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cowgap · 01-11-2017, 16:42

I am having problems listening to m4a files on my Linn Majik DS-I, via MinimServer on my Synology 415play NAS, and the Linn Kazoo control point.

An example 18 minute file, that plays perfectly via the Synology DiskStation server to the Linn Majik (the Kazoo info screen shows 18 minutes duration), will only play the first 50 seconds via the MinimServer (the info screen shows the same file is only 50 seconds duration - so no real surprises there).

The stream.transcode property is set to flac:wave, mp4:wav. Originally, this only showed flac:wav and I couldn't hear the m4a file at all.

Everything works perfectly when streaming to my Naim Superuniti 2, using the Naim app via either the DiskStation server or Minimserver.

I've read about and played with this problem for ages but am now stuck and would appreciate some help, please.

simoncn · 01-11-2017, 17:25

Is is just some m4a files that have this problem or all m4a files? Are other m4a files also truncated after 50 seconds or does this time vary?

cowgap · 01-11-2017, 20:03

(01-11-2017 17:25)simoncn Wrote: Is is just some m4a files that have this problem or all m4a files? Are other m4a files also truncated after 50 seconds or does this time vary?

It's all the m4a files but there aren't that many. I normally use flac and will probably return to that format. All m4a files are truncated between 2.5% and 4% of the original with each set of files belonging to an album or chapters of an audiobook having roughly the same percentage.

I said before that the files served to the Naim were all working correctly. They aren't. The same fault applies to this as to the Linn.

simoncn · 01-11-2017, 20:14

It sounds like MinimServer could be computing an incorrect audio duration for some reason. It is working with most m4a files, so there might be something unusual about your files that is causing this. If you could upload one of the smaller files to my FTP server so that I can look at it, I would appreciate it. I will PM you the server details. Many thanks.

cowgap · 01-11-2017, 21:14

(01-11-2017 20:14)simoncn Wrote: It sounds like MinimServer could be computing an incorrect audio duration for some reason. It is working with most m4a files, so there might be something unusual about your files that is causing this. If you could upload one of the smaller files to my FTP server so that I can look at it, I would appreciate it. I will PM you the server details. Many thanks.

I have sent a couple of files as requested. I have also found that the problem does not apply to all my m4a files after all. I can't work out when the problem started as some old files don't work and some recent ones do. Puzzled.

simoncn · (This post was last modified: 01-11-2017 23:32 by simoncn.)

Thanks for these files. The first file is truncated, possibly because of an error when uploading it. The second file has uploaded OK.

These files both contain two tracks and MinimServer is taking the audio length from the second track instead of adding the track lengths together. This is why the audio length is shorter than it should be. It seems to be quite unusual to have multiple tracks in a file and this is presumably why the error hasn't been noticed previously.

Adding support for mutiple tracks in a file needs careful thought and thorough testing and this will take me a bit of time. I am about to release a MinimServer update and it is too late for me to include this support in this update. I will add this support as soon as I can.

cowgap · 02-11-2017, 08:54

(01-11-2017 23:31)simoncn Wrote: Thanks for these files. The first file is truncated, possibly because of an error when uploading it. The second file has uploaded OK.

These files both contain two tracks and MinimServer is taking the audio length from the second track instead of adding the track lengths together. This is why the audio length is shorter than it should be. It seems to be quite unusual to have multiple tracks in a file and this is presumably why the error hasn't been noticed previously.

Adding support for mutiple tracks in a file needs careful thought and thorough testing and this will take me a bit of time. I am about to release a MinimServer update and it is too late for me to include this support in this update. I will add this support as soon as I can.

I had no idea they contained two tracks and can’t understand how I managed to do it, nor why I would want to. How can I see the two tracks and is one just a truncated version of the other? Can I just remove one of the tracks from these files?

I’m grateful for your help on this. I don’t think I would have worked it out by myself.

simoncn · 02-11-2017, 12:02

I have been looking into this in more detail. The second track is flagged as "not enabled" which presumably means that it should be ignored by the server. I can change MinimServer to look for this flag and just read the first track in the file that is flagged as "enabled". This is a simple change and I will be able to include it in the update that I am preparing. It will not handle the case of multiple "enabled" tracks in a file but I don't think this will matter for your files.

simoncn · 02-11-2017, 18:17

This problem should be fixed now in MinimServer update 105.

cowgap · 02-11-2017, 20:34

(02-11-2017 18:17)simoncn Wrote: This problem should be fixed now in MinimServer update 105.

Afraid not. There seems to be no change at all. I'm still puzzled as to how you know there are two tracks inside the file or how they got there.

Thanks for your help anyway.