experience with Mini-Box M200

[Juggler]

Just wondering if anyone has tried the following server:
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/ca...it.A/id.443/.f

Seems like it could be the perfect silent SlimServer box. Has anyone tried this or does anyone know anything about it?

cheers,
Ju.

[nalfeshnee]

I have something similar, although not quite so high-spec: a VIA EPIA V8000 (800Mhz CPU) in a very similar-looking case -- front usb, etc.

It's running Debian Linux, with a just-upgraded 2.6. kernel. Headless -- although it does have TV out which is handy if you need to know what it is doing when it boots. Since I don't have a Squeezebox, I have SoftSqueeze running on it, meaning that it is its own "client": once SlimServer starts up, it runs SoftSqueeze and sets a RandomMix to get the music flowing. Outputs to a receiver.

Indeed, I only just got it set up how I want it at the weekend, since I finally went the route of separate USB Audio for proper digital out: I wasn't happy with the Epia V8000's supposedly-digital coaxial out. Didn't sound at all good. The Terratec Aureon USB mkII I have now got is fine.

I have a few more 'usability' adjustments to make, since my gf is eager to give it a go but she'd rather not SSH in and do stuff like shutdown or reboot manually ;-) So I need to install a web-based admin and get the system to signal it's shutdown properly. Plus the Random Mix stuff needs some tweaking..

Generally working really well though!

Now all I need to do is re-rip my CDs into FLAC, and buy another hard drive at some point :=)


Ed

[nicketynick]

I have something similar, although not quite so high-spec: a VIA EPIA V8000 (800Mhz CPU) in a very similar-looking case -- front usb, etc.

It's running Debian Linux, with a just-upgraded 2.6. kernel. Headless -- although it does have TV out which is handy if you need to know what it is doing when it boots. Since I don't have a Squeezebox, I have SoftSqueeze running on it, meaning that it is its own "client": once SlimServer starts up, it runs SoftSqueeze and sets a RandomMix to get the music flowing. Outputs to a receiver.

Indeed, I only just got it set up how I want it at the weekend, since I finally went the route of separate USB Audio for proper digital out: I wasn't happy with the Epia V8000's supposedly-digital coaxial out. Didn't sound at all good. The Terratec Aureon USB mkII I have now got is fine.

I have a few more 'usability' adjustments to make, since my gf is eager to give it a go but she'd rather not SSH in and do stuff like shutdown or reboot manually ;-) So I need to install a web-based admin and get the system to signal it's shutdown properly. Plus the Random Mix stuff needs some tweaking..

Generally working really well though!

Now all I need to do is re-rip my CDs into FLAC, and buy another hard drive at some point :=)


Ed

Could you elaborate a bit more on this please? If I understand, currently you have no direct user interface, correct? (skip tracks, browse, etc)
Web-based admin - you're proposing to code your own, or is there some other way?
So much to learn, so little free time......

[nalfeshnee]

Hi!

The system works as follows:

- Turn machine on. Boots up and runs the following scripts as part of its start-up:
- Start SlimServer
- Start SoftSqueeze client (using Java Service Wrapper -- let me know if you need help on this, since this works *really* well to run Java stuff on Linux)
- Run a shell script to call the Web interface and select a Random Mix. Note that all this does is call the link for "Random Mix - Album" -- it currently has no way of doing anything intelligent. Genres are pre-selected. Any changes to how Random Mix is set up need to be done manually, on which see below.

This is working fine. As the system is headless, I use a laptop and the Web interface on the same network to control the rest: setting new playlists, changing the Random Mix, etc.

I installed Webmin (www.webmin.com) to shut the system down. This has a module "Custom Commands", so you can easily write a custom command on the lines of "shutdown -h now" and shutting down the music server is then as easy as pressing a button once logged-in to Webmin. Webmin runs on port 10000, which makes it kinda logical since SlimServer runs on 9000...

And I'm happy to relate that since upgrading the kernel to use APIC, the system actually shuts off now, which solves the problem of knowing when to switch it off :=)

The next tweaks that I would like to investigate include:
- Loading a CD/DVD of tracks through the web interface: it's a pain to SSH in. Being able to simply load using the UI would be useful, as well as running a re-scan afterwards. I rip all my stuff on another PC and transfer thru DVD to the music server. This way I automatically have a backup, but, as said, actually copying the stuff over would be slightly neater with a Web-based UI.
- Ability to re-tag through the Web interface. This would be very useful, although it would mean that you would have to then save the changed stuff externally: there's no point re-tagging a load of files on the music server itself, only to have it crash and wipe out all your work. Since I rip on another PC and save all that on to DVDs, I wouldn't want to lose this security. To be honest, I should be backing everything up to tape, and am looking for a decent external tape drive at a decent price (something like an old DDS4 drive would be fine). I'd then simply run that once a week from the music server to back up everything (I only have 20-30GB of data, so space is not a problem).
- Some kind of indication what is playing. The TV out is maybe an option, but I would need a bigger, readable display, since complicated displays like Web browser windows are not very readable on the Epia V8000's TV out.
- Some way of easily selecting specific stuff -- say when a Random Mix is chosen that I really don't want. This would mean playing with infra-red and controllers. The Epia V8000 has an IR port, but I haven't looked at what software talks to it, yet. Have a feeling it is non-standard. And it only has a port, not the actual IR hardware, IIRC.

Anyway, I've rambled on too long. If you have any other questions, let me know! I'm very happy with this software and would be happy to share any tips I have discovered after setting it all up.

Cheers,


Ed

[nicketynick]

This is really interesting! How would you go about upgrading your Slimserver? Would it possible to configure the webmin to be able to handle this too? I've been trying to figure out how one could build a Slimserver that was as invisible (and similar to configure) as a router, and this webmin tool looks like just the ticket (although I don't have a clue about Linux yet) As far as transferring music files to it, I was imagining just using a USB external HDD, but there seems to be a problem with formatting it for easy interoperability between Linux & XP. Any experience with this?

[Smiley Dan]

I'm looking at doing something similar, except separating server and front end.

My main concerns, like the OP's, right now are display - how does Soft Squeeze look on a low-res telly? Also how to control - a 770 or laptop is fine, but I'd like an IR fallback when neither are in the flat.

[CavesOfTQLT]

Loading a CD/DVD of tracks through the web interface: it's a pain to SSH in. Being able to simply load using the UI would be useful, as well as running a re-scan afterwards. I rip all my stuff on another PC and transfer thru DVD to the music server. This way I automatically have a backup, but, as said, actually copying the stuff over would be slightly neater with a Web-based UI.

I use Filezilla to transfer my ripped flacs from my PC over to my KuroBoxHG SlimServer. There are others too, but this one's met my needs so far.

[nalfeshnee]

Replying to various points here:

-- Webmin might be a start, it certainly has a whole bunch of modules written for it, so the chances are good, that someone can automate some system task using it, e.g. running the update commands that Debian uses (apt-get) via Web (I am using the Debian package for Slim at the moment).
-- As far as transferring music goes, I find copying from DVD fine as regards speed, although I could use FTP if I wanted. However, since my SlimServer is sitting in my DMZ (because it talks to a wireless router), FTP transfer through a firewall is not as fast as loading off a DVD is, so that's the main reason I don't.
-- And, believe me, TV out on the EPIA V8000 is OK as long as you don't want to look at the display for more than about 3 minutes :=) Apparently the later boards are better - YMMV. The one I have is certainly no substitute for a proper display somewhere. But then again, using Linux, I can just log in over the network to a graphical desktop on the music server, so I don't need a display, except when doing tricky things like kernel upgrades or whatever. (The equivalent of this under Windows would be running VNC on both.)

I'll probably go the USB drive route at some point, but in terms of hard drive tweaks, I'm more interested in getting the current box running on RAID. I think I can squeeze another drive in there somewhere...

Cheers,


Ed