TopGeek;688585 Wrote: > That's a real shame, Marc but, with 3-4 alarm malfunctions in only just > over one month of experience, it certainly seems that your summation of > the situation is correct - i.e. this is not a reliable alarm clock. > > Mind you, it also seems to be a fairly unreliable Internet radio. I've > already had the experience of one of my favourite stations disappearing > for more than a week while others were telling me they could still get > it. I get frequent dropouts of up to 30 seconds on radio signals, while > there is no wifi or Internet interruption. It only has a mono speaker, > although it does have a stereo decoder so I can at least appreciate > stereo sound in my earphones. > > The impression I get is that this is a Beta product that should not yet > be on sale to the public.
Your impressions are largely accurate. I haven't got experience with recent revisions of Radio firmware so I can't comment directly there. You see, I still run firmware version 7.4.2, along with my own custom modifications to the Radio alarm code, and will not update the firmware on my Radios again... ever. 7.4.2 is indeed adequately stable for my purposes. While there are certain things that don't always work right, the failure modes are usually deterministic enough so that working around them and/or taking corrective action when these errors occur has become second nature for me. When you keep upgrading to new firmware versions you leave yourself open to whatever new bugs are introduced (obviously). That's true of all embedded systems, of course, but in the Radio's case the underlying software architecture implementation is not one that is conducive to facilitating new releases that are stable. 7.4.2 was the current version back when I originally modified the alarm code to be as stable as was possible. I explained directly to Logitech development at that time, and in detail, that the Radio software architecture did not incorporate the proper client/server model to allow infrastructure stability over the long haul (or the short one). They didn't listen (likely due to shortsightedness, resource constraints, the desire to heavily leverage the existing code base from the time that Squeezebox devices were far less intelligent, or for other reasons - but who from afar can be certain why an engineering organization actually does what it does). I knew then that alarms would likely never be particularly stable. Further, they would likely never be as stable as I had already made them with my modifications. I state this not to be presumptuous, but instead because it was clear to me then that even after I had shared all of my code and thoughts with them as to why and how the infrastructure was inadequate they elected to take the band-aid approach. That's when I 'cut bait' and decided to stick with 7.4.2 and my custom alarm mods instead of upgrading to the next release... I further opined, after extensive investigation - and modification - of the Radio firmware, that much other Radio functionality was also at risk of stability issues due to improper architecture. It's all here in the forum archives, I believe, if you're interested in the gory details. Practically speaking, the point is that once you find a version of Radio firmware that suits your purposes it may make sense to hard stop there and never upgrade again. New releases don't necessarily mean more stable operation when device software architecture/infrastructure is suspect. In the case of this device it is as likely that a new release means newly introduced instabilities in areas that seemed previously stable and deterministic in operation. If you investigate and understand the history of the Radio's software then you'll likely be convinced to spare yourself the time you would have spent applying firmware upgrades, writing forum posts, and chasing down Radio errors and instead apply that time toward other more constructive pursuits. I pop into the forum rarely now, and really only for entertainment purposes. It was not always that way, but there's only so much that can be done... In the case of the Radio, if you are a tinkerer who enjoys chasing and isolating new problems then it's the perfect platform to mess around with. If, however, you are only interested as a consumer in a stable/functional device to use for streaming and alarms you are barking up the wrong tree. With this post I would hope to save some Radio owners (who don't yet necessarily know any better) from the misguided notion that you'll 'soon' see stable firmware. Find a version that works for your purposes and in the context of the particular functionality that you desire from the device, and then stand pat... Regards, Marc -- Marc ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marc's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=34776 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93038 _______________________________________________ Radio mailing list Radio@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/radio
