Is anyone still using, or trying to use, the Logitech Squeezebox system

[Dave2002]

I just tried to use part of my earlier Logitech system. Seems to recognise some files, but no sound comes out.

That's using a Squeezebox Boom, so if it picks up the data stream it should play - shouldn't it?

I've not used it for a few years, but I wouldn't have expected it to give up the ghost.

[johnb]

Dave, I use the Squeezebox system all the time and wouldn't be without it. I think it is a terrific system and the LMS (Logitech Media Server) is still being developed. LMS provides one of the most flexible systems and one best user interfaces around (some say it is the best), with access to iPlayer, Qobuz, Spotify, etc, etc. I even use Digital Room Control via LMS.

I use a Squeezebox Touch (with another in storage as backup) which feeds the digital input on my audio system. I use it in conjunction with LMS running on a HP Microserver (used as a glorified NAS), which also contains my music files.

I'm not sure how you are using the Squeezebox Boom. Are you running LMS?

[cmr_for3]

Dave, I use the Squeezebox system all the time and wouldn't be without it. I think it is a terrific system and the LMS (Logitech Media Server) is still being developed. LMS provides one of the most flexible systems and one best user interfaces around (some say it is the best), with access to iPlayer, Qobuz, Spotify, etc, etc. I even use Digital Room Control via LMS.

I use a Squeezebox Touch (with another in storage as backup) which feeds the digital input on my audio system. I use it in conjunction with LMS running on a HP Microserver (used as a glorified NAS), which also contains my music files.

I'm not sure how you are using the Squeezebox Boom. Are you running LMS?

Apologies to Dave for hijacking his thread, your response is useful to me Johnb I am very interested in undertaking a project using LMS (I was researching this afternoon) I already have a NAS but want really appeals to me about LMS are the addons. How often are these updated - is the community still very active? What I would like to do is be able to install LMS on my NAS (Google says this is hard) and then have access to my LMS set up via my android phone and play it through my amp via my chromecast audio.

Any advice appreciated

[johnb]

cmr_for3,

Yes, there is a very active community which includes many third party developers together with Michael Herger from Logitech.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum.php

As far as installing LMS on a NAS, I guess it depends on the NAS. Some NAS manufacturers actually provide LMS, though often not the most up to date versions. I decided to get a HP Microserver (which were, and possibly still are, periodically heavily discounted), and installed Ubuntu Server OS and LMS on it. This way there are no restrictions placed on what I can do by a company's proprietary hardware/software.

There is an array of available plugins - many of which are actively supported.

I control LMS via the iPeng App on an iPad (but it can be used on an iPhone as well). From what I hear this is best controller (and I have nothing but praise for it). Unfortunately "pippin" has no intention of porting it over to Android - but there are other apps available for android.

There is even a fairly straighforward route to replacing a Squeezebox Touch (which went out of production in 2012) with a RPi.

The best thing to do is join the forum and explain what you would like to do. The people there are very helpful and many have considerable expertise.

One thing worth noting is that the up to date LMS releases are on a webpage entitled "Some Software Beta Downloads - Version 7.9" - which is a bit off putting. However, these are not "beta" releases in the normal sense - very stable and very reliable. http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nig...ex.php?ver=7.9

[Dave2002]

johnb

I got the Boom working again, but perhaps it was only a temporarary fix. I was getting a message - something like "DAC can't talk", ao after some effort I figured out how to do a factory reset, and got it working. The problem however recurs if the unit is unplugged and moved to another location. Shouldn't there be some none volatile memory inside, or perhaps even a battery, to keep the data from running down? I very recently had a problem with one of my cameras - it would always reset the date and time on startup. In the end I figured that there's a battery which hardly ever runs down, and I suspect few people know about, which keeps things working. Replacing that battery resolved the problem with the camera. I'm not sure how the Boom tries to keep data from being lost, but right now mine does seem erratic - though the good thing is that I did get it working. I am still using versions of LMS on several machines. I don't know which is the best version to use now because the support situation has become slightly awkward.

If I can get this working reliably again, I may revisit this equipment, and use it more fully - as I used to. I already have quite a comprehensive library on one machine, and if I could extend the library using external drives or SSDs that could be very useful. In the immediate future I'm still wanting to get reliable performance from the Boom. I have a couple of other players (Classic and Touch) which I'll attempt to call back into service if I can achieve results with the Boom.

[johnb]

Dave,

First of all the support for LMS is anything but "slightly awkward". In fact the support provided by the Squeezebox forum is probably better than you will get for any other music playing software - especially as you are in direct contact with very experienced users and the prime developer. (This weekend, I unearthed a bug in a Windows Sox build (patched for LMS) which would only have slightly affected the small number of people running InguzDRC and the developer concerned issued a rebuild within hours - and this is at a weekend.)

The best version of LMS to use is the latest: LMS 7.9.2, available from http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/?ver=7.9

Don't let the word "Beta" put you off - these are very stable, reliable releases. (I am using 7.9.2 myself.) If you are using an older LMS you might be pleasantly surprised. (Do look at the Additional (Customisable) Browse Modes and the Random Albums is pretty useful.)

Ideally, the best user interface to LMS is the current version of iPeng running on an iPad. It is really very, very, very good indeed these days. (But it all depends on how you have tagged your music files.)

I don't really know much about the Boom - are you using it stand alone or with LMS running elsewhere? If you want to get help on the Boom the Squeezebox forum is the best place. In order to get the most help it would be best to describe how you are using the Boom, how it is set up, exactly what the problem is and the circumstances in which it occurs.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum.php

Of course, the Touch is a very different animal to the Boom - but well worth setting up again.

[Dave2002]

Ideally, the best user interface to LMS is the current version of iPeng running on an iPad. It is really very, very, very good indeed these days. (But it all depends on how you have tagged your music files.)

I have iPeng "running" on my iPad Pro. I get a warning that the developer needs to update it for the latest iOS version. That inspires me with confidence.

[johnb]

"pippin", the developer of iPeng, is certainly very active and is also very helpful in the Squeezebox forum should anyone have any issues with the app.

[Dave2002]

"pippin", the developer of iPeng, is certainly very active and is also very helpful in the Squeezebox forum should anyone have any issues with the app.

I get the message mentioned when I try to download a new version of iPeng from the App store. I have used iPeng for a long while on my Gen 1 iPad, but I need a new version for the iPad Pro. Will earlier versions still download and run, even on the latest iOS version?

[johnb]

It they might (or might not). The simplest thing to do is to install then latest version of iPeng. It is fairly cheap and certainly worthwhile - so there is no reason not to do so. (Incidentally, it gives "pippin" some small recompense for all the work he does in developing and supporting the app.)

I know that there used to be the earlier version of iPeng "Classic" and more recent iPeng9 in the iTunes store but Apple removed the iPeng "Classic" and the current iPeng in the store is actually iPeng 9.x.

I have used both versions of iPeng and definitely prefer iPeng 9.x.

I would most definitely also upgrade LMS to 7.9.2.

What version of LMS are you using? I ask because you might have to uninstall your existing version and reinstall the LMS 7.9.2 if your current version is very old. (Usually new versions can be installed over previous versions but there was a major revision of some aspects some years ago which required an uninstall.

[Dave2002]

What version of LMS are you using? I ask because you might have to uninstall your existing version and reinstall the LMS 7.9.2 if your current version is very old. (Usually new versions can be installed over previous versions but there was a major revision of some aspects some years ago which required an uninstall.

This is work in progress right now. The main thing initially is to get the Boom stable - it shouldn't need to be reset each time it's unplugged.

Re the versions - I'll check. Presumably I can uninstall and install 7.9.2 (if not already installed) without losing the libraries.

I did get a lot of messages about updates, but in the end I ignored them, as I wasn't sure where they were coming from - Logitech or somewhere else.
I guess from what you have written that I should be able to get the latest versions from the user site.

[johnb]

Dave.

The latest version of iPeng is on the iTunes store.

The latest version of LMS is available from: http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nig...ex.php?ver=7.9

To get help on the Boom I suggest posting to the Squeezebox community forum (supported by Logitech): https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum.php

[Sorry I posted the wrong link to the forum - now corrected.]

[cmr_for3]

cmr_for3,

Yes, there is a very active community which includes many third party developers together with Michael Herger from Logitech.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum.php

As far as installing LMS on a NAS, I guess it depends on the NAS. Some NAS manufacturers actually provide LMS, though often not the most up to date versions. I decided to get a HP Microserver (which were, and possibly still are, periodically heavily discounted), and installed Ubuntu Server OS and LMS on it. This way there are no restrictions placed on what I can do by a company's proprietary hardware/software.

There is an array of available plugins - many of which are actively supported.

I control LMS via the iPeng App on an iPad (but it can be used on an iPhone as well). From what I hear this is best controller (and I have nothing but praise for it). Unfortunately "pippin" has no intention of porting it over to Android - but there are other apps available for android.

There is even a fairly straighforward route to replacing a Squeezebox Touch (which went out of production in 2012) with a RPi.

The best thing to do is join the forum and explain what you would like to do. The people there are very helpful and many have considerable expertise.

One thing worth noting is that the up to date LMS releases are on a webpage entitled "Some Software Beta Downloads - Version 7.9" - which is a bit off putting. However, these are not "beta" releases in the normal sense - very stable and very reliable. http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nig...ex.php?ver=7.9

Many thanks John, most useful

[johnb]

This is work in progress right now. The main thing initially is to get the Boom stable - it shouldn't need to be reset each time it's unplugged.

Dave, have you tried the Xilinx reset, as described here: https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...d-as-it-sounds

[Dave2002]

Dave, have you tried the Xilinx reset, as described here: https://forums.slimdevices.com/showt...d-as-it-sounds

I have now - and it worked - so far. Yesterday I used a slightly different procedure to do a factory reset. That worked too - after I put all the network details in etc., but it "failed" once I unplugged the unit and moved it. I'm in finger crossing mode now. The next thing is to check which version of LMS I have, and see if I can bring it fairly up to date, and I'd quite like to move all of the music files onto an SSD (such as the one Bryn has pointed out ...) so as to make the music more portable across machines. Re the LMS - how compatible is that with recent versions of MacOS? As it happens - the machine which is supporting the LMS today is still running Snow Leopard - and that seems to work, while another yesterday which also was working, was on El Capitan. If I put the server on my MBP that will be running High Sierra - though i was about to upgrade it to Mojave - which I think may be incompatible with LMS.