I thought I was technically challenged as I now enter my third year
non-stop effort of debugging (er testing) this duet controller/slim
devices/squeezebox server/player prototype for Logitech.  Now I see
that a veteran IT professional doesn’t “get it” either!  Albeit his
issues are with the radio portion, I too am flabbergasted that Logitech
deemed this a consumer hardened product….it’s great for techies who get
their skirts blown up by figuring out how to make something with
multiple failure “opportunities” function, but robust it is not.  I’m
not a newbie at home network stuff as I’ve set up print servers, have
two wireless routers in my home daisy chained, 3 computers networked on
them, etc.  All that stuff works great.  Given that and the fact the
folks like JonInAtl have issues too suggests that indeed the product is
lame.  If you planned to actually have a hassle free way of listening to
music with this beast…beware!

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve had my system working and working well for
time periods of maybe up to a month or so.  Then “something” happens
and nothing works….the little circle spins around for ever on the
controller….never telling me what it’s looking for or what it can’t do;
libraries that are mysteriously no longer configured in the
“Information” tab of the Squeezebox Server GUI; libraries that won’t
even scan anymore unless the server software is re-installed; can’t
connect to server messages; batteries that wouldn’t hold a charge
longer than 10 mins (yes, Logitech sent me a new one after contacting
them…but why was it ever an issue to begin with?); can’t access
library, can’t, can’t, can’t or won’t, won’t, won’t.  And forget the
wireless setup to the player; employing an Ethernet cable thru my attic
2 years ago fixed a lot of stuff and allowed the new vista of problems
to fully blossom.

My setup?

A Dell M4400 laptop as my server (I had a Dell 1150 before with the
same problem set I have now) with 250 Gb (flac & mp3) of  music stored
on an external Western Digital Mybook 500 Gb hard drive connected via
USB 2.0.  I run Windows XP; the Duet has software version 7.5.0 r8673;
the SBS software is v 7.5.0 –r30464.  No, I can’t believe it’s a
software level issue…I’ve been thru multiple software upgrades…usually
they only make things worse.  Connection of the router to the player is
via Ethernet as is connection of the laptop to the router. Yes, the
Mybook has a script built into it that shuts it down after a certain
amount of time.  Yes, I think this is my current problem because
squeeze box server can’t wake it up.  Sometimes even Windows Explorer
can’t wake it up but usually it can.  No, I don’t know how to prevent
the MyBook from powering down.  No, you can’t manage the power down via
the “Power Options” in Widows XP…that is already set to “Never” turn off
hard disks.  No, I don’t want to put all my music on the internal drive
of the laptop because of space limitations. Yes, I leave my laptop
powered on all the time when it’s at home (because of Squeezebox). 
Yes, I occasionally unplug my laptop from the external drive and take
it somewhere….it’s a laptop.  Yes, the external drive appears to map
back to the original drive letter “E” when I plug the laptop back into
my home peripherals.  I can always get things working again by either
running the factory setup on the Duet and/or by reinstalling the server
software and rescanning….about a 30 minute procedure…but that’s a lot to
do when you just want to chill to some tunes after coming home;
shuffling CD’s around is easier or plugging in my MP3 player. Yes, I’m
fond of semi-colons.

If anyone has any tips on this situation I’d be very appreciative of
your help.  I’ll even commit Logitech to compensating you for your
time.  Best wishes & Thanks to JonInAtl and the thousands of other
frustrated users in recognition of their millions of un-compensated,
GDP draining man-hours spent on this product.


-- 
radikon
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View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=78256

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