Re: [slim] Re: Slimserver CPU consumption

[Jeff Allison]

Thanks to all who've weighed in on this thread.  I have adopted the turn 
Slimserver off/manage iTunes/turn Slimserver on approach.  I still see 
the occasional runaway case, but restarting the service seems to clear that.


- Jeff

gbreit wrote:
Fred Wrote: 

With 6.2.1 and a large library, iTunes interfacing is not really
"seamless".

Fred

Agreed. That said, I am happy that the iTunes integration works as well
as it does. My wife loves her iPod so this is the best solution for us.
Fortunately (?) I am the one who does the bulk of the ripping and
library management so I just take care of this stuff. She doesn't have
to worry about it.

Perhaps some of this accumulated knowledge should be added to the wiki.
It's not quite as easy as this suggests:

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?BeginnersGuideToOrganising

This one doesn't really get into the issues we have discussed:

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cgi?BeginnersGuideToiTunes

It may take me a few days to get to it, but I'll try to pull something
together.

gb





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Re: [slim] Re: Re: Better forum please!

[Jeff Allison]

StarBurst wrote:
Well do something about it and listen to the people who spend their
> hard on $$$ on Slim Devices products.
That's a keeper.
- Jeff
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Re: [slim] re: "EMPTY" when browsing

[Jeff Allison]

kdf wrote:
Personally, I've become sickened by the negative attitudes here.
I can understand this attitude, I really can. It's really frustrating to 
work hard on something and hear nothing but complaints.  The most 
rewarding experience I've ever had in 18 years in the software industry 
was working at a company called Innosoft International.  We'd go to 
trade shows and customers would actually come up and tell us how 
wonderful our software was because it just worked.  That was great 
because it is _so_ rare.  People typically react to stuff that's broken 
rather than stuff that works, with the reaction being based on 
expectation level.

Slim Devices occupies an interesting intersection of computer 
hardware/software and consumer home electronics, two markets with very 
different expectation levels.  Consumers expect home electronics to just 
work; the expectation level is very high.  OTOH, the expectation level 
for computer software is very low, with consumers tolerating a rather 
ridiculous number of bugs, security holes, and horrific UI's

I've got a wireless SB1 (non-graphic) running with the 5.4 server.  It 
works pretty well, although it suffers from the occasional dropout.  I'm 
not one of those who has been testing 6.0.  Hats off to those who have, 
because end-user testing is clearly the way that this software gets 
better.  Since I'm not testing I'm not griping...I'm just going to wait 
for 6.1 to come along before I upgrade.

To close on a positive note, let me say that listening to music with the 
Squeezebox is a quantum improvement over listening to CD's.  I find 
myself listening to music I forgot I had, and putting together 
hours-long playlists for get togethers is wonderful.  Props to the 
volunteers in the user community who have helped make this happen.

- Jeff
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Re: [slim] Universal Remote - Philips Pronto NG

[Jeff Allison]

Nic Wardle wrote:
Hi
I know its not actually to do with Squeezebox, but do any users
>  have experience of the Pronto NG universal remote by philips
> ? Especially with regard to using their SB with it?
I am looking for a "one-for-all" solution to the miriad of 
> remotes I now have.  I remember some comments on the harmony
> remotes - but liked the look of this touch screen device
I don't have an NG, but I have used an older Pronto for several years. 
It works fine with the SB.  In fact there are a couple of CCF files on 
Slim's website:   More 
CCF files can be found at remotecentral.com.

As others have pointed out, the touchscreen is not an ideal remote 
control interface.  It's great for flexibile programming, but you don't 
get any tactile feedback from it.  Couple that with the fact that the SB 
 processes remote control buttons on the server side, resulting in a 
variable delay, and you can encounter some frustration.

- Jeff
Any comments/experiences welcomed!!
Nic
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Re: [slim] Why didn't they buy a SqueezeBox?

[Jeff Allison]

Gregory Forrest wrote:
It seems that many people are having problems with 802.11b coverage.  What
kind of equipment are you all running for your access points?  Many
consumers don't realize that there are major and significant differences in
the range performance between various access point manufacturers.  One key
rule in wireless - you get what you pay for.  Keep in mind that most
Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, etc. consumer-grade units have transmit power
levels of about 30 milliwatts, and need a signal at their receiver of
about -82 dBm in the reverse direction for adequate performance.  But you
can purchase AP's for about $120 that provide 200 milliwatts and only
need -91 dBm of received signal levels.  These can provide four-times the
range, or much higher reliability on short paths.  The high transmit power
can also help overcome interference (i.e., Microwwave ovens).
I don't know about the specs, but I can throw in some anecdotal evidence 
on the behavior of different APs.  I used to run a Netgear AP that 
suffered tremendously from noise.  It couldn't deal with the microwave 
at all, and the 2.4Ghz phone was just as bad.  When I replaced the 
Netgear with an SMC Barricade I found the interference problems just 
went away.  To be fair, we use a 5.8 Ghz phone most of the time now, but 
we have the same microwave and it's no problem.

So in my particular environment there was a definite difference in 
behavior with different AP's.  I still get the occasional dropout on the 
SB, but I'm not so sure that's a network problem.

- Jeff
If you are interested in reliable service and range, consider some of the
high-power Senao and Cisco products.  I have no financial interest in this
recommendation - I just own a few.

Greg
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