[chadh]

I'm hoping somebody might have some insight into my problem...

I seem to have an issue with synchronizing my squeezebox and and slimserver.  The first sign I had was the following kind of experience. I would switch everything on and select some music from the menu.  The music would start playing.  Then, suddenly, I would be unable to control the squeezebox with the remote.  I thought maybe there was something wrong with the remote.  I changed the batteries, but it didn't help.  Later I realized it wasn't a remote problem.

Later, there was a development.  I would find that control with the remote would return, eventually.  But the interface and the actually portion of slimserver that plays the music would, by this time, have become completely unsynchronized.  For example, the music would have progressed seemlessly to track four on the album.  But now the display on my squeezebox would be reading track 2.  And when the track finished, the display would tick over to track 3, while the music began track 5.

What's more, when I run downstairs at such times to look at the server that's running slimserver, it's all screwed up.  It will give me the correct playlist, but the information on the left side (the browsing window) is stuck on something completely different - as though I've managed to navigate to "Brothers in Arms" by browsing through artist to find John Coltrane.

I've gone from thinking I had a problem with the remote, to a problem in the connection between squeezebox and server, and now imagine there's just a problem with my server.  I haven't reinstalled software yet - I probably should.  I'm using v.6.2.1 with firmware v.15.

Any suggestions?

Chad

[bpape]

Whenever I've seen this it's something on the PC side that is sucking up resources and the display doesn't keep in sync with the commands or can't react to what the SB is requesting.  I had this issue on an old PC and killed pretty much everything else on it at startup except slimserver and the requisite services and have not had issues since.

Bryan

[DSK]

I agree with Bryan. Next time this occurs, open Task Manager on your SlimDevices server and have a look to see what % the CPU is running it and what is running.

[chadh]

Thanks.  I'll try it.

For what it's worth, the PC is pretty new (6 months old), and should be overkill for what I'm using it for.  And unless I'm sitting in front of the PC, there  should be nothing running on it other than slimserver.

But I'll check tonight.

Chad

[DSK]

I tend to leave a lot of things open on my main PC (Outlook, Excel, Word, lots of IE windows) and once in a while, when walking past the PC, I notice that the CPU temperature is unusually high (I have an LCD readout for temps on the front of my case). When I look in Task Manager I see that the CPU utilisation is 50% or higher and that the culprit is a 'runaway' process, usually an IE window but occasionally Outlook. Closing the offending window solves the problem. This only happens once every few months or so.

Other things that could be running unattended are Windows auto updates, scheduled virus scans, scheduled backups, etc. Just ensure that you have these scheduled to occur in the early hours of the morning when you are asleep. If your ISP gives you bonus download capacity during these hours then it also minimises your use of your regular monthly download limit.

[JEaton]

I'm using v.6.2.1

Damn, that version of SlimServer is ancient.  Try 6.5.2.

[DSK]

I'm using v.6.2.1

Damn, that version of SlimServer is ancient.  Try 6.5.2.

In case you are unaware, there is a long story behind the reason why some people (me included) choose to remain on 6.2.1 & V15 firmware.

I very much doubt it is the software/firmware versions causing this problem as I've been using these same versions for approx 15 months without issue.

[JEaton]

In case you are unaware, there is a long story behind the reason why some people (me included) choose to remain on 6.2.1 & V15 firmware.

Don't worry, I've heard all the stories.  Good luck with that.

[DSK]

After updating to post 6.2.1/V15 versions a number of people strongly declared that the sonic performance had degraded and reverted to 6.2.1/V15. Last year a patch was applied to remedy this volume related problem. However, I haven't seen a single declaration by any of these people (either on SlimDevices or AC forums) saying that they have A/B'd the old and new and found the new to now be as good as the old. If the patch was 100% successful, the old and new would now sound identical. If not, then the old versions still sound better. So, sonically I have nothing to gain by updating but possibly something to lose. As I'm so happy with the old versions, and don't need any of the new features, I'm not motivated to A/B the old and new until others are confident that the new is now as good.

[chadh]

Weird.

Of course, I'm finding it impossible to replicate the problem this evening.  But have now encountered a different one.

I brought my second squeezebox home from my office system today, so I could set it up in the basement (near the server).  This second squeezebox is operating wirelessly (the other is using an ethernet connection).  I thought it would be fun to synchronize the players.  And now, the basement unit is stuttering every now and then, and has lost about three seconds relative to the player upstairs in the past three tracks.

I wonder whether my problems stem from my use of the Inguz DRC plug-in.  I've just checked, and the CPU usage at the moment is fluctuating from about 20% to 30%, with 15% to 28% of that attributed to the InguzDSP application.  Only the squeezebox upstairs has the DRC turned on, which might account for the different experiences between upstairs and downstairs players.

Chad

[chadh]

Whoa.  This DSP application is worse than I thought.  At the beginning of a song, it's actually using up to 50% of the CPU.  This dwindles to 0% by the end of the track.  But this might explain why I get the problem right after I start a new track.

Chad