Problem with shorten (shn) playback on Mac OSX on Intel

[dbwat]

Greetings, longtime Squeezebox owner here, with a wired Squeezebox "classic" and a wireless Squeezebox 2. I am having a problem with shorten (shn) file playback on Mac OSX 10.4.8 on Intel.

I have two Slimserver machines, both running 6.3.1. The main server is a G4 tower running OSX 10.3.9. That one's fine, it plays shn files no problem.

I just got an Intel core2duo 20" iMac, OSX 10.4.8. It will not play shn files. I have installed the shorten binary, and I am able to add shorten as a file format in server prefs --> File Types. I am using the shorten universal binary that is distributed with xACT. I have also tried using the powerpc binary from my G4 on the intel iMac. No luck with either. I have set the permissions correctly and tried many combinations for shorten binary's location -- /usr/local/bin, the slimserver.prefpane, ~/library/slimdevices/bin folder. All of those locations are successfully found by the change File Types actions, but no love on shorten playback.

When I play the shn file, the Squeezebox generates an error that says "Problem, can't open file for" [filename]. I've included a log entry at the end of the post.

This is driving me a little bonkers, as the G4 plays shn files without a problem. Unfortunately I can't store the shn library on the G4, so really hoping I can get this little glitch resolved and use my iMac for shn playback. Next stop is to convert a large collection of shn files to flac :-(

Any ideas folks? :-)

Log entry snippet here:
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2694 Adding song index 0 to song queue
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2696 Clearing out song queue first
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2696 Song queue is now 0
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2698 00:04:20:05:c9:4d: Switching to mode stop from pause
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2699 00:04:20:05:c9:4d New play mode: stop
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2700 Stopping and clearing out old chunks for client 00:04:20:05:c9:4d
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2865 Resetting song queue
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2866 Song queue is now 0
2007-02-18 20:38:37.2867 00:04:20:05:c9:4d: Current playmode: stop
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6690 00:04:20:05:c9:4d: Switching to mode stop from stop
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6692 Already in playmode stop : ignoring mode change
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6692 jumping to 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6693 Adding song index 0 to song queue
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6694 Clearing out song queue first
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6694 Song queue is now 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6696 00:04:20:05:c9:4d: Switching to mode play from stop
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6715 openSong on: file:///Users/db/Music/Browse/Shows/Porcupine%20Tree/PT%20-%20Filharmonica%20Pomorska/PTREE1997_10_02D1/PTREE1997_10_02D1T01.SHN
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6730 openSong: getting duration , size , endian and offset 0 for file:///Users/db/Music/Browse/Shows/Porcupine%20Tree/PT%20-%20Filharmonica%20Pomorska/PTREE1997_10_02D1/PTREE1997_10_02D1T01.SHN
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6731 openSong: not bothering opening file with zero size or duration
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6732 Error opening current track, so mark it as already played
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6744 ERROR: Couldn't open song.

2007-02-18 20:38:38.6744 Got a track starting event
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6745 Song 0 has now started playing
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6747 Song queue is now 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6747 opening next song open: 1 error: ...
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6749 the next song is number 1, was 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6756 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6757 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6758 undermax = 1, type = shn, squeezebox2 = 00:04:20:05:c9:4d, lame = /Users/db/Library/iTunes/Scripts/iTunes-LAME.app/Contents/Resources/lame
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6759 checking formats for: shn-wma-squeezebox2-00:04:20:05:c9:4d
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6759 checking formats for: shn-wma-*-00:04:20:05:c9:4d
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6760 checking formats for: shn-wma-squeezebox2-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6761 checking formats for: shn-wma-*-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6761 checking formats for: shn-flc-squeezebox2-00:04:20:05:c9:4d
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6762 checking formats for: shn-flc-*-00:04:20:05:c9:4d
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6762 checking formats for: shn-flc-squeezebox2-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6763 checking formats for: shn-flc-*-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6764 Checking to see if shn-flc-*-* is enabled
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6764 There are 1 disabled formats...
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6765 Testing shn-wav-*-* vs shn-flc-*-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6766 Testing shn-mp3-*-* vs shn-flc-*-*
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6766 enabled
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6767 Found command: [shorten] -x $FILE$ - | [flac] -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian little --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 -
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6768 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6769 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6770 Matched Format: flc Type: shn Command: [shorten] -x $FILE$ - | [flac] -cs --totally-silent --compression-level-0 --endian little --sign signed --channels 2 --bps 16 --sample-rate 44100 -
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6771 opening next song (old format: flc, new: flc) current playmode: stop
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6771 Adding song index 1 to song queue
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6772 Song queue is now 1,0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6788 openSong on: file:///Users/db/Music/Browse/Shows/Porcupine%20Tree/PT%20-%20Filharmonica%20Pomorska/PTREE1997_10_02D1/PTREE1997_10_02D1T02.SHN
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6802 openSong: getting duration , size , endian and offset 0 for file:///Users/db/Music/Browse/Shows/Porcupine%20Tree/PT%20-%20Filharmonica%20Pomorska/PTREE1997_10_02D1/PTREE1997_10_02D1T02.SHN
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6803 openSong: not bothering opening file with zero size or duration
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6803 Error opening current track, so mark it as already played
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6809 the next song is number 2, was 1
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6817 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6818 Setting maxBitRate for sbox2 to: 0
2007-02-18 20:38:38.6819 undermax = 1, type = shn, squeezebox2 =

[dbwat]

Hi gang, is anyone out there successfully running shorten with slimserver on Intel Mac 10.4.x?

If so, which version of slimserver are you running, and where's your shorten executable stashed?

No success getting this to work yet. Any help would be great, thanks!

[dbwat]

Logi-Slim Support response:


David,

Unfortunately we no longer officially support playing shorten files in Slimserver. The code is still in Slimserver by request for people to edit themselves but we don't support that here anymore.

I think you'll find any number of users on the forums who are quick to assist with troubleshooting and may know about getting shorten files to play on a new Intel Mac. Have a look at:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/

Sorry I don't have a better answer.

Too bad :-(
If any successful Intel Mac-Shorten user come across this thread, I'd love to hear from you.

[dbwat]

Resolved in the latest 6.5.2 nightly builds!