MySqueezebox.com & Squeezebox Server

[Hazim]

Hello,

I am using Squeezebox Touch with USB HD connected directly to it. I do not like to have the home computer on to be able to play my music. The whole reason I bought Touch was to be able to play music without having to have my computer on. 

But, the tiny SB Touch server crashes very often (at random order) and gives me message "server has been stopped due to a problem". I can see that many users face this same issue. I have been surfing the net for days, but have still not found a proper solution. 

I guess the problem is Touch's too limited CPU or something. So I am looking for ways how to eliminate unnecessary features and release the CPU load. Couple of ides:

- Is there a way to disable library scanning? I never use "artist, title, genre... search... etc... navigate" options - all my music is properly sorted in form of genre/artist/album - and I navigate through it easily by just using "music folder view". So, I do not need no library scanning and would like Touch to somehow stop from scanning the library, maybe that could make life easier for its CPU?

- Is there a way to FOREVER KILL apps like facebook, flickr, etc. - I like to use SB Touch for music ONLY and I do not want to burden it with those unnecessary plugins - I have PC for those!

How can I do this? Any other ideas that might help the server work better and not crash?

Thanks a lot!

[squeezeit]

Apps (like Facebook) are not loaded onto Touch and are only active if you install them via MySqueezeBox.com.  So just don't use them.

Touch and USB / SD Troubleshooting & best practices for best performance

USB or SD card devices

-         Check the formatting of the device, Touch supported formats:  FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3

-         Touch can only see/use a single partition, format as a single partition, or use only the first partition for all relevant music files

-         Remove any included USB/SD device “utilities” as these can cause issues

-         Make sure there is at least 10% free space (20% even better)

-         Remove any non-music related files (videos, documents, programs, pictures, data, etc…)

-         Or, if removing such files is not an option, place a . (dot) in front of folders that are not music related (folders not containing music files, album art, playlists).  A simple (dot) in front of a folder means that TinySBS will ignore these and (hopefully) greatly speed up scan times.

-         Attach device directly to your computer and run basic maintenance utilities (disk cleanup, error checking, defrag)

-         Storage unit must be writable (Touch’s server must install files and be able to write to these files)

-         Quick Test:  Place a small, single folder of music on the device for initial testing (why have it scanning for hours if it isn’t going to complete the scan)

USB HD

-         Try an external USB power source,  HD power supply or a powered USB hub.  (Touch may not have enough bus power to power the USB HD)

-         Try a different USB cable

-         HD Sleep mode can cause issues (may have to completely rescan HD every time it “wakes”)

-         If you turn OFF Touch or HD, or unplug HD, Touch must completely rescan the entire HD

Very useful tutorial & configuration ideas to get the most out of the very limited Touch inbuilt server:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82070

[Hazim]

Thank you very much, you are so helpfull!

All of the options you mentioned I had tried already before even coming here and they are not the cause.

But the link to the thread you provided is just fantastic - it lead me to a post with very cleaver solution of adding more virtual memory to the Touch. I have installed it tonight and I will see how it behaves...