Calling Sonos users

[Osler]

I think I know why album art retrieval isn't working for both of you. I forgot to mention that you need to edit the script in notepad and put one of your own ZPs UDN into the script. You will see the variable termed UDN in the script and where I populate it near the top. Just replace my UDN with one of yours, preferably a wired ZP. After this run the script. I have ~85,000 tracks and have had the script fail on me periodically. Just rerun it and it usually gets through them all. Keep in mind, it takes a while to hump through all of your tracks (I do one track at a time so I don't miss any art). I haven't run mine in a while, but I think it took several minutes to grab all of my art. Run it and walk away...smoke a good cigar (Partagas Maduro preferably) and have some Scotch (from the Isle of Islay preferably) and then come back.

Osler

[TonyG]

Hi Osler,

Thanks for the suggestion. Have added local address, and get through a number of announcements. Re: "adding x number of tracks, please be patient" "I click on this and then get error meessage 3004: "unknown error". This may not figure in the top ten of informed question list of 2010, but do I click through the adding tracks, please be patient, or should I wait?!

The only other consideration is that my program files are not currently loaded on the C: drive; - just in case any code/script is coded that way...Just thinking if this affects the new radio scripts??


Tony
P.S. Islay Scotch? you like the taste of dark peat then!?

[Osler]

TonyG:

Yeah, if HB isn't located in C:\Program\HouseBot then the script is going to kick and scream. The easiest thing to do is create some dummy folders before you run the script. The full path used by the script is C:\Program Files\HouseBot\Config\Themes\SonosAlbumArt, which is hardcoded in the wsc. After it gets all of your art, you could then move the folder into your true theme folder. You also need to make sure the NoAlbumArt.jpg is in the SonosAlbumArt folder before you kick of the script. It will make a copy of this image for any of your albums that don't have art.

Yes, just click through all message boxes as they pop.

This issue should not present any problems for the radio fix I just posted.

I will likely move join the aggregator script with the device script and allow you to pass it some arguments to tell it where your hb folder is.

Osler

PS: The secret of Islay Scotch is that it is aged near the ocean in the salt air.....mmmmm.

[TonyG]

Thanks Osler,

I applied some initiative last night and created a c: drive path copy, but still no luck. Your post this morning reveals the NoAlbumArt.jpg and off we go. I'm only getting c.40 files before it errors, but will play around with direct cabling.

Looks like we're moving forwards. Thanks once again for your support.

We're off to Ireland in May, which is my currrent target for changes to my Campervan Sonos system - ready to play all those gaelic flute albums I'm sure to buy...

[Osler]

Well, since I hadn't used internet radio for a while, it appears that my favorites I had input over a year ago don't work anymore. As a result, I have started working on integrating RadioTime for radio station selection into the script. That way we can leave it up to them to maintain the streaming links. I am successfully accessing the RadioTime server and pulling down what is needed for integration. This should give you exactly what is seen on your Sonos controller when browsing through the available radio stations. It needs more work, but is doable. I'll try to get an update with this integration out very soon.

This means that music services such as Napster, Pandora, etc. aren't far behind. However, I will need the help of you (the users) to get these integrated as I refuse to purchase a subscription just to develop them.

Osler

[TonyG]

Hi Osler,

Radiotime would be great for me, although I also don't subscribe to any paid services.

On the subject of album art: I've been working on the retrievel script, and have had some interesting experiences. I've put in a couple of late nights, and this is where I currently am:

Status: Script starts, uploads 24 (always the same number) and errors with 3004: "unknown error". Succesfully downloads and tags 24 album art covers.

Possible Causes:
Speed? - have connected PC/NAS/ZP90 using cables. Gets to 24 and 3004 error quickly!
Bad album art? quite possible. I have created a search list, and have removed anything apart from folder.jpg
Is there a maximum folder.jpg image size?

One scan got through the whole collection. But the NoAlbumArt.jpg was applied to each. This tells me something! - retrievel clearly is able to tag each folder. This scan however, didn't access the NAS - so does the script derive the album tags from the ZP and images from the NAS? - if so, it looks like I have an folder.jpg thats at fault. Again wonder about maximum filesize. My maximum is 162kb, typical 8-15kb. (don't really want to go deleting unless you think it's worth a shot).

Any ideas?

[Osler]

Error 3004 is a database error I think. Let me add some more error logging to the script to try to narrow it down.

It gets the location of the art from the ZP and then will download it from the NAS. Could be component related...perhaps an issue with one of the objects I am calling to do this.

More error reporting will help.

I have RadioTime working but am having a problem, as their service calls don't respond quite as anticipated. This will require a bit more work on my part, but at the moment I can access all of RadioTime from within HouseBot. The major issue now is getting them to send only a limited number of results so you don't have to have the scrollbar pop up when the list exceeds the size of the list control.

Osler

[Osler]

Ok folks. RadioTime has been added. Download the .zip file and read the ReadMe for installation instructions. There is a new .wsc and a new .vbs to accomplish this. Integration is basic at the moment but I will probably add the ability to pull station art as well as populate the station info area in a future update (i.e., what is on currently, who is the DJ, etc.).

Now I am going to turn my attention to the album art issue to see if we can't get it straightened out. I am going to start looking at Pandora as well.

Please post any problems or feature requests.

Osler

[Osler]

I presume no news is good news. Please post any problems, as I use internet radio infrequently with my system and am unlikely to uncover lurking errors.

Osler

Edit: album art is on my list...getting to it.

[TonyG]

Hi Osler,

Been a busy week, so have only just made the changes. Looks great - I can now view all of the radiotime lists, whilst keeping favourites.

Time for a dumb question: - as with the radio favourites, I can see the radio stations, and can scroll up and down the list. What am I doing wrong with regards selection? I hit select, and nothing happens - and knowing me, it's something obvious I'm missing!

Tony

[Osler]

Did you update your music selection task with the additional logic I included?

Osler

[TonyG]

Yes that does it. Didn't use the new MusicSelection tasks within my existing zones. Added the logic and working well.

Excellent!

Anyone else enjoying sonos radio control?

Thanks Osler

[vcruz777]

I am planning to try it during the weekend. The problem I have is that I am still using the previous version so to change to the new one I will have to modify the theme to add the new panel plus I have to run the script to create the local database of the album art. That was the part that I tried several times last time and wasn't able to process the whole library. After that I decided to go back to the previous version. Is there any way that I could incorporate the new logic for radio time without moving to the latest .wsc? What I like about the previous version is the "ALL" option when selecting music, something I use a lot when want to hear all songs from a particular artist or genre.

Saludos,

Victor

[Osler]

Yes, you don't have to have the album art. It isn't necessary to use the new script. What you will have to do is look at how I am handling the lists for display of the music library and such in the new theme. Make sure you check the panel enter settings for the theme. The queue is no longer displayed in it's own list. Instead, I set ZPSearchType to Q:0 when I enter the queue panel and display it via ZPBrowseList. The other issue is that the actual selection of a song from Album/Artist etc. occurs via another list property (ZPMusicSelectionList I think). I did it this way so I could pop another panel when this portion of the drill down is reached to allow more buttons for how to add the song or album to the queue as well as prominently display the album art. The desire to pop a new panel is why I use a task to control the drill down into the library. It can evaluate where it is in the drill down and then pop the needed panel when its deep enough into the library (I can't do this for the calling remote via a script). You definitely don't have to do it this way. The main issue is the need to have two separate list controls (ZPBrowseList and ZPMusicSelectionList) to navigate the library.

Ah...the all option. It is there, encapsulated as a URI in a property value called ZPPlayAllURI. This property is created on the fly as you drill down. So once you have selected the artist from the list and are viewing the available albums, the URI in this property value could be passed to ZPPlayNow to play all of the songs for that artist. I have never used it this high up in the selection tree...but it should work. This is the property I use to add all of the songs to the queue when viewing songs at the album level. It should (I hope) still work above this level.

Honestly, if you don't like something about the functionality of the scrip, please tell me. There aren't that many of you all using this so I am all ears and I am more than willing to try to include your wants and desires in how the script functions.

I will try to get an improved album art script out this weekend. I am also contemplating recoding the Sonos scripts as an actual plugin in VS 2008.

Osler

[ievolve]

@Osler, you are awesome! Thanks so much for all the hard work. This appears to be just what I am looking for, almost anyway, let me tell you what I am trying to do.

I have a clipsal lighting system with LCD keypads.

I want to listen for clipsal keybad presses (I can do that fine) then tell the sonos to do various things (volume up, volume down, mute, etc) It looks like your "ZPCMD" is perfect for that.

Additionally I would like to update the LCD keypads with the currently playing track. Any idea how I can best get at that info? I dont see that "SonosWatcher" has any listeners for knowing when a track changes.

Any ideas how I can best do what I'd like to do? I'm not a C dev, I develop in java/html though and can probably find my way through whatever.