Squeezebox thoughts

[Covenant]

I would like to go down the external storage route for music so I could leave my computer switched off. Most of the NAS devices which have squeezecenter installed are relatively expensive whilst external hard drives have reduced to £50 region. Has anyone managed to get the software on a cheap harddrive or do I resign myself to spending £200+?

[Stratmangler]

Unfortunately you are resigned to spending money. The problem with most standalone NAS devices is that they cannot run the Squeeze Center client.
The ones that can are few to say the least, such as the QNAP range. The version of Squeeze Center is also important, as more recent versions have more processor intensive features than earlier versions.

The new Squeezebox Touch might change the situation, but as this is not yet widely available we'll have to wait and see. As the Touch has its' own stripped down version of Squeeze Center built in, it may be possible to point the programme at a dumb NAS, which obviously puts a different slant on things.

Looking at things from a different angle, does your 'puters LAN port have WOL capabilities ? You may be able to rouse your machine from standby if it has, and could be a route to take.

Chris:)

[Peter Stockwell]

The forthcoming squeezebox touch may solve that problem for you, because youc an attach a USB drive that will be recognised as a network drive by your main computer. It will contain a stripped down version of squeezecenter. Have a look on the squeezebox touch formum, there's loads of info.

[leo]

Only thing I can think of is those media player jobs, I don't they'll work with slimserver though, I think Stan uses something like this http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221816 needs a display though

I was looking at these, no idea if any good http://www.iamm.co.kr/new_2007/eng/index.php?m=2&s=1

[Covenant]

I cant see the sense in the Touch-why bother if you have a remote? Anyway its just me being a tight-arse. Given how much pleasure I get out of the old Squeezebox, spending £200 on storage is fair enough.
But if anyone has a NAS or QNAP with squeezecenter installed and wants to flog it just let me know!

[NRG]

??? It's not just a touch screen...theres loads more to it like being able to connect your USB drive or SSD memory card direct to it without having to run any NAS or computer 'server'.....the touch screen part is an added bonus.

[Peter Stockwell]

I cant see the sense in the Touch-why bother if you have a remote? Anyway its just me being a tight-arse. Given how much pleasure I get out of the old Squeezebox, spending £200 on storage is fair enough.
But if anyone has a NAS or QNAP with squeezecenter installed and wants to flog it just let me know!

What ?! Can't see the sense in the touch ? You really need to look over the qsueezebox forum, it's a lot more than just a classic with a touch screen. It's pretty much a server all by itself, just attach USB storage as desired.

[Ali Tait]

Peter,did you find out if I can plug the Drobo into it? Or if I buy a Droboshare,does it run SC?

[Covenant]

I should have read up on the Touch-sorry, its pretty nifty really.

[maxrob200]

Qnap NAS running squeezecentre with squeezebox 3 with flac files work very well on my current setup. Howevet, the new Touch would seem to negate the need for a NAS, hence saving money in that area

[Peter Stockwell]

Peter,did you find out if I can plug the Drobo into it? Or if I buy a Droboshare,does it run SC?

I believe you'll be able to use the drobo as a hard USB drive on a touch, a drobo can be formated FAT, HFS, NTFS or EXT2 or 3 as you want - I asked the question on the squeezebox forum, and that's the answer that came back.

Personally, I wouldn't attach the drobo to a touch because the fan noise, when the fan cuts in, is going to be too intrusive if it's in the same room as the kit. Not that it's loud per se, I just got annoyed with it over time. The drobo is always "on", unless you pull out the power cable, so the fan will start up even when the drives are not being accessed if the ambient temperature is high enough. I found this a nuisance in the summer (about 25°C in the flat), might not be a worry in Scotland ?

As far as I know there's no droboapp that runs Squeezecenter yet. If you are considering a touch it will run it's own version of SC, and I believe it can access a remote drive on the network as the music source. I'd see this as the best set up with a touch.

For the record, I have my ALAC files c. 200 Gb on a 320Gb portable drive which runs off the USB port of the mac mini, no power supply, but it vibrates more than I like. These files are backed up via Time Machine, but I think this is overkill, there's no real need to have an hourly back up of the music files, to an external 1Tb drive that is in a fanless enclosure (Macpower Plaiedes/Seagate Barracuda 7200.12) This is adequate for me. I have to look at using Superduper for the music file back up, it doesn't keep multiple copies.

[Ali Tait]

Thanks Peter,the thought I was having was using the Drobo with a Touch,so avoiding the need to shell out for the Droboshare.

[REM]

Thought I was getting my head around this 'till this Drobo thingie came up (what on earth is a Drobo?). Anyway am I right to assume that you can just use an SB Touch with a cheapo usb hard drive and that's it, job done, download 24 bit files off t'interwebs and away you go, please tell me that is all there is to it, or am I (probably) missing something??:confused:

[Peter Stockwell]

The drobo is big expensive hard drive (drives actually).

[shuggz]

I would like to go down the external storage route for music so I could leave my computer switched off. Most of the NAS devices which have squeezecenter installed are relatively expensive whilst external hard drives have reduced to £50 region. Has anyone managed to get the software on a cheap harddrive or do I resign myself to spending £200+?

I went down this route as I have spare hdd, Dvico M 4000pa with remore without hdd £85 7 inch colour tv £60.
I link the TV to the dvico via composite video and dvico to a standac via coax or optical connections.

Works and sounds mighty fine.

[StanleyB]

Only thing I can think of is those media player jobs, I don't they'll work with slimserver though, I think Stan uses something like this http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221816 needs a display though
It's still the best option I have been able to find at below £150.
The screen I recommend is THIS (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-ELONEX-WIDESCREEN-7-PHOTO-FRAME-DIGITAL-TV-MP3_W0QQitemZ390095535111QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pho tography_DigitalCamAccess_RL?hash=item5ad3817c07&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14).
You'll need a set of THESE (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Triple-Phono-3-x-Socket-to-Socket-RCA-Connector-Adaptor_W0QQitemZ330343168757QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK _Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item4ce9fcbaf5&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) as well. Total cost under £200. Just add a DAC to the SPDIF output on the INOI drive, and use the included remote control to adjust the volume on the DAC;).