ROCK Server B1356
iPhone 12 Pro iOS 17.2
ASUS RT-AX88U Router
NBN Super-Fast (haha) 250Mbps Down/25 Mbps Up Unlimited.
On first run of B224 I set up SDL with 35GB in original format.
I could not get SDL to initiate downloading, tried restarting ARC several times, in the end it took a reboot of my Roon server.
I have made a couple of screen recordings to show SDL’s behaviour as I don’t know if it is expected:
SDL not resuming despite new candidates and available space
This part same for me. Before rebooting the server I tried if SDL could be triggered by: initiating playback (via Roon remote) of a not-yet -downloaded to ARC album on the server; closing and reopening ARC; removing some SDLs to create space; and changing the status of some SDLs to permanent download.
(the latter because although I assume the allocated space is purely for SDL - and not shared with permanent / manual - I am not entirely certain on this point)
The album playing - Lagos Pepper Soup - was shown almost instantly on the ARC homepage, but none of the above triggered a resumption of smart download and the flash in the pan symbol stayed stubbornly white.
Restarting the Roon server, while keeping ARC active, led predictably to interruption of connection to the server, which was not automatically re-established 5 minutes after the server was up again. Switching ARC into and out-of offline mode also did not establish a connection.
Closing and reopening ARC (in addition and after rebooting Roon Server) reestablished the connection, and very quickly the SDL indicator switched to a reassuring and calming purple-towards-hotpink, and new SDLs started downloading, 16 in total before the indicator turned white.
I have seen similar behaviour in the previous build, even when allocated storage space was certainly not fully occupied.
There are also some issues with the new smart downloads that seem related to previous feedback on sorting and duplication in separate threads for build 223.
Descriptions below but of course feel free to link or hive off.
Duplication:
The most recent addition to my library, which was also the most recent download to ARC before the above sequence, was downloaded again and now shows twice as smart download. See below, album Cabin Tracks.
Sorting:
Still doesn’t seem right to me. The newly downloaded albums, from Cabin Tracks and Lagos Pepper Soup upwards, show at the top when the more-like-Purple-Rain sort indicator points up, supposed to indicate oldest at top, most recent at bottom. See below
I tried downgrading to build 223 using TestFlight but the same black screen issue was still there. I had to delete the app and reinstall build 224 for it to work properly.
SDL not filling up all space when it’s been allotted.
I’ll speak with the team today to see whatmight have been causing those.
Regarding the SDL not grabbing new content when it should be issue you reported @ToneDeaf, there are many factors going into the score for any given content, so it’s possible that simply playing the item didn’t kick it to the top of the list. Also, once the initial budget has been filled up, rotation happens at a set cadence, so it’s possible that after you listened ARC hasn’t asked your server for new stuff yet. How long did you wait after playing the item? Another way to test SDLs capacity to download the latest stuff for you would be to add a new item to your library. The next time SDL activates and you have enough room, it should more or less grab that thing every time.
Separately, I’ll look into the issues around sorting and duplication. Thanks again.
Understood. Don’t know for certain how much time passed before I noted and reported - probably not much, the observation was based on my impression that playing generally seemed to trigger pretty much immediate smart download. Your comments above qualify this, and perhaps explain the experience.
Thanks. As to duplication, my guess (but no more than that) is that my workflow for adding new rips and downloads to Roon is probably what causes this.
I rip or download new music to a folder not monitored by Roon
Then copy the files to a ‘new and pre-order’ folder that is monitored by Roon, to check if it ingests and is identified correctly, convert everything to alac 44.1/16, add or edit file-embedded metadata as required, and standardize names of (artist and album) in the folder hierarchies and the file names.
once all is as I want it, and looks ok in Roon, the new content is moved into a different folder within the monitored disk space - e.g. ‘bandcamp’ or ‘CDs’)
I imagine that, if Roon and Arc are quick to the gun in picking up newly added content for SDL, the changes to files and their location within the monitored folders can lead to duplication. At least in the sense of triggering SDL activity.
Hi @ToneDeaf ! We need some extra details about the duplication issue you can see. I would kindly ask you to do the following:
connect remote to your RoonServer;
visit albums browser and filter by “Cabin Tracks” (I assume you would be able to see more than one album);
open “Cabin Tracks” details page;
right-click on the track (or long press if you’re using Touch), and you should see a menu bar appear at the top of the window. Click on the “File info” button;
compare filtered album “File info”.
This might help us to understand if the issue is real, or if it’s caused by the different album versions on your RoonServer.
Thanks!
Regards,
Oleh.
No, there is only one version of the album on my server. In ARC, the duplicate ‘download’ only showed under My library - Downloads; not under My library - Albums.
When clicking through in downloads for details of the ‘oldest’ of the two entries, It showed no tracks at all. In fact nothing under Tracks, Info or Credits. For the other, later entry, everything seemed exactly as expected, and all tracks are playable.
This led me to play a bit more - it seems that when an album is removed from the Server any existing downloads remain listed in ARC under My library - Downloads, but they become essentially void of content and unplayable. (In my workflow the original version of a new album was removed when an ‘edited’ version is created and added)
I tested this by simply moving an already smart-downloaded album out of watched space on the server and the same thing happens - the corresponding entry under My library - Downloads remains, but is ‘empty’ and unplayable as above - and it repopulates when the files are moved back.
To me It feels odd - a download, smartly picked or not, is surely just that, and should persist and not become unplayable when the server version is removed? Still, I can just about see the case being made that for SDL this is a ‘smart’ feature and not a bug …
But …
I made the same album into a 'normal" download using ‘keep in downloads’ - and played the same game, assuming that now removal of the album on the server would not block access to the downloaded copy. Same thing though. This I don’t think is a ‘nice to have’ feature at all .
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