Bookshelf Apps

Upgrading to Cara

August 28th, 2009 0

With the Cara update now out for a while we can look back on how it went.

It mostly went smoothly from SongBook’s point of view, there were only a couple of issues.

The first was a bug which only appeared when adding a track on the DS using Linn’s new Kinsky Desktop and it’s drag and drop support. We were not aware of the drag and drop feature until release, so we did not test with it. It took user reports for this to be bought to our attention.

The second issue, which did affect quite a few users was a bug in Linn’s Konfig application. The first release did not preserve the source settings when upgrading the DS. Linn have now released a new version that fixes these issues, but for some users the damage is still done.

The error shows up in SongBook as everything working, but when you try and play a track nothing happens. This is because without correctly configured source names SongBook cannot match the DS source up with the preamp source and get’s a bit lost. The solution is to open Konfig again and make sure all the settings in the preamp sources are named correctly (and enabled).

So overall most things went smoothly. We get no warning from Linn when a new release is coming out, and we don’t get a chance to pre-test before the release, so there is usually a delay in our support of that release. Most SongBook users, if they want to avoid problems should therefore wait a small time before upgrading their Linn firmware. With the talk of audio improvements in Cara this may be hard though.

DNLA, UPNP and SongBook

August 28th, 2009 0

The latest versions of SongBook have improved DNLA support. Given the wide variety of devices out there, and the relatively flexible standard, this does mean that you should still test with your intended device to see if everything works.

Please let us know if you do have any problems, it is normally a simple task to make a change to increase compatibility. I have been working with some people lately to improve support for devices and now have a good idea of what is required.

SongBook has been tested and works with devices from Pioneer, T+A, and of course Sonos.

One thing you will need to remember though is that in the current releases the UPNP support is not enabled by default. On the Mac you need to go in to SongBook Preferences and turn it on in the Network tab. On the iPhone you need to open the Settings App, select SongBook and then turn on the switch there.

I do suggest that you test out the volume control first while not playing. The way the UPNP specification works and the way most devices implement that spec leaves some missing information for Control Points. It is possible that there is a problem in this area on a new device, and the consequences of an error are large. It gives you a real fright to suddenly feel the full force of 100% volume on your system :-) .

Snow Leopard Day

August 28th, 2009 0

Snow Leopard is out today, or maybe ‘was out today’ if you’re from New Zealand.

SongBook has been tested and is compatible with Snow Leopard. In fact from build 1.7 onwards it has been built on Snow Leopard and includes 64-bit support if you are running on a 64-bit system (any moderately new Mac).

There is a small drawing glitch in the CoverFlow view. I’ll try and get this sorted out for the next version, but apart from that you should have no problems.