Slimserver 6.5 on SynologyDS106 and m4a

[cyrusblack]

Sorry if this is just the ignorance of a linux newbie.

Slimserver6.5/SSODS r2b4 now run happily on my DS106 (thanks flipflip and others) and I even managed to install AlienBBC and edit the custom-convert.conf to make it work with mplayer-stdout.

MP3s & Internet Radio now work fine from SB3 and Softsqueeze 3.

However, most of my 4000 tracks are Apple AAC m4a and I'm realising from these forums (fora?) that SSODS/Slimserver won't work with these out of the box as there's no [mov123] converter.

Nothing I've read here (apologies if I've missed something) specifies whether mplayer-stdout piped to lame, say, can be used to do this and if so the arguments list required in custom-convert.conf

So my question is, if m4a from DS106 is possible can anyone tell me how to do it? TIA. Paul

[bpa]

The following are the mods to the convert.conf file to support m4a using mplayer on a normal Linux systems. mplayer has been modded slightly to make it work on the DS106 because it has no /dev/fd devices.

I advise you to look at how flipflip has used mplayer for RTSP with AlienBBC and then adapt the following mov entries for the DS106. You will be removing the
"4>&1 1>&2 2>/dev/null" stuff as that is part of what flipflip's stdout mods do.

mov mp3 * *
        [mplayer] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=/dev/fd/4 $FILE$ 4>&1 1>&2 2>/dev/null | [lame] --silent -q $QUALITY$ -b $BITRATE$ - -

mov flc * *
        [mplayer] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=/dev/fd/4 $FILE$ 4>&1 1>&2 2>/dev/null | [flac] -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian big --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 - -

mov wav * *
        [mplayer] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=/dev/fd/4 $FILE$ 4>&1 1>&2 2>/dev/null - -

[cyrusblack]

I advise you to look at how flipflip has used mplayer for RTSP with AlienBBC and then adapt the following mov entries for the DS106. You will be removing the
"4>&1 1>&2 2>/dev/null" stuff as that is part of what flipflip's stdout mods do.

bpa, many thanks. I'll have a go with this tho' I'm not entirely on home ground with what it all means..

paul

[cyrusblack]

I advise you to look at how flipflip has used mplayer for RTSP with AlienBBC and then adapt the following mov entries

bpa, I tried the following using similar pattern to the flipflip rtsp entries. At least I now get 'white noise' where once there was only silence :-) What did I get wrong? Any assistance gratefully received. Thanks. Paul

mov mp3 * *
        [mplayer-stdout] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=- $FILE$ 2>/dev/null | [lame] --silent -q $QUALITY$ -b $BITRATE$ - -

mov flc * *
        [mplayer-stdout] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=- $FILE$ 2>/dev/null | [flac] -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian big --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 - -

mov wav * *
        [mplayer-stdout] -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=- $FILE$ 2>/dev/null - -

[bpa]

It's possible that mplayer-stdout has been built without the m4a option so you need to do a standalone check of whether the mplayer-stdout will process your m4a files.

The easiest way is to create a WAV file from an existing m4a file. Example - the following run the command line would convert a test m4a file called infile.mov into a WAV file called outfile.wav (choose a small test file as output WAV will be v. big)

mplayer-stdout -novideo -vc dummy -vo null -cache 128 -af volume=0,resample=44100:0:1,channels=2 -ao pcm:file=outfile.wav infile.mov

Test the output WAV file on your PC. If that works then try the MP3 line.

[cyrusblack]

The easiest way is to create a WAV file from an existing m4a file. Example

Thanks. When I try this in the SSODS/bin directory, I get the response

-ash: mplayer-stdout: not found

The "mplayer-stdout" file is in that directory so I think I'm in the right place but it has no suffix. Is this a feature of executable binaries in the ash shell? If so, how do I run it in the DS environment? TIA Paul

[cyrusblack]

I *think* mplayer-stdout must be doing something with my m4as. I've just noticed that after rebooting SS and also my Squeezebox3 that when I try to play a m4a track I do get a bar or so of (distorted) music just before it turns into solid white noise.

This makes me think that the arguments in the conf file aren't right yet. Does that make sense? Paul

[bpa]

when you are in the directory with mplayer-stdout use
./mplayer-stdout

This gives the file path as the current directory as otherwise shell will look on the Path.

Definitely problem with args but I wonder if m4a decoder is not built in - mplayer might try to decode as some other format - hence noise.

testing with files will help find right settings.

[mr_hyde]

Hello,

you should select only the conversion to wav. You also should only use the wav (build in) option. Disable all other options for the conversion of wav data, because the the server tries to convert the wav from mplayer to flac or something else.

mr_hyde

[cyrusblack]

when you are in the directory with mplayer-stdout use
./mplayer-stdout

Doh! You have much patience.

That works fine. The output is a wav file which plays correctly on PC.