How to setup an alternative vtuner service

This page describes how to setup a Raspberry Pi to act as a DNS server to manipulate the entries for VTuner.
Reason: my Yamaha AV receiver has stopped working with VTuner. Also the menu was too long and slowly for me.

Update 5.7.2020: it should work now with Denon receivers too
Update 19.7.2020: it should work now with Marantz receivers too
Update 27.6.2021:

if you don't have a Raspberry Pi or doesn't want to setup one, just enter 194.59.204.236 as DNS server in your AV receiver

(screenshot)

There are many pages on the web which describing how to setup a Raspberry basic system - I will not cover that.

First write down your local network:

Yamaha AV receiver	192.168.0.123	255.255.255.0	Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1	set DNS server to 192.168.0.130 (the IP of the Raspberry Pi!)
Raspberry Pi	192.168.0.130	255.255.255.0	Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1	set DNS server to your Default Gateway which hopefully act as DNS server (like Fritzboxes do)

Best thing is to configure the devices with static IP address configuration. Also keep in mind to run not in any DHCP conflicts.

Install bind and tools: sudo apt-get install bind9 bind9utils dnsutils

Create directory: sudo mkdir /etc/bind/zones

Create file: sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.local
content:

// ----------------------- Zones -----------------------
// Forward-Lookup
zone "vtuner.com" {
    type master;
    file "/etc/bind/zones/vtuner.com.zone";
};

Create file: sudo nano /etc/bind/zones/vtuner.com.zone
content:

;; ;; BIND forward data file for zone vtuner.com ;; $TTL 86400 ; time-to-live - 24 hours could have been written as 24h or 1d @ IN SOA ns1.vtuner.com. emailexample.example.com. ( 2020071401 ; Serial 604800 ; Refresh 86400 ; Retry 2419200 ; Expire 604800 ) ; Default TTL IN NS ns1.vtuner.com. ; reference to nameserver ns1 IN A 192.168.0.130 ;

this has to be the IP address of the Raspberry!

denon IN A 194.59.204.236 marantz IN A 194.59.204.236 radiomarantz IN A 194.59.204.236 radioyamaha IN A 194.59.204.236 radioyamaha2 IN A 194.59.204.236 yradio IN A 194.59.204.236

Create file: sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.options
content:

options {
        directory "/var/cache/bind";
        recursion yes;
        allow-query { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.0.0/24; };  // you may need to allow your local net here too, e.g.: 192.168.1.0/24;
        forwarders {
          // Google Public DNS
          8.8.8.8;
          8.8.4.4;
        };
        dnssec-validation auto;
        auth-nxdomain no;
        listen-on-v6 { any; };
};
//in case off you need to debug uncomment all the lines below
//logging {
//        channel client_file {
//        file "/var/log/querylog" versions 3 size 5m;
//        severity dynamic;
//        print-time yes;
//        };
//        channel query_logging {
//        file "/var/log/querylog"
//        versions 3 size 100M;
//        print-time yes;
//        };
//        category queries {
//        query_logging;
//        };
//};

Check config with: sudo named-checkconf -z

zone vtuner.com/IN: loaded serial 2019080801
zone localhost/IN: loaded serial 2
zone 127.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1
zone 0.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1
zone 255.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1

Restart bind: sudo service bind9 restart

Check if bind resolves correct radioyamaha.vtuner.com to 194.59.204.236 (keep in mind to insert the IP of the Raspberry after the @ sign): dig +noall +answer @192.168.0.130 radioyamaha.vtuner.com

radioyamaha.vtuner.com. 86400   IN      A       194.59.204.236

Finally make sure that bind will start after every reboot: sudo update-rc.d bind9 defaults

Create an account at radio.marty44.net and log in.

Turn up your AV receiver and select internet radio. If everything works as expected it will show an entry like:

ID: 1

Press one time the down button and it should show an entry like:

Key: 424009

Back to radio.marty44.net select on the left menu my radios.
Enter the ID and Key. If it matches you will see your radio.

Now select at the left menu my stations and add a stream. Please don't forget the prefix like http:// - example:
add a station

You can also move stations up or down so your favorite is always on top:

manufacturer	known working models
Denon	AVR-4308 AVR-X1300W CEOL-N8 CEOL N9
Marantz	M-CR603 NR1603 SR5011 SR7010
Yamaha	A-720 MCR-550 R-N500 RX-V457 RX-V500D RX-V573

Other manufacturers might work with little modifications too (find out DNS name, admin of this small website has to add it). If you are interested please send a mail to <EMAIL not shown, please create an account and login to see my email address>.

Last modification of this site: 27. June 2021