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[druism]

Hi. Despite reading the wiki very carefully, I am a bit stuck with the set up of my music server using MC22 for Mac and I think I probably need some help.

The music server is a 2011 MacMini with 8GB RAM wirelessly connected to the LAN, within a couple of metres of the main router. In the same room as the server there is an iMac which, by Screen Sharing, can “administer” the MacMini which is a dedicated music-only server. The library resides on the the MacMini drive.

All I want is to be able to operate MC22 from the iMac or from my iPad or iPhone version of JRemote. I do not need to play to different zones, access different media types or stream; all straightforward.

Something seems wrong, as the control through screen sharing is horribly laggy and slow and I have the strong impression that something is not right. I also get occasional sound drop outs, sometimes appearing to be related to independent tasks happening on the iMac. Also, when playing music, it registers as data transmission at the LAN:WAN interface of the router, which cannot be right.

In Services & Plugins / MediaNetwork under Options I have “Use Media Network…” selected. I assume I need to do this to have remote control? Nothing else is selected.

In the overview it is showing 2 servers (all running properly) but I am not sure what this means, unless having two different libraries constitutes two servers, even though they are operated on the basis of only one being active at any given moment.

The address of the server is correct but it is showing it using ports 52199 and 1900, neither of which I had expected. There is a record of 352,574 requests and there is a constant stream of M_SEARCH and NOTIFY items in the activity log which I confess means nothing to me except that they are using a web protocol which seems wrong for something which should be confined to the LAN access for remote control only.

I wonder if, by leaving settings close to default, apart from the audio playback settings, I have left something ON which which is designed to serve the JRiver’s broader range of streaming options. I have it set to Audio Only Mode.

I have the distinct impression music is being broadcast everywhere and I want to contain it to simply playing over an adjacent static system with control of MC22 from remote devices using the wireless LAN. Nothing else.

I appreciate that, so far as the laggy screen sharing is concerned, if this is purely a LAN issue there is nothing much JRiver support will be able to offer. However, it seems odd that it should be quite so bad when all the communicating devices are 2 metres apart and there is no evidence of wireless interference. I do not have the same problem when operating iTunes and other apps, which makes me wonder if I have inadvertently created a problem in the set up of MC.

I hoped someone might be able tell me what I have done wrong, without being too harsh if I am being dim :0)

Thanks.

[JimH]

The ports are normal.  MC uses 52199 and nearby ports.  1900 is used by discovery.   The requests are normal.

Test with a monitor connected just to see what you find.

Test with wired connections.

Are you playing the same files when you compare with iTunes?  For example, a DSD file would consume more bandwidth and CPU than an ALAC file.

[Grundgütigster]

I have a similar set-up with a MC 20 version but am not at home for quite a while to try out anything with it. I also use the Mac Mini only as a music servig device.

Nevertheless after some testing with wireless music streaming I put all my music on the Mac's hard drive. This is by far the best solution with MediaCenter and a Mac (Mini). Apple just isn't very good with networking and stable network protocools for music streaming. Screen sharing is slow and laggy, but works for administration works. The initial set-up I made with a monitor and plugged in keyboard. Once the set-up was finished there's not really a need for accessing the Mac Mini very often. Switch off everything in the Mac's system settings that might interfere with the sole purpose of playing music.

The problems I have with this set-up are occasionally popping up windows telling me that no bluetooth keyboard was found and sometimes it just needs a re-start because it somehow doesn't show up int the iOS app. But my main peeve is that it won't play the first 10 or so seconds of the music after stopping a song or after a restart. So I only pause music and don't stop it anymore.

Before the 2011 Mac Mini I had one from 2007 (the first with Intel Core 2 Duo) which did a much better job on network connectivity and playing music but was much slower when connecting via screen sharing. I won't upgrade to a newer Mac Mini hardware as the older ones have an optical drive, digital audio output and remote control access. But I likely will go back to the older version of a Mac Mini if I'm not switching to Linux.

Good luck!

[JimH]

Nice post.  Thanks for all the details.

[druism]

Hi both. Thanks for the comments. Here is an update: The 2011 Mini is run headless with an HDMI screen emulator to allow a decent portrayal for ScreenSharing. It works well. I use an Apple Superdrive to attach CD capability. I have all the music on the hard drive in the Mini and, when funds permit, I will swap this out for a SSD. I connect the Mini to my Gold Note DAC by short USB, which gives much better results than SPDIF on my system. The only routing of playback that I want is hard wired through this connection; I do not want to broadcast across the LAN and, if necessary, I do not need an internet connection for the Mini. However, I seem to need to have everything switched on in JRiver and broadcasting on the wireless LAN to be able to control music from the iPhone app. Something is not right and is not playing well with the LAN set up. The lagginess of the iMac administration and control of JRiver 22 is so bad one could be forgiven for thinking I was trying to control it over the internet, not across the 2m of space between the computers and the Airport Extreme.

Following on from Jim's remarks I have tried to set up an experimental direct ethernet link between the iMac and the Mini but doing so while keeping the wireless LAN functional was not something which was going to work. In the end I connected both computers by ethernet via a switch. I got a happy green light on the port for the Mini but only an amber light on the port for the iMac. While both computers were connected to the wireless LAN they were unwilling to talk to each other with self assigned addresses on the ethernet link. However, I closed ScreenSharing on the iMac over the wireless LAN and went to Go and found the Mini across the ethernet link, reset up ScreenSharing via ethernet while the iMac was disconnected from the LAN. I then turned off the wireless LAN link on the Mini and resumed my wireless LAN connection on the iMac. Now the management connection from the iMac to the Mini is lickety-split and happy, despite the amber light on the iMac switch port. However... the music server now cannot connect to the internet and cannot be controlled by the remote app on the iPhone and iPad... It might not matter that it does not speak to the internet but the latter problem is a bit of a deal breaker. So, I am trying to find a way of setting up a discrete ethernet connection between the two computers purely for this management role, while both computers are connected to the wireless LAN and that seem to be a problem.

Cheers. Drew