Digitising Cover Art October 29, 2009
Posted by Chris Wright in Internet, Music, Technology.Tags: dbPowerAmp, EAC, flac, iPhone, MP3, MuvUnder Cover, Squeezebox, SqueezeCenter
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Such is the speed of technology that the once proud LP cover, 12 inches square, gatefold and legible has undergone miniturisation via illegibly tiny CD covers replicating cherished original artwork, to its current status as a 200 pixel square icon pressed into service as a usability aid in iPlayers, Squeezebox Duet, SqueezeCenter server and just about every mobile phone currently doing double duty as a music player.
Ok that’s a curmudgeonly take on what actually is a pretty decent usability aid and in this post I’m going to recommend some software that will retrieve the album art from the internet and insert it into your music files so that the player can pick it up and display it.
I played around with a number of different applications that would tackle the difficult job of searching the internet for the cover art, retrieve it and insert it into the ripped cd files. since I have well over a thousand CD’s converted to flac, I wanted a program that would give me these options;
- Configurable search – I don’t want the software to download hundreds of random pictures, I want to configure the primary sources and have the option to widen the search if the primary source doesn’t deliver.
- Choose Image – I want to be able to scroll through the images and choose which one to use
- Automate the inserting of the image into the flac (or mp3) file and insert a copy into the folder for the library
Of the standalone products I tried, several were iTunes focused (Tune Up, Widget Foundry Amazon Art) which is no good for me and a couple were modifications on the software used to rip cds – dbPoweramp being the best of the bunch.
Because I don’t use dbPoweramp, (preferring the freeware EAC) I needed a dedicated piece of software that would do just this job and do it well. I ended up with a Windows only application snappily entitled MuvUnder Cover. This delivers on every point, is childishly simple to use and best of all, if not free, cheap. at $14.
Squeezebox Boom! October 16, 2009
Posted by Chris Wright in Technology.Tags: flac, iPod, Logitech, MP3, Slim Devices, Slimserver, Squeezebox, Transporter
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There comes a time when a piece of hardware is released that is so brilliant that it has to be bought. A case in point is the new offering from Logitech, the Squeezebox Boom – a cross between the classic Squeezebox, a device that has to be plugged into a hi fi, and an eighties BoomBox – basically a portable soundsystem that supports iPod connectivity and streaming services from local hardware. This is Logitech’s second addition to the range bought out by Slim Devices several years ago.
First impressions are – it’s tiny, maybe 12″ across and has no carrying handle. The sound though is incredible for such a small device. Real solid bass, this player punches well above its weight.
For people new to the Squeezebox family, the rest of this article need not apply – simply install the server software on your wireless network, load up your mp3s or flac music collection and you’re good to go, for veterans, this is where the fun begins!
I currently run the Slim Devices Transporter for digital music, using a ReadyNas NV+ for storage. ReadyNas shipped the NV+ with the Free SlimServer software ready installed, which was a factor in my choice of Network attached storage.
Fearing a slew of rebranded releases in the wake of Logitech’s purchase of Slim Devices, I must admit to steering well clear of updating my system on the basis of ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it!’, but cometh the hour…
The latest server software shipped with Logitech’s rebranded hardware is called SqueezeCenter – so predictably, this prereqs a newer version of the Raidiator software – the management UI that sits on top of the base Debian distribution. So time to roll up the sleeves and get the hands dirty!
First task is to download all of the files needed for the upgrade. These are helpfully listed on the Slim Devices Wiki , along with links to download them from. I reproduce them here with extra comments.
1. CleanSqueezeCenter
This is a utility that returns the slimserver database settings to the default – a fresh scan of the music library re-populates the database.
2. CleanSqueezeCenter for x86 (Pro and NVX models)
This only applies to the ReadyNas Pro and NVX models which use the i86 chip architecture. NV and NV+ models use SPARC – this is important also when choosing the version of Squeezecenter.
3. Radiator (ReadyNAS firmware)- latest version is RAIDiator-4.1.6
There is a version of Squeezecenter that is supplied as part of the RAIDiator upgrade. This ships with SqueezeCenter 7.3.2. The final release of Version 7.3.3 is available here.
Unfortunately, SqueezeBox Server 7.4 (the new name for SqueezeCenter) is not yet available for the ReadyNas platform. The Logitech download pages irritatingly forward to the latest version, so it is only available today, through the beta site. For the benefit of the intrepid, I did a fair amount of research on the news groups before deciding not to install beta code – of all the betas, version 7.4.1-28862 is probably the best bet, a version which appears to have cured a nasty bug that caused a reboot of the ReadyNAS to start two instances of the server software, the first not connected to the database, but blocking the ports, the second connected to the database but unable to get the ports it needs to broadcast.
Onwards and upwards then. First task is to upgrade the RAIDiator software.
Load the admin page into the browser and navigate to System > Update > Local tab.
Click on Browse and browse to the folder you stored the files in earlier.
Select the Radiator firmware file and click “Upload and verify image…” (ex. RAIDiator-4.1.6)
Once the file uploads, click on “Perform System Update”.
Once the update is finished, go to the Shutdown tab and select “Shutdown and reboot your device”, then click Apply.
Monitor the progress of the restart with RAIDar. This utility scans the network searching for a ReadyNAS signature, when it finds it, it probes and returns with a snapshot of the status – it does not refresh automatically, so press rescan periodically.
After a couple of refreshes, the icon next to the MAC address in RAIDar will turn blue – this indicates ‘a lengthy background task is running’ . No cause for alarm – this may run for an hour or more!
Once you have reconnected to the admin screen, the next task is to run the CleanSqueezeCenter utility to prepare the database for the new install.
1. On the Admin page, go to System > Update > Local tab
2. Click on Browse and browse to the folder you stored the files in earlier.
3. Select the CleanSqueezeCenter file and click “Upload and verify image…”
When the upload is finished, click on “Perform System Update”. You will be prompted to restart the ReadyNAS – as before, go to the Shutdown tab, select ‘Shutdown and reboot your device and click Apply. Once your ReadyNAS restarts, log into the Admin page again and go to the Streaming Services tab.
If, like me you do this the second RAIDar reports the device is ready, you will be horrified to find that SlimServer has disappeared from the list of streaming services, to be replaced by ‘No Definition’… relax, this is temporary and once the new SqueezeCenter software is loaded, it will show up in this dialogue.
This gets us to a stable version of the server software, and is a good place to draw breath and check that everything is working. Preliminary tests show that the gui loads faster and is much more responsive. It has been redesigned in the interests of usability, so ‘Settings’ down in the bottom right hand corner contains most of the options with which we can break the software! The simple stuff is arranged in a short sequence of menus on the left hand side.
So that is more or less that, I’ll post any updates as they come up, but so far, so good, the system works just as well as it ever did, the gui is faster, and the new player is supported. Job Done?
Postscript
Job Done? Well, no!
On closer inspection, the Internet Radio BBC stations fail to work, with an error “Unable to play file type…”
Further research reveals that this is a known issue on the Linux platform, but very few people seem to have actually solved it. Deeper digging, in the logs identify the file type as ‘wma’ – windows media files. The Netgear forum suggests that the problem is solved in release 7.3.3 of SqueezeCenter.
Sigh…Version 7.3.3 can be downloaded here
The upgrade is exactly as before – First go to the streaming services tab in the RAIDiator menu and delete SqueezeCenter 7.3.2.
Then Go to System – update – local
Choose the image you just downloaded and update, once this has completed go to
Shutdown – Shutdown and reboot
When the system is up again, run the CleanSqueezeCenter utility, Shutdown and Reboot.
Voila!
Internet radio now works. I installed the BBC iPlayer extension to deal with the BBC Real Audio streams.
