Squeeze Control for Android (support thread)

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi Sergey, I just purchased Squeeze Ctrl and the tablet upgrade (and left you a positive feedback BTW), I am encountering connectivity problems to the server. When I move to my den in the basement my tablet / phone connects to another access point (same SSID) but Squeeze Ctrl loses the connection. I get "Connection broken, reconnecting" and then "Cannot connect to server". Internet access still works however.

Can you help pls?

Is the AP in the den connected to the same physical network as the server? Is it on the same logical network; ie. the devices connected to it has IP addresses that start with the same numbers?

Try accessing the server's browser based controls on a device connected to the den AP. If it doesn't work then there is something wrong with your network setup.

 

[lebobmorane]

Yes they are on the same subnet. What is weird is that a browser can load pages from external IPs, when Squeeze Ctrl can't connect to the LMS. I will try loading my server's local IP:9000 in a browser if that's what you mean?

Is it possible to configure a hard IP address for the server, rather than doing a discovery? I only have one server and only use the app at home.

 

[lebobmorane]

I loaded a ping app and have a continuous ping to my LMS, and found out that:

• when moving from AP 1 (den) to AP 2 I lose one ping and then it resumes nicely
• when moving from AP 2 to AP 1 all pings remain unanswered BUT access to external IPs works and Traceroute completes... ???

I know now it's not an issue with Squeeze Ctrl, but maybe you have an idea Sergey?

I'll look for a networking forum where to share my problem.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

I loaded a ping app and have a continuous ping to my LMS, and found out that:

• when moving from AP 1 (den) to AP 2 I lose one ping and then it resumes nicely
• when moving from AP 2 to AP 1 all pings remain unanswered BUT access to external IPs works and Traceroute completes... ???

I know now it's not an issue with Squeeze Ctrl, but maybe you have an idea Sergey?

I'll look for a networking forum where to share my problem.

Sorry about dumbing down the reply, you can never tell the tech proficiency of the user

Have you checked the DHCP settings of the AP's? Maybe you have two DCHP servers active on your network and the addresses assigned to the different devices are clashing?

BTW, why do you think my name is Sergey? It's Wayne. It's part of my username.

 

[lebobmorane]

Thank you Wayne.

Well, I had thought about that, but my tablet is actually setup with a static IP. Plus access to external sites works. And it's not a DNS issue as the ping to the hard IP address doesn't work.

I like to acknowledge the people behind the messages so I looked at the About menu and found Serguei Tarasevich, which now I realize wasn't for the app but for the Universal Image Loader

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Thank you Wayne.

Well, I had thought about that, but my tablet is actually setup with a static IP. Plus access to external sites works. And it's not a DNS issue as the ping to the hard IP address doesn't work.

I like to acknowledge the people behind the messages so I looked at the About menu and found Serguei Tarasevich, which now I realize wasn't for the app but for the Universal Image Loader

Have you tried replacing the ethernet cable connecting the AP in the den? Sometimes a faulty cable can cause strange problems.

 

[fk3141592]

Hi Wayne, great app! Also thanks for providing good music folder support (it even feels somewhat more responsive than it did in the official app too) - for classical music, I find it indispensable. I also love the download feature, especially combined with the ability to retain the folder structure from the server.

One question (or feature request): Is it possible to specify a download location on the SD card rather than the internal memory? Instead of /storage/emulated/0/Music/..., I would like to download to /storage/external_sd/Audio (at least that is how the paths appear in PowerAmp). Of course the SD path is device-specific (this is a HTC One), so a proper solution might be complicated - but as a fix, it would probably be sufficient to enable the use of absolute paths, rather than interpreting the input as a subfolder of 'Music'. I did some experiments with '../../../external_sd', but got nowhere...

Thanks!

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

One question (or feature request): Is it possible to specify a download location on the SD card rather than the internal memory? Instead of /storage/emulated/0/Music/..., I would like to download to /storage/external_sd/Audio (at least that is how the paths appear in PowerAmp). Of course the SD path is device-specific (this is a HTC One), so a proper solution might be complicated - but as a fix, it would probably be sufficient to enable the use of absolute paths, rather than interpreting the input as a subfolder of 'Music'. I did some experiments with '../../../external_sd', but got nowhere...

Downloading to an SD card is not possible because Squeeze Ctrl uses the Android OS's built-in downloading system and that system does not support downloading to the SD card.

I chose to use the built-in system mainly because I didn't want to have to write one myself and I have no plans on changing that any time soon.

 

[fk3141592]

Fair enough, thanks for the quick reply. Manually moving the downloads to the SD card still beats manually recreating the folder structure, so I can live with that.

 

[VikingOy]

Chromecast is deaf and mute....

Hi,
When I cast to my CC, I get the song info up on my TV, and I can see new track info if I change tracks, and I can change the background. But I cannot see the cover art, and there is no sound.
See the enclosed screen capture from my Galaxy S5 running Android 5.0.
If I increase the media volume (circled in red), nothing happens. Next time I open the volume display, the media volume has dropped back to zero again.
I have no sound issues with any other apps through the CC.

Your Squeeze Ctrl plays nicely on all my other playback devices (Logitech players, PC's, phones, tablets etc.)
My library is a QNAP NAS running LMS 7.8

looking forward to a solution...

rgds
Viking

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

Hi,
When I cast to my CC, I get the song info up on my TV, and I can see new track info if I change tracks, and I can change the background. But I cannot see the cover art, and there is no sound.
See the enclosed screen capture from my Galaxy S5 running Android 5.0.
If I increase the media volume (circled in red), nothing happens. Next time I open the volume display, the media volume has dropped back to zero again.
I have no sound issues with any other apps through the CC.

Your Squeeze Ctrl plays nicely on all my other playback devices (Logitech players, PC's, phones, tablets etc.)
My library is a QNAP NAS running LMS 7.8

looking forward to a solution...

rgds
Viking

Squeeze Ctrl is a remote control app, not a player. Chromecast support is for display only, no audio. This was clearly stated in the app description.

The cover art may just be slow to load. Try a different song, or try rebooting the chromecast.

 

[VikingOy]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

Oops, sorry for my misunderstanding....
Anyway, I tried rebooting the Chromecast - and I did wait a loooong time (30min), but nothing happens.
All my MP3 files have the cover art embedded in the file header. I never store cover art as independent image files in the directory structure on the NAS. There are no cover art files anywhere on the NAS.
I have some 140k MP3 files, all have cover art embedded. I use Media Monkey to maintain my library.
This is just info - for what it may be worth.

rgds
viking

 

[ATinkler]

Hi tried the app and like it but I'm not sure why (by design or I'm missing something) the volume on the widget doesn't control all players when they are synced together. The only time it seems to work is when I'm in manage players and i use the top slider on this page. ..otherwise it always seems to be the player that is selected that gets turned up/down

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

Oops, sorry for my misunderstanding....
Anyway, I tried rebooting the Chromecast - and I did wait a loooong time (30min), but nothing happens.
All my MP3 files have the cover art embedded in the file header. I never store cover art as independent image files in the directory structure on the NAS. There are no cover art files anywhere on the NAS.
I have some 140k MP3 files, all have cover art embedded. I use Media Monkey to maintain my library.
This is just info - for what it may be worth.

rgds
viking

You should not need to have cover art image files on the NAS for the chromecast to read it. LMS extracts the images from the song files and creates an internal cache. If the main app can display it then the Chromecast should also be able to see it since it's using the same URL, unless somehow the Chromecast is blocked from reading from your server. The problem could be that the NAS may not be powerful enough to deal with the demands of the app and the image requests from the Chromecast. Try playing an internet stream and see if the artwork displays.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi tried the app and like it but I'm not sure why (by design or I'm missing something) the volume on the widget doesn't control all players when they are synced together. The only time it seems to work is when I'm in manage players and i use the top slider on this page. ..otherwise it always seems to be the player that is selected that gets turned up/down

By default sync'd players on the Squeezebox system do not have synchronized volumes, you can change that in the server settings.

The group volume bar in the player manager was something that I added so you can change the volume of sync players as a group and still have separate volume settings for each player. It's not a native function of the Squeezebox system.

Squeeze Ctrl was designed around controlling one player at a one (and to a certain extent, so is the Squeezebox system itself), so adding a group volume control throughout the app would require a pretty major overhaul and add quite a bit of complexity that may not be warranted for a relatively minor feature.

 

[ATinkler]

Thanks for the reply Wayne. I could argue that it isn't a minor feature but i can see how for many it might not be important. However even using what is currently available there are a lot of presses to get to the group controller for those who do want that ability.

Would it be possible to add a short cut? Swipe left opens manage players?
double tap player name?

even better would be the chance to choose what each volume controller does. Eg widget volume setas player or group?

I understand if you are not able to make the volume controllers configurable but if you could find a way to getting to the manage players and therefore the group volume that would be great as an alternative.

and thanks again for replying to original message

 

[VikingOy]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

I'm not sure what you mean by"Try playing an internet stream" - how do I do that?
By the way, my LMS is password protected, but username and password has of course been entered into Squeeze ctrl.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

I'm not sure what you mean by"Try playing an internet stream" - how do I do that?
By the way, my LMS is password protected, but username and password has of course been entered into Squeeze ctrl.

I meant playing internet radio, Pandora, Spotify, etc. But I know what the problem is now, I forgot to add the username and password to the image requests from Chromecast. I'll fix it in the next update.

 

[VikingOy]

Re: Chromecast is deaf and mute....

Excellent I'm glad that my incident revealed a fixable little bug.
Your app is a fine one (overall). However, I'd love to see someone - with your skills - developing an app for a ChormeCast that enables it to present itself as a SB playback device (a squeezeplayer) on my network - controllable by Apps like yours.
As far as I understand, it is possible to upload an "app"-like piece of code into the CC and it will run in it independant of my phone (or any other host device).
With a feature like that, I'd be thrilled to buy another CC and use it only as a dedicated player.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Manage Players is implemented as a separate Activity, which in Android is almost like a separate app so having it be a just another panel on the left is not feasible. Besides Manage Player does quite a bit of work to keep track of all the players and I don't want that running all the time. It would also put a larger load on the server, and Squeeze Ctrl already has enough trouble working with servers on NAS's

I would consider doing a double click on the player name.

I guess I didn't explain it well enough, but having the widget be able to control the volume for a group of players will require a major reworking (almost a redesign) of the backend of the app and that's just not a change I'm willing to do for basically one feature.

Have you consider just having the server sync the volume of the players?