Server 6.0.1 and older clients ?

General discussion about the media server. Feature requests. Hints, tips and tricks.
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jan_1923
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Server 6.0.1 and older clients ?

Post by jan_1923 » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:09 pm

Hello,

have a rather simple question haven't found an answer for through the search:
Did someone got TS 6.0.1 running and stream to Netgear MP101 (main device of question !),
Freecom Musicpal and Philips NP2500 ?

I have an Atom N270 based server (Intel D945GSEJT with 2GB RAM) running UBUNTU 10.04 server
edition and it works with 4.4.18 but the clients list is hanging up from time to time and causing problems.

Oh, i also need to assign own NODE names for my ~30k MP3s since i assume that otherwise
the hole installation would be too slow.

Can someone give me a hint if it is worth upgrading and how to most easily ?

THX

Jan

Twonky_Rick
Posts:3816
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AV Hardware:Samsung 650 Series TV (2010), 4.5TB HP MediaSmart server with 100,000 songs, 5) AT&T U-Verse STB, CE form-factor Media Center PC and 6 other networked PCs running TwonkyManager, 2 Sonos ZP80, Sonos S5 speaker, Apple TV (running XBMC), Roku Soundbridge, X-Box 360, Sony PS3, Kodak 10" Wireless Photo Frame, iPhone with PlugPlayer software, Sonos CR-100.
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Re: Server 6.0.1 and older clients ?

Post by Twonky_Rick » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:52 am

TwonkyServer 6.0.x should work fine with the 3 devices you list, but upgrading a NAS is not easy and that's why it's not recommended for those who don't do this type of thing often. TwonkyServer 4.4 is very fast and very stable and runs well on slower CPUs like the ones that most NAS devices use. A large media library like yours also consumes fair amounts of memory and 4.4 is also very memory efficient.

So my advice is to stick with what you're running -- unless you've upgraded your NAS before and know that 6.0.x is going to fix an issue that you're having.

- Rick
Follow me on Twitter! mostlytech1
Checkout my blog: http://mostly-tech.com/

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jan_1923
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Re: Server 6.0.1 and older clients ?

Post by jan_1923 » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:28 pm

Rick, thanks for your fast answer.

Nevertheless it opens a bunch of new ones:
a) what is the reason then for a 6.0 version ?
or in other words: why are Twonkyserver (TS6) features listed like
"# Consumes fewer resources than competing digital media servers
# 5MB memory for 10,000 music items
# Low burden on CPU
# Supports more platforms than any other digital media server" ?
http://www.twonky.com/products/twonkyse ... tures.aspx

Calculating the memory usage form that for my 30000 MP3s would give me ~15MB !?
So even the NSLU2 i started with some years ago would still have enough memory
not mentioning the 2GB my "new" NAS has installed...
Also this site http://www.twonky.com/products/twonkyse ... ility.aspx mentiones
Linux and NAS devices as "compatible" ?
I don't get the marketing or strategy twist of this... assuming that >80% of your users are/would
most likely prefer an energy efficient server running...

b) i did not mention that there is a fourth client. A Philips TV (32PFL9603) that is used to watch
the ~7000 JPGs and some Videos. The server is "only" an Atom and it is running under a "real
linux" i.e. Ubuntu 10.04.01 SE with appr. 8% of memory usage and ~80% of the internal harddisk
(~9GB) beeing used for the operating system only (MP3s and database are on an external drive !).
Can i interpret your results in a way that it is not possible to tailor the tree or nodes of TS6 in a
way that it only keeps a record of the filenames and folders but not all the ID3 tags completely as TS4?

c) there is obviously a problem: the client list tends "to change" and then declares, upon automatic net scans, the
devices as something different from what they are and needs to be hand fixed in order to get the "old" clients
back to functioning.
Frankly speaking i did not yet find out why the clients list hangs and is false after reload. Everything is on fixed
IPs, so no DHCP problem.
Is there a description for the clients.db file ? Thought of inserting the clients by hand externally and make the
file write protected to freeze the state until new clients are added by hand again.

d) additionally i also encounter issues with the web-radio on the MP101s mainly.
NP2500 and Musicpal get there radio content from Vtuner themselfes directly and not from the
TS4.

At the end this really is the reason for thinking of upgrading to TS6...

Finally, i like TS and think that it is a good programm !

Regards

Jan

Twonky_Rick
Posts:3816
Joined:Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:59 am
AV Hardware:Samsung 650 Series TV (2010), 4.5TB HP MediaSmart server with 100,000 songs, 5) AT&T U-Verse STB, CE form-factor Media Center PC and 6 other networked PCs running TwonkyManager, 2 Sonos ZP80, Sonos S5 speaker, Apple TV (running XBMC), Roku Soundbridge, X-Box 360, Sony PS3, Kodak 10" Wireless Photo Frame, iPhone with PlugPlayer software, Sonos CR-100.
Location:San Diego
Contact:

Re: Server 6.0.1 and older clients ?

Post by Twonky_Rick » Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:12 pm

a) what is the reason then for a 6.0 version ?
There are so many differences I can't list them all here. Features like content aggregation, auto-copy, background transcoding, removable media support, remote access (6.1), better support for very large libraries, mobile server support, supports more formats, etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong. We love NAS devices! It's just that there are big differences in their performance. Some NAS devices have ample memory and fast CPUs. Others don't. The slower ones still work great for some applications.

My own personal opinion is that most NAS devices run better with TS 4.x. Of course, if you're having problems with 4.x or need some of the features present in 6.x, then upgrading to 5.1 or 6.x might make sense -- but only if you're an expert and can handle the upgrade process. Many users try this and have problems and it's unfortunately impossible for us to help them.

If I needed the features found in TS 5.1 or 6.x, I would probably just buy a new NAS with TS 5.x/6.x preinstalled. Most of the newer NAS devices are much faster than the older NAS devices and it's just much less of a hassle. Again, this is just my opinion, since I'm not a Linux expert like many of you on the forum.
Can i interpret your results in a way that it is not possible to tailor the tree or nodes of TS6 in a
way that it only keeps a record of the filenames and folders but not all the ID3 tags completely as TS4?
It's possible to customize TS 6.x trees, but much harder than on TS 4.x. We have plans to improve this, but no release date has been set for this.
Is there a description for the clients.db file ? Thought of inserting the clients by hand externally and make the
file write protected to freeze the state until new clients are added by hand again.
I do not have a description for the client.db file. It is possible to edit this manually, but I would avoid write protecting this unless there is a good reason, because that could cause problems.

- Rick
Follow me on Twitter! mostlytech1
Checkout my blog: http://mostly-tech.com/

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