Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/04/05 9:16 AM I'd like to see a new remote with more buttons, just for the simple reason that I'd like to easily program my universal remote with all of the new/extra buttons. So you want a new remote so you can use another remote? Odd. (I have done so using an old ZENITH DVD remote, but it's not the sameand far more work than it's worth) The standard remote that comes with the SB is TERRIBLE, and a definite turn-off. A Turn-off to you. One of the reasons I love the squeezebox is the simplicity of the remote. I use my universal remote, but my wife and kids use the squeezebox remote. It's simple and gets the job done. If I wanted something more spectacular, I'd use my WiFi pda. Nothing would be able to match its utility or functionality, no matter how much time and effort was spent developing a new remote. Paul ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/04/05 9:16 AM I'd like to see a new remote with more buttons, just for the simple reason that I'd like to easily program my universal remote with all of the new/extra buttons. So you want a new remote so you can use another remote? Odd. It's not odd...it's the reason some use the JVC DVD remote codes.dedicated FF/REW/PAUSE buttons for starters. It's a pain for the average joe to dick around at this level. Especially when you are talking universal learning remote, and you don't have a JVC DVD remote to start with, and the default button layout is non-intuitive. (I have done so using an old ZENITH DVD remote, but it's not the sameand far more work than it's worth) The standard remote that comes with the SB is TERRIBLE, and a definite turn-off. A Turn-off to you. One of the reasons I love the squeezebox is the simplicity of the remote. I use my universal remote, but my wife and kids use the squeezebox remote. It's simple and gets the job done. If I wanted something more spectacular, I'd use my WiFi pda. Simple and gets the job done is fine and dandy, but how about intuitive...I doubt that dedicated FF/REW/PAUSE buttons would make the remote intimidating. Just hand the remote to someone, and see how long it is before you get the how do I do this or that questions! Danny Rego ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/05/05 10:24 AM So you want a new remote so you can use another remote? Odd. It's not odd...it's the reason some use the JVC DVD remote codes.dedicated FF/REW/PAUSE buttons for starters. It's a pain for the average joe to dick around at this level. Especially when you are talking universal learning remote, and you don't have a JVC DVD remote to start with, and the default button layout is non-intuitive. For one, this whole setup is NOT for the average joe (six-pack, to use your examples). But like I've said, everyone has their opinions. I've not had a problem with intuitiveness. A Turn-off to you. One of the reasons I love the squeezebox is the simplicity of the remote. I use my universal remote, but my wife and kids use the squeezebox remote. It's simple and gets the job done. If I wanted something more spectacular, I'd use my WiFi pda. Simple and gets the job done is fine and dandy, but how about intuitive...I doubt that dedicated FF/REW/PAUSE buttons would make the remote intimidating. Just hand the remote to someone, and see how long it is before you get the how do I do this or that questions! I did that. It's been almost 2 years and have had one question - and it was related to making up a playlist of shoutcase urls. Certainly not something any remote would be able to handle short of my pda. My 5 year old uses the remote with no issues. She doesn't even ask how to find Cheeseburger in Paradise or Fins anymore. I'm not saying a better, more featureful remote wouldn't be a nice option. I'm just saying if all your going to do is use it to program another remote and put it away, it would seem there should be a better way to accomplish the programming of the universal remote. Paul ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
Can you be more specific about what's terrible about the remote? This is just my opinion...take from it what you will... I don't like the multifunction buttons. I would rather see dedicated FF/REW/PAUSE buttons. A few other quick access buttons would be nice as well, such as ALBUMS, ARTISTS, PLAYLISTS, GENRES that would just take you directly to the appropriate browse locations. I know that you wouldn't want to overwhelm people with an overly complicated remote, but I think those few extra buttons would make the SB much easier (more intuitive) to use. Those are the basic shortcomings of the current remote as I see them. There are some other aesthetic things I don't like as well, such as the remote feeling, and looking cheap, as well as that it's a little too small for my liking (one man's gold = one man's junk...I know). Danny Rego ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
For one, this whole setup is NOT for the average joe (six-pack, to use your examples). But like I've said, everyone has their opinions. I've not had a problem with intuitiveness. Striving to make something average-joe friendly should ALWAYS be the goal, but I understand what you're saying. Just hand the remote to someone, and see how long it is before you get the how do I do this or that questions! I did that. It's been almost 2 years and have had one question - and it was related to making up a playlist of shoutcase urls. Certainly not something any remote would be able to handle short of my pda. Well...what can I say to that...people have accidentally held down the skip track button to have it fast forward, and they would wonnder why the song sounds funny as it clicks, and pops forward through the song. I've had questions about how to get back to the main menu to browse again...etc. It's easy stuff to learn/remember, but questions, and honest mistakes that can be avoided with a few more buttons. My 5 year old uses the remote with no issues. She doesn't even ask how to find Cheeseburger in Paradise or Fins anymore. A kid with a fresh mind is one thing, but a technology-fearing wife is a whole other ball game. I'm not saying a better, more featureful remote wouldn't be a nice option. I'm just saying if all your going to do is use it to program another remote and put it away, it would seem there should be a better way to accomplish the programming of the universal remote. To setup a universal remote properly, more often than not, you need to move the default buttons around, by learning/relearning buttons from the original remote. If that's required...there's no way to LEARN the FAST FORWARD command from the current SB remoteand if you don't have an original JVC DVD remote, you can't learn it from that either (and use the jvc codes instead). It's kinda hard to explain, but there is method to my madness on this one. Danny Rego ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
Danny Rego wrote: For one, this whole setup is NOT for the average joe (six-pack, to use your examples). But like I've said, everyone has their opinions. I've not had a problem with intuitiveness. Striving to make something average-joe friendly should ALWAYS be the goal, but I understand what you're saying. ... A kid with a fresh mind is one thing, but a technology-fearing wife is a whole other ball game. Here's the dichotomy that you need to understand before calling for change to make average joe happy: Desire to learn. People, whether average or not, will only learn as much as they need to get what they want. If your target user is someone who doesn't want to learn how to make the system work, you're going to make changes in pursuit of an impossible goal. Those changes will make things harder for the core audience. Better to take a page from IT Marketing's playbook: Declare pre-emptively that your system is more friendly, easier-to-use, faster, better for the corporate market, whatever. Suppress any evidence to the contrary, trumpet any evidence supporting your claim, and keep at it until it becomes common knowledge. Never mind tautologies, no one with the power to influence common knowledge will notice them. -- Jack at Monkeynoodle dot Org: It's a Scientific Venture... Riding the Emergency Third Rail Power Trip since 1996! ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
If your target user is someone who doesn't want to learn how to make the system work, you're going to make changes in pursuit of an impossible goal. Those changes will make things harder for the core audience. Udedicated pause, fast forward, and rewind buttons will make things harder for the core audience?!? Anything that faces end-users should be as intuitive as possible...unless of course, you risk losing functionality/power etc... Better to take a page from IT Marketing's playbook: Declare pre-emptively that your system is more friendly, easier-to-use, faster, better for the corporate market, whatever. Suppress any evidence to the contrary, trumpet any evidence supporting your claim, and keep at it until it becomes common knowledge. Never mind tautologies, no one with the power to influence common knowledge will notice them. ...anyways...I could go off on a rant here, but really, I just thought it would be nice to have a few more buttons on the remote...I didn't come here to argue. Danny Rego ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/05/05 11:41 AM snip on the average thing - seems we understand each other Well...what can I say to that...people have accidentally held down the skip track button to have it fast forward, and they would wonnder why the song sounds funny as it clicks, and pops forward through the song. I've had questions about how to get back to the main menu to browse again...etc. It's easy stuff to learn/remember, but questions, and honest mistakes that can be avoided with a few more buttons. Ok, I see what you are saying...not that I agree, but I understand. If anyone has listened to a digital track (or watched one for that matter), they will know what that clicking and popping is immediately, although there doesn't appear to be an easy way to stop it with the SD remote. Once you get to know the remote (mostly trial and error), it is quite easy to stop (and resume normal playing). My 5 year old uses the remote with no issues. She doesn't even ask how to find Cheeseburger in Paradise or Fins anymore. A kid with a fresh mind is one thing, but a technology-fearing wife is a whole other ball game. Then get her to not fear technology. It only took me about 3 months. Now she can surf through listening to any Paris radio station through shoutcast, or with a few clicks, over to listening to some classic Polka from our wedding cassettes (converted to mp3). I'm not saying a better, more featureful remote wouldn't be a nice option. I'm just saying if all your going to do is use it to program another remote and put it away, it would seem there should be a better way to accomplish the programming of the universal remote. To setup a universal remote properly, more often than not, you need to move the default buttons around, by learning/relearning buttons from the original remote. If that's required...there's no way to LEARN the FAST FORWARD command from the current SB remoteand if you don't have an original JVC DVD remote, you can't learn it from that either (and use the jvc codes instead). It's kinda hard to explain, but there is method to my madness on this one. tongue firmly planted in cheek If you have an inferior remote that you can't program with JP-1, then yep, you are up the proverbial creek sans paddle. /tongue Although the FF/RW is an almost commonplace modification. It's like that on a lot of mp3 portables to save space. ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/05/05 2:22 PM Since when does a wife choose ANYTHING over bitching about something the husband loves? (heehee) So true! But, when she gets her picture in a magazine 8-) I've got a Logitech Harmony 880 remote which is quite nice/flexible, That IS a nice remote. Been thinking about one myself for another project I dabble in (mythtv). Paul ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
I'd like to see a new remote with more buttons, just for the simple reason that I'd like to easily program my universal remote with all of the new/extra buttons. (I have done so using an old ZENITH DVD remote, but it's not the sameand far more work than it's worth) The standard remote that comes with the SB is TERRIBLE, and a definite turn-off. Danny Rego ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
I notice the web server chugging if I have any of my devices using HUGE playlists (like all songs / random for example). If I have all devices using small playlists (like ONE album for example), the web server is super-fast in all cases. Danny Rego - Original Message - From: Mike Benjamin [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Slim Devices Discussion discuss@lists.slimdevices.com Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 8:27 AM Subject: Re: [slim] Re: A better remote? On Fri, Jul 01, 2005 at 01:09:05PM +0200, Michael Herger wrote: : How much music have you got loaded, and what's your server hardware? : My server is a P4 with 640MB, with a 40GB OS drive and two 200GB music : drives. The web interface was snappy when I had only a few dozen : albums, but with 330, it's downright sluggish. For example, displaying : the artists list generally takes 5-10 seconds. I'm not looking forward : to when I have all 1300 albums ripped to the system! : : I can't confirm this. While my server is much less powerful (VIA C3/1GHz, : 512MB) I have 500 albums. The artist list takes less than 1 second to : display. The album list is a little slower (1-2 seconds). The difference may be OS. I run slimserver on FreeBSD, and I believe Michael runs it on Linux. Mike, if you're using Windows, it may explain it. I wouldn't be surprised if Unix performed better than Windows here.. it does with every thing else ;-). --mikeb : : -- : : Michael : : --- : Help translate SlimServer by using the : StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
RE: [slim] Re: A better remote?
Mike - would you mind giving this a try? Download SlimCD from my site and run slimserver from this livecd (it won't touch nor hurt your existing installation). I got quite excited by this. However, Slimserver does not seem able to read my Maxtor One Touch drive even though it is recognised as sda1 and I appear to be able to mount it. Simon Turner Barcombe UK ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
I got quite excited by this. However, Slimserver does not seem able to read my Maxtor One Touch drive even though it is recognised as sda1 and I appear to be able to mount it. And you have to mount it manually, this is not done automatically. mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 should do the job. -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong? Hey, you're giving the answer yourself: On thing, I'm not too sure of the syntax to reference drives using Unix. I have tried many variations to get Slimserver to index my files... should sda1:\LosslessMusic likely to work? Nope, this is where you're wrong :-). Use /mnt/sda1/LosslessMusic instead (as you'd see it in mc's upper left corner). And be sure to match upper-/lowercase. Odd things with this SlimCD installation include: I get a funny keyboard layout which does not seem to change after I have selected the UK layout Interesting that's even funny for you. I always thought this was UK - is it US? I've no idea what the big button below the little left and right arrows on the drive status indicator panel is for. This is the button to mount/unmount. For mounted drives it's green, unmounted black. My mouse-pad does not work On a laptop? Ist it USB (or don't you know)? You could try to shut down the window manager and go back to the shell (text mode): right mouseclick on the desktop, Windowmanager-Exit. Then run xsetup.sh from the shell. And when you're asked for USB mouse or IMPS/2 (whatever this is...), try to play with the different options. Then type exit to get back to the graphical environment. -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
Would a PDA have as slow an interface as the web slimserver, or be as fast as the remote? Most use the web interface on their PDA - which is obviously as fast as slimserver's web interface is for you. There's a commercial product called telcanto which is said to be _very_ responsive on Pocket Windows PDAs. I have never used it, though. -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
On Fri, Jul 01, 2005 at 12:32:43AM -0700, Justme wrote: : : It is a thought. How responsive would this be? I mean, the standard : remote is almost instant (well, sometimes it lags when browsing etc), : but I find the web interface on the computer to be terrible. : : I am used to using Jriver's media jukebox, and it is instant in : respons, with the web interface, it takes ages for pages to refresh and : to create a play list. For this reason, I create a playlist in media : jukebox and then export it to slimserver. : : Would a PDA have as slow an interface as the web slimserver, or be as : fast as the remote? The PDA solution mentioned would use the web interface. However, it is within a second as fast as the infrared remote in my experience. You may want to check out your setup if it's as slow as you describe. For what it's worth, I just purchased an iPAQ rx3115, and am using it as both the infrared remote and web controller. It is working beautifully, and replaced 3 remotes in all. I purchased the rx3715 cradle to use with it on the end table, and a AC-USB power charger so only one cable was coming out the back. I then synchronize it to the PC via bluetooth. I am very pleased with it.. although it is more expensive than other solutions. --mikeb : : : -- : Justme ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
How much music have you got loaded, and what's your server hardware? My server is a P4 with 640MB, with a 40GB OS drive and two 200GB music drives. The web interface was snappy when I had only a few dozen albums, but with 330, it's downright sluggish. For example, displaying the artists list generally takes 5-10 seconds. I'm not looking forward to when I have all 1300 albums ripped to the system! I can't confirm this. While my server is much less powerful (VIA C3/1GHz, 512MB) I have 500 albums. The artist list takes less than 1 second to display. The album list is a little slower (1-2 seconds). -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
RE: [slim] Re: A better remote?
My server is a P4 with 640MB, with a 40GB OS drive and two 200GB music drives. The web interface was snappy when I had only a few dozen albums, but with 330, it's downright sluggish. For example, displaying the artists list generally takes 5-10 seconds. I'm not looking forward to when I have all 1300 albums ripped to the system! My main server is a 1.5ghz P4 with 1mb or RAM, and I have another another on a 2.3ghz, 0.5mbRAM laptop, both running XP Pro SP2. I have about 650 albums held in flac format on a 300gb Maxtor One Touch (USB 2). I stream PCM to a Squeezebox 1 wirelessly. I find the web interface exasperatingly slow (not infrequently I get quite annoyed waiting for it too list items and find myself cursing the thing). About two weks ago I upgraded from SS 5.4.1 to the 6*** release listed on the SlimDevices home page but found that there was no performance improvement and that whenever I used the remote (my favoured method for controlling my Squeezebox) to list the music the audio would stall for seconds at a time (sometimes over 10!)and the bottons became unresponsive. I reverted back to 5.4.1 as the behaviour of the Remote is better (but certainly not perfect... it is still nowhere near as responsive to button presses as I would like and listing music still takes far too long). I'd hate to think what it would be like if I had 1300 albums (i.e. twice as many as current)! As I've stated before, I'd be very happy to pay for software that worked much better in Windows (perhaps written in C++, but definitely not Java, Perl or VB), with perhaps less functionality, as long as it was fast, responsive, stable and immediate to use. I tend to use Foobar2000 as my benchmark for this (someone is now going to tell me this is designed in VB!). For me this is much more of a priority than a better remote. I use my Squeezebox much less than I would otherwise because of the frustrating performance of SlimServer on my machines. Sorry to subvert the thread. Simon Turner Barcombe UK ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
On Fri, Jul 01, 2005 at 01:09:05PM +0200, Michael Herger wrote: : How much music have you got loaded, and what's your server hardware? : My server is a P4 with 640MB, with a 40GB OS drive and two 200GB music : drives. The web interface was snappy when I had only a few dozen : albums, but with 330, it's downright sluggish. For example, displaying : the artists list generally takes 5-10 seconds. I'm not looking forward : to when I have all 1300 albums ripped to the system! : : I can't confirm this. While my server is much less powerful (VIA C3/1GHz, : 512MB) I have 500 albums. The artist list takes less than 1 second to : display. The album list is a little slower (1-2 seconds). The difference may be OS. I run slimserver on FreeBSD, and I believe Michael runs it on Linux. Mike, if you're using Windows, it may explain it. I wouldn't be surprised if Unix performed better than Windows here.. it does with every thing else ;-). --mikeb : : -- : : Michael : : --- : Help translate SlimServer by using the : StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
The difference may be OS. I run slimserver on FreeBSD, and I believe Michael runs it on Linux. Yes, I do. Mike, if you're using Windows, it may explain it. I wouldn't be surprised if Unix performed better than Windows here.. Mike - would you mind giving this a try? Download SlimCD from my site and run slimserver from this livecd (it won't touch nor hurt your existing installation). If you can access your music files from this system we could easily compare the performance of the two operating systems. -- Michael --- Help translate SlimServer by using the StringEditor Plugin (http://www.herger.net/slim/) ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
RE: [slim] Re: A better remote?
The difference may be OS. I run slimserver on FreeBSD, and I believe Michael runs it on Linux. Mike, if you're using Windows, it may explain it. I wouldn't be surprised if Unix performed better than Windows here.. it does with every thing else ;-). This is my suspicion too. Perhaps SlimServer ought to be listed as cross platform if using less than 300 albums (or 200?) in flac format. Above 300 flac albums and you need Linux to run it acceptably. As I do not want to run Linux (which would also mean having one PC dedicated solely to Slimserver, and a learning curve I do not have the time for) I think Windows optimised software for the Squeezebox is crucial for owners of large libraries. I just wish I was capable of writing such a thing. Simon Turner Barcombe UK ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
Re: [slim] Re: A better remote?
But to be hinest, I don't think this would offer any new functions on the remote to make it easier to use, just allow me to control all my devices (in a more limited way) with one remote. You actually could (quite easily) add functionality--take a look at the .map and .ir files...by modifying them you can make a remote do plenty of things that the original remote didn't come configured to do. And then with plugins you could accomplish even more... ___ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
