ImageProxy Configuration Helper Plugin

[mherger]

Here's something "new" to play with: the ImageProxy Configuration Helper Plugin. Not really new, as I've been using it myself for close to nine years! But it's time to make this available to a wider audience. Install it from LMS' plugin manager.

As you might know LMS has an image resizing proxy built in. By default this would ask MySqueezebox.com to download online images and send a resized version back to LMS or a player etc. About 10 years ago I added a version of this mechanism to LMS itself, to prepare for the then imminent, unavoidable shut down of MySB . Luckily enough this still hasn't happen. But the mechanism is there so LMS could resize images to suitable formats for the players. You can switch between using the internal service or the one on MySB in Settings/Advanced/Performance.

Now the ImageProxy plugin take the options to a whole new level. It offers two basic features to lower the load on your system caused by LMS:

• Addition of other external services to be used to resize images in case MySB went down.
• Support for a separate daemon to handle the resizing on the same system

As some of you might know LMS is single threaded. This means that if it has to download and resize a huge image on a slow computer, it might starve the audio data streaming, causing interrupted playback. While even a Raspberry Pi 3 has four CPU cores, LMS would only use one of them. This plugin allows you to either leave the task to an external service, or use a separate process on your computer to handle the resizing.

The resizing daemon will particularly improve the hardware usage on smaller computers with multiple cores like the aforementioned Pi. It should be available on most Linux/Unix based system, but not Windows. I've been using it with LMS running on pCP. In order to use it go to Settings/Advanced/Image Proxy to enable the daemon. Then go to Settings/Performance to make sure you're using the LMS internal resizing and none of the external choices.



In the plugin's settings you can also define external system to which LMS would reach out to do the resizing. One such service (https://images.weserv.nl) is pre-configured. Please note that this one has a 2500 images per 10 minutes limit. You can then again select the service you want to use in Settings/Performance.

Other services can be added. This allows you to run and use your own service. Eg. the above weserv service is open source and can be run in Docker (https://github.com/weserv/images/tree/5.x/docker). Another option I've been using successfully is Caravaggio (https://caravaggio.ramielcreations.com).

Please give it a try! I'm very interested in your experience. What other resizing services would you know? What is working best for you?

[slartibartfast]

Here's something "new" to play with: the ImageProxy Configuration Helper Plugin. Not really new, as I've been using it myself for close to nine years! But it's time to make this available to a wider audience. Install it from LMS' plugin manager.

As you might know LMS has an image resizing proxy built in. By default this would ask MySqueezebox.com to download online images and send a resized version back to LMS or a player etc. About 10 years ago I added a version of this mechanism to LMS itself, to prepare for the then imminent, unavoidable shut down of MySB . Luckily enough this still hasn't happen. But the mechanism is there so LMS could resize images to suitable formats for the players. You can switch between using the internal service or the one on MySB in Settings/Advanced/Performance.

Now the ImageProxy plugin take the options to a whole new level. It offers two basic features to lower the load on your system caused by LMS:

• Addition of other external services to be used to resize images in case MySB went down.
• Support for a separate daemon to handle the resizing on the same system

As some of you might know LMS is single threaded. This means that if it has to download and resize a huge image on a slow computer, it might starve the audio data streaming, causing interrupted playback. While even a Raspberry Pi 3 has four CPU cores, LMS would only use one of them. This plugin allows you to either leave the task to an external service, or use a separate process on your computer to handle the resizing.

The resizing daemon will particularly improve the hardware usage on smaller computers with multiple cores like the aforementioned Pi. It should be available on most Linux/Unix based system, but not Windows. I've been using it with LMS running on pCP. In order to use it go to Settings/Advanced/Image Proxy to enable the daemon. Then go to Settings/Performance to make sure you're using the LMS internal resizing and none of the external choices.



In the plugin's settings you can also define external system to which LMS would reach out to do the resizing. One such service (https://images.weserv.nl) is pre-configured. Please note that this one has a 2500 images per 10 minutes limit. You can then again select the service you want to use in Settings/Performance.

Other services can be added. This allows you to run and use your own service. Eg. the above weserv service is open source and can be run in Docker (https://github.com/weserv/images/tree/5.x/docker). Another option I've been using successfully is Caravaggio (https://caravaggio.ramielcreations.com).

Please give it a try! I'm very interested in your experience. What other resizing services would you know? What is working best for you?

How do you install this plugin?

[Paul Webster]

I have a recollection of someone else here making a resizer/enhancer.
If someone can work out what it was ... perhaps it could be a provider to this instead - but perhaps irrelevant.

[BoomX2]

How do you install this plugin?

It is in the 3rd party plugins. Look for "External Image Proxy configuration helper".

Once you have it installed it shows up as "Image Proxy".

[slartibartfast]

It is in the 3rd party plugins. Look for "External Image Proxy configuration helper".

Once you have it installed it shows up as "Image Proxy".

OK I was expecting it to be listed as "Image Proxy" 🤣

[gegen]

Hi Michael I'm getting the following in my server log after a rescan for new and changed:

[23-06-03 10:47:45.9937] main::init (380) Starting Logitech Media Server (v8.4.0, 1685538966, Wed 31 May 2023 03:31:50 PM CEST) perl 5.032001 - aarch64-linux-thread-multi
[23-06-03 11:02:34.6768] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:34.8883] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:34.9147] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:34.9156] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:35.0225] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:35.4590] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:35.5310] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:35.5831] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:35.6128] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:36.0363] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:36.7918] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:36.8733] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:38.5073] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:38.7878] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.0160] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.1184] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.6051] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.7836] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.7846] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory
[23-06-03 11:02:39.8328] Slim::Utils::ImageResizer::__ANON__ (60) daemon failed to connect: No such file or directory

The plugin is set to run the daemon and in performance to use LMS to resize artwork.

My setup is:

Logitech Media Server Version: 8.4.0 - 1685538966 @ Wed 31 May 2023 03:31:50 PM CEST
Hostname: MusicServer
Server IP Address: 192.168.0.200
Server HTTP Port Number: 9000
Operating system: piCore - EN - utf8
Platform Architecture: aarch64-linux
Perl Version: 5.32.1 - aarch64-linux-thread-multi
Audio::Scan: 1.06
IO::Socket::SSL: 2.071
Database Version: DBD::SQLite 1.58 (sqlite 3.22.0)
Total Players Recognized: 8

This on piCorePlayer v8.2.0

Is it an issue? Thanks

[mherger]

Can you enable logging for plugin.imageproxy? That should give you some info about the resizing daemon. Can you check whether there's a /tmp/sbs_artwork folder on your system?

[gegen]

There is '(artwork.imageproxy) - Artwork Resizing Proxy' on my system (set to error at the moment) in logging .......but not 'plugin.imageproxy'.
And if I look at the rootfs on my system there is no '/tmp/sbs_artwork' folder.

[mherger]

There is '(artwork.imageproxy) - Artwork Resizing Proxy' on my system (set to error at the moment) in logging .......but not 'plugin.imageproxy'.
And if I look at the rootfs on my system there is no '/tmp/sbs_artwork' folder.

Oops... it's indeed artwork and artwork.imageproxy... INFO should be good enough, DEBUG can be very verbose.

[gegen]

Sure will change it to info and do a rescan.

[mherger]

No scan required! This is not about local artwork, but images from online devices etc. which can’t be resized at scan time.

[Rasputin_GY]

Hi Michael,

after installing your plugin and checking the box use seperate scaler

service logitechmediaserver status

(RPIOS aarch64 on3B+) gives:

Can't open perl script "/usr/sbin/gdresized.pl": No such file or directory

Is there missing something?

[gegen]

No scan required! This is not about local artwork, but images from online devices etc. which can’t be resized at scan time.

OK, will play some internet radio stations for a while and see what comes up in the log.

[mherger]

after installing your plugin and checking the box use seperate scaler

service logitechmediaserver status

(RPIOS aarch64 on3B+) gives:

Can't open perl script "/usr/sbin/gdresized.pl": No such file or directory

Is there missing something?

Yep, the Linux packages need some more tweaks. Please give the next nightly another try. Thanks for the heads up!

[gegen]

OK, will play some internet radio stations for a while and see what comes up in the log.

I did a reboot of my piCorePlayer which has LMS installed on it. I do now have the /tmp/sbs_artwork file in tmp (sorry I did not check again to see if it was there before the reboot)
Have been playing internet radio on various SB Radios for a while and the log set to INFO looks like this now:

[23-06-03 20:24:41.0798] main::init (380) Starting Logitech Media Server (v8.4.0, 1685538966, Wed 31 May 2023 03:31:50 PM CEST) perl 5.032001 - aarch64-linux-thread-multi
[23-06-03 20:26:05.1003] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-03 20:34:31.0284] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-03 20:40:33.7700] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (524) ImageProxy cache purge: 0 records - 0.000896 sec
[23-06-04 04:40:33.7697] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 04:46:31.0483] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 04:54:28.9492] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:00:46.1836] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:06:53.9428] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:15:09.4916] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:20:49.5614] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:29:28.5666] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:38:27.8741] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:48:02.6849] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 05:56:15.6823] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:05:59.6830] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:11:02.1226] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:17:32.7389] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:26:22.0085] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:31:38.6798] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:40:51.4859] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:46:08.9553] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:53:43.6055] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 06:59:10.3600] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 07:05:09.6920] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 07:12:57.7940] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Jack's Radio
[23-06-04 07:19:53.5719] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Mike's Radio
[23-06-04 07:29:32.2009] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Mike's Radio
[23-06-04 07:35:00.3236] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Mike's Radio
[23-06-04 07:43:50.0687] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Mike's Radio
[23-06-04 07:50:00.2470] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Mike's Radio
[23-06-04 07:56:44.0848] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (524) ImageProxy cache purge: 0 records - 0.000545 sec
[23-06-04 15:56:44.0844] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:04:50.3807] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:10:46.2342] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:17:07.6015] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:23:32.4496] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:29:31.4599] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:35:56.6109] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:44:14.0208] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:49:58.8393] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 16:57:20.9694] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 17:04:06.3581] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 17:09:38.6760] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 17:17:32.9892] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office
[23-06-04 17:23:09.1445] Slim::Web::ImageProxy::Cache::cleanup (513) Skipping cache purge due to client activity: Office

If that looks OK maybe I just needed to reboot piCorePlayer, all the radios seem fast at loading artwork so no probs there, thanks for looking.