Play Function On Remote Not Working

[bigz]

First off, thank you for building such a great piece of hardware. I have had my Squeezebox (SB2) for over 2 years now and love it. It works 99% of the time but recently have had some issues with the basic play function working. BTW - this has been an on and off issue for a while.

The SB is on the wireless network, the connection is fine, it sees the slim server, etc. However, when I go to play an album (browsing to the album and pressing play) or play a song (browsing to the actual track and pressing play) NOTHING happens. I could usually fix this in the past by updating Slim Servers but I have the latest version and I am on a brand new machine. The very first time I used the SB on the new setup, the play function worked so I know it's not the remote. In addition, all other commands work fine. From the machine (web browser) I have total functionality and everything works great. I am running Windows x64 but I don't think that is an issue since all other functionality is working. I am running Slim Server 6.2.2 and have firmware 40 on the SB2. I assume I am up to date with firmware? Does it update automatically? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, I am talking about basic functionality here. Simply put - the play button doesn't not start a track. Thanks in advance.

[ceejay]

Well, you don't have quite the latest ... there is a 6.3, unreleased but stable and it fixes some things. Latest firmware was 50 last I heard. So you could try updating with that.

But it sounds very unlikely that this is a straightforward bug as this clearly works for everyone else or we'd have heard about it! My bets are:

(1) need new batteries in the remote

(2) dodgy "play" key on the remote

(3) you've somehow messed up the IR code mapping so that slimserver no longers knows what to do when you press play.

Suggestions, therefore:

(1) new batteries! (apologies for stating the obvious...)

(2) back up your slimserver directory, blow it away completely and do a completely fresh install with either 6.2.2 or 6.3

(3) if neither of those works, look into the remote mapping function to see if you can swap the functions of a couple of the keys, eg "play" and "add". That should tell you something about whether you have a faulty remote.

HTH

Ceejay

[bigz]

Thanks for your reply. I am thinking it has more to do with the remote. I am using a Logitech all in one. I forget the model number but it's the big fancy $300 remote. It works VERY well with all other components so I was skeptical to point the finger at that. I will try updating the remote and moving some functions arounds. Keep in mind, I just did a fresh install of the latest release so it can't be the Slim Server or the music directory. Last question, how do I update the firmware on the SB? I "think" I have read to hold down the brightness button for a few seconds. Is this true? Thanks again for your help.

[bigz]

Bam! Looks like the remote was working fine by the firmware was having problems. I upgraded to the latest version by using the brightness button and the play button now works great. Thanks for your help. If I have any other problems, I will post back.

[Mark Lanctot]

New firmware is installed by installing a new version of SlimServer (that contains new firmware). If you press and hold the brightness button without updating SlimServer you just re-load the current firmware. It looks like that may have done something for you. There are some people that have reported mysterious problems going away when you do this, but it may not have addressed the root issue, which may pop up again. You may want to try a reset (press and hold ADD while unplugging and replugging the power). Reinstalling SlimServer may also help.

However my money would be on the remote. Universal remotes can be kind of finnicky. I find I have to re-learn a button from time to time.

Also if you really do have firmware 40, you have an SB1, not an SB2. The SB2 firmware included with SlimServer 6.2.2 is firmware 48. With 6.2.1 it was 28.

[bigz]

Odd, things work fine now at least from what I can see. The problem with the play function not working existed with the standard Squeezebox remnote as well. I really don't think it was an issue with the Logitech remote. Anyway, the SB said it successfully updated the firmware but in my Slim Server it still shows firmware 40?! I think your right, I do have version 1 SB not version 2. Either way, I guess updating or in my case, reinstalling the firmware corrected the problem? Is version 40 the latest version for SB1 packaged with my slim server 6.2.2? last question, would I need to stop then restart Slim Server to detect the new version of the firmware on the SB? Odd it's still at 40... Thanks.

[funkstar]

Yeah i believe FW40 is the newest one for the SB1. the SB2/3 are up to FW48 in the official release, or FW50 in the nightly builds. Remember it is a completely different firmware, not just a newer version, because the internals changed significantly between SB1 and SB2

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cg...wareComparison for more details

[bigz]

Interesting, so I assume that the firmware (even though it wasn't ever really updated) just got corrupt and fixed on the reinstall? Again, it said version 40 before the upgrade this morning and now says version 40 after even though I got confirmation it upgraded. BTW - I love the forums. Great way to chat amongst fellow SB junkies

[funkstar]

Perhaps a full firmware update wasn't required, but obviously sorted the problem and there is no harm in doing that anyway. However, there is a way to do a complete hardware reset on the device. I can't remember what button you hold down as it starts up, but it basically does a factory reset. This would be part of the firmware update process, so it was maybe that that did it. Your SB could have just got a little confused at some point and needed a kick

Not that it matters if it is all sorted now.

[bigz]

Totally. Thanks for the help!