MySqueezebox.com & Squeezebox Server

[CatLogitech]

Anything that is not released on www.mysqueezebox.com is not an official release.

[rolski]

Oh, like the 7.6.0 official release that's caused all these problems ?  You are NOT being helpful or giving useful advice.

By the way, we're on RC3 now - RC2 didn't work either....

[CatLogitech]

The reason I bring this up is because any of the non-official releases can have changes made to at anytime therefore something that is working at one point can stop working.

If you do not want to keep trying different versions then stay with 7.5.4 or 7.5.5 if you are thinking of using Mac OS Lion at any point.

RC3 may not mean what you think it means. This maybe something they have put up for a specific person to try or test for a specific issue.

[pct]

hi garymc

i have a Duet, for which the reciever connects into a Benchmark DAC USB (see you have a Benchmark, too!) and then onto analog amp and speakers.  it works well most times, but every once in a while the wireless network lets it down, particularly when I'm trying to stream a studio master FLAC (example from Linn).  buffering mid-stream is very irritating!  after reading your post, thinking of a using a headless fit-PC2 type approach with Win7 and SbS

my questions are (and forgive me if naive), can i direct connect the duet reciever to the fit-PC2 and bypass the wireless altogether?

can i then still connect other computers in the house wirelessly (these would have lower resolution music compared to the fit-PC2); that is can I have a mix of wireless and wired connections into the duet reciever, and will it select correctly based on the "switch library" menu option?

finally, I presume the music could still be controlled by the CONTROLLER, i-phones and the web interface on any of the computers on the home network

any advice, comments are deeply appreciated

[squeezeit]

Best to use a router between the SBS server computer and the player.

No, SB players can only use one connection type at a time, wired or WiFi.

Your player can see and use multiple instances of SBS on different computers assuming all are on the same network.

Your buffering could be WiFi or your NAS is struggling, or both.  Is SBS server computer wired to your router?  What is signal strength on player?  Tried the player temporarily closer to the WiFi router?  Checked for interfering WiFi signals near you?  Checked which WiFi ch's are in use near you (and selecting ch 1 or 6 or 11 for your WiFi that is not in use near you)?

[garymc]

---

pct wrote:

hi garymc

i have a Duet, for which the reciever connects into a Benchmark DAC USB (see you have a Benchmark, too!) and then onto analog amp and speakers.  it works well most times, but every once in a while the wireless network lets it down, particularly when I'm trying to stream a studio master FLAC (example from Linn).  buffering mid-stream is very irritating!  after reading your post, thinking of a using a headless fit-PC2 type approach with Win7 and SbS

my questions are (and forgive me if naive), can i direct connect the duet reciever to the fit-PC2 and bypass the wireless altogether?

can i then still connect other computers in the house wirelessly (these would have lower resolution music compared to the fit-PC2); that is can I have a mix of wireless and wired connections into the duet reciever, and will it select correctly based on the "switch library" menu option?

finally, I presume the music could still be controlled by the CONTROLLER, i-phones and the web interface on any of the computers on the home network

any advice, comments are deeply appreciated

---

A few thoughts. First, with a robust WIFI network you should have no problem streaming FLAC files. So the first thing I'd do is try to figure out how to improve my WIFI network. This might include moving the router (even a few inches), a better router (one with better wifi performance), making sure you are on a little used channel relative to nearby WIFI networks (use netstumbler or vistumbler to look at all the local WIFI networks near you and the channel they are using), and set to g-compatible (rather than b-g) if you have only G and N devices (SB players are G). Also make sure your WIFI has a unique name AND that SSID is set to display (turning OFF SSID display provides ZERO security anyhow).

If you can't improve the WIFI, you might consider PowerPlugs (where you can essentially get an ethernet wired connection over your power lines). Many people use these successfully. Another alternative is MoCa (modem over cable). Here you are essentially using your house Cable TV wiring to deliver ethernet connection back to your router. I use this in one location and it works very well. But it is more expensive that Power Plugs.

Also, as Squeezeit notes, make sure you only have ONE wifi hop in your system,  That is, the computer running SbS should be wired if all the SB players are wireless.  Or, it could be that your computer is WIFI (laptop?) and all the SB players are wired. This is my setup at my weekend cottage. SbS is on Win7 laptop (wifi) and the players are wired. But even here, I use a RADIO that is wifi and even with the two wifi hops, I can stream FLAC files all day long to my radio via wifi. So again, something is fundamentally wrong with your setup if you can't stream FLAC files.

Regarding the FitPC, I've looked at this carefully myself and seems like it would be a great SbS server. If you search over at http://forums.slimdevices.com/ you'll find some threads on the use of the fitPC as a SBS server. I personally use a vortexbox appliance as a headless/keyboardless SbS server and it is fantastic.

I think I've answered your questions but if not, post back.....

EDIT:  And you'll need to have whatever you use as server connected to your ROUTER (best via ethernet).  Direct connection won't work in any reasonable manner that I know about.

[TCB-Mtl]

As a newbie, I'd like to make sure I've got this straight:

-- I can install and run SBS on a ReadyNAS drive, and stream media to my Squeezebox with the local PC switched off, or

-- I can stream media stored on another brand of NAS drive, as long as SBS is installed on a running PC somewhere on my network, or

-- I can get into Unix-level programming and attempt to install SBS on my non-ReadyNAS drive (as described here: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84735). This will allow me to stream from teh NAS to the Squeezebox without the PC running. (This obviously risks turning the NAS into a brick if you're a non-geek like myself).

Please confirm that I cannot run my Squeezebox Touch, for instance, using media stored on, for instance, my Western Digital My Book Live NAS, without having a PC running SBS somewhere on my network and acting as an intermediary. When you say in your post that "a NAS drive can be used without installing Squeezebox Server" by pointing the Squeezebox to the NAS IP address, what you really mean is that "a NAS drive can be used without installing Squeezebox Server ON THAT NAS" as long as SBS is running on a PC somewhere else.

Just checking so I can stop messing with open ports on my router in a futile attempt to get my Squeezebox Touch to read media on my Western Digital My Book Live without a PC running somewhere. I guess I'll need to buy a $200 netbook for this purpose.

[squeezeit]

TCB,

Correct on all counts..

[garymc]

There are some NAS units that are powerful enough to run SbS/LMS. So it just depends. But in general remember that NAS is "networked attached storage" or as some like to say, Not A Server !

[TCB-Mtl]

Thanks for the replies. Obviously I should have read the tech info a little more carefully before buying.

The alternative was a more expensive higher-end streaming device, which (I now assume) has enough CPU and RAM to run a server on its own. There are a lot of these out there. Eventually that will be the next step.