wish list, full menu structure within web ui

[Paul Tremblay]

Hello all,

New user (about 2 weeks, christmas gift to myself), typical growing pains learning the product but getting a firm grasp of things.

I was wondering what the possibility is of getting access to the full menu structure within the web ui. Something on the lines of the menu structure page using radio dial or 'sliders' to enable/disable the function. I go in and turn off NAS and Dlna each time I do ripping as I've found it to be the main cause of random ripping freezes (after much testing and research reading from this group).

 Also, not a user of google groups, how does one make labels so this will fall into the b2 and wishlist catagories?

Thanks.

[Daniel Taylor]

Your idea about the entire menu being added to the WebUI is already on the wish list.

I think the labels get added by the forum monitor, who is probably Paul, the Brennan rep.

Welcome to the club.  That's an interesting observation about disabling NAS and DLNA before ripping.  That would not have occurred to me to be a problem except in the case where you would try to access the B2 via those functions.  Have you had occurrences where ripping would fail with either of them enabled, and then it succeeded after they were disabled?

[Paul Tremblay]

"Your idea about the entire menu being added to the WebUI is already on the wish list."

Sorry, I did take a look through the wishlist conversations and I think I also did a search but probably worded it wrong.

"I think the labels get added by the forum monitor, who is probably Paul, the Brennan rep"

Kind of makes sense, less likely to get lost in the mix if the OP labels it incorrectly.

"Welcome to the club."

Thanks, I actually found out about the b2 around 2 years ago but was unable to afford one. I was originally using a NAS drive connected to my router so I could access the large cd collection I have that is in the basement. After ripping around 100 discs I showed my wife, "Look you can play those cd's again" she said it was to hard to use even though I had made quick links and short cuts for easy access. I'm hoping she will at least try the web ui since this will be connected to the main receiver instead of the computer.

"Have you had occurrences where ripping would fail with either of them enabled, and then it succeeded after they were disabled?"

I actually have, Thats how I stumbled onto it. I started to read lots of the random lockup/freezing issues and kept seeing things relating back to flaky wifi but I knew that wasn't the issue as I had already done several hundred PRIOR to turning on NAS and Dlna and I have been doing my ripping in the exact same place each time without fail for 2 days. I also saw many references back to not having enough horse power to do more than 1 thing at a time. So I thought back over what I was doing just prior to the lockup and remembered I was in file explorer getting ready to load a new piece of software and recall the file bar slowly scrolling across the top of the screen before I selected the file. I than went back into file explorer while ripping and sure enough when explorer opened, the computer polled the NAS drives and the rip stopped. I waited several minutes to see if it would restart after the update poll was complete but it never did, so I pressed the eject button and waited. After a few minutes the disk popped out. I put it back in and left the computer to just sit with file explorer open but not used and no issues. popped in a new disc and tried using explorer again, sure enough it polled the NAS drives again, stopping the rip. So now I just turn them both off to eliminate any interferience

[Paul Tremblay]

Also as a side note, I have noticed a difference between a true 'lockup/freeze' and 'random freezing'.

When I get a true lockup the display will loose part of the info it is showing and happens mere moments after pressing the rip function requiring a power off to fix, whereas a random freeze will happen at any time while ripping (I haven't even hooked this up to the reciever yet to listen to the fruits of my laber so I can't comment on playback freezing yet) but the display is intact and pressing the eject button and waiting a minute or two allows the unit to 'finish' what ever it was doing so I can get back to doing what I want it to do.

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi ptrem...

I did not mean my comment about the whole menu to be taken as a reprimand.  I was just assuring you that they'd been informed of the wish.  This is my latest example of how I need to learn how to word things better.

[Daniel Taylor]

If I'm understanding your description right, it sound's like it's the accessing of the B2 via NAS that causes the problem, rather than just having NAS enabled.  If you leave NAS enabled on the B2, and just shut down your file explorer, do you get the same problem?

Side note:  Question to the group:  Did I read that it's not good to have both NAS and DLNA enabled at the same time?  Mutually exclusive or something.  Or do I have that confused with two other things?

[Paul Tremblay]

It's all good, wasn't taken as a reprimand, just didn't want anyone to think I don't know how to use the search function (should have put that in the original post but spaced it). 

You are correct, from my findings/diagnosis it is when the b2 gets polled via NAS that is causing some issues as far as I can see. If NAS is enabled but not using file explorer (or polling the network for some reason) things seem to work correctly. 

NAS and Dlna do essentially the same thing but do it differently. I've found that my android phone has trouble accessing the b2 as a NAS but has full access when connected as Dlna. The computer could care less

[Paul Tremblay]

*Edit add on that should have been in the original post.*

" You are correct, from my findings/diagnosis it is when the b2 gets polled via NAS that is causing some issues as far as I can see. If NAS is enabled but not using file explorer (or polling the network for some reason) things seem to work correctly."

 So to prevent these random issues I just turn off both NAS and Dlna when ripping so as to reduce any outside influences. I still get a random lockup when starting a cd rip requiring a power off to fix, but it's no worse than the old cd burners of years back which I've had 2 of. The worst was you put in a blank disc, program all the songs you want on it and press record to only have it eject the newly 'burned disc' and it still be blank but you don't know it till a few days later when you stick it in the car to have it just spit it back out because the car player doesn't know what to do with a blank disc. I learned to 'look' at the new disc to see it it was actually burned after the second time. 

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

I think the issue with NAS that you have identified is part of a general limitation with the B2, that while able to multitask at the OS level (Linux), the Raspberry Pi inside is very small and finds it difficult, when presented particularly with multiple I/O jobs, to keep up.

NAS on but inactive is not a load, NAS on and actively moving data is a load, even though it is not visible from the Brennan web UI and if you rip and or play at the same time this militates against the advice not to do two things at once.

Well done in identifying this manifestation of the issue.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi Ptrem...,

Thank you for the useful feedback and observations.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Paul Tremblay]

Not a problem. After thinking on it I should have done that as a separate thread. Might be useful for diagnosing random freezing conditions.