Using a Macbook Pro to stream music

[KilburnTowers]

Hi,

Do any fellow MinimServer users run it on a MacBook Pro? If so, could you please share with me what you use to stop the server going to sleep when it's only being used to stream music (Yosemite o.s.)?

I used to run a music streamer called Firefly to stream music from a decrepit 2GB Dell PC, which was grinding to a halt in many ways, to a Roku (Pinacle) soundbridge player.

I have now switched to a brand new 16GB MacBook pro and am running MinimServer.

Whereas before I would occasionally experience buffering (is there anything more annoying?) I'm finding this far more frequent in my new word. Ironically though, when it's working, it works so well. The actual time to fill the buffer is much quicker (songs start playing within a half a second of being selected).

One of my frustrations with the Macbook is that it goes to sleep if left idle. I installed an application called "InsomniaX" to stop that. However, I'm starting to be suspicious that this might be the cause of the buffering problem. I've tried an alternative called "Caffeine" which seems to work better but won't allow me to close the lid on the laptop without putting it to sleep. Neither will it ever put the screensave on. This seems so wasteful.

I am so frustrated that after spending loads of money on new laptop to serve music, my experience has declined so much, so would appreciate any information others can give.

[simoncn]

(08-02-2015 12:57)KilburnTowers Wrote:  Hi,

Do any fellow MinimServer users run it on a MacBook Pro? If so, could you please share with me what you use to stop the server going to sleep when it's only being used to stream music (Yosemite o.s.)?

I used to run a music streamer called Firefly to stream music from a decrepit 2GB Dell PC, which was grinding to a halt in many ways, to a Roku (Pinacle) soundbridge player.

I have now switched to a brand new 16GB MacBook pro and am running MinimServer.

Whereas before I would occasionally experience buffering (is there anything more annoying?) I'm finding this far more frequent in my new word. Ironically though, when it's working, it works so well. The actual time to fill the buffer is much quicker (songs start playing within a half a second of being selected).

One of my frustrations with the Macbook is that it goes to sleep if left idle. I installed an application called "InsomniaX" to stop that. However, I'm starting to be suspicious that this might be the cause of the buffering problem. I've tried an alternative called "Caffeine" which seems to work better but won't allow me to close the lid on the laptop without putting it to sleep. Neither will it ever put the screensave on. This seems so wasteful.

I am so frustrated that after spending loads of money on new laptop to serve music, my experience has declined so much, so would appreciate any information others can give.

See this page. What happens if you remove Insomniax and Caffeine and use this approach instead?

[KilburnTowers]

....but I actually WANT the screen to go to sleep. I just don't want the CPU to go to sleep.
Ideally, I want:
First choice: to shut the laptop lid and let it continue serving music. InsominaX seems to let me do this but I'm suspicious that it's messing up MinimServer.
Second choice: Let the display go to screensave whilst serving music, even if I can't close it.
Third choice: Let the laptop carry on serving music without going to sleep (Caffeine seems to allow this) but it doesn't seem ideal to leave the display blazing.

p.s. I appreciate this isn't a MinimServer issue, but I'm hoping that one of the MinimServer Mac users would have previously dealt with the problem.

[simoncn]

(08-02-2015 20:08)KilburnTowers Wrote:  ....but I actually WANT the screen to go to sleep. I just don't want the CPU to go to sleep.
Ideally, I want:
First choice: to shut the laptop lid and let it continue serving music. InsominaX seems to let me do this but I'm suspicious that it's messing up MinimServer.
Second choice: Let the display go to screensave whilst serving music, even if I can't close it.
Third choice: Let the laptop carry on serving music without going to sleep (Caffeine seems to allow this) but it doesn't seem ideal to leave the display blazing.

p.s. I appreciate this isn't a MinimServer issue, but I'm hoping that one of the MinimServer Mac users would have previously dealt with the problem.

I am primarily a Windows user. To achieve your third choice on Windows, I would set a screensaver of a black screen to appear after a few minutes of keyboard/mouse inactivity. Can this be done on a Mac?

[robertopisa]

- Use Caffeine
- Set System Preferences -> Mission Control -> Hot Corners -> Put display on sleep so that moving the mouse on the chosen corner will do that.

[KilburnTowers]

Thank you Robert. Being new to the o.s. I wasn't even area of the 'corners' thing!
Unfortunately, I'm now questioning whether it's nothing to do with InsomniaX, as the other day I got the buffering problem with Caffeine. Will post another question.

[Leixuros]

(08-02-2015 16:19)simoncn Wrote:  See this page. What happens if you remove Insomniax and Caffeine and use this approach instead?

What’s the approach, described on this page? I have the same problem (with sleep mode, not with buffering) und would like to know, but I get just a white page, when I click this link.

[simoncn]

(03-03-2015 13:16)Leixuros Wrote:  What’s the approach, described on this page? I have the same problem (with sleep mode, not with buffering) und would like to know, but I get just a white page, when I click this link.

The link is working for me in Firefox. The full URL of the page is:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13808

[Leixuros]

Hmm. Strange it’s the same. Not in Safari, not in Firefox, bot in Internet Explorer. Only a white page. Somebody has cursed me

[simoncn]

(03-03-2015 15:29)Leixuros Wrote:  Hmm. Strange it’s the same. Not in Safari, not in Firefox, bot in Internet Explorer. Only a white page. Somebody has cursed me

Try searching for: Prevent your Mac from sleeping