ALAC not playing - please help!

[cepheid]

Hi there...

I'm a fairly new SB3 user on a Mac. I just started encoding my CDs to ALAC and discovered that the SB3 won't play the ALAC files at all! Basically, the SlimServer and SB3 both tell me the song is playing, BUT the time indicator doesn't move and no sound comes out of the SB3. In fact, the SB3 even knows nothing is playing - the VU meter is at 0 at all times. But the indicator is clearly on "play," not pause or stop.

Note that MP3s play just fine, so something is clearly not working properly with ALAC playback.

I went to Server Settings -> File Types and made sure that Apple Lossless transcoding to both AIFF and FLAC were enabled. I also tried keeping only one of them enabled, and not the other... still no go. I tried stopping and restarting the SlimServer, also no go.

I noticed that the 'perl' task is taking up 10-15% CPU when the box thinks it's playing, so the server appears to be trying to transcode, but nothing is actually making it down the network to the SB3, and the SB3 plays nothing.

I'm on a 1.25GHz G4 so the CPU should have plenty of power to transcode on the fly... any ideas? Since I know ALAC should be supported through transcoding, it seems like it SHOULD be working, but it's clearly not.

I'm using SlimServer 6.2.1 (FW 28) with an SB3 on OS X 10.3.9, on a 15" AlBook, 1.25GHz G4, 1.25GB RAM. I guess I should also mention I'm using iTunes 4.7.1 (yes, I know it's old, it's for a reason), though I don't think that should make much of a difference.

I guess I should also point out that I'm running the SB3 wirelessly on an 802.11g network. The SB3 has good signal strength and I don't think bandwidth is an issue... if it were, wouldn't the SB3 be stuttering or pausing, rather than not playing AT ALL?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[danco]

At a guess, you are missing a program needed to do the transcoding. I'm not sure if LAME does this, or if something else is needed. If the latter, you may have the program but it may not be in the right place or have the right privileges.

You could get some information from the Slimserver log (there's a place to click in the Sever settings > Debugging page), but I suspect you would need to turn on some of the debugging flags, and I am not sure while ones you need.

[cepheid]

At a guess, you are missing a program needed to do the transcoding. I'm not sure if LAME does this, or if something else is needed. If the latter, you may have the program but it may not be in the right place or have the right privileges.
Transcoding from ALAC is done with mov123 or flac, depending on the final format you want. I've got both programs, and both have the proper permissions on them.

I did also check the log and it has not specific error messages, though I don't know whether I need to enable other debugging modes or not.

I think the transcoding binaries are probably not the issue, although then again, maybe they are... but they're certainly present and have proper permissions.

[cepheid]

Bumping this - please help, this is quite annoying, especially because the SB3 is supposed to be able to play ALAC songs!

SlimDevices guys, if you're around, your advice would be greatly appreciated as well.

[kdf]

best chance of finding out what is going on when you try to play is to
run command-line, adding --d_source for debugging messages in regard
to transcoding and playback processes. Even if you don't run
command-line, you can still check the log for d_source messages once
you set that flag in server settings->debugging. You will miss any
messages that involve error output from mov123 however. The server
will only report a lack of data in that case.

-kdf

[cepheid]

kdf: Thanks for the suggestion. I did just that, and here's the relevant command that seems to cause the error:
2006-03-21 21:07:30.8676 Using command for conversion: "/Library/PreferencePanes/SlimServer.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/darwin/mov123" "/Users/cepheid/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/James/Laid/08 Everybody Knows.m4a" | "/Library/PreferencePanes/SlimServer.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/darwin/flac" -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian big --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 - & |
2006-03-21 21:07:30.9977 Streaming with format: flc
Failed at line: 284
Conversion failed with error: -50
Everything up to this point SEEMS to run just fine - the server identifies the .m4a (ALAC) file as type 'mov' and tries to convert it to FLAC using mov123 and/or flac, but that command fails. The permissions on the mov123 and flac executables are fine, but for some reason, it's just not working...

EDIT:
It appears that mov123 is what's causing the error... as follows:
[PortaPotty:server/Bin/darwin] cepheid% mov123 ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music/James/Laid/08\ Everybody\ Knows.m4a
Failed at line: 284
Conversion failed with error: -50
So, apparently, mov123 is the culprit. Since I didn't mention this before, I'll say that I'm using QuickTime 6.5.

Any ideas? SlimDevices people, suggestions?

Thanks!

[cepheid]

Looks like mov123 is causing the failure. See the edit of the above post for the details.

[kdf]

On 21-Mar-06, at 9:13 PM, cepheid wrote:
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> 2006-03-21 21:07:30.8676 Using command for conversion:
> "/Library/PreferencePanes/SlimServer.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/
> darwin/mov123" "/Users/cepheid/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/James/Laid/08
> Everybody Knows.m4a" |
> "/Library/PreferencePanes/SlimServer.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/
> darwin/flac" -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian big
> --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 - & |
>
what if you try to run that above command directly from a
terminal/command prompt?

does the first half work:
"/Library/PreferencePanes/Slimserver.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/
darwin/mov123" "/Users/cepheid/Music/iTunes Music/James/Laid/08
Everybody Knows.m4a"

I forget the details you first posted, but is this file purchased
online or ripped?
-k

[cepheid]

what if you try to run that above command directly from a terminal/command prompt?
I did that - if you look at the second box of code in my previous post, it contains the output of calling mov123 directly... mov123 is what generates the error. Unfortunately, it doesn't give me any extra debugging information about what specifically is going wrong.

I forget the details you first posted, but is this file purchased online or ripped?
I never actually mentioned that, although all the details I first posted are given right in the OP. =D But this file is ripped, not purchased. I don't even know if you can purchase Apple Lossless files online... can you?

[cepheid]

kdf:

I tried the nightly of server v6.2.2 (firmware 35), and still no dice. mov123 still dies with the exact same error. That's not really a surprise since the version of mov123 that ships with v6.2.2 is identical to the one that ships with v6.2.1.

Server v6.5 also has the same version of mov123... so it looks like the bug is firmly with mov123 and not the rest of the server software.

[danial40]

I'm also new to SB3 and my first post here.

I was in the same boat as you are 'til I upgraded to quicktime 7.0.4.

[cepheid]

I was in the same boat as you are 'til I upgraded to quicktime 7.0.4.
Hi danial40,

Thanks for letting me know. Did other versions of QT also work, or did you go straight from 6.5 to 7.x?

The reason I have not yet upgraded is that QT 6.5 has a "hidden" feature that allows exporting of AAC files to AIFF, which therefore allows conversion of iTunes-purchased songs without having to go through the hassle of burning and re-ripping a CD. QT 6.5.1 and up removed this feature.

I'm not sure that this bug is actually in QT itself since iTunes has no problems playing or converting my ALAC files... if I do the conversion from ALAC to AAC or MP3 in iTunes, it all works fine. If iTunes can do it, then mov123 should be able to do it, too! Clearly the error happens during a call to a QT function, but if iTunes doesn't get such an error, perhaps mov123 can be fixed so it doesn't, either...

[danial40]

Hi danial40,

Thanks for letting me know. Did other versions of QT also work, or did you go straight from 6.5 to 7.x?

I went direct to QT 7.0.4.



I'm not sure that this bug is actually in QT itself since iTunes has no problems playing or converting my ALAC files... if I do the conversion from ALAC to AAC or MP3 in iTunes, it all works fine. If iTunes can do it, then mov123 should be able to do it, too! Clearly the error happens during a call to a QT function, but if iTunes doesn't get such an error, perhaps mov123 can be fixed so it doesn't, either...

Maybe Slimserver 6.2.x requires latest QT libraries to transcode ALAC. I'm only quessing.

[cepheid]

Maybe Slimserver 6.2.x requires latest QT libraries to transcode ALAC. I'm only quessing.
It's possible... though that isn't mentioned in the system requirements! But if iTunes can convert from ALAC to other formats using QT 6.5, then mov123 should, in principle, be able to as well. It would be nice to hear from some of the Slim developers... =)

[kdf]

Slim developers... =)

ah right. ok, I give up.

[cepheid]

ah right. ok, I give up.
Sorry kdf, I did not know you were one of the developers! I guess I was thinking more of the Slim Devices employees, but obviously most of the developers are non-employees.

In any case, sorry for any improper implications, no offense was meant.

I have not yet reinstalled QT 6.5 from the original installer, but I suspect that won't do much to help. I'll try your suggestion of using mov123 from an earlier SlimServer version, that may work... otherwise, I guess I'll have to upgrade to QT 7. Oh well. =)

I'll let you know how it works out...

Thanks!

[cepheid]

So just to follow up on this...

I bit the bullet and upgraded to QT 7.0.4, and ALAC files are now playing just fine. So, I would recommend that the SlimServer documentation be updated to mention that QT must be newer than 6.5 for ALAC/AAC to play. I don't know whether QT 6.5.1 or 6.5.2 would have worked... I went directly to 7.0.4. So at the very least, QT 7.x is required, though 6.5.1 or 6.5.2 may suffice, as well.

Perhaps this should be put into a wiki. =)