Pink Floyd Long Track 42 minutes long won't upload to Brennan

[Chris Hudson]

Hi,

Not a big issue but was wondering if anyone knows an answer to this slight problem.

I have on my PC a Pink Floyd track, Dark side of the moon. 

The original has no gaps in between tracks ( which is brilliant ) but when trying to upload it as a bulk upload the Brennan stops at 47%.

If uploading a single file the brennan wheel just keeps turning round.

Tried to transfer using the Brennan as a NAS drive seems to work, then on the front panel doing a scan disc.

However when I search the track shows but does not play.

Any help would be brilliant but not a big problem if it can't be done, I can just play from computer.

Cheers Chris

[Daniel Taylor]

It's not completely clear to me whether it's one track that is 42 minutes long (as indicated in this thread's title) or if it's an album made up of several tracks that together total 42 minutes.  If it's the former, I've read of that complaint before.  But regardless of that...

The first thing that comes to mind is to ask what is your WiFi signal strength?  

Settings > Maintenance > WiFi Strength.  (I got that from the Brennan website on the Menu page.)
Your signal strength should be better than -50 (-40 being better, -60 being worse) and not fluctuate wildly.
To improve your signal strength, try the following:
Move your B2 closer to your router.
Switch the WiFi dongle to USB C.
Move your WiFi dongle to the end of a USB extension cable.
You can buy a new WiFi dongle that has an antenna.  Look for one that has the RT5370 chipset.
If none of that helps, you could try plugging a network cable between the inside back of the B2 and your router (and remove the WiFi dongle).

Another way you can transfer the album to your B2 is to copy it to a USB disc and use the Import command (USB menu).  That's the way I transfer all my music.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Chris,

I seem to recall that someone else reported a similar problem with a very long track, but I have not yet located the post.

The problem might be that the file has hit the 4GB limit which is a FAT32 individual file size limit.  If you check this and post back here we might be able to help further.

Regards,

Peter.

[Daniel Taylor]

I have never used the Upload command from the WebUI.  So today, I thought I'd try it, with a large file.

Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick album is divided into two tracks, representing the original LP's side 1 and side 1.  Using Audacity, I concatenated the two tracks into one long track, with duration of 43:50.  The file size of the FLAC file reported by my computer is 286,004 KB (~= 286 MB), nowhere near the 4GB limit.

If you want to skip all the boring details, jump ahead to the last paragraph.

In the WebUI, the Upload command allows for either a Bulk upload or a single file upload.  I chose Bulk, which then prompted me to Choose File.  I ignored that and selected a folder, Jethro Tull, containing one Album, Thick as a Brick, which in turn contained the one song file.  The upload began, and got stuck at the 73% mark.  Because I went about doing other things on my computer, I thought maybe that had something to do with the stall.  So I tried again, and limited my computer use to simply writing in a text file.  This time the upload got stuck at the 74% mark.

To rule out a possible problem with the source file, I went to the 31 minute mark and played it through the 73% and 74% area to near the end.  No problem.

Going back to my ignoring the prompt to select a file to upload:  I have been under the impression that we could upload at least an album's worth of songs at a time, maybe more.  Was I wrong?  Can we really only upload one song at a time?

So I went back and chose File Upload.  It prompted me to enter the Album name:  Thick as a Brick (1972), and the Artist name:  Jethro Tull.  The Jethro Tull artist folder existed previously and the Album folder is new.  This time the progress wheel sas spinning but there was no indicaiton for percent complete.  On the earlier attempts, the front panel showed a flashing red light.  This time the red light was steady and the clock continued to count up the seconds.  I clicked on Cancel to halt the upload but nothing happened.  I clicked around the WebUI and it seemed to respond, but when I went back to the Upload panel, it was still spinning the progress wheel with no indication of percent complete.

My WiFi signal strength is currently -23.   Software version is B2B Oct 22 2021.  I've had no indication that my software might be corrupted.  After the upload failure, I went back and exercised the B2:  ran an Import from USB of three albums, paired with my Bluetooth speakers, played a couple of songs.  All seems normal, except for the Upload command.

My tentative conclusion is that there is something wrong with the Upload command.

[Chris Hudson]

Hi,

Its multi titled i.e. track one is etc. but there is no gap between tracks so it seems to be one 'file'

It is no way near a 4GB file, just 436,761 Kb

The wifi signal is good.

Transferred, a folder with 12 standard tracks, no problem, just the long track. 

[Chris Hudson]

It is no way near a 4GB file, just 436,761 Kb

[Daniel Taylor]

I don't think the fact that there is no gap between songs should have anything to do with it.  The file I tried to upload is one single long track file.  In either of our examples, it seems that the Upload function is unhappy with something.  I successfully got the song loaded onto my B2 with the Import command from a USB stick.

[Chris Hudson]

Ok,

I will try this. Here is my Newbie question. Which USB port do I put it in? Or does it matter.

[Mark Fishman]

A Bulk upload does indeed want an artist folder, and should upload everything below that folder. I have successfully uploaded Wagner's entire cycle of Ring operas, which occupies between 14 and 16 CDs and has many tracks, using the web UI's Bulk upload. The problem that people encounter seems to be limited to tracks that individually exceed some (unspecified and unknown) size imit.

I cannot recall if the same problem occurs when trying to Import such a track, in other words, create a USB stick that contains:

One artist folder containing

One album folder containing

the enormous track only

and see if it can be imported.

Failing that, if one is sufficiently knowledgeable about Linux commands, ssh into the B2 with the above USB stick in place in one of the B2 jacks, and simply copy (cp) the file into an album already on the B2, then run Scan Disk, and see if it will show up where you have put it and play properly.

It would be very annoying indeed if there's a size limit on tracks that can be played, once they're properly on the device.

[Daniel Taylor]

I've discovered another problem with long songs.  Whereas in the WebUI, the progress bar normally allows you to position the indicator at any point in the song and pick up playing there, it does not work with my 43:50 song.

For future reference, what is the maximum length of a song for which we can expect things to work, such as the Upload function and repositioning the progress indicator?

On Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 3:57:26 PM UTC-5 Daniel Taylor wrote:

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi Mark,

I have successfully used the Import command to transfer my one long song in one album folder in one artist folder.  The song seems to play okay, although I have not waited around to hear it all the way through.

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi Chris,

For the Import command, I've always used USB C.  That's what the Menu page on Brennan's website says.  But I'm under the impression that you can use USB A if you want.  Take your pick.

[Mark Fishman]

OK, so two problems have been identified:

 - trying to Upload (Bulk or File) from the web UI fails partway through for files above some size limit (question: # bytes, or playing time?)

 - importing such a file works, but the progress bar in the web UI does not alow positioning (seeking) within the file.

Daniel, since you alread have a 43-minute file, would you mind converting the FLAC to MP3 and trying both the upload and the seeking again? That should narrow down the file size vs. playing time question.

[Daniel Taylor]

Okay.  I converted the FLAC of Thick as a Brick to MP3 256k CBR, with filesize of 82,194 KB.  As I write this, the WebUI is trying to upload it.  And it seems to have worked.  The song plays.  But repositioning the progress indicator is intermittent.  The first time I tried it, it failed and jumped to another random song (as before).  But subsequent attempts worked okay.  I'm guessing it mostly works.  So perhaps it's more a matter of filesize and not so much time duration of the song.

I've tried jumping to other points in a song of length 23:10 and it worked.  The FLAC filesize is 163,303 KB.

[osro...@yahoo.com]

I have Dark Side Of The Moon on my B2, I own the CD, it shows up as 10 tracks on the B2, but with the Segue mode turned off it plays as if it were all one track.  I hope that this helps.

Rocky

On Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 12:38:17 PM UTC-5 chrishu...@gmail.com wrote:

[AndyC]

With reference to Daniel & his 43:50 song that can't be 'fast forwarded' using the progress bar in the web UI, my longest track is Mike Olfield's album Amarok. Unlike the vinyl version, the CD version is just one track at 60:03. I ripped it from CD with no problems and the progress bar works fine all the way through. This FLAC file is 346,797KB.

My copy of Dark Side has a total length of just under 43:00 so I don't think the album length per se is the problem here.

AndyC

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi Andy,

Are you able to Upload the Amarok track through the WebUI?

[AndyC]

Hi Danoiel,

It's probably simplest if you download the track from Dropbox and test it on your own b2 with different upload methods. Here's the link - 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/10r2llvx5ryn74e/AADNBbjexbeCORQe_ZYhMswFa?dl=0

I'm awaiting the results with interest. AndyC

[PMB]

Hi AndyC,

Thanks for the file. I'll try a few tests using it and report back.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Fred Waltman]

Late to this conversation, but I have a number of very long tracks. For example, Bach's St Mathew's Passion clocks in at 160 minutes (I think that is the longest) -- a 700+ mb flac.

These were all ripped using dbPowerAmp and the concatenated with software I wrote using ffmeg. They then were transferred to the B2 using NAS. The play fine and I can use the slider to move around.

The Other Fred

[osro...@yahoo.com]

I downloaded the file from the dropbox to my desktop, then created a folder in NAS titled Mike Oldfield, then created a folder inside that one titled Amarok (1990), then I cut the 2 files from my desktop and pasted them inside the Amarok (1990) folder on NAS, then I went to fanart.tv and downloaded the artwork, then placed that in the Amarok (1990) folder on NAS as well, then I closed the NAS folder and did a scan on B2 and everything turned out great.  I hope that this method helps.

Rocky

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi AndyC,

I downloaded you 01 Amaroc.flac  and tested it would play using Audacity (it will)

I then tried to "Upload it to my B2

and found that the "wheel" kept spinning but that the red "disk" light on the B2 was not flashing.

This situation remained for over 20 mins.

Also the UC "Cancel" button (above) seems to have no effect in this case.

I think I can confirm that I too can not upload this track to the B2 using the web UI.

I will now try the NAS.

Worked

and it plays OK

Don't know why the Upload will not work but 

Fred

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Forgot to say, I did a Scan Disk after the NAS upload.

Fred