Wednesday 11 April 2012

Update Problem with Bliss on Vortexbox

I noticed that bliss is not updated to the latest version when using the update button or doing it with yum update. The latest version in the repo is 20120228 and in the meantime 2 updates were available.

I've found how the update can be done manually: http://vortexbox.org/threads/3619-Bliss-Version-Update

With a little bit more explaination:

When you visit the download page, you will see a package for Vortexbox. Click on it.
http://www.blisshq.com/download.html

On the following page you see the download link.
http://www.blisshq.com/downloads/rpm/noarch/bliss-20120403-1.noarch.rpm

With the command "wget" you can download files via commandline. So type in to the CLI
wget http://www.blisshq.com/downloads/rpm/noarch/bliss-20120403-1.noarch.rpm


With yum localinstall you can install downloaded rpm files
yum localinstall bliss-20120403-1.noarch.rpm 

Thursday 22 March 2012

Vortexbox - Problem after update

Yesterday I've updated my Vortexbox and after reboot it did not get up any more. It seemed to be a Kernel problem after update, so I connected a monitor and a keyboard to check the issue. With the new Kernel it started somehow but wrote a lot of error messages and had no network connection. I rebooted again, chose the previous kernel and it started normal. So I reinstalled the new Kernel with:

yum reinstall kernel

Or if you want to reinstall a certain kernel version

yum reinstall kernel-PAE-3.2.10-3*

The newest one was listed to be reinstalled, I accepted to download with Yes. After it finished it booted normal to the new Kernel (3.2.10-3.fc16.i686).

Bliss - Untagged files

I pretty much like the new function for editing Tags manually. I think in the current version it's even a bit better but I haven't updated yet. When going to the "Untagged files" tab you get a list where you see the albums listed. With the button "show tags" you get a list where matching Tags are suggested.



You can now edit the Tags before applying them. In my example the title and track number of song 2 and 3 were not found. I just clicked in the field copied the title from the filename and selected "Tag files". When the files are tagged, the entry disappears from the page.




More information should follow here: http://www.blisshq.com/auto-tag-mp3.html

Wednesday 21 March 2012

How Bliss Works

I'm very sold on Bliss, therefore I spent a lot of time the last days ont he Bliss Website :-)
I've found 2 explaination how Bliss works.

The first one is more superficial: http://www.blisshq.com/support/tutorials/first-steps.html
Explaination in detail: http://www.blisshq.com/music-library-management-blog/2010/09/19/how-does-bliss-work/

Monday 12 March 2012

Short description of Bliss HQ

First of all you have to select the directory where your music is located with the "settings" link.
Then you can apply the rules which should be applied to your library:

Cover Art
    Add and change cover art
    Resize cover art

Files and folders
    Organize files

Tags
    Fill in missing information
    Organize genres
    Add ID3v1/2 tags to MP3s
   
The selected rule now can be configured. E.g. The size of cover art which should be downloaded,... Just have a look at it its very intuitive to configure.
After selecting the rules you have to hit "Apply Rule" to start. Bliss now starts scanning the selected folder and applies fixes automatically when possible, or displays the uncompliance and you need to interact to choose the right e.g. Genre.

Bliss HQ on Vortexbox



I installed Bliss on my Vortexbox using the Install Option on the "Vortexbox Upgrade" page.
The installation takes only a few minutes. After it is finished and you refresh the website, you will see the "bliss" icon on the left side. When clicking on it you will get directly to the bliss webinterface. Bliss HQ is a very powerfull tool to correct the tag information of you music. In the newest version the tool also can fix untagged songs using the acoustic fingerprint of the song. Information are taken from the MusicBrainz database. With the default free installation you have 100 fixes for free.

Visit Bliss Website for more information: http://www.blisshq.com

Monday 27 February 2012

Squeezecommander - some more information

On the start screen you see all available players listed. You can start/pause and control the volume for each player already in this overview page. Here it is also possible to sync players, just select the "edit list" icon on the top left corner (the sync icons will appear in the bottom bar). If you want you can also ignore some player, using the arrow-right by each player. The button with the square in it on the left side is the stop button. I don't know why it sometimes only shows a square but sometimes it also shows the typical power-off icon in it.


On the second screen (you can see on which screen you are using the white points on the bottom) you see the current playing song and if available also the cover art. Shuffle/Repeat and seek functions are in the bar on the bottom. By tipping once in the centre of the screen you can hide this bar, typing again and it will re-appear.


On the third screen you see current playlist. When the name of the song is too long for the screen, the App automatically decreases the font size, so that you still can read the whole song name. With the "edit list" button on the top right corner you can modify the list (change the order, remove multiple songs at on time, clear the whole list, or save it as a playlist).


When you go to the media library using e.g. the folder button with the note on the top right corner you see the same function as you also have in the webinterface. Very comfortable is also the search. It searches on the fly (while typing). You can also search the term on Youtube if you have installed the Youtube Plugin, just click on YouTube.


Sunday 26 February 2012

Squeezecommander - My 2 favorite functions



In my opinion the Squeezeboxcommander is the best App for controlling Squeezebox. Additionally to the basic functions you can download the songs/playlists/albums directly from the SBS to you android device. You do not need to plug your mobile phone to the computer and copy the files via cable. Another advantage is, that you have the icon always in the notification bar.


Hint: When browsing your music using the "Music folder" it is not possible to download the whole folder. But when you e.g. browse by artist, it's no problem to download all songs from the artist, also when the are physically in other folders.

Visit also the Website: http://www.squeezecommander.com/

Friday 24 February 2012

Soundcloud on Squeezebox server

I browsed a little bit 3rd party software section on the slimdevices forum and found another great plugin. It is for playing songs from Soundcloud.com. It's pretty new and according to the forum posts still a little bit buggy, but I've tried it and it works great for me. It should be listed in the 3rd party category on your squeezebox server plugin settings page. Just tick it, restart the server and it is available under "My Apps".

The programmer used much code from the youtube plugin, so the look and feel is nearly the same.
Following functions are avilable:
  • Hottest Tracks
  • Newest Tracks
  • Search
  • Search Tags
  • Playlist Search
  • SoundCloud URL

Find the Forum post here.

Youtube Plugin Working again - Solution

The Youtube plugin is working again! Yippie! :-) "djbloc" from the community took over the duty and fixed the plugin. It is now available in version 0.14. Just update the plugin to the newest version and enjoy playing songs from Youtube!




Many thanks to "djbloc" also from my side!

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Youtube plugin - Not working

About 2 weeks ago the Youtube plugin stopped working. You can search for videos and add them, but when pressing the play button, it seems to start to play but doesn't. According to Infos in the slimdevice board this has to deal with a new URL format from Youtube. Many user allready have reported the problem in the Youtube Addin Thread.

I hope that the programmer fixes this soon, because it was one of the most useful plugins. I allready looked for alternatives, but I only found the Spotify plugin which needs a premium account for 10€ per month.

Edit: Youtube plugin is working again, no need to spend money for Spotify :-)
Just update to newest version.

Sunday 15 January 2012

Logitech Squeezebox Controller

This app is the official one from Logitech and it's free. It's great for a free app. It has the basic functions:
  • Start/Stop/Play/Next/Previous
  • You can put together playlists
  • Control the volume
  • Search you music library
  • And it also displays the album cover


If you have installed the Youtube plugin you can also use it via this app. It is located in "My Apps".
You can also control each Squeezebox separately if you have multiple ones.
When you start it, the Logitech logo is displayed for about 1-3 seconds. It's a little bit annoying, but it's free :-)

You have some kind of split screen. on the left hand there is the media library where you can browse, and on the right hand there is allways the player. If you have smaller screens, like on my mobile phone, you can forget this app. Although it changes the layout when using it upright. You can see this in the below screenshot. This is the default screen.



In the following screen you can see who it looks when browsing through your music library. You have a small alphabet where you can jump the the according Artist.



When you click on the player name on the right side you get the menu where he searches/lists other Squeezebox-players.


Remote control your Vortexbox

When you just control your vortexbox from your computer in my mind it isn't necessary to have such a box, because you can use a media player installed on the computer instead. You can connect a IR receiver to the VB and control it somehow with a remote. But I think this is a very outdated method.

I use a 7" Android Tablet instead. There are several apps available for controlling the Squeezebox Server. I've installed the 2 most common ones:

The Tablet is a very cheap one from Archos. I already have it for nearly one year and it still works great.

I also have an Android mobile phone, which I also use sometimes to control SB. But only when the tablet is too far away and I'm too lazy to get it.  :-)

Monday 2 January 2012

Restart services on CLI

Fedora has an own command to restart daemons, it's called service.
The syntax is very easy:  

service <service name> start | stop | status

The following list shows the most important services with a short description.

DescriptionSerice Name
Auto CD Rippervortexbox
DAAP (iTunes) Server      forked-daapd
DLNA Serverminidlna
Samba Serversmb
Logitech Media Serversqueezeboxserver
VortexBox Playervortexbox-player