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[Azure]

Is there any way to alter the buffering settings in Media Server?  I've only got 128k of outgoing bandwidth at home and I try to run off my home media server while at work.  As is, in a typical 128 MP3, I'm having to rebuffer about once or twice a song.

Any suggestions?

[John Gateley]

Have you tried the buffer settings in Media Center?

j

[Harry_The_Hipster]

Tools>Otions>Playback>Settings (button, lower right), move slider all the way to the left (Buffering). Might not help a whole lot because of your limited bandwidth.

HTH

Listening to: 'Mosaic' by 'Art Blakey' on Media Center 9.0

[Azure]

I'm trying that right now - thanks for both the suggestion and the explanation.

I'm only playing the files that are 128 or below, but that might still be too much.

[Azure]

Is there perhaps a way to convert the stuff on the fly to a lower bitrate?  Probably not.  Heh.

[Harry_The_Hipster]

I haven't been following the TiVo dialogue all that closely, but I think that on-the-fly format conversion was enabled for that (from Ogg and others to mp3 320 cbr). If so, perhaps the same could be implemented for stepping down the bitrate, but I'm not knowledgeable enought o confirm that. And that may not be a JRiver priority anyhow.

HTH

[John Gateley]

Hi HTH, we do on-the-fly for TiVo. I'm not sure it's a priority for Media Server (TiVo can ONLY  play mpgs, Media Center plays everything). This seems to be a reason to add it though.

Azure, 128 will not be enough if you are running any other networking tasks (like a web server). Hope the buffering helps.

j

[Azure]

I'm not using the server for anything else.  It's my home PC, just hooked up to typical broadband.  High download, low upload.

The buffering really didn't help much.  It's not that it's going to be unbearable at all, but it will definitely stop me from listening to high-bitrate encoded music.

I'm sure it's no priority at all, but man would it be great.  I'm happy as can be that I can access all of this music from work. If it's going to stop a few times per song to re-buffer, I can tolerate it.  

Maybe once I move into a new place, I'll have reason to change to DSL through the ISP I work for and get some actual upload speed.

[Doof]

Media Center does play everything.

But unless I've got a T1 on both ends, there's no way I'm going to be listening to any streaming APE's.

On the fly encoding to mp3 would be really really nice.

[JohnT]

I'm pretty sure this will be implemented soon, it's just not top priority at the moment. It should be pretty easy since we already have the on-the-fly conversion implemented for Tivo.

[Azure]

I didn't suspect it'd be priority, but I'd weep for joy for it.  *Chuckles.*  Had it running an entire day at work, the re-buffering only got worse as the day went on.  Probably more bandwidth usage on both ISPs lines.  

It's an awesome feature, regardless of the issue I'm running into using it over the network.

Side question - when I'm playing files from a media server, why am I not seeing the coverart image contained within the file?

[JimH]

There is a workaround you might try.

Set up a second library.  It's under File/Library/Library Manager.

Import some files and convert them to a lower bit rate.  Don't delete the original.

[John Gateley]

But unless I've got a T1 on both ends, there's no way I'm going to be listening to any streaming APE's.

On the fly encoding to mp3 would be really really nice.

I've streamed APE from home to work via my 256K upstream DSL (yes, I was surprised, and no, no one was hitting my web server at the same time).

Nice point.

j

[Doof]

Yeah, there are times when streaming an APE works just fine. But those are rare around here.

I'm on cable at home. That seems to be able to handle it just fine. The problem seems to be here at work. We're on 384K SDSL, and the whole agency (~100 PCs)is using that for internet access, so it can get bogged down at times. Even then, I've never had a problem streaming 128-320kbps MP3.

[Harry_The_Hipster]

Queued up a long playlist, then hit 'Pause' when leaving the office for an appointment. When I returned (@3 hrs.), hit "Play', the file in queue finished playing OK, but I then got the message re MC not being able to play the last few files, pls. check path, etc. Exited, waited a few minutes, attempted to reopen, received error mssge re too many connections to the server.

There are no other connections to the server. Its acting as if the server is not recognizing that I logged off the prior connection(s). I haven't kept track, but it seems to be more common when you pause the playback for any period of time.

Anyone else seeing this?

HTH

[Azure]

Sounds like I'm in a weird area for broadband. All "standard" packages have 128k for upload - Cable or DSL.  Thus my media server is hurting bad for streaming.  Cable has no option to bump the upload, DSL's is considerably more expensive.  So.  That's where I'm at.

For now, I'm bringing the CDs I have no use for at home to work.

[Harry_The_Hipster]

(Bump).

I get this from the log. Attempts to reconnect get bounced for 'too many connections':

04/18/03 11:07:28 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:28 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:28 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:28 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:28 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:28 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:29 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:30 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:30 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:30 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:30 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:30 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:31 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:31 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:31 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:31 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:31 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:31 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:32 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:33 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:33 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:33 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:33 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:33 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:34 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:34 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:34 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:34 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:34 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:34 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:36 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:36 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:36 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:36 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:36 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:37 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:37 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:37 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:37 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:37 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:37 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:39 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:39 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:39 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:39 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:39 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:40 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:40 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:41 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:41 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:41 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:41 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:42 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:42 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:42 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:42 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:42 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:42 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:43 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:43 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:43 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:43 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:43 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:43 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:48 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:48 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:48 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:48 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:48 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:48 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:49 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:50 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:50 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:50 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:50 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:50 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:07:51 - received a connection
04/18/03 11:07:51 - ready for another connection
04/18/03 11:07:51 - private sharing thread started
04/18/03 11:07:51 - Only allow 3 connection
04/18/03 11:07:51 - sending 416
04/18/03 11:07:51 - sharing thread exiting
04/18/03 11:22:26 - connection closed 3?
04/18/03 11:22:26 - read_http_request failed: -1
04/18/03 11:39:46 - connection closed 3?
04/18/03 11:39:46 - read_http_request failed: -1
04/18/03 12:03:21 - connection closed 3?
04/18/03 12:03:22 - read_http_request failed: -1

Never saw this before the last 4-6 builds. Cable modem, 300+/- kbps upload speed.

HTH

[John Gateley]

Hi HTH,

I've put a display of the number of connections in the next build, so I can track down where it is not being updated properly. I've taken a look and can't see anything obvious. Look for the next build.

j