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simoncn · 12-07-2022, 22:13

I don't understand your comment about unlocking presets with the trial license.

When the trial license is activated, all configuration options are unlocked and can be set to anything supported by MinimServer. This functionality is available for 30 days.

Music-Guy · 12-07-2022, 23:24

MimimServer is such a powerful software.

By activating the trial licence, the user gets the ability to make individual adjustments and then save them in profiles.

At the beginning, only one predefined default profile is available.

I think it would be helpful for newcomers if several profiles with sample settings were already available at this point.

simoncn · 13-07-2022, 11:53

Thanks very much for this suggestion.

I think it would be good to do something along these lines as there are people who take the trial and don't see any changes in what MinimServer is doing with the trial enabled. They don't know where to look in the documentation to find out what configuration options are available and in some cases they don't know how to access the configuration user interface to add configuration options.

Some of these problems could be solved by creating a 'trial' profile that is selected automatically when a user activates the trial. This would enable some key features of the full version, such as index artwork, recently added and recently played. Some generally useful index entries such as Audio Format and Audio Data could also be added.

Going beyond this to add a selection of profiles is more difficult because the choice of other options will depend on how the user has tagged their files and how they want to browse their library. Trying to anticipate what different users might want is difficult and I have always felt that MinimServer should not provide "recommended" configuration options, tagging schemes or library structure but allow the user to make their own choices with advice and guidance from the forum, as you have done.

I would be interested to know how you are setting configuration options. What platform do you use to run MinimServer? Do you set options by using the Properties dialog from MinimServer or MinimWatch or do you directly edit the .profile file?

Music-Guy · (This post was last modified: 13-07-2022 12:24 by Music-Guy.)

(13-07-2022 11:53)simoncn Wrote: Trying to anticipate what different users might want is difficult and I have always felt that MinimServer should not provide "recommended" configuration options, tagging schemes or library structure but allow the user to make their own choices

I totaly agree with this.
However, a few sample profiles could at least help to show the range of functions and the available configuration options.
In addition, they could serve as templates for individual adjustments.

(13-07-2022 11:53)simoncn Wrote: I would be interested to know how you are setting configuration options. What platform do you use to run MinimServer? Do you set options by using the Properties dialog from MinimServer or MinimWatch or do you directly edit the .profile file?

For this test instance (which is now used productively in my home network), MinimServer runs as a Docker container on an Unraid server.
Further installations will be used on a Raspberry Pi 3B, 4B, as well as on 2 QNAP systems.

The configuration was done via the .profile files and Notepad++. I imported them via the web configuration.
The tagUpdate.txt and the manual cleaning of the cache files were done via WinSCP.
I had installed MinimWatch under Windows for testing, but found the configuration via the .profile files more convenient.

MinimWatch could be a great help for setting up if the respective configuration options were explained directly in the software (e.g. by MouseOver or similar), and/or adjustments were displayed in a live preview in MinimWatch and misconfigurations were highlighted directly.

simoncn · 13-07-2022, 14:00

Thanks for this information. I am planning to make the user interface for configuring MinimServer properties more accessible and user-friendly by providing it as part of the web-based MinimServer configuration pages. MinimWatch would continue to be available but enhancements such as adding mouse-over pop-ups showing usage examples would be made in the web-based UI.

simbun · 13-07-2022, 15:45

I agree that there are just too many variables for a set of default profiles to be worth it, but you could probably get away with a quick n' dirty web page that translated your answers into a configuration, something like:

Code:

#1 Select the Artist indexes you'd like presented

[Y/N] Album Artist

[Y/N] Track Artist

[Y/N] Artist (uses AlbumArtist if it exists otherwise takes Artist)

#2 Do you have any Artist/AlbumArtist sort tags and would you like them used in the indexes (with proper used for display)?    [Y/N]

                                             Display

#3 Albums sorted by    [] Date, Album        [1] Date - Album  [2] (Date) Album    [1/2]

                       [] Album              [1] Album         [2] Album (Date)    [1/2]

#4 Would you like the albums release year to be indexed?

[Y/N] Decade

[Y/N] Year

[Y/N] YearMonth

#5 Artwork    Options...

#6 For indexes that have a lot of values, would you prefer to be offered an A-Z list as a pre-filter, and if so, what should that threshold be?

All indexes         [Y/N]   [nnn]

Albums              [Y/N]   [nnn]

Tracks              [Y/N]   [nnn]

Artist              [Y/N]   [nnn]

AlbumArtist         [Y/N]   [nnn]

All Artists         [Y/N]   [nnn]

Folders             [Y/N]   [nnn]

#7 If there are fewer than [nnn] albums remaining after making an index selection would you like to be taken straight to album view? [Y/N]

Obviously some would be radio buttons e.t.c., but hopefully you get the idea.

simoncn · 13-07-2022, 17:22

This suggestion for a "configuration wizard" is an interesting idea. I will think about it.

Music-Guy · (This post was last modified: 14-07-2022 10:17 by Music-Guy.)

I think the idea from @simbun is fantastic!

I have a new challenge:
I would like to make various internet radio stations available via MinimServer in BubbleUPnP.

To do this, I have created an m3u playlist per radio station according to the following scheme:

Code:

#EXTINF:-1, Ellabaetsch Radio

http://stream.laut.fm/ellabaetsch-radio.m3u

I also put a PNG file with the logo of the station called Ellabaetsch Radio together in a directory within my music collection.

After a rescan, the playlist with the associated logo is then also found in BubbleUPnP under "Playlists".
I can also add the station to the local playlist in BubbleUPnP.
However, when playing the entry, I get the error message "Track 'ellabaetsch-radio.m3u' is not playable: no compatible decoder found".

If I add the same URL in BubbleUPnP using the "Add Stream URL" function, it can be played.

How can I make the streams play in BubbleUPnP?

simoncn · (This post was last modified: 14-07-2022 11:02 by simoncn.)

You need to install the optional MinimStreamer package and route the radio stream via MinimStreamer as described in this section. For this station, you could change your playlist entry to:

Code:

#EXTINF:-1,[Ellabaetsch] Ellabaetsch Radio

http://stream.laut.fm/ellabaetsch-radio.m3u

You need to do a rescan after making this change.

Music-Guy · 14-07-2022, 12:15

OK, did the steps.
Changed the M3U-Playlist, installed the MimimStreamer-AddOn (through MinimWatch) and did a rescan and even a restart.
But the error ist still the same.

A short question on MimimStreamer:
If I do not renew the full licence, then this function will no longer be available after 12 months. Have I understood that correctly?