m4a files on LMS Ubuntu Server 12.04

[bpa]

Are there plans to fix the 64-bit version of flac so that that just works so that we don't have install ia32-libs?

Any other suggestions? Can I download the 32-bit flac binary from somewhere or will that require shared libraries that I don't have on my 64-bit system?

Thanks in advance!

Two suggestions:
1. Build your own 64 bit flac and faad with the LMS patches.
2. Assuming you are using the BBCiPlayer plugin - change the setting to play WMA streams rather than AAC.

[gavbrown]

Are there plans to fix the 64-bit version of flac so that that just works so that we don't have install ia32-libs?

I've just stumbled across this issue also on new Ubuntu build. I'd agree most systems are 64 bit now so including 64bit binaries would be a big help (and save a few hundred megs if i32 libraries on 64bit systems!). Since there's a clean architecture structure in /usr/share/squeezeboxserver/Bin/ it wouldn't effect other architectures either.

Who 'own's the slimdevices apt source and is there an issue tracker somewhere that this can be logged under?

Cheers
Gav

[bpa]

Who 'own's the slimdevices apt source and is there an issue tracker somewhere that this can be logged under?

The licences for the source for flac and faad are with their respective creators not Logitech. The LMS versions of faad and flac have a few small patches and I think the resulting licensing would depend on the flac and faad licenses. IIRC the faad license precludes the distribution of binaries except for licenses holders such as Logitech.

LMS and player bugs / features requests are done via the bug manager http://bugs.slimdevices.com/ and there are two related bug reports so far http://bugs.slimdevices.com/show_bug.cgi?id=16403 and http://bugs.slimdevices.com/show_bug.cgi?id=16403

However since development of LMS has stopped - I doubt there will be any change on this issue especially as there are fully functional workarounds.

[tricia]

Are there plans to fix the 64-bit version of flac so that that just works so that we don't have install ia32-libs?

sudo apt-get install flac:i386 is working again for me now.

[gharris999]

Are there plans to fix the 64-bit version of flac so that that just works so that we don't have install ia32-libs?

Any other suggestions? Can I download the 32-bit flac binary from somewhere or will that require shared libraries that I don't have on my 64-bit system?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, any 32bit flac binary will require the shared libraries. The 64bit version of flac works just fine for me on my 64bit system. I'm unclear about what is modified in the 32bit version of flac that's bundled with LMS. You could try renaming ./Bin/i386-linux/flac to flac.not or something and make sure you have the 64bit version of flac installed and then see if it "just works". As far as I know, it's the 32bit modified version of faad that's the important component.

[bpa]

I'm unclear about what is modified in the 32bit version of flac that's bundled with LMS.

IIRC The problem with the standard Flac is that when dealing with transcoded internet streams (or very big WAV files) - the standard version of Flac will stop playing the stream/file after 3h20mins (i.e. max number of PCM frames) whereas the LMS version treats the stream /files with max length as being no defined length (i.e. finish when stream is broken or end of file) and so will not stop playing after 3h20mins.

This typically affects older SB players where users are streaming radio all day long or playing large AAC file/podcast (e.g. a book or opera) but some users will have disabled some formats so where any transcoding to Flac is used - the time limit will happen.

[ralphy]

IIRC The problem with the standard Flac is that when dealing with transcoded internet streams (or very big WAV files) - the standard version of Flac will stop playing the stream/file after 3h20mins (i.e. max number of PCM frames) whereas the LMS version treats the stream /files with max length as being no defined length (i.e. finish when stream is broken or end of file) and so will not stop playing after 3h20mins.

You can find the patches applied to the LMS flac build on github.

https://github.com/Logitech/slimserv...ublic/7.8/flac

sc.patch
steven-allow-bad-ssnd-chunk-size.patch
triode-ignore-wav-length.patch

[gharris999]

...aaaaand unfortunately, CVS access to SourceForge is down at the moment. See: http://sourceforge.net/blog/category/sitestatus/

But when CVS comes back, you can check out the flac source code by following the instructions here: http://sourceforge.net/scm/?type=cvs&group_id=13478

..then apply the patch that Raphy points us to and then make your own 64 bit binary. That's what I'll try doing, anyway.

[bpa]

Or get the Flac files and patches from the slimserver SVN site http://svn.slimdevices.com/slim/7.7/trunk/vendor/flac/