Alarm Incorrect in different Timezone

[saltedlolly]

I am originally from the UK but am currently living in Beijing, China. I bought my Squeezebox Radio when I was back home last week so that I can easily listen to BBC Radio in China, and also have BBC Radio 4 as the alarm sound.

In China, the alarm is currently being triggered 7 hours after the time specified on the device. This, I assume is caused buy a timezone issue.

My country setting at www.mysqueezebox.com is currently set to 'UK' since this is the only way I can use Spotify in China. (it is not visible if I set the country to China). My premium Spotify account actually should work in any country since I pay for a premium account that can be used anywhere (not just the UK). You might want to update this to allow Spotify to be visible in MySqueezebox globally.

My Timezone for the device is set to China (GMT+8).

I think there is a bug with the device, in that the alarm is using the local time from the country setting on MySqueezebox, rather than looking at the Timezone setting on the device. Can you please investigate this problem and offer a firmware fix...?

[Soulkeeper]

The alarm using the MySb.com setting instead of the device's setting makes sense, because the alarm is triggered from MySb.com and not from the device.

Perhaps it can be viewed as a Squeezebox bug, but it may also be viewed as a Great Firewall of China bug.

I think you should either set the correct time zone in MySb.com, or live with the consequences of your decision to "spoof" the local settings. Why don't you just set the alarm to go off 7 hours early? That seems like an easy enough workaround to me.

[saltedlolly]

While I accept that I am somewhat hacking the setup by setting my country on mysqueezeboox.com as UK, it does seem stupid that setting the timezone on the device doesn't also update the alarm. For now I have done as you have suggested by setting the alarm 7hrs behind.

Logitech either need to add Spotify to the China group of mysqueezebox, (and LastFM for that matter), OR fix the alarm so that it takes the timezone into account. It shouldn't be that hard to do, no? Both Spotify and Last.FM work in China with paid accounts, so why not enable them? There is nothing dodgy here - Spotify allow this. Ideally Logitech should do both!

I am not sure how this can be viewed as Great Firewall of China bug, since I imagine this would happen in any country where the timezone differs from the UK.

In fact this problem would affect anyone who takes their Squeezebox with them on holiday abroad...

[toby10]

Spotify and Last.fm (and all other such subscription services) have geographic restrictions as to where their service can be utilized, this is not a Logitech restriction.
Apps must be hosted on MySB.com partly due to such licensing agreement restrictions, so using MySB.com time zone settings makes sense in most cases.

My suggestion:
Buy a $5 alarm clock to actually wake you, then press your BBC Preset on the Radio for your morning listening.

[saltedlolly]

Actually Spotify can be played anywhere in the world with your UK account if you have a premium account (which is required for using Spotify on Squeezebox):

http://www.spotify.com/uk/about/feat...from-anywhere/

See 'Holiday Music' half way down the page.

Incidentally I think the alarm time zone problem has now fixed itself - I think when I changed the timezone from the UK to China, I needed to reboot the machine to get it to refresh from the server. It now seems to be working okay. I will test tomorrow and see if the problem is fixed, and report back if I am still having the same issue.

[saltedlolly]

Ok the problem is still there, but it depends on the server the Squeezebox Radio is connected to - remote or local.

When I am connected to www.mysqueezebox.com and set the alarm on the SqB Radio it goes off 7 hours after the intended time as explained before.

When I am connected to the Squeezebox Server on the MacMini on my local network, and set the alarm again with the SqB Radio it goes off at the correct time. This kind of makes sense since the SqB Server is in my local timezone, on a local machine.

The bug is therefore in how the time is pulled from www.mysqueezebox.com. Currently their are two choices on the site - country and timezone - mine are set to 'UK' and 'GMT+8' respectively. Obviously the time is being pulled from the Country and not the timezone. I hope a fix can be released for this.

Another "bug" that I have noticed (it could also be called a "feature"!) is that setting an alarm on the Squeezebox server does not update on www.mysqueezebox.com and vice versa. This means that if I happen to set the alarm on one and then accidentally, or otherwise, connect to the other server, then the alarm is not triggered. Obviously not a great thing to happen!

Is this how the device is meant to work?

Is it best to always remain connected to one or the other server? I must confess I find this two server system rather confusing. What is the best way to use this?

[Soulkeeper]

Is this how the device is meant to work?

Actually, it is.

Is it best to always remain connected to one or the other server?

Yes.

I must confess I find this two server system rather confusing. What is the best way to use this?

You just arrived at the correct conclusion. Choose one server and stick with it.

SBS should be able to serve all your needs. If SBS needs something done that only MySb.com can do, it will ask MySB.com to do it, in the background, without any need of you intervening.

At least that's how it's supposed to work (and for the most part does). I don't know whether/how your time zone/country issue affects the interaction/integration between SBS and MySB.com.

[toby10]

Actually Spotify can be played anywhere in the world with your UK account if you have a premium account (which is required for using Spotify on Squeezebox):........

I don't use Spotify so where you can use it after you subscribe I do not know.
I was referring to the need for Logitech to restrict access to where ever that service "allows" subscriptions.
Ex: If I say my location is in the US then Spotify & Deezer & Wimp are not even offered as Apps on MySB.com.
So, unfortunately, this then plays havoc on clock/alarm functions if you say you are in the UK but you are actually in another whole time zone.

...............
Is it best to always remain connected to one or the other server? I must confess I find this two server system rather confusing. What is the best way to use this?

Yes, as Soulkeeper suggests, it is best to pick one server and stick with it. Also SBS will provide some extra reliability when MySB is having issues.
Some do switch regularly between both SBS and MySB for various reasons, but I'd guess most generally stick with one or the other.