Finally, A Satisfactory Solution To Accessing My Music Files!

[gmgraves]

For a number of years, I have been accessing the music stored on my various Macs via Logitech's Media Server and a Squeezebox Touch. It has always worked well (I have never used the Squeezebox's built-in DAC, and have always connected with outboard DACs via coat SPDIF) except for two things. The first is that the Squeezebox has a tiny screen almost invisible from across the room next to my stereo system, and secondly, more than once, Logitech's Media Server has been broken by an Apple system upgrade. The last time, it took Logitech almost 9 months to make the server software work with the latest system. I went back to playing CDs during that 9 months. I have tried several times to find a solution; the latest being an AURALiC Aries, which I hated because I thought that it sounded terrible! How, you may ask, can something that merely stores digital music files for playback through an outboard DAC; the same files that one ripped from their own CD collection and haven't been changed by even one bit, make those same files suddenly sound bad? I have no idea, but it certainly did! 

Finally, when High-Sierra (System 10.13) came out I decided that I couldn't allow two upgrades on my OS pass me by. So I contacted Logitech and asked them if High-Sierra killed Media Server 7.7.7. The answer I received was not encouraging. Logitech said that they didn't know whether or not Apple's latest system upgrade broke their Media Server, because they no longer support the product and that there is no one left at the company who could modify the code to fix it, if the new OS did break the server software! This has forced my hand. 

Earlier this year, I purchased, off of Craig's List, a used 2011 17" MacBook Pro, in perfect shape for $200. I then replaced the 200 GB HDD (7200rpm, BTW) with a 500GB SSD and install the then latest OS on it (10.12 Sierra) and copied all my music files from my home office Mac to the MacBookPro via FireWire (with the laptop in the "target" mode) and installed JRiver Media Server 23 on the laptop. 

I knew that I knew that JRiver had several remote control solutions available and I thought that I would use JRemote on my aging, but still viable 10-inch iPad Series 2. Unfortunately, when I went to download it, It told me that I needed to upgrade to iOS 10.0 in order to install the app. Well, at some point after Apple released the Series 2 iPad, they switched processors and with iOS 10, they left the older, original processors behind. Frustrating, but that's computers for you!  Recently, I had bought a new smartphone and this one ran Android 6, so rummaging around in JRiver's web presence, I found that they had an Android app called "Gizmo" that did the same thing as JRemote does on iOS and I downloaded and installed it.

The next problem was that I wanted to use the Mac laptop headless. IOW, I wanted it connected to my Yggdrasil, but I didn't want or need to see the screen. The Android remote app, took care of being able to see what I was doing. Problem. If you close the Mac's lid, the Mac goes to sleep. It even goes to sleep when you access the "Power Saver" System Preference Panel. I knew that there had to be some way to operate a MacBook with the lid closed After all, there are lots of users who have only laptops and when using them at home, connect a full size keyboard and an external mouse, and a large display and operate the laptop as if it were a home computer with the lid closed. A quick call to Apple Support told me that Apple had no workaround solution to that problem, but there was a third-party freeware solution called "Insomniax for Mac". I downloaded and installed it, and then after to playing with the machine's Power Saver preferences and the "insomniax" options I got it to never go to sleep. If you don't do that, after some period of inactivity the Mac will go to sleep and the Gizmo Android remote can't wake it up unless the checkbox "Wake Up For Network Access" is checked and both sleep settings are set to never!

Everything works perfectly. I only wish that Apple hadn't abandoned those combo 3.5mm phone plug/Toslink connections on their laptops. I'd much rather use SPDIF to connect the MacBook Pro to the Yggdrasil that USB! 

 

I hope this helps anyone who is contemplating a similar journey!

[gmgraves]

4 hours ago, daverich4 said:

 

Actually, LMS is up to V7.9. While Logitech no longer supports it there is an active user community that does. 

 

http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?27-Logitech-Media-Server

 

And, although I could never get JRiver to work properly with my Squeezebox Touch and Transporter, Roon just sees them as another endpoint and works flawlessly with them both. 

I have found that as long as the Logitech Media Server is running, JRiver's "Gizmo" for Android works flawlessly with the Squeezebox Touch. Without the  Logitech Software, not so much. Thanks for the heads-up on the V.7.9 software.

[gmgraves]

26 minutes ago, Allan F said:

 

My original iPad Mini died about a year ago and I had to pay to replace it with a refurbished one. I will be upgrading my system soon to include both HQPlayer and Roon. When I found out that I couldn't run Roon Remote on my iPad Mini, I was really pissed. So I said goodbye to Apple and am now the owner of a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0, which outperforms an iPad Mini 4 and cost me a lot less.

 

Yeah, IPads are, like iPhones, wildly overpriced, and short of features. I have an iPad, but I probably won't replace it with a new one. There are so many Android tablets on the market which not only are much cheaper than iPads, but have user expandable memory (iPads don't) and also let the user replace his own battery when the original one dies (iPads won't). The only thing Apple has that I think is better enough than the competition to warrant the premium expenditure is the Macintosh computer system. It is hard to make an argument for MS Windows being even in the same ballpark as the Mac, (much less better) but in spite of the user interface being so superior to Windows that it isn't even funny, and the underpinnings of MacOS being Unix, there are still people who will argue the point. Well, more power to 'em and bless their little (misinformed) hearts! 

[gmgraves]

On 11/24/2017 at 12:26 PM, daverich4 said:

 

Actually, LMS is up to V7.9. While Logitech no longer supports it there is an active user community that does. 

 

http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?27-Logitech-Media-Server

 

And, although I could never get JRiver to work properly with my Squeezebox Touch and Transporter, Roon just sees them as another endpoint and works flawlessly with them both. 

 

You are wrong about LMS being up to V.7.9. That update seems to be only for Windows 7 when they upgraded from Vista. The latest version for Mac is 7.7.5 which I already have. But I do thank you for the forum advice. 

[gmgraves]

On 11/24/2017 at 12:26 PM, daverich4 said:

 

Actually, LMS is up to V7.9. While Logitech no longer supports it there is an active user community that does. 

 

http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?27-Logitech-Media-Server

 

And, although I could never get JRiver to work properly with my Squeezebox Touch and Transporter, Roon just sees them as another endpoint and works flawlessly with them both. 

 Thanks I went to Logitech's web site and clicked on the "support" tab and the only 7.9 there was for Windows. There was no Mac software at all. So Since the Windows download said it was for Win7, I assumed that 7.9 was for Win 7 only. Sorry about that.

 

I have now downloaded and installed 7.9 for Mac, and it's running fine. Thanks again to all who responded.