and yet another little step. because the sms-200ultra performs better when connected to the files via ethernet, i have had it connected to the windows tower in my bedroom via a 15m cable running under the house. sub-optimal on several fronts. crappy cable, unoptimised tower as server and for some reason it won't let the pc sleep at night so every now and again the hdds start whirring!
i spent some time playing with the other music server i am wanting to sell, seeing how it would go as a straight server, but it wouldn't co-operate. it was also overkill for the task. i then started to wish i hadn't sold the little, fanless, industrial, comp i had before i got the flash one. so i started looking for another and ended up on ali-express. i wanted slightly older, simpler dual core technology and no fan. i ended up with a 2gh Celeron powered box. sort of a NUC equivalent, but without the fan and with everything i needed - 2gb ram and win 10 pro on a 16gb msata with room for the 2tb ssd i already have. they didn't guarrantee the windows was genuine, but when i started it up i checked and it was authenticated. not that i really want the windows, but a nice to have. so i spent today mucking around and getting everything able to see each other - sounds easier than it was - and put fideliser onto it as well to cut out all the unnecessary stuff.
it felt very good shutting down the pc in my bedroom!
so now i am coming to the end of city to city and it is great. not a huge improvement, but i didn't expect it to be. a bit more depth to the sound is how i would characterise it. very listenable.
i may yet get another msata and try out a linux server os or lubuntu. but for the price of a tank and a half of petrol it has been well worth it.

Glad that you appear to be untangling yourself from the myriad options on offer.

Unfortunately suppliers will continue to provide tempting rabbit-holes to go down

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

in chch we had a run of very wet days last week so i thought the time had come to play with the little comp i've been using as a server using windows 10pro. there have been a few issues over the past months. i like the MPD option on the sotm to play my files as the sound is an improvement over squeezelite, but the control ap, M.A.L.P. has been quite prolematical. it has had a lot of difficulty accessing folders. rebooting the sotm helps as does using it every day. but very annoying at times. there was also the occassional stutter/hiccup. once or twice an evening but really annoying

widows 10 pro is really overkill for what i need, so i thought i would have a play with some linux os's. i liked the idea of a server because of the minimal functionality and need of resources, but my networking skills aren't great so the gui of a desktop appealed too. lots of googling and i thought i'd give ubuntu server a go. d/led it and installed and there on my screen was a whole lot of black space and a few words up in the top lh corner. oops - immediate feelings of being way out of my depth so back to google and the lubuntu distro looked a better option. it is the light version of ubuntu.

much more user-friendly. but still a lot of new stuff to find out about. the terminal for one. after 20yrs on windows where almost everything is done for you, this was really hands on and not very intuitive. thank god for google! 2 days have passed and the weather is still crap and i've got 4 different things on my network - android smartphone, mac laptop, windows pc and linux server. and they need to talk to each other! especially windows and linux. lots of mucking around and only a little progress.

then i have a thought after some perusing of SNA and Computer Audiophile. i am setting up a NAS - network attached storage. so what i need is some nas software! after some more research i d/load and install OpenMediaVaul which is based on linuxt. not too hard to install and really small and accessable from a browser. a few slip-ups but within 2 hrs it's up and running with full connection and accessability from pc and laptop. time for a listen.

MALP found the files fairly easily. the sound was good. just a wee bit better than windows with the free Fideliser running. and no hiccups for the 2hrs of listening. and 5 days later i am pleased to say the issues i had previously have gone. so a profitable few wet days work.

and what it also did was get me thinking about my windows pc. so i am giving ubuntu desktop a shot and will see how that goes for a while.