LinkPlayers 1 & 2 ... reactivation needed for 2014 ? broken ?

Hi,

as mentioned in the BeoSound Essence (new product) thread in the General Forum I have these past two days been trying to enhance my system - I discovered there was a replacement for the Plex desktop, now called "PLEX - Home Theatre" that looks good ... and includes integration to Spotify.

So I have been reactivating my use of Spotify to try it out, and today I started trying to get LinkPlayer working to trigger PHT and encountered these problems:

1/ LinkPlayer 1 needed to have its activation key reapplied - no big deal, just a bit of messing around with complex keys .... but I wonder why ?  As you know I had only "recently" tested the LPs with Mavericks.  perhaps it is a 2014 effect ?

2/ LinkPlayer 2 is simply not working period.  I mean it fires up ... but nothing seems to trigger the menu, not a Beo4, not "P", not any menu options on the task bar nor on the little "remote"

3/ ... nor does LP 2's configuration for linking to Spotify work.

So I wonder if LP2 is "broken" in terms of its beta activation ? and its use of of Spotify APIs ?

 

Philippe ??

Hi,

Regarding LinkPlayer 1:

For LinkPlayer 1, I have used an external library to handle the licence keys, so I am not too sure why it asks them again. That said LP1 is now free for anyone, so if one loose their keys, you can just buy another license for $0. 

Regarding LinkPlayer 2:

LP2 isn't protected in any way. It's free and if/when I eventually release a new version it'll remain free. If it fails on Mavericks it is because Apple has changed or removed some APIs in the system as they have the habit to do... I haven't tested it myself.

As you would have guessed I have not had a chance to work on LP2 for a long time. It's not that I don't want (I am in the same situation as everyone, in the sense that I cannot use it myself), it's that I do not seem to find the time to work on it. I worked on a few apps outside of my main job, but they are not as complex and I can work an hour here, an hour there. LinkPlayer is so complex that it requires me to work full days on it. I also can't work on it when I am on holidays as I am usually not near my B&O setup...

Since I got back into employment, I have tried a few times to re-start the development, but every time something stopped me. The last was a bad neck injury I had this summer, which prevented me from working comfortably on a screen. Now the neck is fine, but it's left me with some bad anxiety issues, which require that I take things easy.

That said, I do really want to finish it up, I hate leaving people in the s**t, but I do not know when and it's not going to be soon. In the meantime Apple, B&O and others have come up with devices that do the job quite well (Apple TV, Airport Express...) and I have the impression that novice users are more comfortable using.

Thanks Philippe for the reply. I have been out of action for a few days because of hard disk issues - something easier to fix than back disc issues. I am sorry about your health issues - the plus side is having the job.

It's been some 21 months since we (and others) met at Struer and had such a great time. And you returned to London to significantly enhance LP 2. A pity that job got in the way :-)

As part of fixing my disk I made a few changes, and I will let you know how my Maverick's testing goes.

I agree that the industry continues to flex - and that things like the ATV fill a gap. But nothing comes close to the inspired vision you had for LP 2 !

But now we have B&O starting (at long last) unveil their ML/NL Strategy which clearly impacts LP 2. I am more than happy (and I am sure the same is true of other LP fans and users) to act as a sounding board for ideas. Feel free to PM or email me if you wish.

Nice to hear from you Phil!

I'm really interested in getting Linkplayer 2 working on Mavericks. Can we collect some money for you to make it easier for you to finish the software?

I'm most interested in functions regarding the controller functions like eyetv, plex, xbmc. I'm using Spotify and iTunes integration and that's already working really good!

If I would make a prio list for me it would be, get the software working for mavericks. Then fix the speaker ir bug. Don't think you need to put a lot of time with the link system except for the music part.

As I had said before, please let us know if we can do something for you. Test or help you with the development.

Nice to hear from you Phil!

I'm really interested in getting Linkplayer 2 working on Mavericks. Can we collect some money for you to make it easier for you to finish the software?

I'm most interested in functions regarding the controller functions like eyetv, plex, xbmc. I'm using Spotify and iTunes integration and that's already working really good!

If I would make a prio list for me it would be, get the software working for mavericks. Then fix the speaker ir bug. Don't think you need to put a lot of time with the link system except for the music part.

As I had said before, please let us know if we can do something for you. Test or help you with the development.

Nice to hear from you Phil!

I'm really interested in getting Linkplayer 2 working on Mavericks. Can we collect some money for you to make it easier for you to finish the software?

I'm most interested in functions regarding the controller functions like eyetv, plex, xbmc. I'm using Spotify and iTunes integration and that's already working really good!

If I would make a prio list for me it would be, get the software working for mavericks. Then fix the speaker ir bug. Don't think you need to put a lot of time with the link system except for the music part.

As I had said before, please let us know if we can do something for you. Test or help you with the development.

@S & @P - tested LP 2 on Mavericks yesterday in Distribution mode for Net.Music of an iTunes psuedo "playlist" (a special sort of my songs list) - worked like a charm, so I just listened instead of doing more tests ;-)

hello phil,

it's great to have news from you !  i'm sorry to hear that you have had health issues. but is good to hear that you are employed.  ;-)

personally, i am very interested in any advancement of lp2 ; it is the key to audio distribution in my set-up as it plays the role of audiomaster.

i also belive that there has to be a way for you to earn some money for your work. a licence fee may not be the best option ; as we have seen elsewhere on the forum people that purchase may feel entitled to a level of support you are not comfortable providing.

but there are other ways ... at the minimum you could create a lp2 paypal account for donations. i regularly donate to open source developments and i'm sure others on the forum would donate as well.

in any case, a big thank-you for the work already accomplished !

 

- scott

 

 

Hi All,

Unexpected turn of event!

I decided to leave my job as it became clear that it made me sick. Out of a team of 8 people, 6 have already resigned in the last 6 months!!! So I'll be taking a bit of time off, and work on the personal projects I enjoy doing until I find another job.

I work as a freelancer, so it's not unusual to move from one contract to another, and we get paid more to cover the period when we do not work, so issue there.

So I am really please to say that I am planning to re-start my work on LinkPlayer very soon.

I'll need to finish an app update that I am working on currently which should take me 2 weeks and then I'll start working on LP again.

It will take me some time to go through the code and understand what I did. I also want to re-architecture it as I hit some stumbling blocks with LP2. So it'll take some time before I can release something, but it's a step in the good direction!

P.

If the work environment was that toxic (anxiety issues) then it is a good thing you left !

Take care of yourself - your health is more precious than gold

I hope re architecting (LP 3? 😊) gives you great joy

elephant:

I hope re architecting (LP 3? 😊) gives you great joy

Yes, I'll call it LP3, hopefully I'll have the time to finish it!

One of the issue of LP2 was that it wasn't completely multi-task, and therefore a process could sometime block. When that happened, the part that talks to the Beoport would be unresponsive for a while and that would cause all sorts of issues.

So I'll be splitting Linplayer into several modules:

• One that handles the connection to the Beoport,
• A player that sends audio to the other rooms though ML
• A player that handles audio and video on the computer itself
• A cataloger, that indexes your media files in the background.

In term of interface you won't see much of difference. The 3rd process will be the one that looks like the current LinkPlayer, the 3 others will be background tasks.

A cool feature of the OS is that it automatically restarts background tasks at after a reboot or when they crash. That'll also mean that LP will be able to stream music even when the main app is closed (As with BM-Link). Also you'll be able to start the main LP app with the remote.

One thing I'd like to add, but at the end when everything is ready is support for Phillips Hue lamps.

Phil,

It is very pleasant to hear of you again and here's hoping your prompt return to complete health and well-being.

We keep our Mac Mini, with LinkPlayer 1 installed, on the contemporaneous version of OS X (was it OS X 6?, I forget).  That Mac Mini will never be updated for as long as we rely on LinkPlayer 1.  Just like our B&O equipment does not appear to get any further software updates, we consider that Mac to be an integral part of our B&O system.

Should you get a chance of completing LinkPlayer 2 to a point where it is as reliable as LP1, then, and only then, would we consider updating.

By the way, the fullscreen black aesthetic with dot-matrix red dots you chose for LP1 remains one of my favorite features.

Cheers, and do make sure you set up that PayPal account.  You probably will not get a whole lot of subscribers, but know that the few of us who do, appreciate your work hold it in the highest esteem.

Hi Phil. I hope you are feeling better these days. Just a small comment on the two modes of interface of LP2 (distribution, and the other - main?).

For whatever reason (including my own failings) I found these difficult to use. Especially when debugging ...

Welcome back, Phil! 

I hope you can work on LP3 and if I can collaborate in any way at a later stage (user guide translations, beta testing, etc..), it will be a pleasure.

My new setup no longer has a BeoPort, and I fear that soon this device will be discontinued by B&O, since all new audio products are digital and BeoMusic is coming out, and people buying BeoVisions will probably go for a BM5.

Maybe the next step (as started on LP2) is an application without BeoPort connection/interaction?

But then, how could/would we use Beo4? Even when I controlled LP2 with Apple keyboard, Apple remote, or the Ipad, it was always much easier to use a Beo4 in each room at home. There is an infra-red receiver that worked with PCs (MadMouse, do you remember?), I still have it, maybe a simple USB/Beo receiver for Mac would do the trick..anyway, have fun working on LP3, that was just Sunday brainstorming

Hi

I just received a Beolink PC2, an I tried to get link player 2.4.11 working. It seemed to work ok, but the VX sensor IR receiver is not recognized in the software, although initially it was recognized! However, the standbye command is received, and the other commands also flash the red light. Is that something to do with the fact that the software is Beta? Is there any chance I can find the 1st version somewhere to tryout?

I am also looking forward to version 3 Phil!