Control point display

[arhythm]

Hi there,

On balance my Marantz control app for ios displays much better with minimserver than the native synology media server, however ... unlike the DSM media server which displays an alphabetical column alongside the listed contents of the folders (albums/artists etc) that allows you to jump to any alphabetical point in the list, this is missing when using minimserver. This means the only way to get to an album starting with Z is to scroll through my whole collection :-( Is there any solution to this problem?
Many thanks,
Richard.

[simoncn]

(31-05-2015 13:17)arhythm Wrote:  Hi there,

On balance my Marantz control app for ios displays much better with minimserver than the native synology media server, however ... unlike the DSM media server which displays an alphabetical column alongside the listed contents of the folders (albums/artists etc) that allows you to jump to any alphabetical point in the list, this is missing when using minimserver. This means the only way to get to an album starting with Z is to scroll through my whole collection :-( Is there any solution to this problem?
Many thanks,
Richard.

This column is displayed by the control point, not the server. It will only be displayed if all the entries in the list are in strict alphabetical order.

[arhythm]

(31-05-2015 14:59)simoncn Wrote:  

(31-05-2015 13:17)arhythm Wrote:  Hi there,

On balance my Marantz control app for ios displays much better with minimserver than the native synology media server, however ... unlike the DSM media server which displays an alphabetical column alongside the listed contents of the folders (albums/artists etc) that allows you to jump to any alphabetical point in the list, this is missing when using minimserver. This means the only way to get to an album starting with Z is to scroll through my whole collection :-( Is there any solution to this problem?
Many thanks,
Richard.

This column is displayed by the control point, not the server. It will only be displayed if all the entries in the list are in strict alphabetical order.

Hi Simon,

Many thanks for the response :-)
Please excuse my lack of comprehension - I'm still trying to get to grips with how the various elements interrelate.
All the entries are in alphabetical order under the relevant search criteria folders (Artist, Album etc.) The display and options on my Marantz control point are quite different between using DSM media server on the Synology and Minimserver (also on synology) Using DSM media server with my control point there is an A-Z grid/list to the right of the screen that allows you to click on a letter and skip to the relevant point in the alphabetic list of displayed media. Using minimserver with my control point this is not available and the only way to get to any media beginning with Z is to scroll through my entire collection. Do you have any suggestions?
Many thanks for your time,
Richard.

[simoncn]

(01-06-2015 10:35)arhythm Wrote:  Hi Simon,

Many thanks for the response :-)
Please excuse my lack of comprehension - I'm still trying to get to grips with how the various elements interrelate.
All the entries are in alphabetical order under the relevant search criteria folders (Artist, Album etc.) The display and options on my Marantz control point are quite different between using DSM media server on the Synology and Minimserver (also on synology) Using DSM media server with my control point there is an A-Z grid/list to the right of the screen that allows you to click on a letter and skip to the relevant point in the alphabetic list of displayed media. Using minimserver with my control point this is not available and the only way to get to any media beginning with Z is to scroll through my entire collection. Do you have any suggestions?
Many thanks for your time,
Richard.

Please post screenshots of the two screens (DSM with alphabet and MinimServer without alphabet). You could also ask on a Marantz forum how the Marantz control point decides whether or not to show this alphabet.

[Cebolla]

Simon/Richard,

I believe the issue may be due to a feature in the Marantz control app, where its built-in grouped alphabetical sorting engages only after the second folder level. This is most likely due to it being required to support all media UPnP servers which commonly start with a top level folder of showing the 'videos/music/pictures' subfolders.
Of course, MinimServer being a music only UPnP media server doesn't display this at its top level.

Incidentally, the same applies to the Denon control app, which appears to be very similar to the Marantz one. In fact they're most likely the same app, only with different 'skins'. Not surprising really, as both are owned by the same parent company, D+M Group.

John

[arhythm]

(01-06-2015 16:21)simoncn Wrote:  

(01-06-2015 10:35)arhythm Wrote:  Hi Simon,

Many thanks for the response :-)
Please excuse my lack of comprehension - I'm still trying to get to grips with how the various elements interrelate.
All the entries are in alphabetical order under the relevant search criteria folders (Artist, Album etc.) The display and options on my Marantz control point are quite different between using DSM media server on the Synology and Minimserver (also on synology) Using DSM media server with my control point there is an A-Z grid/list to the right of the screen that allows you to click on a letter and skip to the relevant point in the alphabetic list of displayed media. Using minimserver with my control point this is not available and the only way to get to any media beginning with Z is to scroll through my entire collection. Do you have any suggestions?
Many thanks for your time,
Richard.

Please post screenshots of the two screens (DSM with alphabet and MinimServer without alphabet). You could also ask on a Marantz forum how the Marantz control point decides whether or not to show this alphabet.

Hi Simon,
I'll try and sort some photos. Am unsure how to get screenshots from Ipad to computer. I think the post below from Cebolla sounds like a plausible explanation. I've tried both versions of the Marantz control apps and it's the same issue. Indeed the first folder level of the DSM server is: Music/Video/Photo whilst for Minimserver it's the Album/Artist etc folders. Is there any way to add a top level music folder from within Minimserver?
Many thanks,
Richard.

[arhythm]

(02-06-2015 11:31)Cebolla Wrote:  Simon/Richard,

I believe the issue may be due to a feature in the Marantz control app, where its built-in grouped alphabetical sorting engages only after the second folder level. This is most likely due to it being required to support all media UPnP servers which commonly start with a top level folder of showing the 'videos/music/pictures' subfolders.
Of course, MinimServer being a music only UPnP media server doesn't display this at its top level.

Incidentally, the same applies to the Denon control app, which appears to be very similar to the Marantz one. In fact they're most likely the same app, only with different 'skins'. Not surprising really, as both are owned by the same parent company, D+M Group.

John

Hi John,
Many thanks for the helpful observation :-) I think you are probably on the mark.
Cheers,
Richard.

[simoncn]

(02-06-2015 21:42)arhythm Wrote:  Hi Simon,
I'll try and sort some photos. Am unsure how to get screenshots from Ipad to computer. I think the post below from Cebolla sounds like a plausible explanation. I've tried both versions of the Marantz control apps and it's the same issue. Indeed the first folder level of the DSM server is: Music/Video/Photo whilst for Minimserver it's the Album/Artist etc folders. Is there any way to add a top level music folder from within Minimserver?
Many thanks,
Richard.

There isn't any way to add a top-level music folder in MinimServer. I suggest you report this incompatibility to Marantz and ask if they are willing to fix it.

[Cebolla]

Richard,

As a (temporary & slightly klunky) get around, you could get most of the main music category folders in the top level to repeat themselves at a lower level, from a tag field that you are not currently using in any of your music files, taking advantage of the recursive nature of MinimServer's folder structure.

You can surface this previously unused field to the top level as an index field by creating a dummy music file with that one tag field (and no other tags) set to some dummy value, copying the file to where the rest of your music files are stored and adding the field to the list in MinimServer's indexTags property.

Entering the field using a control app should present you with two subfolders: one displaying the dummy value for the tag field set in the dummy music file, the other displaying '[unknown]'. Entering the [unknown] folder should display the repeated main music category folders.

MinimServer allows you display an index field with a different name, so you can choose a more user friendly name to display in the top level. For example if your unused tag field is the MARANTZCTRL tag, adding 'MarantzCtrl:My Marantz Music' instead of 'MarantzCtrl' to the list in the indexTags property, would display 'My Marantz Music' instead of 'MarantzCtrl' at the top level in the control app.
You could also make the access to the '[unknown]' folder a bit more user friendly by setting the dummy music files's tag field's dummy value to something meaningful like 'Ignore - use [unknown] to access Marantz Music'

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Just in case you can't make the dummy audio file for yourself, I've attached a ZIP file containing one for you. It's a FLAC file with no playable music data and has the one tag field mentioned, MARANTZCTRL. Don't forget to add 'MarantzCtrl:My Marantz Music' to your tag indexes in MinimServer's indexTags property for the above to work.

[arhythm]

(02-06-2015 22:14)simoncn Wrote:  

(02-06-2015 21:42)arhythm Wrote:  Hi Simon,
I'll try and sort some photos. Am unsure how to get screenshots from Ipad to computer. I think the post below from Cebolla sounds like a plausible explanation. I've tried both versions of the Marantz control apps and it's the same issue. Indeed the first folder level of the DSM server is: Music/Video/Photo whilst for Minimserver it's the Album/Artist etc folders. Is there any way to add a top level music folder from within Minimserver?
Many thanks,
Richard.

There isn't any way to add a top-level music folder in MinimServer. I suggest you report this incompatibility to Marantz and ask if they are willing to fix it.

Thanks for your time Simon,
I will contact Marantz, but not holding my breath...
Richard.