Server PC audio out?

[Theremin]

Maybe it's just my setup but I can't seem to get any output from the soundcard on the PC I am using for my server while my SB3 is playing.

Should this work or do I have to use another application?

[snarlydwarf]

Maybe it's just my setup but I can't seem to get any output from the soundcard on the PC I am using for my server while my SB3 is playing.

Should this work or do I have to use another application?

You would have to use a player on the PC, like SoftSqueeze or SqueezePlay.

[Theremin]

Thanks sd, I did try using Squeezeplay while my SB3 was playing and it (Squeezeplay) crashed (I declined the offer to send a report to Microsoft...). Does this mean it is not possible to play the same content locally in sync with remote playback?

[lrossouw]

Could also try squeezeslave. And softsqueeze.

[Theremin]

Do either of those allow me to hear both the SB3 and the server playing the same thing at the same time?

[toby10]

Do either of those allow me to hear both the SB3 and the server playing the same thing at the same time?

Yes. But the two likely will not Sync perfectly as you are mixing a software player and a hardware players.
Hardware players can all Sync very well together.

It might help which to suggest if you detail your computer specs, OS, SBS version.

[lrossouw]

Yes. But the two likely will not Sync perfectly as you are mixing a software player and a hardware players.
Hardware players can all Sync very well together.

If you are on WinXP then SqueezeSlave would be better for sync. SqueezePlay sync is currently not working on WinXP.

[Theremin]

Thanks, I'm on WinXP so I will try Squeezeslave. Still, I am surprised to find this function is not built in. What I was hoping to do was listen to my music through the SB3 in the main system in the lounge and be able to hear the same thing when I am in the office where the server PC is (and where I am writing this). Surely I am not the only one here who likes to use their Squeezebox this way?

[toby10]

Thanks, I'm on WinXP so I will try Squeezeslave. Still, I am surprised to find this function is not built in. What I was hoping to do was listen to my music through the SB3 in the main system in the lounge and be able to hear the same thing when I am in the office where the server PC is (and where I am writing this). Surely I am not the only one here who likes to use their Squeezebox this way?

You are certainly not alone, and you can do exactly what you wish via the software player.
They kept it a separate program for a number of reasons, a few that come to mind:
- can be updated independently
- many do not want to use it, so why add to server bloat
- software player can be run by itself (no SBS) for MySB use
- everyone gets what they want

The usual not so accurate Syncing between hardware player and software player may not be a big issue if the two are used far enough away from each other.

[Mnyb]

The soft players can also run on other local clients connected to your own server not only mysb.com

Softsqueeze can also accept server address in url not only ip
Nice for temporary listening on local server while traveling.
(note not exactly safe take care )

Softsqueeze, java player emulating the old players like SB3 and transporter

Squeezeplay (beta) emulates look and feel like a touch radio or controller, does not function properly on all platforms yet.
Squeezeplay can also act as an extra controller on you desktop and controll your other players

Squeezeslave headless player that can run in the background, can be controlled by web-UI or squeezeplay .

The soft player are treated like "real" players by the server so the are available for control on your controller or Touch .

Having the player as a plugin module makes sense for me i'm running a small headless server , wo graphics or sound .
Server bloat would be bad for me a player is probably using more cpu than the server itself .

[Theremin]

Thanks Toby10, I have downloaded and unzipped Squeezeslave and now have three executables. Could you point me in the direction of some instructions on the installation and use of these please?

[toby10]

Thanks Toby10, I have downloaded and unzipped Squeezeslave and now have three executables. Could you point me in the direction of some instructions on the installation and use of these please?

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/SqueezeSlave

[Theremin]

Thanks for your help TonyB but I think I may be out of my depth here. I had already seen that page and found it had no installation instructions for WinXP and sketchy instructions on use (for us beginners anyway!). When I tried running squeezeslave.exe a DOS window opened with a flashing cursor (no prompt even) so I guess maybe I need something a bit easier to use. Perhaps an optional plugin with a GUI would be the solution?

[riffer]

Are you accessing the server through remote desktop?

If so, what appears on the audio device list in controlpanel>soundsandaudiodevices?

[Theremin]

No, I don't use remote desktop, just a KVM switch. The soundcard I use is an external USB device (Tascam US-122) that I used for the Inguz plugin. The PC has Soundmax integrated audio which I don't use.

[tcutting]

I believe seeing the DOS window is normal. What "switches" did you use when starting squeezeslave? According to the wiki, if you run:
squeezeslave -L
it should respond with the available audio devices.
Hopefully from that you can figure out which one corresponds to your Tascam.
I believe I fire off squeezeslave using a .bat file which has the switches configured... a file with something like:

C:/WHERESQUEEZESLAVELIVES/squeezeslave.exe -r10 -02 -m00:00:00:00:00:22 192.168.1.xx

(I believe this is correct if you want squeezeslave to retry connections to the server every 10s in case of disconnect, use audio output 2, set the player MAC to 00:00:00:00:00:22)

(C:/WHERESQUEEZESLAVELIVES would be your path to where you've saved the squeezeslave.exe)

[Theremin]

Duh, so I can't double click on squeezeslave.exe and expect it to install itself?! OK, having understood that I ran squeezeslave -L from a DOS window as you suggested and found three players (*3:Primary Sound Driver, 4:US-122 and 5:Soundmax). So then I ran squeezeslave with r10 and o4 and my PC MAC and IP addresses and Task Manager showed it running. However CPU=0 and there is no audio to be heard. Can this be run while SB3 is already playing or does it need to start first? What is the purpose of the other two executables (squeezeslave-asio and squeezeslave-pastable) and how are they run?

[lrossouw]

So then I ran squeezeslave with r10 and o4 and my PC MAC and IP addresses and Task Manager showed it running. However CPU=0 and there is no audio to be heard. Can this be run while SB3 is already playing or does it need to start first? What is the purpose of the other two executables (squeezeslave-asio and squeezeslave-pastable) and how are they run?

Firstly you could at first leave everything about the mac address off. Only worry about this if you install another squeezslave on a pc on your network. I'm not sure what will happen if you give it the same mac as your pc. Your other options seem right.

The ip address should be the ip of the pc running squeezebox server. The ip should be 127.0.0.1 if you are running squeezeslave on the same pc as the server.

What happens when you launch squeezslave is that a new player becomes available. Launch squeezelave and go to http:\\localhost:9000\ Then on the top right you should be able to select a player called squeezelave. Refresh the browser if it doesn't show up immediately. So it doesn't matter what else is playing or not. If it doesn't show up check in the squeezeslave dos window if there are any error messages.

You can then play tracks on it. You could also then sync it to another player (though it is not always perfect syncing software players, such as the squeezelave).

If you later want to run another squeeslave on another pc you should give it a unique mac. I'd just use something 00:00:00:00:00:10 00:00:00:00:00:11 etc. This allows your server to know which player is which. This doesn't (shouldn't?) be the same as the mac of the PC.

[Theremin]

Thanks Louis! I now have it working after dropping the mac address and changing the IP to 127.0.0.1 (instead of the PC address of 192 etc.) The sync does not seem far off either and the extra CPU load appears to be minor. Thanks again to all who helped resolve this for me.