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Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - WigglyWoo - 12-02-2023 07:51
Hello everyone,
I'm a long time MinimServer user and have recently migrated from a Synology NAS to a Melco N1ZS40.
I've got a strange issue where some tracks (I've found 2 so far) don't play and cause the Melco to act weird and need a reboot:
- Select track to play (via Melco or Linn app)
- Melco displays that the track is playing on the front display but no music comes out
- Select another track and Melco sometimes plays it (audio fine) but the Melco display still shows the previous track that wouldn't play
- Eventually it starts refusing to play lots of tracks and I have to reboot
I don't get this problem on Twonky, just MinimServer (2.2).
I'd much prefer to continue using MinimServer - any ideas?
I wondered whether it might be a conflict between the app and Melco control mode (as I'm running direct into a USB-DAC), Melco should be UPnP, Linn should be Playlist (OpenHome), but have tried switching between Hybrid, UPnP and Playlist and it doesn't seem to fix the playback issue...
...and while I'm at it, any guidance on apps. I like the Linn app, but it seems a little flaky; the Melco app doesn't look as nice but seems less flaky... any other suggestions?
Many thanks
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - simoncn - 12-02-2023 15:33
Please provide the following information to help me identify the cause of this problem.
1) What type of files are these? (FLAC, MP3, M4A, DSF, etc.)
2) Do you have anything set in the MinimServer stream.transcode property? If, so, what is your setting?
3) If you look at the MinimServer log when the problem occurs, do you see any error messages there?
4) Could you upload one of these two files to my FTP server or post it on a file-sharing site so that I can try to play the file? I will send you a PM with information about how to upload a file to my FTP server.
Many thanks for your help with this.
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - simoncn - 12-02-2023 19:38
Thanks for uploading the file. I am seeing the same results as you.
I have checked what MinimServer and Twonky are sending to the Melco renderer. The stream contents are identical but there is a difference in the metadata. This file is 88.2 kHz 24-bit and the resource metadata is as follows:
(from MinimServer)
<res duration="0:09:04.694" size="288514558" bitsPerSample="24" bitrate="529200" sampleFrequency="88200" nrAudioChannels="2" protocolInfo="http-get:*:audio/x-aiff:DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01700000000000000000000000000000">http://192.168.0.33:9790/minimserver/*/wiggly/03*20Giorgio*20by*20Moroder.aiff</res>
(from Twonky)
<res size="288514558" sampleFrequency="44100" protocolInfo="http-get:*:audio/x-aiff:*">http://192.168.0.33:9050/disk/NON-DLNA-OP01-FLAGS01700000/O0$1$8I238091.aiff</res>
The most obvious difference is that MinimServer sends the correct sample rate (88200) and bit depth (24) whereas Twonky sends an incorrect sample rate (44100) and no bit depth.
There is also a difference in protocolInfo which might be significant. MinimServer sends some DLNA information in protocolInfo and Twonky doesn't.
Do all the tracks that cause the problem have a sample rate of 88200 and a bit depth of 24?
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - WigglyWoo - 12-02-2023 21:47
That's interesting... strange thing though is that some of the other tracks on the album, which are presumably encoded the same, play fine. I've found two duffy ones so far... but at least 3 are fine in the same album. I've ftp'd one of the tracks that does play OK for you to have a look at.
The other track I've found so far that doesn't play is 24bit 96kHz... but I've been playing lots of different HD tracks without issues so don't think it can be bit-depth/sample rate related (?). Very strange.
Note that all the tracks play fine when piped to a Naim ND5 renderer, so it's an issue with the Melco renderer's handling of the MinimServer's feed vs the Twonky. But then why only these particular tracks? Presumably a parsing issue somewhere with the metadata at a specific track level...
Many thanks for your help in trying to troubleshoot this.
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - simoncn - 12-02-2023 22:41
I am away from home for the next few days and I will not be able to do any further investigation until I return.
I think there is a bug in the Melco renderer and for some reason the incorrect/incomplete metadata sent by Twonky for this track is bypassing this bug, either by accident or design.
I suggest you report this to Melco so that they are aware of the issue. It is possible they might already know about it.
When I get back from my trip, I will try sending different combinations of metadata to the Melco renderer to try to narrow down what combination of metadata causes or bypasses the bug.
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - WigglyWoo - 18-02-2023 09:37
(12-02-2023 22:41)simoncn Wrote: I am away from home for the next few days and I will not be able to do any further investigation until I return.
I think there is a bug in the Melco renderer and for some reason the incorrect/incomplete metadata sent by Twonky for this track is bypassing this bug, either by accident or design.
I suggest you report this to Melco so that they are aware of the issue. It is possible they might already know about it.
When I get back from my trip, I will try sending different combinations of metadata to the Melco renderer to try to narrow down what combination of metadata causes or bypasses the bug.
I think I've found the issue... I redownloaded the files from Qobuz and when comparing to my versions I found that for some reason the artist name had also been copied into the TrackTotal tag in my files and a strange tag 'Epoque' was also in the metadata with two values: the artist name and the TrackTotal value. Deleting the Epoque tag and correcting the TrackTotal tag value seems to have resolved the issue and the problem tracks now play fine...
I've found this anomaly in both the albums where I had problem tracks, and both had come from Qobuz so presumably the metadata had somehow got corrupted when the files were originally downloaded.
Either way, looks like this was the issue (fingers crossed).
Many thanks for your help
Quick update: yep it was all my Qobuz downloads from 2015 (just that one year... bizarre). Have corrected all the metadata and now all files playing fine :-)
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - simoncn - 18-02-2023 17:04
Thanks for this update.
Please upload the fixed version of the original track (03 Giorgio by Moroder.aiff) to my FTP server. I would like to compare it with the original version to understand why the problem occurred only with MinimServer and not with Twonky. Many thanks.
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - WigglyWoo - 18-02-2023 17:18
(18-02-2023 17:04)simoncn Wrote: Thanks for this update.
Please upload the fixed version of the original track (03 Giorgio by Moroder.aiff) to my FTP server. I would like to compare it with the original version to understand why the problem occurred only with MinimServer and not with Twonky. Many thanks.
For this particular track I ended up replacing the file with a fresh download from Qobuz... but hopefully still useful for you (uploaded via ftp).
Am assuming that the illegal alphanumerical data in the TOTALTRACKS tag was causing the problem somewhere (?). Please do let me know what you find...
Thanks
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - simoncn - 18-02-2023 18:45
Thanks for this file.
There was no problem with the tag data in the original file. The problem was caused by the ID3 tag data chunk having an odd number of bytes. This is legal in AIFF but it appears that the Melco renderer has a bug and doesn't handle this correctly.
I have patched this file to change the ID3 chunk length to an even number (with no other changes) and the patched file plays correctly on the Melco.
I don't understand why the original file played correctly when using Twonky.
The new download has an even number for the ID3 chunk length and this is why it is working on the Melco.
I will report this problem to Melco.
RE: Melco MinimServer compatibility issue - WigglyWoo - 18-02-2023 20:18
(18-02-2023 18:45)simoncn Wrote: Thanks for this file.
There was no problem with the tag data in the original file. The problem was caused by the ID3 tag data chunk having an odd number of bytes. This is legal in AIFF but it appears that the Melco renderer has a bug and doesn't handle this correctly.
I have patched this file to change the ID3 chunk length to an even number (with no other changes) and the patched file plays correctly on the Melco.
I don't understand why the original file played correctly when using Twonky.
The new download has an even number for the ID3 chunk length and this is why it is working on the Melco.
I will report this problem to Melco.
Thanks Simon, very interesting... explains why (I presume) that some files in the same album played fine and others caused the Melco to fall over...
I also tried converting the original AIFFs to FLAC using XLD and in the process it subtly changed the metadata (and presumably the ID3 chunk length?) and hence then played fine on the Melco.
Many thanks again for your help; I also flagged to Melco so ball seems to be in their court now to ensure this issue doesn't arise again...