MonkeySqueeze

[nicolas75]

Regarding V1.5 you only need SqueezePlay if you wish to play music on a PC in-sync with Squeezebox system. In other words V1.5 works the same as V2.0 except it communicates via the CLI port (9090) instead of the HTTP port (9000).

Thanks, I tried but could not connect to TinySBS with 1.5, only to LMS.
I reverted to MonkeySqueeze 2

[Gingernut63]

Oh well, worth a try. Thanks for letting me know.

I'll put it on the wishlist in the MonkeySqueeze Development forum.

Cheers

[Gingernut63]

MonkeySqueeze V3.0 has been released!

It is suggested that MonkeySqueezers read the fully revised and expanded user guide to understand the changes to the functionality of MonkeySqueeze that have occured in this release.

Big thanks to Katteman for all the programming he has done, especially playlist synchronisation between MediaMonkey and the Squeezebox system.

Download: http://www.mediamonkey.com/addons/br...monkeysqueeze/
Support: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/vie...hp?f=2&t=59515

Looking forward to the feedback.

Cheers

[nicolas75]

Hi,
I installed MonkeySqueeze 3.0.
Almost everything seems fine, but there is an annoying problem.
I don't use playlist in LMS (actually I don't use LMS anymore, it is only there for MonkeySqueeze).
But the new playlist sync feature is very annoying and very slow.
Is there any way to disable it ?
I really don't care about having playlist in LMS ...

[nicolas75]

It seems that I don't have anymore the abrupt transition between tracks I sometimes had with 2.0
Vey good point.

[Gingernut63]

Hi,
I installed MonkeySqueeze 3.0.
Almost everything seems fine, but there is an annoying problem.
I don't use playlist in LMS (actually I don't use LMS anymore, it is only there for MonkeySqueeze).
But the new playlist sync feature is very annoying and very slow.
Is there any way to disable it ?
I really don't care about having playlist in LMS ...

It seems that I don't have anymore the abrupt transition between tracks I sometimes had with 2.0
Vey good point.

The greatest issues prior to the release of MonkeySqueeze V3 were MonkeySqueeze sending one track at a time to Squeezebox and the buffering (loading) of tracks in LMS/Squeezebox. Couple that with inherent communications delay between the software, and MonkeySqueezers found that sometimes new tracks would start before the previous track had finished and there could be large delays between tracks. If you had an up-to-date PC then these issues wouldn't be too noticeable; however on slower PCs the issues were magnified.

Enter MonkeySqueeze V3. It doesn't send one track at a time from the MediaMonkey Now Playing window, it now sends all the tracks in the Now Playing window (a playlist) prior to play. Now the Squeezebox system can start buffering the next track while the current track plays. This does a number of things. Tracks will play in their entirety and there is no added delay between tracks. The last point is especially important when there is no delay between tracks on an album, such as some classical, live or progressive rock albums (e.g. Pink Floyd). Tracks can also be added to the now playing window in MediaMonkey and they will then be added to the Squeezebox playlist while music is playing. Also, if you change the position of a track in MediaMonkey it will update the position in Squeezebox.

The only downside is the load time at the beginning; the larger the playlist (album or individual tracks) in MediaMonkey, the longer the load time. Katteman and I believe the benefits of this approach far outweigh the negatives, however MonkeySqueezers may not agree, time will tell.

I use the term "playlist" for the current tracks in the now playing window of MediaMonkey, which can be an album or individual tracks. I did debated whether to use the term or not but in the end I believe it best describes the list of songs that will be played.

In hindsight I should have placed this explanation in the user guide but "that's life". I'm certainly interested in feedback on V3 from MonkeySqueezers however they should use it for a time to become familiar with its operation. I'm sure they will find it an improvement. MonkeySqueeze V2 is still available on the Addons site for anyone who doesn't like the operation of V3.

Sorry for the long winded reply nicolas75, but it's better to get the full reasoning behind the changes to the script.

Cheers

[nicolas75]

Ok I understand.

Actually I noticed there is an delay between what is played in MediaMonkey and what is played on the Touch, delay which seems to increase track after track in the "now playing" MediaMonkey list (until I manually start another tracks list).

No problem because PC normal audio output is mute when I use MM to control the Touch.

The problem I had is that the first time I ran MonkeySqueeze 3.0, I had almost all my tracks (several thousands of them) in the current MediaMonkey track listing, and the total list was probably sent to LMS.
I had no problem after that.

[Edit] I have a powerful PC, but it may be a problem if you connect to a slow NAS or if you can make it work with TinySBS

[Gingernut63]

Ok I understand...

The problem I had is that the first time I ran MonkeySqueeze 3.0, I had almost all my tracks (several thousands of them) in the current MediaMonkey track listing, and the total list was probably sent to LMS.
I had no problem after that.

Yes several thousand would cause a problem!

delay which seems to increase track after track in the "now playing" MediaMonkey list (until I manually start another tracks list).

Sounds like you still have Remove Silence selected in your output plugin in MediaMonkey. Go to Tools > Options > Player > Output Plug-ins and configure the selected Output Plug-in (usually MediaMonkey DirectSound). Deselect crossfade and remove silence. All instructions in the user guide.

With everything that needs to be disabled, disabled, the time delay between MediaMonkey and Squeezebox will remain constant. It's pretty important to read the user guide to get the setup correct and understand what the new version can and can't do.

Cheers

[nicolas75]

Sounds like you still have Remove Silence selected in your output plugin in MediaMonkey. Go to Tools > Options > Player > Output Plug-ins and configure the selected Output Plug-in (usually MediaMonkey DirectSound). Deselect crossfade and remove silence. All instructions in the user guide.

That's right, thanks.

[nicolas75]

Hi, I come back to the problem of lengthy sync between LMS and MonkeySqueeze current playlist.

I have several thousands of tracks, some on the computers, others on external HDD which can be disconnected.

There is no problem with MediaMonkey, any operation is performed almost immediatly, even when the current playing list has several thousands of tracks, or when the external HDD is not available.

But the sync between LMS and Monkeysqueeze list can be awfully long (several minutes ...), even with a Core i7 computer with 8 GB ram, running Windows 7 x64

I even had some messages from the Touch saying that no more track can be added to the playlist (may be because of a disconnect external HDD, but not sure)

Don't you think there should be a limit to the number of tracks synced with LMS ?
Several thousands is obviously too much for LMS.

More than that, while this operation is performed, you can play music with MediaMonkey, but the script prevent MediaMonkey from being normally shut down (and nobody want to wait several minutes before being able to close MediaMonkey)

Note that I recently upgraded MediaMonkey to 4.0.1.1461