitting Enter as well.
I figure the Reciva server uses port 22 to update the stations in the radio.
It seems Sharpfin or any alternate firmware would not work with any newer radios as that project seems to have stopped years ago before the CC Wifi came out. Unless your experience is different. I didn’t want to mess with that unless I know it works on the CC Wifi Reciva radio.
Well I got further than Steve with ssh, but to get beyond this, I think we’d need an ssh expert. Seems like the Crane’s ssh disables password authentication, so I guess we would need to know a public/private key pair that works with it. Here is the debug output from Windows 10 ssh attempting to connect to the Crane WiFi radio as root (even assuming root is a valid user on the radio, which is not a foregone conclusion):
C:\Users\Frank>ssh -oHostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-dss -c3des-cbc -vvv [email protected]
OpenSSH_for_Windows_8.1p1, LibreSSL 3.0.2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/config error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_config error:2
debug2: resolve_canonicalize: hostname 192.168.1.124 is address
debug2: ssh_connect_direct
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.1.124 [192.168.1.124] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_rsa type 0
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_rsa-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_rsa-cert.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_dsa type 1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_dsa-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_dsa-cert.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa type 2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519 type 3
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_xmss error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_xmss.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_xmss type -1
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_xmss-cert error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/id_xmss-cert.pub error:2
debug1: identity file C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_xmss-cert type -1
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_for_Windows_8.1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version dropbear_2012.55
debug1: no match: dropbear_2012.55
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to 192.168.1.124:22 as ‘root’
debug3: send packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug3: receive packet: type 20
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,ext-info-c
debug2: host key algorithms: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,ssh-ed25519,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa,ssh-dss
debug2: ciphers ctos: 3des-cbc
debug2: ciphers stoc: 3des-cbc
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1
debug2: host key algorithms: ssh-dss
debug2: ciphers ctos: 3des-cbc
debug2: ciphers stoc: 3des-cbc
debug2: MACs ctos: hmac-sha1-96,hmac-sha1,hmac-md5
debug2: MACs stoc: hmac-sha1-96,hmac-sha1,hmac-md5
debug2: compression ctos: zlib,[email protected],none
debug2: compression stoc: zlib,[email protected],none
debug2: languages ctos:
debug2: languages stoc:
debug2: first_kex_follows 0
debug2: reserved 0
debug1: kex: algorithm: diffie-hellman-group14-sha1
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ssh-dss
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: 3des-cbc MAC: hmac-sha1 compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: 3des-cbc MAC: hmac-sha1 compression: none
debug2: bits set: 1010/2048
debug3: send packet: type 30
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
debug3: receive packet: type 31
debug1: Server host key: ssh-dss SHA256:MrXH9QWx/7qF9HwQQLKhQ+v1bd5TcjdUjDKIYFtr3QM
debug3: hostkeys_foreach: reading file “C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/known_hosts”
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/Users/Frank/.ssh/known_hosts2 error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts error:2
debug3: Failed to open file:C:/ProgramData/ssh/ssh_known_hosts2 error:2
debug3: failed to open file:C:/dev/tty error:3
debug1: read_passphrase: can’t open /dev/tty: No such file or directory
The authenticity of host ‘192.168.1.124 (192.168.1.124)’ can’t be established.
DSA key fingerprint is SHA256:MrXH9QWx/7qF9HwQQLKhQ+v1bd5TcjdUjDKIYFtr3QM.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added ‘192.168.1.124’ (DSA) to the list of known hosts.
debug2: bits set: 1010/2048
debug3: send packet: type 21
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: rekey out after 134217728 blocks
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug3: receive packet: type 21
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey in after 134217728 blocks
debug3: unable to connect to pipe \\\\.\\pipe\\openssh-ssh-agent, error: 2
debug1: pubkey_prepare: ssh_get_authentication_socket: No such file or directory
debug1: Skipping ssh-dss key C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_dsa – not in PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:MAo95Zu5thwjMUQI1XYIY5YNoQh30PYTa7JiEx+MlKs
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa ECDSA SHA256:cDQt21TgfeL3MFJCj6awj4BYtjb40sKASofMcufo6Uk
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 SHA256:qKkhnVfMoRDCV5pZt4WzvIpmWo734ZMSDFzkk2pexCk
debug1: Will attempt key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_xmss
debug2: pubkey_prepare: done
debug3: send packet: type 5
debug3: receive packet: type 6
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug3: start over, passed a different list publickey
debug3: preferred publickey,keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_lookup publickey
debug3: remaining preferred: keyboard-interactive,password
debug3: authmethod_is_enabled publickey
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:MAo95Zu5thwjMUQI1XYIY5YNoQh30PYTa7JiEx+MlKs
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ecdsa ECDSA SHA256:cDQt21TgfeL3MFJCj6awj4BYtjb40sKASofMcufo6Uk
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_ed25519 ED25519 SHA256:qKkhnVfMoRDCV5pZt4WzvIpmWo734ZMSDFzkk2pexCk
debug3: send packet: type 50
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug3: receive packet: type 51
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey
debug1: Trying private key: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_xmss
debug3: no such identity: C:\\Users\\Frank/.ssh/id_xmss: No such file or directory
debug2: we did not send a packet, disable method
debug1: No more authentication methods to try.
[email protected]: Permission denied (publickey).
LONG LIVE RECIVA!!! T+33 days since April 30th!!!
I ran NMAP on the IP address for my radio and SSH port 22 (using TCP) is open. Not sure if that’s useful for anything.
The Reciva site status is the same as my first post on May 6th. Can’t log in if not already logged in (as I still am).
My radio in question is a CC Wifi that uses Reciva.
Steve, I hope you are aware, since it’s been mentioned here previously, that you can still log in at http://rotel.reciva.com/ and that will also log you in for http://www.reciva.com.
Also you can log in with your non-Grace credentials at https://myradios.gracedigital.com/ and do the same stuff – just the menu format is different.
Sorry, no Config622.txt in my radio’s memory. Shouldn’t surprise us since it is a v257 radio, not a v266. I did find the CraneWifi manual online and I see that they rely on Reciva for updates. The manual says there are 99 presets there already. If you can still add to “My Stations” you could then go to the Grace website and see all the My Station info with http addresses. I was able to load up 99 and then copy and paste them into Notepad. But with the 99 presets you are still better off than many others. I see the WiFi2 had 20 History slots but I don’t see that for the first version of the radio. Too bad, the History function is really nice if Reciva vanishes.
In the iRadioForum [http://iradioforum.net/forum/index.php?topic=2891.0] the suggestion is that it is like the Ocean Digital radio. IF you get adventurous and try the test patch let us know.
I tried several internet searches and cannot see anything about this. I checked the Sharpfin docs and, yes, they only talk about v257, nothing about C.Crane or v266. Can you go to your Settings or Configure and see if you can find the Model Code or HWid number, usually a 3 digit for your C.Crane radio? If so, I can look thru the config files and see if I see anything about it. You could try the Patch Server – you set up your radio to do a firmware update and specify the IP address of YOUR PC with the patch server code and try the test patch. It downloads a small program to the TMP area and thus will be erased at the next boot. While I cannot guarantee it will not brick your radio, I think that if the C.Crane folks asked Reciva to not allow Sharpfin updates, it would not even start the update process and therefore should be pretty safe. I cannot find any comments either pro or con about Sharpfin and C.Crane. All I could see were comments about Tunein not working any longer. Let me know if you find the model code and I will be able to investigate.
The Hardware ID (found under Configure/Version) is 622.
Still no change since my post on May 6th.
I still see Reciva “updating” their station list on my Livio and Sanyo radios, but NOT on the Grace. however, the My Stations list is still intact on the Grace. Having Sharpfin’d the radios, I was able to increase the “My History” size on the Grace to 50 station slots and was able to ADD the My History capability to the other radios that did not have them previously. So now My History looks pretty much like My Stations. As well, I should point out that the Sharpfin modification provides 99 presets to the radio as well as a web interface with a “virtual remote” that will provide the ability to select any one of the 99 presets as well as a number of other remote functions. The Sharpfin modification may at first seem daunting but the instructions provided will let anyone who has ever installed and configured a wireless modem to successfully alter their radio.
Is it true that Sharpfin cannot be installed on a C. Crane WiFi Radio (CCWiFi) because it’s firmware version is v266-a-113-a-547? I have read that Sharpfin is only comptible with firmware versions v257-*.
Reciva still breathing on life support as of now. As a test, I was able to add a station tonight from the search on the website, which I’m still logged into since before the change was made last week.
Getting URLs one at a time from Grace Digital’s Reciva “My Station” list:
Left Click on the station in your list which opens up Station Details window on the right side.
Right click on link, click Copy Link and paste to Notepad.
I haven’t tried using the link but it’s a way to get the URLs at least.
I don’t know how to do this with the normal Reciva sites…Grace’s Reciva site is very customized for them.
Steve, Thank you very much for this. Did this to preserve the 95 entries in my Station list and, while a bit tedious, it did the job. Now at least I can put them into the radio’s presets. After Reciva altered their website to not allow new stations to be added, I was able to use my Livio radio to add new “favorites”. I initially thought these would be stored in the radio’s presets but was surprised to discover these were added to “My Stations” so they appeared on the other 3 radios. Have managed to Sharpfin my Grace, Livio, and 2 Sanyo radios with “Sharpfin-ep2.install” in anticipation of the loss of everything when Reciva goes silent. So far, like many others, I keep being pleasantly surprised that Reciva still updates my station list – albeit with a few less Classical stations than there were yesterday – and that My Stations still appears on all 4 radios.
Hmmm…. that did not work for me, will have to revisit again if I can.
While I know of no way to copy the XML file that lists all your stations with the URLs, you can at least copy text if you open up all the folders of your My Stations, and then Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V to a notepad file.
This at least gives you something to work with to go after your stations once the site disappears.
Anyone knowing of how to backup the URLs please share.
Status unchanged past two days. My Grace Digital Encore and C. Crane wifi radios still work.
Hello. I hope I’m not inadvertently hijacking this discussion. I have a Sangean WFR-20 (just bought last year) and which was serviced by Reciva. As of now, my pre-sets still work but that’s it. Sangean itself no longer supports this particular model so, once streamers change their stream URLs, I’m done. I’ve followed with interest the discussion about Crane and other Internet radios. Has anyone heard if Sangean is doing anything for its customers who are caught by this? I’ve tried contacting them with no success. Thank you.
Hank, Your Sangean WFR-20 can be Sharpfin’d. It likely has firmware level v257-a-297-a-032 or something close to it. Do look at the Sharpfin documentation – it may appear a bit daunting at first, but once you understand the process is very straightforward. You will get a whole new lease on life from your radio once you have TELENET and Webserver access to the radio. It is a wonderful radio.
The functionality still extends to adding stations (as long as you’re still logged in).
Not as of this morning…it’s completely gone.
I managed to do a fast bit of work on there last night around 10:30pm Eastern time….so not sure at what exact time they pulled the plug.
Happy to report all my radios are still working perfectly, albeit with limited resources. Long may that continue.
Actually, I’m wrong. The site’s completely down if I look at it from a computer in which I was NOT already logged in. But from my laptop, where I was logged in, I still have the ability to make changes.
Actually, if you get logged out, you can still log in again by first going to rotel.reciva.com and logging in there. Then if you go back to http://www.reciva.com, you’ll be logged in! You can also log in at myradios.gracedigital.com; the login will not carry over to reciva, but you will be able to do the usual stuff on gracedigital (even if your radio is not Grace Digital).
Now that’s v, interesting.
Hi Frank-
That is seriously cool!!
Do you (or anyone) think there is anything similar (a third-party ‘back door’) for the radios suffering from TuneIn changes a few years ago? The CCrane Wifi2 is a victim of that aggregator.
Thanks for sharing your information!
That’s a good piece of info about logging in again because I thought that was was not possible. Fortunately I have a PC still logged in. As an experiment, I was able to add a station late Thursday night and both of my radios show the station added and I just checked the 2nd one 5 minutes ago. They must not have done too much besides add a banner that says “This site is now closed. “
Hello Frank70,
Not only does Rotel’s Reciva site allow logging in but so does Grace Digital’s Reciva site:
https://myradios.gracedigital.com/index.php
LONG LIVE RECIVA!!! But I fear we’re on borrowed days until those manufacturer’s hosts are gone.
I actually asked Reciva to add a stream a few days before April 30. Today I received a notification to let me know they had added the station.
Thursday, May 6th, 2021 and Reciva website banner changed to “This site is now closed.” However if you’re still logged in (as I was) the My Stations section is still accessible. I suspect the website is going to fully disappear in the next few days but for now it still functions (as long as you were already logged in prior to today.
Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 and Reciva website still looks like nothing happened yet. Must be borrowed time until they find the plug. Enjoy the last few seconds, minutes, hours or even days.
Hello everyone:
I noticed a few developments in the past few days regarding the Grace Digital Radios and Reciva. First of all, my Grace Digital Allegro is no longer connected to Reciva. When trying to search for new stations, there is only one option, Internet Only. Select it and there’s a recorded message that “the 3rd party internet service provider has discontinued service to this radio.” However, my 10 presets still work, as well as the stations that are in the My Stations and My History. My Grace Digital Mondo radio is still working for now, but according to the staff at Grace Digital that radio will be the last to shutdown on May 21, 2021. In addition, for the past few weeks on Amazon the newest Grace Digital Radios are not available (even the listings for the radios are gone), and the same if you try to order on the Grace Digital website, too. However, Grace told me that the newest models should be restocked by mid-May. And finally, information on Grace Digital’s facebook page from the company stresses that they did what they could to keep the server open for the older radios, but Qualcomm would not sell them the code and preferred to shut down the server.
For the moment I can still receive Pandora on my original GraceDigital Mondo. My presets work, I did quite a bit of thinking about what they would be.I did not check on anything else.
Questions & Answers from Reciva today April 27, 2021
Hi,
I know from your website that you will be shutting down Reciva.com at the end of this month. I also read that your Reciva module periodically requests a new token from the Reciva server or it will stop working. True? If so, could you please tell me what it expects to see so I can direct my DNS to locally see this request and respond with an acceptable token for your module. Or if it never gets a response will everything continue to work. That is, will the Station list and My Streams lists still exist in the radio and not be erased?
————————————————————————————————————————–
Hello,
All communication between each individual radio and our servers are plain HTTP with bespoke encryption based on unique encryption key pairs – one put in your radio at manufacture (bespoke chip) and other within the servers.
We’re sorry but this encryption algorithm is propriety and cannot be disclosed.
We use a very complex relational database on the back-end to make bespoke menu generation for these radios possible. You would need to ask Qualcomm’s sales and marketing department if you would like access to this as the people on the existing staff cannot authorise release of this.
Regards,
Stations Support
—–
Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., Churchill House, Cambridge Business Park, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WZ
—————————————————————————–
Thanks very much for the explanation – I suspected as much in looking at WireShark traces of the packets.
However, there is one unanswered question.
Could you please tell me whether or not this is the case: will the radio periodically ask for a token from Reciva?
And if it doesn’t get one, will the My Stations and My Streams data be erased? Or will they remain untouched?
——————————————————————-
The three My Stuff menus (My Stations, My Streams and My Podcasts) are constructed menus which are passed down to the radio,based on info from our database. Yes the radios will continue to do requests to the servers as they’re coded to do that so unfortunately these menus will be inaccessible eventually.
However, the button presets on your radio are stored locally instead of on our servers. For as many button presets your radio is capable of storing, these presets will still be accessible.
Regards,
Stations Support
Hello are these radios still shutting down?
**File a Class Action Lawsuit-
If anyone is interested in filing a class action lawsuit against Reciva, Qualcom or the manufacturer of your radio please email: [email protected] https://topclassactions.com
Would be against Qualcomm, whose unilateral and avoidable action made victims of all of us and the manufacturers. Refusing to sell code to Grace shows they couldn’t care less about radios becoming bricks.
I have a couple of CCWifi v266 and ended up having to use m3u files instead of pls files. Then the streams would load fine from my web server.
I would like to make a post with the best suggestions from this comment thread for circumventing Reciva’s (non-existent) server in order to give some radios extra life.
Please contact me with a little write up–perhaps a brief tutorial–and I’d love to post it. This has affected so many people, I’d like to make it easier for people to find a work-around.
Many thanks,
Thomas
[email protected]
UPDATE: Ray Robinson has kindly written a guide to creating a webserver in the following post:
https://swling.com/blog/2021/03/how-to-give-your-reciva-wifi-radio-a-second-life-before-the-service-closes-on-april-30-2021/
If anyone has expertise on doing this same procedure for Linux and MacOS, please comment on that post.
Many thanks to Ray for putting so much time into helping us!
Thomas
Hey Thomas,
I would be very interested to hear any suggestions you have or any workarounds you’ve heard of. I have an Ipdio-Mini which, until recently was working fine. Unfortunately, I am just learning now of the Reciva site shutting down. Is there any way I can salvage something of my radio? It has been a great little device until now.
I appreciate your advice. Many thanks.
Brendan
You’re in the right place! Read through the technical comments, suggestions, procedures, etc., on this page and the other swling.com entries regarding reciva (there are a few more). Get started immediately, you don’t have much time! Come back with very specific questions that you’re hung up on.
Hurry!
Good luck.
Hello everyone. I just chatted online with Grace Digital. The representative told me that Reciva already shutdown the server about three weeks ago. He also said that there was a small possibility that the 10 preset stations you already have would work, and that the radios would be shutdown gradually over the next few weeks, though not all at once. So it does not look good.
Just to be clear: you can still salvage your manual presets, and will be able to do so for as long as the Reciva.com website stays online…..i.e. till the end of April. Equally, you can still register radios on your account at the website (I’ve added a couple just within the last two weeks). The clock, however, is ticking for anyone to take action to prevent their radios from becoming paperweights.
I find it difficult to believe they shut down the servers weeks ago, no matter what the GD rep said. I spent the last two weeks of march searching the Reciva site for stations, trying to finalize my presets.
Hello, I am writing re the proposed work around by Simon Marks, chafporte and others using the presets. I think I understand the principle but have a problem and wonder whether anyone else has experienced the same.
I have a Roberts WM-201 (Stream) that is around twelve years old and up until eighteen months ago I had never updated the firmware. Before the update, Under the ‘My Stuff’ heading ‘My Stations’, ‘My Streams’ and ‘My Podcasts’ which matches the sections on the Reciva website.
However, around eighteen months ago I noticed that a firmware update was available and decided to accept it. Once loaded, it provided a nicely improved interface and I have been very happy with it. However, the ‘My Streams’ menu item disappeared at that point. Whilst I had a few streams loaded to the website I did not use them so thought no more of it … until now!
Obviously, it is going to make this work around somewhat difficult to complete. I cannot think of way round it. Has anyone else seen this? I cannot think of a way round this issue.
I tried adding a stream link to the Podcasts area on the website and whilst it sees the entry, the radio will not accept it.
This is all very disappointing. I have quite a collection of Roberts’ sets going back to the P5A valve set of 1946 which is still working perfectly well. Whilst I doubt the twelve year old WM-201 can be kept running for another 65 years, it would be good to keep it going a little longer.
Simon
I’ve not heard of that issue before. Have you tried updating the firmware again? What menu options do you get? Are you sure “My Streams” isn’t tucked somewhere else in the menu?
Best
SimonM
I have the exact same issue on my older Sanyo R-227. Nothing in the menu related to “my streams” or “my stuff.” I get “no update available” when I try to update the firmware. I guessing Sanyo has not put out many/any updates.
So for now I can still browse and add stations to my presets. Hoping that those presets still work after the fact. They should, because I’ve tested blocking Reciva at my router and I can still navigate out of the “can’t connect to gateway” message.
Another interesting note; my radio has a UPNP feature and it is successfully connecting to a Media server on my Mac. However, I can only get a single stream to play correctly. Very odd.
Bill
I’ve had no luck whatsoever getting audio streams from a Serviio setup recognized by the radios. Actually that’s not quite true: one of my Grace Digitals will play one station. But the others all show “Connecting”, and then no dice. Shame, because that UPNP feature would make an excellent workaround.
Best
Simon
Simon, I’d be curious if you’ve tried the Home Media Server program using UPNP. it has an “internet radio” functionality built in.
I was able to get one stream to play on that:
http://18393.live.streamtheworld.com/KUSCMP128.mp3
For me, other streams promisingly begin to play and then stop within a few seconds. Wondering if you’d get the same result.
I don’t understand why you’re messing around with UPNP and Serviio. Why don’t you just enable IIS in Windows, and put your preset .pls files in the IIS webroot folder? It works a charm, with no third party software needed.
@Ray Robison Your answer: I didn’t know anything about this feature of Windows. I “enabled it” on my copy of Windows 10 running in emulation on a Macintosh. I am able to navigate to “localhost” but beyond that, I don’t know what to do. Windows Shares>Scan for PCs does not bring up anything on my radio. Is there a separate server install needed?
@Ray Robison
Hello Ray-
Your suggestion sounds very interesting!
Is it possible for you to provide a few more specific details how to implement?
For example, when I enabled ISS (windows 8), there were many options to check or uncheck– I just went with what was default selected/unselected.
I wasn’t exactly sure about the ISS webroot folder, but copied the preset files into the C:\inetpub\wwwroot directory. Is that the correct location?
Next, I assume that I should connect the internet radio NOT via UPnP, but rather “Windows Shares”? I scan for PC’s, select mine and get “No shared folders found”, however I did go into Advanced Sharing for wwwroot, inetpub, and C: and selected “Share this folder” (Properties, Sharing, etc.). Is this all headed in the right direction, or am I really missing a lot?
Thanks!!
Rob
For Bill Alpert-
Hi Bill-
Could you be a bit more specific with the “Home Media Server program”? When searching, I find articles mentioning many ‘media server programs’, but I’m not sure which one specifically you’re referring to. Thanks!!
Incidentally and in addition to Serviio, many others come up such as Kodi (I use that for video on my Raspberry Pi– awesome program!), Jellyfin, Universal Media Server, Subsonic, Playon, Plex, etc., etc.
If anyone is interested:
https://hometheatrelife.com/best-dlna-media-server-software-streaming-media/
https://heavy.com/tech/best-home-media-software/
https://www.how2shout.com/tools/best-free-open-source-home-media-server-software.html
I assume that these are all likely overkill for our modest internet audio streaming application, but given the variety of internet radios, varying levels of technology and compatibility, etc., it might be good to have as large of a choice of options as possible to find SOMETHING that works!
@Ray Robinson,
I initially suggested Serviio as a backup to presets in case the presets die when Reciva does. Turns out some radios have already lost or perhaps never had the My Streams function. Is there a way to load streams for presets without My Streams?
@Rob,
This is the way I configured my IIS in Windows Features:
http://www.afn.org/~afn02552/files/iis.checks.png
.pls files didn’t work for me so there may be something missing in my configuration. Instead, I used .m3u files and they work fine.
@ Bill Alpert and others without the My Streams function. I think you’re still going to need My Streams on the Reciva server and on your radio to load the IIS streams and then capture them into your radio presets. Maybe there is another way, but I haven’t found it.
Hello Paul-
Thank you so much for your input and sharing your iss settings! Very useful indeed.
Did you place your m3u files in this directory:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot
or another directory?
Also, would you mind sharing an example format of one of your m3u files? I didn’t have much luck converting my pls files, but understand that the m3u files can be created with a text editor. However I expect that the syntax/format of the file is different. This would really be an awesome workaround, if it can be made to work.
Thanks, and best regards!
Rob, Paul Trynoski & Bill Alpert
Yes, to be fair, there’s a little more to it than that.
First, I recommend you give your PC a reserved internal IP address in your router. If you leave it with IP being assigned by DHCP, its IP address could change anytime it is rebooted, and then your wi-fi radio won’t be able to find it for the presets. In my router, I assigned 192.168.1.1-200 for DHCP, and then gave my PC the reserved address of 192.168.1.201, which ensures it always has that same address.
Second, enable IIS (Microsoft’s ‘Internet Information Services’) in Windows. This will create a local web server on the machine. In Control, Panel, got to Programs / Turn Windows features on or off. Click the box next to Internet Information Services and OK, and let Windows install that component.
Next we have to tell IIS what to do with a .pls file, as it doesn’t know by default. (I didn’t realise that .m3u files would work as well, but I did it with .pls files, so I’ll detail how to make those work.) We do this by adding a MIME type. Click the Windows start button, and search for IIS. The top result will be Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Click that. In the center of the panel that opens, click MIME Types and then ‘Open Feature’ at the top on the right. This will show you all the extensions IIS knows about. If you scroll down, you will see there isn’t one for .pls. So, we need to create it. At top right, click Add… In the panel that opens, enter a File name extension of .pls and a MIME type of application/pls+xml Then click OK and exit IIS.
If you now look in the root of the C: drive, you will see there is a folder called inetpub, with a subfolder called wwwroot. This is where we want to store the presets.
My CCWiFi2 has 99 presets, so I have put 99 files in this subfolder, named from Preset01.pls to Preset99.pls.
As an example, my first preset, Preset01.pls, is for Caroline Flashback. To create the ,pls, open Notepad, and copy and paste the following:
[playlist]
NumberOfEntries=1
File1=http://sc2.radiocaroline.net:10558
Title1=Caroline Flashback
Length1=-1
Save the file, but change it’s extension from .txt to .pls.
Then, in Reciva, I need to store the entry in My Streams that will tell the CCWiFi2 to come and look at that file to know what to play. In Reciva’s My Streams, I created a stream titled ’01 Caroline Flashback’ with a stream address of ‘http://192.168.1.201:80/Preset01.pls’ Remember, my PC has a reserved address of 201. If you use something different, then you will need to change the stream address accordingly.
Then, on the CCWiFi2, go to My Stuff / MyStreams and select ’01 Caroline Flashback’. Reciva is telling the CCWiFi2 to go to my PC and look at the contents of Preset01.pls. This it does, and starts playing the stream. Then, it’s just a matter of storing that playing stream in preset 1 on the radio.
With that done, at any time in the future if I decide to change the contents of that .pls file, I can just store the details of any other station/stream, and the radio will play that instead without any reference back to Reciva.
Ray.
@Rob
I started writing a response this afternoon, but had to break for outdoor chores, supper, and to (sadly) watch the Gators blow a lead and end their basketball season. I came back and finished my missive just to see that Ray Robinson has already covered just about everything in his response. Ray’s post confirms that radios must have access to My Streams to make this work, so it this won’t help @Bill Alpert or others who have lost or never had that function. Since I’ve already typed a response, I’ll add it here in hopes that it helps.
This is the text in my Preset01.m3u file:
[playlist]
File1=http://live.str3am.com:2380/troy1
Title1=WTSU HD1
NumberOfEntries=1
I put that text into Notepad and saved it as Preset01.m3u into C:\inetpub\wwwroot
I found the localIPv4 address of my Windows computer using Command Prompt, ipconfig. (192.168.0.68 – every user will probably be different)
I checked my router to be sure that I have DHCP Reservation (static IP address).
I signed into the Reciva site, went to My Stuff, My Streams, clicked to add a new stream, named it Preset 1, and saved with this link (containing my local IP address)in the Stream address (URL) box:
http://192.168.0.68:80/Preset01.m3u
(Note that the IP address is between the second forward slash and the colon)
I did this for a total of 10 different preset links, Preset 1 thru Preset 10.
Now, when I view My Streams on my Grace Solo, I see the 10 Presets that I created at the Reciva site. I selected and played each one long enough to save each into the corresponding preset button on the Grace Solo. Now, preset button 1 on the Grace Solo plays the stream in Preset01.m3u, preset button 2 plays the Preset02.m3u stream, etc.
In the future, after the Reciva site is gone, the Grace Solo presets “should” still point to the .m3u files in C:\inetpub\wwwroot If radio station streams change or die, or if I find others that I prefer, I can delete or add station streams simply by editing the .m3u files on my computer, as long as I don’t change the .m3u file names.
If/when I get a new desktop computer, I’ll have to go into my router and assign the same IP address to the new computer.
If I was storing the .m3u files on a remote site, the process would be similar, just have to use the remote site URLs. The problem with storing remotely is the possibility the remote site could go away or change URLs. If that happens after the Reciva site goes away, there is no way to access Reciva My Streams to change the stream URLs, so Preset buttons will point to broken links, and all will be lost.
I should add that I’ve been using Serviio (or trying to) simply because I operate off a Mac….so can’t use the Windows programmes.
@Ray Robison
@Paul Trynoski
Hello Ray and Paul-
Thank you extremely much for taking the time to provide such detailed information on this workaround– absolutely awesome and tremendously appreciated!!!!
Everything you wrote makes complete sense and everything was implemented, including most of the IIS configurations (there were one or two not available in my Windows 8 system).
When accessing the .pls files from my main computer (containing the hard drive where the pls files are stored), everything works (connects to the pls file and behaves as expected). However no other devices on the network will access the pls file (other computers, mobile devices, and naturally the internet radios don’t connect). Switching off the firewall changes the behavior a bit (immediate error message rather than grinding through the timeout period). The physical path for the default web site seems correct, and I’ve enabled sharing on the wwwroot and intepub directories. There’s an error with Test Connection regarding Authorization, the setting indicates “Cannot verify access to path (C:\inetpub\wwwroot).”
As you two seem quite knowledgeable with networks and IIS, any ideas? I feel like I’m so close, but something is hanging up final completion.
One minor point Ray- you mention using a CCWiFi2 having 99 presets- I have both the original CCWiFi and CCWiFi2. I respectfully mention that it’s the original CCWiFi that has the 99 presets that deals with Reciva, and that’s the radio I’m having difficulty with. The CCWiFi2 has 20 presets for internet radio and connects to TuneIn. I’ve already been screwed on my CCWiFi2 (and TuneIn), however Serviio works like a dream on it, so that’s OK. Serviio doesn’t work so good on the original CCWiFi, stored audio plays but not streams. If you believe any of the distinctions between the radios (CCWiFi & CCWiFi2) is in error on my part, please feel free to set me straight and if/how this affects the network connectivity.
Thank you both so very much in advance!
Best regards and take care,
Rob
Hi, Rob. I’m wondering if you have a network sharing issue. In Control Panel, if you go to Network and Internet / Network and Sharing Center / Change advanced sharing settings (in the panel on the left), have you turned on network discovery? Under the Private profile, you must have Network discovery turned on, and also File and printer sharing turned on. Hopefully that’s it.
The reason I said CCWiFi2 is because I had an earlier CCWiFi that did not have iHeart Radio or Pandora on it. The model I have does, bought in 2019. But, it definitely has 99 presets.
Ray.
@Ray Robison
Hello Ray-
Thank you so much (again) for helping me out!!
Excellent suggestions, unfortunately Network Discover was checked (activated) all along, as was File and Print Sharing; so that’s probably not the problem in my case.
A bit more information- on a mobile device, accessing my main computer (192.168. etc…./Preset1.pls), I receive the message:
This site can’t be reached192.168.etc…. took too long to respond.
Try:
Checking the connection
ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT
Investigating this message leads to discussions of proxy settings, LAN settings, netsh winsock reset catalog, netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log, network adapters drivers, etc., etc. Also unfortunately, this is all a bit beyond me (I can follow the instructions found, i just don’t know what I’m doing or if I should!).
One clue I’ve learned is that under my current configuration, if my main computer is sleeping and I try accessing my presets (192.168. etc…./Preset1.pls) from another device (including the internet radio), the computer wakes. That suggests to me that there is communication, it just isn’t being allowed to complete (my interpretation).
Regarding the various Crane WiFi radios, that’s very interesting! It seems that you and I have somewhat different models, I’m guessing that my units are older and yours are upgraded. My two (original) CCWiFi units with 99 presets each are very much the styling of the picture at the top of this page (or https://swling.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CCWifi-Front-2.jpg ), while my CCWiFi2 (bought around 2015) with only 20 presets is this one: http://www.portablehifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/CC_WIFI_2_internet_radio_receiver.jpg . It’s interesting to me that your CCWifi2 has 99 presets, obviously an upgraded model or firmware change.
Thank you again so very much, and hopefully others reading your excellent suggestions can benefit as well! Take care!
Rob
Hi, Rob. I’m sorry your devices are still not able to communicate, but it seems there must be a configuration issue with your PC. You need to be able to resolve that so all other devices on your network can see it and connect to it. Another guess might be the Windows Defender Firewall on the PC not allowing any connection in, but you’ll need to research that; I can’t help you there, I’m afraid.
And lastly, yes, my CCWifi radio looks just like the one at the top of this thread, with the two line greeny/yellow display. I thought it was a ‘2’ because of the iHeart Radio and Pandora additions, and because I bought it new in 2019, but I guess I’m wrong. It’s just an updated ‘1’.
Ray.
Hi Bill, I’ve discovered that I can update my station presets and database by registering the radio on the Grace Digital Website.. https://myradios.gracedigital.com/index.php
I’ve been using theirs since first notice of Reciva disappearing last fall. Good luck
That’s useful information Joe- thanks for sharing.
Are you presently using a Grace radio? Do you know if radios other than Grace could be accessed?
Simon.
The menu items I see are as follows:
Internet Radio ->
Location
Genre
Preset 1
..
Preset 12
My Stuff ->
My Podcasts
My Stations
<- back
<- back
..
Settings
Off
Before the update, there was also 'My Streams' menu under My Stuff which worked fine. When I click 'Get updates' the set says none available'.
I have been in touch with Roberts about this issue but have not heard anything back as yet. Is it the case that the updates are tailored for different manufacturers or do all Reciva sets get the same thing?
Simon H.
That’s disappointing, Simon. Suggests that the My Streams menu may disappear from radios that they phase out….so it becomes even more vital to store streams into presets ahead of each model encountering similar menu changes.
Just to add: the point here is that once a station is stored in the manual preset, as far as I can see it will remain there regardless of what happens next. I have tested creating presets….storing them in “My Streams”….locking them into manual presets….then deleting them from “My Streams”. The stations continue to work even after they are deleted from “My Streams”. This doesn’t help the other Simon, sadly….but it does indicate that if you can get your favorites locked in place now you should be ok after the final shutdown.
I have a Roberts WM-201 perfiect is there a way I can pout in a new internet provider
Thanks, will try it.
(hope I can figure out what to do after if it does see the “server).
Early this morning I heard a replay of Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” radio show for Saturday, Feb. 27. Evidently someone had called in earlier in the show (before I started listening) to discuss the Reciva issue and his C. Crane internet radio. While I was listening, Leo said he received a text from Bob Crane to say, “We’re working on our best solution to Reciva, and we will let everyone know next week.” Leo said they would be using something called Sky Tune, a new service, to do this.
I know this pertains only to C. Crane radios, but it’s heartening news to me, someone who doesn’t understand all the technical solutions being discussed here. If you have a C. Crane radio, be sure to register it on their website and check their site frequently to read any resolution they might come up with for their customers.
Well, looks like C. Crane has no solution either: “We are sorry, but Reciva’s software is 15 years old and will soon not work anymore. . . We have exhausted all possibilities. . . This is the nature of all software and hardware, at some point it reaches End-Of-Life and is obsolete.” If you have an earlier version of the C. Crane wifi radio, follow the steps on their website and you can purchase their new wifi radio through Aug. 31, 2021, at a half-price cost of $60 plus shipping. It uses a new third party stream provider called Skytune, which comes with the same risk of shutting down in the future as Reciva will.
That’s not strictly true. The CC WiFi 3 will have the capability to directly enter web streams via a browser interface from a computer on the same network, so it will not be dependent on Skytune. I have a WiFi 2, and have successfully future-proofed it by following the instructions described elsewhere in this thread, to setup Preset .pls files on a local PC (using IIS), and pointing the presets in the WiFi 2 to those .pls files. It’s all working very nicely, and I will be able to change or update those presets anytime I want in the future, thankfully without needing Reciva.
My Grace Digital Solo GDI-IRA500 has a Media Player/UPnP Servers function that will read the (free) Serviio Media Server (www.serviio.org) on my desktop. I can load any number of live stream online audio sources into Serviio, add and delete streams, edit stream URLs as needed. Sure, the desktop has to be powered up all of the time, but I do that anyway. Serviio feeds can’t be loaded into Solo presets, but my list of stations is small enough that I can quickly scroll through and pick what I want. Internet Radio function went away on my Solo yesterday. I can still access My Streams on the Solo and on the Reciva web site. When I back out of Serviio and into My Streams, presets work as before. If the Reciva web site demise doesn’t remove the UPnP function, I’ll have the Presets option and the Serviio option to keep the Solo going.
Do you or does anyone know if that Servio solution will work with a Crane WIFI radio that mentions UPnP functionality in the manual, or will mine be bricked?
TIA.
Easy enough to test. Download Serviio and “start” the server. Go to your UPNP menu and scan. I bet you’ll find the server.
I’m using Serviio on my CCWiFi2, and it works great!
However, I haven’t got it to fully work with my CCWiFi (version 1, with Reciva), but there is hope– see the reply I wrote to Bill below.
Good luck!
Rob
@Paul My old Sanyo R227 has a similar UPnP function, and I also came across the Serviio server. Very slick. The Sanyo does “see” it, and plays music/podcasts from my computer just fine. No luck with the “online” sources though. I entered a half dozen URLs of known good streams. but nothing appears when I enter the online folder on my Sanyo device. Wondering if you did anything special to make it work??? Thank you. Bill A.
I, too, had a little trouble getting my Grace radio to see the Serviio streams. Some things to look for and try:
In the Serviio console Status tab, find your radio in the list of connected devices. Click Edit, be sure there is a profile in the Profile box – if your device is not in the list, use Generic DLNA profile. Click the down arrow to the right of your device, be sure Device allowed is checked. At the bottom of the tab, I’ve checked Enable access for new devices.
In the Presentation tab, I’ve set Audio to Display content only and Online to Display Category. For now, I’m using Serviio for Internet Radio only, so I’ve disabled Video and Image, and disabled everything under Audio except Online. I’ve unchecked the 4 boxes near the bottom of the Presentation tab. All that shows up in Serviio on my Grace device is Play All and Online – no unused folders to scroll through. Streams are contained in Online.
In the Library tab under Online Sources, for each stream you put in be sure under Media Type that you have bubbled Audio. Click to check each stream URL to be sure each is valid. It wouldn’t hurt to try playing each stream in VLC. Under Shared folders, I have checked keep library automatically updated. I click Force refresh whenever I add a stream.
Under the Remote tab, I’ve checked Automatically configure your router to allow incoming Internet connections
Look for an OK or Save option at the bottom of any tab or page where you make a change or enter data. If you see it, click it.
After I set everything up, I still had no streams on my Grace device so I went to, “if all else fails” and cold-booted my computer. The streams popped up on my Grace right away.
Hope this helps.
Hello Paul-
This is FABULOUS information!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with this community in general and myself in particular!
Similar to Bill Alpert above, on my CCrane WiFi radio, audio files stored on the computer play, but not the live streams. It seems like they do, indicating a data rate (xxx mbps for example), but there isn’t any audio coming out and it seems like the stream is connected for a few minutes then moves on to another in the playlist.
HOWEVER, I have another wifi radio, a CCrane CCWiFi2, a more modern unit (model 2 vs. the Reciva-based model 1) where the streams play perfectly! That indicates to me that the router settings probably aren’t an issue (something CCrane suggested when trying to get any uPnP functionality with either radio, beyond browsing folders).
If you, or anyone happens to have any success (or other ideas) with the CCrane CCWiFi Reciva-based models functioning with streaming audio via uPnP and Serviio, I (and likely others) would greatly appreciate any tips!
One thing I can add is that when setting things up with Serviio, I had an ad-blocker active in my web browser. Switching that off seemed like the last step in making things work with the CCWiFi2 radio. If anyone has similar difficulties, maybe try disabling that, at least temporarily, to eliminate some possible troubles.
Lastly, to anyone trying to revive a CCWiFi2 radio (TuneIn based), this is a good option, in addition to bluetooth connectivity with an old smartphone (basically using the radio as a bluetooth speaker) and USB connectivity (using the radio as a mp3 player). All are sub-optimal solutions, but if attached to these devices and the convenient interface, these ideas do restore some functionality.
Best regards!
Rob
Hi Paul, the reboot got me part of the way there. All the streams I’ve entered now are listed. Though they appear to be stuck on “connecting” though they all play correctly in my browser and in VLC.
On the Serviio forum, I noticed there’s a post about editing the device profile to improve internet radio performance. In this case that would be the generic profile. Perhaps that could get things working? I’ve posted there, but without response so far.
Because my Sanyo device is pretty old now, I’m thinking that streaming technology may have changed quite a lot. Not sure if Serviio is “backwards compatible.”
I did have some success using Home Media Server, another free download. In that case only one of my 5 entered URLs actually play, though they all appear on the device.
Thanks for taking the time to write; it is much appreciated. Like you, I’m hoping that my presets and UPNP functions continue to work after Reciva says goodbye. I’ve blocked it at my router and so far so good in that regard.
Hi, Bill. Make sure all your stream URL’s are expressed as http:// links, and not https:// VLC and web browsers can play https:// streams, but old Internet radios cannot. Any that you may have as https:// will probably work fine if you just delete the ‘s’.
@Ray, thank you for the idea on http vs https. Most of my entries in Serviio were already http, and I changed over one that wasn’t. However it has not made any difference. Still stuck on “connecting” on the radio’s front panel.
Using the Home Media Server software the problem is slightly different. Most of the streams actually begin to play on the Sanyo radio, but after a few seconds the playback stops and eventually I see an “end of queue” indication. Quite frustrating!
Hello Bill-
Some possible indirect good news for you.
I’m having the exact same problem with my CCrane CCWiFi radio. Searching the Serviio forum, there is a posting from January 2012 from a user of (what I believe to be my radio) stating that streaming was working fine on his Crane radio.
My CCrane CCWiFi2 works fine with Serviio, however that radio wasn’t released until October 2014, therefore the 2012 posting must be referring to my radio (which is acting up). So I think there is hope, we just need to figure it out! The only unknown I can think of so far is that maybe there is a firmware update we’re both missing.
Good luck!
Rob
https://forum.serviio.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=63&p=35944&hilit=crane#p35944
Bill, Just for giggles, try this link: http://live.wostreaming.net/direct/ppm-jazz24aac256-ibc1 It runs all night on my Grace Solo. Paul
Hello Paul-
This is FABULOUS information!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with this community in general and myself in particular!
Similar to Bill Alpert above, on my CCrane WiFi radio, audio files stored on the computer play, but not the live streams. It seems like they do, indicating a data rate (xxx mbps for example), but there isn’t any audio coming out and it seems like the stream is connected for a few minutes then moves on to another in the playlist.
One thing that I wondered about is DLNA thing. My radio indicates a Mode of Auto/DHCP. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to determine if these (DNLA/DHCP) are related or an issue.
HOWEVER, I have another wifi radio, a CCrane CCWiFi2, a more modern unit (model 2 vs. the Reciva-based model 1) where the streams play perfectly! That indicates to me that the router settings probably aren’t an issue (something CCrane suggested when trying to get any uPnP functionality with either radio, beyond browsing folders).
If you, or anyone happens to have any success (or other ideas) with the CCrane CCWiFi Reciva-based models functioning with streaming audio via uPnP and Serviio, I (and likely others) would greatly appreciate any tips!
One thing I can add is that when setting things up with Serviio, I had an ad-blocker active in my web browser. Switching that off seemed like the last step in making things work with the CCWiFi2 radio. If anyone has similar difficulties, maybe try disabling that, at least temporarily, to eliminate some possible troubles.
Lastly, to anyone trying to revive a CCWiFi2 radio (TuneIn based), this is a good option, in addition to bluetooth connectivity with an old smartphone (basically using the radio as a bluetooth speaker) and USB connectivity (using the radio as a mp3 player). All are sub-optimal solutions, but if attached to these devices and the convenient interface, these ideas do restore some functionality.
Best regards!
Rob
Rob, Thank you for the kind words, but I’m limited on expertise, strong on curiosity, trial and error, Google search, and the Serviio forum. I used Serviio for home video streaming 10 years or so ago with a WDTV Live device because I found it more reliable than Windows sharing. Over time, I had some success with Windows and Android streaming, so I moved away from Serviio. I went back to it when I saw we were losing the Reciva server. I think using presets with playlists as described elsewhere in this thread is the better way to go for as long as it works. I’ve just been experimenting with Serviio as a backup source if the shutting down of the Reciva server somehow kills the preset/.pls function.
Thanks Paul but many of the older radios still don’t work with online streams. I have two CCWiFi radios (one old and one new) and 2 Grace Solo’s. Only the newer of the two CCWiFi’s works with Serviio online streams. I’ve done some digging into the logs and get this message every time the online stream is trying to connect.
WARN [GETMethodProcessor] A range header was found on the incoming request for a live stream, sending back the whole stream
I’ll get that message 5 times about 15 seconds apart and then it times out with “End of Que” is displayed on the radio.
I’m thinking that maybe a profile other than “Generic DLNA” might be required for the older radio’s.
I’ve scoured the Serviio forum to no avail.
Hi Tom-
In the Serviio forums, I found this:
https://forum.serviio.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=63&p=35944&hilit=crane#p35944
The poster reported their Crane wifi radio working with Serviio, dated Tue Jan 31, 2012. The model 2 Crane radio came out after that date, so presumably someone was able to get this to work on the model 1. I too have had great success with the Crane Wifi2, but not so much with the original model 1 other than playing audio files but not streams. There may be hope, but it will take some digging!!
Good luck!
@Paul: no go on the stream you sent me. The only one I can get to play over UPNP is this one:
http://18393.live.streamtheworld.com/KUSCMP128.mp3 and it only works using the Home Media Server Program. Why that stream works and not the others, I could not tell you.
Bill, Were these streams available on your Sanyo through Revica? Have you tried putting them in .pls files on a remote server and loading them into My Streams on Reciva? That might tell if your Sanyo has the codecs and processor capable of playing them. Have you tried accessing your Serviio from another device such as VLC on another computer or smart phone to rule out a Serviio configuration issue?
Hi Paul,
>>>>>Were these streams available on your Sanyo through Revica?
Yes, they are all in my radio’s presets and play without issue. I used my radio’s Reciva browse function to add the stations and saved them as presets in the radio’s menu.
>>>>>Have you tried putting them in .pls files on a remote server and loading them into My Streams on Reciva? That might tell if your Sanyo has the codecs and processor capable of playing them.
I did load a preset on a remote server, but I’m not seeing it. In fact from the descriptions I’m reading, I don’t think my radio has a “my streams” function. I don’t see it anywhere in the menu system. In fact, neither does the list of stations I manually entered under “my stations” at Reciva seem to appear anywhere on my radio.
>>>Have you tried accessing your Serviio from another device such as VLC on another computer or smart phone to rule out a Serviio configuration issue?
I didn’t realize there was an iOS version of VLC. I just tested it and all the streams play fine on my iPhone.
***
I appreciate the help, Paul. I also wrote to Reciva support, and surprisingly they are trying to help me out. It seems possible that my radio’s presets will continue to function, but I’m still waiting for them to confirm that. I don’t know much about this, but I’m thinking many of these radios share the same Linux code and operating system. Learning as I go here. ~ Bill A.
Suddenly today, three of my radios lost access to Pandora and no longer will take instructions from their remote controls. “My Streams” continue to function as I suspected they would. But the Personal Radio option, sadly, is gone.
Actually, I think the remote control functions still operate. But Pandora has gone on the IRD-4000s.
I just filed my complaint with Qualcomm as well. My unit is a beautiful Grace Victoria and the sound is exquisite. If all they have to do is take on the function of the “station aggregator” I think Qualcomm is big-enough to support that role. When I bought the unit I expected it to function as long as the Internet was around. I was never told complete functionality was dependent on some third-party who could choose to go “belly-up” whenever they felt like it. I’d call this planned obsolescence or outright irresponsible design management. Programmable firmware is specifically created JUST SO UPDATES can be applied to assure continued functionality. When the U.S. government allowed stations to cease analog television, everyone was GIVEN a free converter or discounts on Digital TV sets. They didn’t just pull the plug!
I blocked Reciva at my router and when I tried to display “My Streams” my radio showed an error. It must check with Reciva when it’s first accessed for updates. I never could get to the “My Streams” menu once I blocked Reciva. The only menu I could access was the Presets menu and the physical presets on the remote.
I also saw a DNS query for ntp.Reciva.com so I assume that we’ll have to manually set the clocks since they won’t be able to use NTP to fix the time whenever they are turned on.
Bill
After the shutdown, you won’t need to access the My Streams menu provided you’ve created your manual presets and stored them on the radios. If you want to change stations at some point, you’ll do that in the .pls files themselves. So “preset1.pls” will always be manually set as Preset 1 on your radio. But the stream that it points at can change by editing within the ASCII file. There will be no need to access “My Streams” to do that….which is a good thing, because it seems that won’t be possible anyway!
Interesting re-the clocks.
Still seems utterly ridiculous that Qualcomm is taking this action….but that’s where we are.
Best
Simon
Ok now I fully understand the trick with the physical presets buttons ! Only them keep in memory the URL to the http://mydomain/preset%5Bn%5D.pls , whereas the My Stream will try to get the URL from reciva.
Brillant finding!
I was just going to test the blocking of reciva.com on my router just like Fusionbill 😉
Exactly!
Hello Fusion Bill,
What ports did you block?
Hi Dan,
I run a Pihole with an unbound dns server on my network. I just blacklisted reciva.com in Pihole.
Thanks to chafporte and Simon for the workaround.
Configuring “My Streams” on Reciva just requires a URL that will retrieve a file. I didn’t try setting it up but suspect that something like a dropbox share won’t work as they embed the file in another html page they serve. An inexpensive way to serve the preset files yourself is to setup a Raspberry Pi with a nginx server. Then the URL used on Reciva can be a numerical address in the local network, eg http://192.168.1.50/preset1.pls. This ensures that your radio won’t be bricked by your selected preset file location changing url. It does require some knowledge of Debian linux and Raspberry Pi.
I set this up and blocked Reciva at my edge router and the 12 presets on my Sangean WFR-20 worked great. I’m capturing a list of station stream URLs so I can change the preset files on the Pi in the future.
Hello,
I own a Sangean RCR-8WF and in the Reciva site, in “Manage My Stuff”, “My Streams” I do not see any refertence to presets. I can add radios streams under the My Streams folder, but once saved and back to the radio, they well seen under the “My Streams” menu but not associated with the 5 preset buttons available. Any idea or suggestion ?
Brgds/Jerome
Jerome
I presume you just select “My Streams”…call up the station that you want…and then manually add them to a preset button, normally by just holding the button down for two seconds while the station is playing. Is that not the way the Sangean unit operates?
Regards
Simon
Hi Simon,
My bad, I dit not read well the instructions and did not see that the added stations in reciva web site under My Streams _must_ be named preset1, preset2, etc.
Like here: http://toutee.com/reciva_presets.jpg
It works pefectly, thanks a lot!
On my radio, under My Streams, I see the stations “preset1”, “preset2”, etc. and they play well the radio that is defined in the .pls file on my web server.
The only point I do not get is why it would be mandatory to assign the 5 stations to the physical preset buttons ?
After all, now (and forever I hope) in the memory of my radio, the URL associated to “preset1” station of My Streams is http://mydomain.com/preset1.pls and I don’t see how assigning this to a physical button will change anything ?
If anyone knows, I am interested.
Thanks again Simon !
Hi Jerome,
I need some help on this topic. I did the same as you.
I see the presets but it is comnecting. It saya connecting but for ever.
Any idea? Thank you in advance!
Boubeker
Post the link to your .pls here so others may see. Try your link with VLC.
Dear All,
I need some on my recica WR 200 not working with presets when parametrized only
B.
Very simple my file is:
[playlist]
numberofentries=1
File1=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4fm_mf_p
title1=BBC4
Length1=-1
version=2
The preset name is BBC4.pls saved as ANSI.
the link is
http://***.***.*.**:8000/bbc4.pls
The link of fil1 above work when it is not called as preset. I am trying to used as a prototype that I can change if needed.
So fat my radio is sayiing BBC4 connecting and lasting for ever until I switch it of.
For some reason, just today I decided to add a station to my old Grace Digital internet radio.
No workee.
End up here.
I vastly prefer a gadget like this for a countertop radio in the kitchen, but I’ve noticed through the years that the only that *always* works is a laptop (and probably an iPhone/Android phone at this point). Bummer that you end up with something of a dog’s breakfast on the counter.
Folks
As the very splendid ‘chafporte’ has previously explained, there is a way of making sure that your Reciva-powered internet radios are not immediately doomed to become paperweights. I have done extensive testing with colleagues and confirmed that any station that is stored on your radio’s presets BEFORE the Reciva shutdown WILL continue to work, but ONLY if you store those individual station URLs on an internet server that does NOT belong to Reciva or rely on Reciva for streaming.
In other words, anyone who wants to make sure their Reciva-powered wifi radios will continue to work beyond the Reciva shutdown needs to take action now by:
— creating a list of stations you want to be able to continue accessing.
— creating .pls files (one for each station) that can be uploaded to a 3rd party FTP server.
— pointing your presets at that third party server (using the “Manage My Stuff” button at Reciva.com) BEFORE the shutdown so that your radios will continue to function once the website and the database are no longer accessible.
If anyone is interested in assistance….I have FTP servers where I am already storing the data files for my own presets. I would be happy to help create and store files for existing owners of the legacy radios that are about to become impacted by Reciva’s shutdown and provide people with step-by-step instructions for manually changing their presets to ensure that the stations continue to function (or do it myself using your Reciva credentials, but you would have to give me access to your account).
If you’re interested in assistance, you can e-mail me at: [email protected]. I will need to charge a small annual fee to offset the cost of the servers that I’m using to store each individual user’s data and the creation of each user’s streaming .pls files At the moment, I’m envisaging that to be in the region of USD 25 per year for up to 10 presets, with slightly higher figures if you want more presets than that.
I am offering no guarantees that this will work over the long-term, but it certainly seems to be working now and even after the Reciva shutdown there will be a mechanism for editing the presets and making changes when a) radio stations change their streaming URLs, or b) you decide you never want to listen to Z100 again and instead would prefer a preset with Radio Caroline on it.
There are some things that none of us will be able to do after the Reciva shutdown:
i) Register a newly acquired radio. Any radio you think you want to use needs to be registered at Reciva.com in advance of the shutdown.
ii) Upgrade the radios’ firmaware in any fashion whatsoever.
iii) Perform a factory reset of any radio. You will NOT be able to problem-solve by resetting the radio’s on-board software…any attempt to factory reset the unit is likely to render the presets inoperable after the Reciva shutdown, and therefore the radio will become a paperweight.
It is unclear to me whether the Personal Radio services (Pandora, for instance) will continue functioning. Some experts believe they will be unaffected by the database switch off. Others are less sure. I also have no knowledge of the radios’ alarm clock functions and whether they will continue to work.
To be clear: I have no affiliation with Reciva, Qualcomm, nor with any of the hardware manufacturers. I’m an enthused owner of several Grace Digital units, and I also run a business that provides a large number of radio stations around with their news content, Many of those stations are obviously concerned about the impact of Reciva’s disappearance on their audiences.
Given the pace with which Reciva’s shutdown is approaching, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions and I’ll try to get back to as many people as possible.
Regards
Simon Marks
Thank you very much, Simon. I agree with your procedure of add stations. This is only way how to rescue our physical radios. I can recommend.
Hi Simon,
Thank you for your very informative post. I own two internet radios and, as you can imagine, am not at all happy at the prospect of the Reciva shutdown.
I would definitely be interested in taking up your offer of assistance, I have approx. 20 preset radios stations and although I can manage to access the URL’s via settings, I have no idea how to go about creating .pls files. I would very much appreciate step-by-step instructions on how to manually change my presets and whatever else needs to be done so that I can send you the files for storing in your servers.
I am happy to pay a reasonable annual fee towards the cost of the servers, how much do you calculate it would be for 20 presets?
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Roberto Bellino
If this whole fiasco goes south i will never buy another sangean or ccrane item ever again.
I am new to internet radio, and was looking to buy one. I did like the CCrane but looks like Reciva will expire in April 2021, so I guess you could use the radio, but you have to go through the menus to pick out stations. Just makes it more inconvenient, right?
I wish -my understanding is the whole thing will be “bricked and will no longer work. That is why it is important to report the issue to BBB. Here is a link that can explain.
I spoke with Grace when the Recvia shutdown was announced and they told me that they are managing their own streamer lists now but for newish radios only. So unless Grace goes out of business the radios should be good for a long time.
As I understand it, different internet radio makes use different aggregators. e.g Auna radios uses Frontier Smart Technologies portal. While these work, there’s no guarantee for how long in the future.
I am trying to leave a complaint with the BBB. When I google Qualcomm, it shows that their headquarters are in San Diego, but the options offered by the BBB website are either Qualcomm Inc. in Carlsbad, CA, or Qualcomm Atheros in San Jose. Is either of those the correct one to use for filing a complaint with the BBB?
Please file with BBB San Jose. They are the ones closest to Qualcomm.
Use the San Jose office. They are currently sending me paper work and other stuff to update me on the case.
Not sure if C Crane wants to get into this business, but I’d pay $25 USD a year to have access to a Reciva server. I just hate the notion that a perfectly fine CC WiFi radio is about to get bricked. Sigh….
Trace
Drop me an e-mail and I’ll se what I can do to assist. [email protected]
Regards
Simon
Didn’t someone post a “workaround” of putting some jumper links in the “my links” directory that point to a file on a server you control or a computer on your own network.
That file would contain a “forwarding” code…so you could send the link to any source of your choosing.
Yes, see the postings below from “chafporte”. It works like a charm, and I’ve found my radios are working more smoothly than ever before. Am hoping this is the long-term solution.
Hello Simon- I showed the coding to a friend who is a linux GOD, and he said such a patch isn’t for the layperson. He thought it would take him at least a day of hacking, more days if things didn’t work right, the coding would be very specific to the hardware (Wifi radio, computer, etc.), and if anything changed, the process would start over.
If my friend is wrong and the work-around is something that is do-able by someone with modest computer skills, could you share more detailed information exactly how to proceed? Also, it seems that this requires each user to have their own domain name, is that correct? Any ideas how a ‘normal’ user would make this work?
Thank you very much in advance!
Rob
Rob
It’s actually super-easy. It took me (with help from chafporte) a little while to get my head around it but I’ve set it up now and the radios have never worked better. You need to pick your ten most important stations. You CAN change them later, but you can never have more than the number of presets your model of radio offers (in most Grace Digital that’s 10, although in some you can 23 I believe). And even what radio stations change their live stream address, it is possible to edit the presets and update them.
I currently feel very confident that this will permit the radios to continue functioning even after Reciva is switched off. There are no guarantees, but it seems like a very solid possibility.
Happy to give you more detail if you e-mail me: [email protected]
Thank you so much Simon, I’ve sent you an email!
Yes, I’m sure I saw a post years ago about changing severs from reciva to something else. Wish I’d kept the post.
I have a couple of Internet Radios that depend on the Reciva database as well. Hrmphhh….
Cannot fully see what Andreas Bahr is proposing, but I was wandering it it would be possible to set up a local/private mirror of the Reciva database and then tweak the DNS contents in one’s private computer network to direct any contact to the official Reciva (that will be closed down) to the local (mirror) of Reciva instead.
The SW of my Radios has a function to ‘Get key’ from Reciva. I am not sure if this is needed only if I wanted to use any of the more advanced features of the Reciva site, or even for accessing the database. The problem I see here is that if/when I do a factory reset, the key is lost…
Any comments would be welcome!
Notice has now changed… to 30th April.
Notice: With effect from 30th April 2021 this website will be withdrawn.
Please refer to your radio manufacturer or supplier.
Hello, my dad have an OXX Digital Tube radio and he listens it for every day. The radio has served him perfectly for several years. So we dont understand how the Reciva can easily stops their service for millions of similar people. If at least they offered an alternative… but nothing. Now we can demolish the device, although it works perfectly… Shame on you Reciva!
Does your dad still have it? Would he consider selling it?
Qualcomm business practices must be stopped! I spent way too much on an internet radio for the thing to terminate.
Hello, my dad have an OXX Digital Tube radio and he listens it for every day. The radio has served him perfectly for several years. So we dont understand how the Reciva can easily stops their service for millions of similar people. If at least they offered an alternative… but nothing. Now we can demolish the device, although it works perfectly… Shame on you Reciva!
I don’t want to give up my WiFi radios of which I use daily. In my world they are brand new even though I purchased them back in 2018. I don’t care if manufactures claim that I need a model from 2020 to work. I spent good money on the one I have, I love it and expect it to work or else Sangean better send me a check for 220 dollars because that is how much I spent on it.
Just have the company send me a working radio model. If tat can’t be achieved we need to get on board with a class action law suit.
I have two CCRANE WiFi radios in my home, have purchased 7 others as gifts of others. How could CCRANE sell us these knowing, and don’t say they didn’t know, that RECEIVA was going to pull the plug. CCRANE states that it is the software…..I say BOLOGNA!!! These companies KNOW and KNEW but continued to sell the goods to us. I am disabled and cannot afford to buy another radio. Class Action Lawsuit…..YES. I cannot sleep at night and having this radio with my headphones on, helps me to sleep. I will not and cannot believe that CCRANE did not know about all of this. Now I have to tell the people I purchased this radio for, that they are up Shittscreek without a paddle as to a radio now. I am on board for a class action lawsuit for sure. Now CCRANE says to buy the III model in hopes we will be able to use it. There is no way it is a software expiration…….because all they would have to do is UPDATE it!!! We update all the time, our cell phones, our computer, our laptops and you cannot tell us you cannot update your software so we can continue to use the radios we spent our hard earned money on in good FAITH in the companies. SHAME ON YOU, CCRANE AND RECEIVA……..you now stand to lose so much because no one will ever support your companies again after this fiasco.
From what I understand, the radio manufacturers cannot just provide a software update bc Reciva is not allowing them to do so, so the issue is a legal one. I don’t think a class action lawsuit would do much good. By the time the case is settled out of court, customers would just receive the “crumbs” as far as a monetary settlement. My wife and I bought some furniture from Rooms To Go several years ago and we agreed to be part of a class action lawsuit against tbe company. After the lawyers were paid and the remainder of the $ was divied up for those particpating in the lawsuit, all we received was a measley $7. I imagine that even if there was a class action lawsuit against Reciva and the radio manufacturers, we would receive similar nominal amounts of $ and nowhere near what we paid for the radios, anyway. I feel it would be more advantageous to put the heat on the radio manufactirers and Reciva by threatening them with lawsuits. Even though we wouldn’t stand to receive much of a monetary settlement from such a lawsuit, the companies themselves would have to fork out a lot of $. That might convince them to act and get some type of resolution between Reciva and radio manufacturers accomplished so the/a database of stations could be kept ongoing for customers to use.
It may be cheaper for the manufactures to cover the cost of the radios 100%. This way customers are happy any will return in the future. If I get screwed over, I will never ever purchase from Sangean, CCrane ever again. They might as well file bankruptcy because I will tell everyone, I MEAN EVERYONE I come into contact with. I will never buy from them ever again!!
Has anyone stopped to consider the environmental damage that will be done when tens of millions of obsolete internet radios are discarded allowing electronic parts to enter the environment? Perhaps some pressure should be put on the manufacturers of obsolete internet radios to allow owners to mail them, at the companies, expense, back to the manufacturers so that they can be disposed of in an environmentally sound way, if there even is such a thing. Can you imagine the amount of waste materials that is going to be generated by the disposal of tens of millions of defunct electronic devices?
I too just submitted a fraud report through the FTC website. The more people who do so, the better the chances of getting some possible action. I own two Tangent Quattro radios, a Grace tuner, and a Grace radio. I use them virtually every day in different areas of my home. I’m not ready to give them up and accept this. Hardware manufacturers and service providers have responsibilities toward the consumers they take money from.
I just initiated a complaint with the FTC also.
I found this a short while ago doing an online search about Reciva going offline. It appears Grace Digital has their own station database of stations that works in conjunction with their newer radios which aren’t affected by the Reciva shutdown. Seems like to me they could integrate this database to work with their earlier radios manufactured between 2010 and 2017, and if it indeed possible, why this wasn’t already done, especially if Grace Radio had been aware the earlier radios they manufactured might be possibly be bricked due to a Reciva shutdown at some point. I signed up for the service just to see what it had contained within it, even though I don’t have a radio to use with what appears to be, Grace’s in-house station database. Once into the account, it is similar to a Reciva acct where you can add stations, add links from either Grace Digital, Shoutcast, or Live365. There is a section to add a radio, but of course, the only ones listed in the drop-down menu are the newer models to select from. Sign up for it if you want to check it out for yourself. I had assumed that the newer models didn’t use any station database at all, other than what was built into the unit itself. Just wondering if there is any technical and/or legal reasons why Grace couldn’t offer this service as a download to work with the older models.
https://myradiosplus.gracedigital.com/admin/searches#station
> Just wondering if there is any technical and/or legal reasons why Grace couldn’t offer this service as a download to work with the older models.
Grace never owned the firmware for those older Reciva-based models; it was written by Nexus/Reciva, later bought by CSR, later bought by Qualcomm. None of them released anything to enable vendors to write/modify their own firmware.
Grace explained back in 2017 that they hadn’t been getting updates for “some time” (probably since late 2015, when Qualcomm bought CSR), and at that point they were about release devices using a different platform. But they still continued selling those unsupportable Reciva-based models…
http://iradioforum.net/forum/index.php?topic=2386.msg21245#msg21245
(The fundamental problem is that people keep buying devices that depend on a third-party being generous enough to keep their old services working despite them generating little/no revenue, then act all surprised and outraged when that third party shuts them down because they’re not profitable…)
So do you think it’s possible that Reciva might grant legal permission for Grace to allow users of the older Grace models to download an update to the database I mentioned above (or another in-house Grace database) so the older models would continue to function afrer 1/31? Or would that not be technically possible to do so?
Reciva’s not the “responsible” company any longer, it’s just a brand name. You want to holler at Qualcomm, which owns the brand name. There’s no guarantee they will respond if there isn’t a solid revenue stream for them in it. Or unless they become afraid of taking a financial hit from lawsuits….
Grace Digital, Shoutcast, Live 365, Itunes charge a fee for access. What is the point of having a radio you paid through the nose for, then have to pay a separate fee to listen to FREE radio stations? Wasn’t that the purpose of buying the WiFi radio? Absolutely disgusting and unfair to us. We were given no warning as to RECEIVA having their SOFTWARE expire. Come on now, they knew it was going to yet continued to sell us the goods.
Internet radio is HARDLY free. Someone else is always paying for it. I can attest to that truth, as I operate two internet-based radio stations and I pay all the music licensing and other operating costs out of my own pocket. And trust me…music licensing is not cheap. You cannot expect stations to be there to provide you free programming, especially if you want a commercial-free experience as many internet radio stations provide. If you want such, listeners should have to pay for it. Otherwise, they have no right to complain when stations they listen to go offline or when equipment they use is no longer functional.
It is however super-easy to develop your “own little webradio aggregator” using HTML5 and a storage backend, for example MySQL. I have done so and you can also use it as it is free software, if you’re the DIY-kind of person 🙂
http://pentode.supersaft.ch/
Thank you. I don’t fully understand your program but I will see if I can figure it out.
Andreas, can you come to my house and do this?
In all seriousness, for the average person who doesn’t the technical know-how, this won’t help us and we’re still left holding the bag (with a door stop radio inside it).
Andreas. Thank you for this. I do a little PHP/MySQL development and so I might dabble with this. I looked at the demo and it appears very simple and clean. The big advantage, of course, is that it is all under our control and not somebody else (apart from the stations themselves providing a feed). To make it really useful, the next development of this would be make it compatible with Google Chromecast so it can feed speakers directly rather than use a mobile phone and Bluetooth with it’s associated compression.
I would need to research this but time isn’t on my side. In the meantime, I will use TuneIn Radio with the Chromecast Audio device to replace my Revo Mondo Reciva-based radio.
I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for sharing this code.
But how might it be possible for my 10 year old Robert’s internet radio to ‘see’ this?
I did not realize there was a time limit associated with the Reciva based tuner.
Make your Presets modifiable (do it quickly before Reciva closes).
You need a web address you control (your own domain).
There add a file “preset1.pls” containing:
[playlist]
numberofentries=1
File1=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio4fm_mf_p
Title1=BBC Radio 4
Length1=-1
version=2
Go to reciva.com and add it to your streams as preset1.
On your reciva internet radio go to “my stuff” – “my streams”.
Select your new stream “preset1”, the radio starts to play.
Now assign it to your radio as preset 1 (by long pressing button 1 on the remote control).
If you modify the file preset1.pls your radio will play the modified preset !!!!
Do this 10 times as you need 10 preset files for your 10 buttons.
How do you point the internet radio to your own domain if it is registered with Reciva?
I’m not sure that I understand how you do this at Reciva.com I’m pretty familiar with the site and understand how to create a new stream using the stream’s URL. But how and where do you enter the code that you’ve written? Seems like a fantastic idea but I’m just not sure how you do that on the Reciva site.
Thanks in advance!
on reciva.com after login go to “manage mu stuff”, then “my streams”.
there you can add a stream:,
enter its name: preset1
enter its web address: http://mydomain.com/…/preset1.pls
Hello chafporte,
On my Sangean RCR-8WF there are 5 preset buttons. On Reciva website, under “Manage my stuf” and “My streams”, I can add some new streams, yes, but then on the radio they appear in the My Streams menu but do not seem to be linked to the 5 presets buttons at all, sadly. The presets button seem to work like a radio in a car, if you press a button for liong, it will store the currently selected station. But they do not reflect what I have defined with Reviva web site.
Any idea ?
Thanks in advance/Jerome
You need a web address you control (your own domain or on your NAS, somewhere reachable via http). There create a file “preset1.pls”.
Understood, and I have a domain so that’s no problem. When you create the .pls file, how do you save it? As a plain text file? Can you literally write it in MS Word or in TextEdit on a Mac and save it as plain text? Or do you require a specific program in which to write the .pls?
Thanks so much…your advice looks like a lifeline.
Hello!
I’ve been exploring the NAS option. If I purchase a NAS drive and attach it to my home network, will it be obvious what the URL is that accesses the drive? Will that be connected to my ISP? If I move and have a different ISP, then would the URL change? In that case, I’d expect that the internet radio would cease to function.
Thanks!!!
Rob
Hello-
I’ve been trying to explore the NAS option more (difficult to find the specific info I’m looking for). I’ve been finding that the URL with NAS seems to be httpS:// <— the secure option only. Do you know of some NAS options that can be used with non-secure https://?
Thanks!
Rob
Think I have no figured it out. But my radio endlessly tells me it’s “Connecting” to “preset1” but never seems to play the station.
preset1.pls is just a plain text file. Use a text editor (notepad, not microsoft word) Have you pasted the 6 lines exactly as they are here ? (because this is exactly what I am successfully using). Make sure your file is reachable via http (not https). If you can: give your link here (I will test it).
Thanks so much. The file is located here, and it’s definitely not https:
http://www.fsnradionews.com/FSNNews/SimonFiles/preset1.pls
Hugely grateful to you.
this is not an asci file ! it is a word document.
you must create the file in notepad.
Hello chafporte, thanks for this!
Here’s the file I put on my server:
http://copiesandink.com/preset1.pls
When I type it in my web browser, I don’t see the text. Instead it downloads the file and opens the stream in iTunes on my Mac.
Is that the way it should work?
I understand most of what you’re mentioning, as I am involved in internet-based radio and I regularly create static listen URLs for my stations (with notepad), so I can modify the files when it becomes necessary to change servers. I can see how, too, that by using files could in effect bypass the Reciva menu on the radio and save them to your presets on the radio itself. But wouldn’t even those presets eventually stop working, even if they’re not being accessed from one’s Reciva acct? Wouldn’t those presets have to be stored within the hardware of the radio for them to continue to work?
grace digital says that the presets will still work after reciva closes except for pandora and sirius.
Dear chafporte,
What you wrote works. I hope it also will work after 31/01/2021
Thanks,
Thank you very much, it works well for my old Avox Indio !
I installed lighttpd on the RPi I have and stored the pls files on it.
What is a good place to host the script for free?
Thanks to chafporte for this workaround.
For those comfortable with Debian linux you might setup a Raspberry Pi with a nginx server. You can just use a numerical web address on your local network then. I did this and then blocked reciva at my router as a test and using the presets as chafporte suggested works great.
Hi!i
First of all, thank you for providing this incredible solution and for doing the work to figure it out. I’m having trouble with something, just can’t figure out what.
I’ve created .pls files from scratch with the streaming info using a text editor. If I test the file by clicking on it, it will open in a player and play the stream.
I’ve renamed the file PRESET1.plv and placed it in a folder on my website’s public_html directory using my host’s cPanel.
I go on the Reciva site and point to the file in My Streams, making sure the URL begins with http (with no s). I’m also using streams that have http as their URL.
When I save, refresh and then click on the Stream (using the play button) on the Reciva website, it doesn’t do anything. However, if I use https (with the s), it will download the PRESET1.pls file to my computer.
In both cases, when I try connecting on my Receiver (after refreshing the streams), it just cycles between “CONNECTING” and “RETRYING”
Am I missing something? And Is there a fix?
Thank you immensely for your help.
LH
Forgot to tag #chapforte and #simonmarks in my reply. Any help you or anyone can provide on the above would be greatly appreciated.
Dear chafporte – or may I call you Superstar!
Thank you for so generously sharing this excellent workaround which appears to be working well.
Could I please ask where one can get a list of URLs for stations?
Cheers
Hi. I have done as you suggest, and it all seems to work. I created a rudimentary website on my laptop by enabling IIS in ‘Turn Windows features on or off’, creating the preset .pls files in the wwwroot folder, and putting the local LAN address (in my case, http://192.168.1.201:80/Preset01.pls, etc.) in an entry for each station in My Streams on the Reciva website. That works like a charm, and all those streams are now assigned to presets on my CC WiFi radio itself. I even went so far as create .pls files for all 99 presets, whether they are currently used or not, so that they can be assigned if I so desire at some point in the future. So far, so good. However, my concern now is what happens if the CC WiFi radio ever loses power, or is unplugged for more than a few seconds. Will the stored presets still function based on what I have stored in them in my laptop, or will the CC WiFi radio not be able to find my laptop after April 30th, because it can’t get to the Reciva site (it’s default setting)?
Please file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau https://www.bbb.org/
Most definitely –
Filing with BBB today.
The newer internet radios, at least the ones Grace is selling since 2017, do not depend on the Reciva database. They have several music apps already “built in” the radio (Iheart Radio, Amazon Music, Live365, among others). For everything else, you would have to cast/bluetooth the music via a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device to the radio. So essentially, the newer versions of internet radios are more along the lines of a glorified bluetooth speaker. Internet radio is moving towards a mobile platform, and many people are now just using a smartphone/tablet/mobile device + bluetooth speaker setup to listen to music since it’s a portable experience, unlike most internet radios which work in a fixed location (the only way for older internet radios to be “mobile” is if you unplug them, lug them to another room, and plug the radio back in). Even the newer internet radios which operate in a fixed location are moving towards a voice activated (Alexa/Google) platform and/or music being bluetooth from a mobile device to the unit. People are increasingly using smart speakers as well for listening.
I want to have an internet radio independent from my phone and computer. Regardless though the Reciva database must remain active or the manufactures of radios must offer a full refund.
A refund is not going to happen, unfortunately. I have two internet radios here at home I purchased in 2009 and 2010. I hardly ever use them anymore, although it would be nice if the reciva database could be assumed by someone else, so I could continue to listen in that manner. Doubtful that would happen, however. At least I got my $ worth out of using the radios. The market is going to dictate what products are produced, and most people today want a wireless, mobile experience when it comes to listening to internet radio. Grace is offering a 35% discount for a radio upgrade, which I applied for, but I have yet to receive. I will probably just opt for a smart speaker instead, bc it will be less expensive. There are other internet radios which work with other station databases (such as vtuner). so you might want to check those out.
First, completely as a lark, I ran the term “Receiva” a couple of days ago, and was shocked to learn that their aggregator is shutting down. I’ve owned 2 C Crane Wi-Fi Internet radios over the years, and both have worked splendidly, so I have no beef with C Crane in all of this. What I have seen with the Receiva aggregator over time is the reduction in stations: IMG college sports was removed, as were other formats/stations worldwide. I’m no expert in the legal and technical issues surrounding Web-based radio; I just love having a desktop device on my nightstand to listen to at 2AM.
So, on to my question: Is there another such device out there that doesn’t rely on Receiva? I’ve combed through this thread for possible information, and I’m still unclear whether that is the case or not, but I would really miss having this type of radio, especially after a decade.
I have my internet radio on my nightstand so I can listen to stuff at 2:00 AM also. I am holding the manufactures responsible because they could do more to keep their customers happy. These radios were expensive. The manufactures need to offer a full refund, patch the radio to a different data base or replace the radio with an equivalent model that will work as advertised.
I never heard of Reciva until I purchased a Sangen Radio. In that this radio is so dependent on them to work. ( SMH )
Jim, Like you I have C. Crane internet radios. Here’s what I got back from C. Crane when I alerted them…
“Thank you for contacting our company. In response to your inquiry, we were not aware that Reciva.com was closing their website beginning January 31st, 2021 until we saw the notice. We know this will affect our CC WiFi Internet Radios that you have purchased and are working on some options to offer you. We will let you know more after we find out more information. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Qualcomm is a nasty company, here is an article that is worth a read.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/16/18410985/apple-qualcomm-settle-royalty-dispute-patent-licensing-terms-high-fees
Hello,
What if I buy a new Internet radio, say Roberts 94i, will it be revival-dependant or it has another platform? What Internet radio should I consider buying now.? Also, Internet radio is great. Some people say that wi-fi radio has no future, but I beg to differ. I live in a country that doesn’t have DAB and has a very poor radio offer. The only option for me is to have an Internet radio. It enables me to listen to stations and podcasts without having to boot up my tablet or computer and the sound quality, at least on my Roberts radio is superb. Internet radio has future, the problem here is whether big companies would allow connected radios to exist in the future or not. Hopefully, things will get better and people will be able to continue using their radios in the years to come.
When IHeart and Tune-in started to monetize things, and many stations I loved were streamed in URL clumps making it impossible to stream them on a single URL, I knew we were in trouble. The wifi radios need to have a feature where you could enter the exact URL and not be dependent upon Reciva or Nuvola-Frontier. I have a REVO superconnect that was pretty expensive, and I suspect that it’s a matter of time until it becomes a paperweight. My Sangean stereo wifi radio will now be a paperweight. I guess it was a mistake to buy these radios. Get a cheap laptop or use a small tablet or phone to listen. Seems IHeart and Tune-In have won the war.
Please don’t take this injustice. You paid for a radio that will not operate as advertised. Contact the FTC. [email protected]
I’ve bought a WR-336N from Ocean Digital to replace my CCrane CCWIFI and unlike my former radio you have direct access to the device via the IP address from any web browser connected to your local network…So even if Skytune goes down one day, you’ll still be able to update your list and your radio will have up to 100 channels that you can still use from your favorites.
I’ve been wondering about this. Are there internet radios that can access the internet directly or do they all go through an aggregate like Reciva or something similar?
Please read some of the comments included in this link.
https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2392847/reciva-internet-radio-portal-closing
CCrane is a nasty little company that sold me a radio with Reciva chips in it that spy on listening habbits. now they will crash the radio after I spent a few hundred dollers on it. The radio will set in the shed for now on.
You need to be aware of Reciva.com. They manufacture computer chips that have been placed in Sangean products. Soon Reciva plans on pulling the “kill switch” on several wifi radios that Sangean and others companies have manufactured. These radios were expensive to purchase, usually in the $300.00 dollar price range. They will become deactivated January 31st 2021. This is all designed for a company to sell a newer model and make more money off of the masses. Beware of Sangean USA and Reciva.com
This issue is absolutely disgusting me. I have not been able to get any sleep because of all the due stress this has caused.
Pandora has stopped working for me as well it is part of the shutdown. As mentioned by others, I also urge you to report the manufacture of radio you have and Reciva.com to the FTC. It is highly frowned upon and illegal for a company to artificially pull the “kill switch” on electronics that have been purchased.
My Pandora feed stopped working on my legacy Grace Digital device, although I am still able to access presumably Reciva based internet stations. Is the Pandora feed dependent on the Reciva network, or is it generally expected that Pandora would continue to function beyond Reciva’s full shutdown?
As an end user, It doesn’t really matter. In regards to “tokens” or other internet stuff. All that matters is that I follow the user directions that came with the radio. AS long as it is correct on my end. The unit will work. Anything wrong with a distant server or other provider is not my problem. It is your problem and I expect satisfaction. This denial of service is unacceptable, I am filing with the FTC.
This denial of service is unacceptable, I am filing against Reciva, Sangean, C Crane and Grace Digital as well.
I am on the FTC web site now, I am filing against Reciva, Sangean, C Crane and Grace Digital . I will the the Consumer report magazine know as well.
The solution would be for all the manufacturers of Reciva-based radios (possibly upwards of half a billion worldwide considering many people like me have more than one) to get together (as a consortium) and simply buy the server/database from Qualcomm so the service can continue. I replied to C. Crane with that suggestion after they sent me this just TONIGHT (Sunday, November 29th 2020)…also I’m waiting for a reply from Grace Digital and will make the same suggestion to them.
Dear Steve,
Thank you for contacting our company.
In response to your inquiry, we were not aware that Reciva.com was closing their website beginning January 31st, 2021 until we saw the notice. We know this will affect our CC WiFi Internet Radios that you have purchased and are working on some options to offer you. We have added you to our contact list and will let you know more after we find out more information.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
If we can be of further assistance please email or call our toll free number.
Cordially,
Jennifer B.
Customer Support Specialist
Please see the thread here… now over 90 messages on this topic. I suggested some alternatives to saving the database, etc.:
http://iradioforum.net/forum/index.php?topic=2918.0
(Note: registration at the Iradioforum is currently by recommendation only due to spammers. You would need to contact me directly. Commhorizons at the email place run by Google…)
I doubt the FCC or FTC will do anything. If you want to save your radio it will require action by end users in a coordinated way and it won’t be easy.
Thank you Susan, we need more people like you willing to file a complaint. I spent good hard earned money on this Sangean radio and by damn it’s going to work. 3 year old equipment in my book is not “legacy” equipment. I have a Pioneer stereo system, it is 50 years old and still sounds incredible.
I suggest that everyone report the reciva data base shutdown to the FTC. Also you should make Consumer Reports magazine aware of it too.
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
Email: [email protected]
Postal mail: You can send an anonymous letter or package to CR by mailing it to:
ATTN: CR News Tips
Consumer Reports
101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703
I fear this is the beginning of the end of decentralized wifi radio. This is a big blow to freedom.
From now on, we’re not going to be allowed to listen to anything large corporations don’t want us to hear.
I’m dead set against this huge loss to the world community of wifi listeners.
Someone has to take over Reciva and save it for the sake of freedom.
The internet is going in this same direction too, I fear. Censorship is growing and excuses for it are being invented all the time.
We are living in a world where censorship will become the rule if we allow it. We must all fight this.
> “I fear this is the beginning of the end of decentralized wifi radio.”
You mean *centralized* – Reciva was never ‘decentralized’; Reciva-based devices already had to phone home to the Reciva central mothership to receive the master list of approved ‘internet radio’ souces. That’s why they’ll stop working when it shuts down.
“Decentralised” would be devices that supported multiple aggregation/indexing services, or allowed you to enter your own links. Like streaming devices used to, back in the days when they first started becoming available…
> “Someone has to take over Reciva and save it for the sake of freedom.”
Lol. Reciva was never ‘free as in freedom” – it was developed by (IIRC) Nexus, who designed hardware streaming modules; Reciva was their in-house aggregator service. It was later spun out as a separate company, then pivoted to a software-only service in a mostly-failed attempt to get other hardware manufacturers onboard. It was then taken over by Cambridge Silicon Radio to be *their* in-house aggregator; and eventually CSR was taken over and Reciva ended up at Qualcomm’s as part of *their* in-house streaming aggregator service (alongside all the other similar services they’d collected e.g. Pandora).
If you want “freedom”, you’re looking in the wrong place. Lean on the *hardware* manufacturers to open up their modules/devices to multiple aggregation providers and user-defined streaming sources.
Whatever…I value Reciva far more than any other aggregator and I view them as having had the most flexibility in adding new streams. They have the most independent stations and small company stations of any other aggregator.
Have you tried adding streams with another aggregator? Reciva was the best at adding streams upon request and they have the most streams as a consequence.
Other aggregators like iHeart only added stations owned by their corporation and shut the rest out.
When I say it’s more ‘free’, that is what I meant. Besides that RECIVA NEVER INCLUDED THEIR OWN ADS as TuneIn does. Of course being able to add your own streaming sources would be better, but I see aggregators as still being needed for most people.
Steve. Yes, we are more controlled now than ever by the Government, big business and the mainstream media. They control people by limiting access to anything but their propaganda.
I suggest that everyone report the reciva data base shutdown to the FTC. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
Please watch this video.
Thank you for providing the link to the FTC, Roger. I filed a report and related that I have two radios (Grace Audio and C. Crane) which will become expensive doorstops once Reciva shuts down. I’m not computer savvy enough to know if they will have any use to me after that; I’ll just have to wait and see. But there should be some protection for the American consumer who can’t afford to buy the latest device just because a company wants to abandon an older technology. When American TV broadcasting went digital, the federal government provided subsidies to consumers who needed adapters for their older TVs. But in this case, guess radios are just too old school and of little significant during our national quarantine. Thanks to everyone who has posted on this site and helps me stay informed.
I sent my complaint to the FTC, hopefully if they see multiple complaints that will mean something more to them than a single complaint. I would say the best solution is for the group of companies who manufactured Reciva radios (and were probably still manufacturing this year) to get together and buy the server and database from Qualcomm. The Reciva database was the most superior of them all and adding stations was extremely easy and there were no commercials (like with TuneIn). Nobody was better than Reciva. I interpret that ease of adding stations and lack of added commercials as being more ‘free’ (meaning ‘freedom’) than any other aggregator.
I have a C Crane Wi Fi Radio. Besides having reciva stations, I also see iheartRadio and Radio.com shortcuts in their too. I wonder if those stations will still be there after the cutoff date? I wonder. I also have a feeling that if you save a station in the presets, it still may work after the website turnoff time. That is until the station makes a change on their server config.
I assume iHeart radio would continue working. Possibly the shortcuts, too, for a while. Not sure how/when the radio queries the network.
Receiva should post a press release explaining why they have hung their patrons and associated hardware providers out to dry. They should make a good-faith effort to have another party take over. To have failed to do so suggests that they fell under pressure from iHeart or others not to carry their feeds (iHeart, TuneIn and others may prefer that consumers be tied to the apps where they can be subjected to ads, repeated requests to login etc. — something that didn’t happen on a configured Receiva device.) The other thing that comes to mind is that there are many feeds available through this platform that are considered unacceptable on social media platforms. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Receiva has been under pressure to drop their service because, unlike social media companies, they did not do enough to go along with the de-platforming efforts to knock certain people offline entirely (i.e. Alex Jones). It wouldn’t occur to me to question any of this if Receiva would post a proper press release, but absent that one can only imagine that there was no good way to “explain” themselves — so they’re not.
Years ago I became a fan of two network TV shows, only for those TV series to be cancelled by the end of the first season. That was the LAST TIME I ever “bought in” to any TV series (similarly, I almost never watch any “series” on Netflix — twice burned was enough). This news — that my WiFi radios are about to become paperweights — may very well make me equally skeptical of any new consumer products and gadgets that may come to market. (No more “early adopter” for me!) And as others have noted, the other major problem with Receiva’s lack of communication is that it turns WiFi radios into e-waste overnight!
My guess is that people in the “industry” assume that there is no real demand for WiFi radios — but to my mind, that is a failure of their imagination. One can program a WiFi radio to come on like a conventional radio at the press of a button. Unlike a tablet, smartphone or streaming TV, there is no scrolling, no tapping and no connecting of a charging cable or stand-alone bluetooth speaker required.
Sleep experts advise people to keep their digital devices, such as phones, tablets and LCD TV screens out of their bedrooms because of the blue light they emit, which disrupts normal sleep/wake cycles. For anyone who has been trying to avoid streaming via a smartphone, ROKU or or similar device in order to gain access to Pandora, iHeart or similar apps, losing the option to have a table top WiFi radio is a blow.
To those “investors” and executives who think they know what consumers want — a one-size-fits-all “app for that”: Must everything involve staring at a bright screen, accepting a TOS, scrolling, tapping, clicking, swiping and entering logins for every single individual app? Turning to our smart devices may seem like less “work” but that’s only because we’ve been conditioned to think that having a device wielded to our hands is “normal”. The beauty of radio as it was originally delivered — over the air to a physical unit in our homes — is that it was just there. You didn’t have to program anything, login to anything, subscribe to anything. Press power and whatever frequency you last used was just there. The more we try to improve our lives with “smart technology” the more we pile on unnecessary complexity. True, WIFI radios take some doing to set up — but it’s a one-time effort after which these devices function like a traditional radio. A tablet, AppleTV or smartphone will never duplicate “one touch” simplicity.
I don’t know who pulled the plug on this platform without finding anyone to take over the service, but whomever that bonehead is needs to appreciate the axiom: “the consumer is always right”. If consumers want choices that aren’t dependent on “apps” and the blue-light emitting devices they rely upon, they should HAVE that choice!
Reciva was sold many years ago so it’s not a company anymore. CSR the biggest manufacturers of Bluetooth chips bought them then qualcomm bought csr a couple years ago.
I’m a happy long time owner of Tangent Quattro WiFi radio and I’m very unhappy with this decicion… naturally I have been kinda waiting for this to happen eventually but I don’t like the end result (my radio becomes a useless brick on my desk).
More internet generated e-waste
Yes, this was very distressing. I have just got my Reciva based radios working the way I like them, replacing the WiFi with USB ethernet adapters and bringing out the audio to RCA plug cables. Fortunately, I was trying to figure out what to do with my Raspberry Pi and found something called MusicBox that takes manual station input or finds stations on several sources which are not Reciva or Squeezebox, so I am ready for the end. What the earlier post said about QRM is so right – I have given up DX’ing entirely because I am tired of the racket.
Unfortunately conventional analog broadcasting is winding up in Europe, the latest nation to be turning off teristial on air broadcasting is Sweden next month and many more are heading the same direction, especially now with 5G speeds and car manufactures here in Europe are installing streaming live radios and without any breakages in transmission due to super speeds 5G. Also commercial radio transmitter manufacture over at this side of the globe believe many of this type of conventional systems will be coming to a close in the next 4-5 years at best. Nothing really stays forever, just like compact discs have been replaced with download albums and files .
I live in the most highly populated county in the entire United States — and there are large portions and entire communities without adequate cell service, let alone 5G coverage. One-size-fits-all only works for uninformed technocrats who assume that what is available locally is accessible elsewhere. There are always places where neither old nor new technology/services can be obtained, be it radio, cell phone or even wireless access. The more we whittle away on the types of communications available, the more we promise to leave people in the dark. Technology should be an additive process. Instead it has become a self-cannibalizing process. Our Digital Overlords are committing the “all eggs in one basket” mistake.
“..the latest nation to be turning off teristial on air broadcasting is Sweden next month..”
That’s not true. In Sweden we aren’t turning off terrestrial FM on air broadcasting.
Instead terrestrial on air FM-radio broadcasting is being expanded. The private FM-radio network NENT, Nordic Entertainment Group, is expanding with hundreds of FM transmitters around Sweden to improve and expand coverage.
Press-release from NENT Group:
https://press.nentgroup.se/post/rix-fm-och-star-fm-nar-over-en-miljon-nya-lyssnare
The second private FM-radio network BAUER, is is expanding with tens of new high power FM transmitters around Sweden, to improve and expand coverage.
The state radio broadcast company, Sveriges Radio, is expanding their network with low power FM slave transmitters.
Wow, my Grace Mondo never saw enough use and now it’s a $150 doorstop. At least I can still watch VHS tapes on my old crt TV’s. Next to go will be analog AM radio I suppose. Technology has a way of making me feel old.
I wrote to Grace Digital https://gracedigital.com/ today, 11/2/2020 asking about the Reciva shutdown and here is their reply;
“Your presets will work until the URLS for the streams become outdated. Not all radios will be turned off at the same time. The Mondo will be in the last group to be terminated. The software is Reciva dependent, you can get all the details we have here:
Grace Digital Internet Radios manufactured between 2007 and 2017 will stop working. The internet radio station finding service used by our legacy internet radios is being discontinued by the 3rd party service provider. This will affect Grace Digital internet radios manufactured between the years of 2007 and 2017 including the original Mondo.
(Please note; the Mondo Plus, Mondo Classic, and Mondo Elite are not affected).
The managed shut down will begin on November 4th, 2020 and will be completed by May 21st, 2021. Anticipating the eventual shut down, Grace Digital has already developed a faster and more feature rich internet radio platform. Radios developed after 2017 are on the new platform and will not be affected. The models that are not affected start with model number ‘GDI-WH’ otherwise known as:
• Mondo plus / Mondo plus classic /Mondo elite / Mondo elite Classic
• Encore plus
• Grace Link / Grace Link Amp
The new Grace Digital platform features quad core microprocessors, over double the available radio stations, NPR, FOX news, BBC, CBS radio, Chromecast audio built in, and music services such as Amazon Music, SiriusXM and Bluetooth streaming. These new internet radios do not use a 3rd party server network to operate).
If you have a legacy internet radio, to help with the transition, Grace Digital will offer special one time discounts to effected customers. If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer, please press the following button and provide key information to our customer service team.”
I did fill out the upgrade form but have not received a price yet.
Graces newer radios don’t use a third party to capture stations, but what if Grace itself goes out of business? Wouldn’t you lose the functionality of your radio in that case?
As we all know, there has been a huge increase in the amount of RF interference in the last few years. This interference can come from many sources, including:
– Wi-Fi signals
– AC power adapters
– CFL (compact fluorescent) light bulbs
– Light switch dimmers
I have a couple of elderly relatives who depend on AM radio for news and entertainment. There is now so much RF interference in their homes that they can barely hear the announcers over the static.
A compact, easy-to-use Internet radio is ideal for this situation. I saved their favorite AM radio streams to the large buttons on the front panel of the radio. They now enjoy listening to static-free AM radio news and entertainment on their Grace Digital Internet radios.
Bummer. I will miss them, but mostly use Pandora now anyway.
We have a Grace Radio Mondo in our kitchen and use it a lot everyday. I wrote to them today and asked if Reciva will be replaced with something else like Vtuner. Will let you know what they say.
It cannot be replaced. The old Grace radios use the reciva platform designed 15 years ago. The reciva platform controls the old Grace radios, so changing the database would be irrelevant. With the exception of the presets other functions Require the sever to be up.
The new Grace radio platform does no require a server platform to operate so no 3rd party provider is required .
Expressing what’s probably a minority view here, but here goes (and speaking as a long time owner of a Logitech Squeezebox).
In recent years I’ve increasingly questioned the market need for an internet radio _device_ in the form factor of a traditional radio.
True these radio-like boxes offer convenience, portability and ease of use, but having that type of usefulness dependent on an aggregator service. Their very existence is tenuous because they make almost no income for providing the service and are constantly the targets of fights, lawsuits, and restrictions posed by local, national, and international laws.
Numerous other “connected” devices (PCs, phones, tablets, “smart” TV devices, even newer car sound systems) can stream radio content from the Internet, and are far friendlier when it comes to contingencies when the existing arrangement fails for one of the reasons listed above.
I think it was good when it lasted, but more and more we’re beating a dead horse on a nich market within a nich market which is now in its death throes.
I don’t disagree with you, Mike.
In fact, in the past two years, my opinion has changed quite a bit. I still like having an Internet “Device” like a WiFi radio. In my world, it makes something I enjoy doing (tuning internet stations) easy, simple and portable. With that said, I’m no longer willing to invest much money in an Internet radio because I know that any day it could become a cool looking door stop or paper weight if the aggregator disappears.
Many radios allow for manual entry of stations and that’s great. But honestly, that takes away from the convenience factor of a WiFi radio.
I’m not sure where things are going, but I would guess WiFi radio is becoming more the domain of smart speakers.
-Thomas
On a conventional radio, the use is straightforward: Hit “Power”, “preset” (or last-used frequency) and volume: 2-3 steps.
Oftentimes, even though a smart device is handy, there are many more steps actually involved — not to mention that the app developer has access to everything we do both inside (and often outside) the app thanks to the TOS that most users do not read. Is Of course there will be a preference for replacing technologies that collect less data about their users with those that do. No matter how much privacy we consumers lose in the process, we’re all too happy to go along. Maybe we should begin to differentiate between what is simpler to use (fewer steps) vs. what is more lucrative for those who are selling our data if not also overseeing, increasingly, who has a “right” to voice their opinions on their platforms (or risk being de-platformed). App-based solutions offer a certain level of convenience but not necessarily because they are better — as anyone who must keep track of dozens of logins, if not also re-occuring subscription costs, can attest to. Smart technologies became attractive to “cord cutters” but, increasingly, they aren’t even “free” — even as they take more interest in policing our speech/use and even as they continue to profit from selling our data. Is that “progress”? Perhaps not.
Mike: I think you’ll still be good with your Squeezbox. I have several. You can edit the URLs directly on the MySqueezebox website or via the Logitech Media Server app.
It may be a good idea to have a public open aggregator that can easily be incorporated into a radio. My Sangean still works well, sometime I browse the collection of english speaking stations I put together and sideloaded into it. It also seems to have an over the air update feature which i hope would allow Sangean to switch the provider remotely.
I had the C Crane and Sangean WiFi radios when they first came out and enjoyed Internet radio, it was a way of listening to stations across the globe and the service was free. This was very exciting back then using new technology. I surmise that the popularity of the Smartphone and the use of streaming has been the one of the reasons for Reciva closing its doors. It was fun while it lasted but time and technology march on.
I can see the same effect of new technology on satellite radio; my XYL used to pay $260/yr for the service back in 2012, but dropped the service a year ago and now uses her Smartphone to listen to music in the car. Back then (2012) many new cars were equipped with a complimentary three months of satellite radio service. Wonder if that still continues?
Thanks for posting Thomas and long live analog AM broadcast radio!
Not surprised…a sad thing.
Asked C.Crane about this a few weeks ago and they said Receiva would continue “as far
as they know”.
Plan B:
You can still stream a station directly without a “middleman”.
Anything will work,an old smartphone ,computer,tablet (have a Kindle ready to roll).
The Greed of these people will come back to bite them.
Faulty by design, this kind of hardware… If the manufacteror would open his hardware, radios could be made to work on other platform(s). So, op hardware/software or the trashbin? And how fast you wanna trash? Trash the dividend!
There is still a place for satellite radio — and I would think, likewise, that satellite phones will eventually overtake cellular-tower based distribution (prices will eventually fall for satellite phones, too). 5G will not roll out everywhere and there are geographic areas (i.e. mountains) where conventional radio signals, let alone cell service of any kind, are unreliable — over large areas of the country. If one never leaves a metro area, one will not appreciate how uneven the cellular rollout was even for 4G service in the U.S. was. If 4G was spotty, 5G — which has less reach — will be even worse even at its best.
There is no need for satellites to do anything other than that which only satellites can do, such as GPS, photography and telemetry from above the earth. All communication benefits best by the fastest type of connection, which is land-based fiber, undersea fiber, point to point wifi, etc…NOT satellite which introduces latency due to the additional 40,000 mile round trip. Satellite radio and satellite TV are included in that. Satellite is for those who have no other alternative and that number will get smaller. One obvious exception is ships at sea, and remote areas of the world. The net result is there will be less dependence on satellite communication as satellites fall from the sky and it becomes infeasible to maintain their current numbers.