Having just tried to do a rescan of my library, I get a message stating that the Minimstreamer license expired on 31st October and to either update it or remove it. Furthermore, Minimwatch is now greyed out and will not function on my computer.
I take it this is all part of the change to Minimserver 2?
Looking on the Minimserver website, it appears a license update should be able to be done from the front screen of the Melco, however, the Melco screen menus in the instructions are different from the onscreen menus I see on my Melco running firmware 3.91. I know that, in order to use the later versions of Minimserver/Minimstreamer, I would need to update the Melco to the later software but does anyone know if I can simply update my current license and keep running the original Minimserver, or do I now have to update my Melco and use the later version of Minimserver?
After some further surfing of the Minimserver forum, it seems there was a problem with the license updating and a restart of the NAS running Minimserver typically resolves the issue. I’ve restarted the Melco and it now runs Minimserver ok and I have been able to rescan and locate new items added to the library… so all good! My only observation is that the new license only extends to January 2021. Not sure if this will be extended again - this seems to be a short extension period?
Only issue remains with Minimwatch on my computer, which for some reason (including after a restart) I still get a grey icon. Have had this before and it has resolved itself after a while, so I’ll leave it and see what happens!
Jason I am running 3.91 on my N1 and use Twonky in preference to Minim as in my system it sounds better. Have you tried Twonky?
As I have settled on Twonky I have completely removed Minim from my Melco so no licence worries.
Are you using MinimWatch 2? I have moved from version 1 of MinimServer and MinimWatch to version 2 and everything works fine. I understand that MinimWatch 2 can control both MinimServer 1 and MinimServer 2 but MinimWatch 1 can only control MinimServer 1.
When have you bought your license? I have bought mine on April 10 and I can see the the following in by browser:
Your MinimServer license type is Full, with no expiry date. Your MinimStreamer license expires on 10 April 2021 at 11:08:14 BST. Your license includes updates until 10 April 2021 at 11:08:14 BST.
I understand that on 10 April 2021 I will be given the opportunity to buy a license extension for 12 more months.
Yes, I have tried Twonky a couple of times and I’ve found pro’s and cons for Twonky and Minim. Overall, I prefer the sound of Minimserver, which seems a little less forward, and has a touch more clarity compared to Twonky in my system. I’m aware this seems at odds with most people’s findings and I can’t begin to fathom why, but it is what it is!
This may be, to some extent, due to the fact that when I use Minim I can turn Twonky off, but when using Twonky, I can’t turn Minim off, so it leaves two servers running at the same time affecting its performance? Just a theory…
The other bonus with Minim is the ability to transcode and I’ve just got used to the functionality.
However, with all the changes going on with Minimserver, this might just drive me to delete it and try Twonky running by itself to see if it sounds any better without Minimserver running in the background. Just need the time and inclination to do it!
No, I still have the original Minimserver which runs on a free license, and usually updates/renews itself when it runs out. Only on this occasion it didn’t, which was the reason for the start of this thread, when I couldn’t work out how to update it manually.
A simple restart of the Melco has resulted in Minimserver reconnecting and updating the free license, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep on using the old Minimserver and keep my Melco on the older software (3.91). I guess there will come a point when I would need to update one and hence the other too.
Not sure I want or need all the Songkong functionality and so I don’t think it’s worth me subscribing to the new Minimserver when I have Twonky running for free. Time will tell I guess!
Excellent let us know what you decide to do in due course. I do not need the transcode option as all of my music is stored as WAV but I see why Minim is perhaps more useful to you.
Yes, I too have most my stored music in WAV, but probably about 20% still in other formats. If, as and when the original Minimserver becomes unusable, I will delete it and try Twonky again when it can’t be affected by another server running simultaneously on the Melco. Will be interesting to see if that changes anything and I’ll be sure to update the results here if that happens.
According to https://minimserver.com/minimserver2/, “Existing installations of MinimServer 0.8 will continue to work (except for the functionality provided by MinimStreamer—see below) but will no longer be updated with new features.”
You do not need to deinstall MinimServer in order to test Twonky without another UPnP server running on the Melco: just stop MinimServer, either from the command line of through the MinimWatch app.
Thanks nbpf, I hadn’t thought of that. Unfortunately though, I can’t get Minimwatch to work at the moment, so another little thing to try and resolve when I get 5 minutes!