Bugzilla – Bug 15187
Automatic scan when server is run
Last modified: 2009-11-25 22:46:20 UTC
I want to tweak the default settings before I run a full scan. Many people don't even store their music in the default location (windows My Music folder). Some people may use iTunes import, MIP import, etc. Getting this thing to run with automatic rescan enabled by default is a right pain. I think it really should not scan until the user has gone into My Music settings and confirmed the music path, changed music library settings, etc. When I started up, the WebUI window showed 0 albums with 0 songs by 0 artists. There was no indication that a scan was running (the option to start a scan was still . I knew the server had spawned a new scanner process again though as I could hear the HD chattering away (and windows task manager confirmed this). There's no way to stop the scan, other than kill the process (stopping the server doesn't stop the scanner - see bug 15186). It would be much clearer on first start with an empty library to automatically display the My Music settings page with a "Scan" button instead of an empty music library page with a hidden scan in the background (or display a message that a scan needs to be performed, which would link to the settings page). Maybe automatic rescan should be off by default, but ask the user if it should be turned on when the first scan is performed?
Embedded branch, SVN 29453.
It was a design decision to ask the fewest questions possible. We rely on some reasonable guesstimates to get the defaults. I don't understand the pain about this. If you change the music folder, the running scan should be cancelled and restarted. Isn't this the case any more?
>It was a design decision to ask the fewest questions possible. Are you saying that new users installing the server via an installer get asked questions, which would be used to make changes to settings before the scanner starts? I didn't get a chance to make any settings before it started a scan (wasn't asked any questions, but didn't run an installer, as I run from SVN code), and didn't even know a scan was running automatically after initial start up. I didn't know that it was designed to be able to make changes to settings whilst scanning, and the scanner would stop and restart. Never tried that - would users really do that? I'd be inclined to think they wouldn't like to touch things if a scan is in progress unless there is some clue/indicator that changes would abort the current scan and restart. From previous experiences, this mucks up the library content. Even when an automatic scan completes, I have to restart the server to see the library. I understand that for TinySBS, you want users to just plug in and play. But for Full SBS, where there is some setup process, I don't see the point in scanning before I've told it what I want to scan and how the tags should be interpretted. >We rely on some reasonable guesstimates to get the defaults. Again fair enough for TinySBS - eg. you assume the whole device should be scanned, rather than a particular sub-folder. The scanner process is quite a drag on CPU; I have two cores, one core maxes out. For users with lower spec server, eg, a single core, I imagine it would be quite nasty.
> Are you saying that new users installing the server via an installer get asked > questions, which would be used to make changes to settings before the scanner > starts? No, the opposite. We don't want the user to ask questions unless really needed. The new user most likely doesn't know anything at all. He wants to listen to some music. The quicker the better. Most questions you'd want him to ask he probably doesn't know the answer for. Music folder might be a bit different. But as I said: as soon as it's changed it should just restart. Pros: - no silly, confusing questions - fastest results Cons: - the music selection and configuration might need post-install tweaking - system is slowed down by background process But in most cases the user wouldn't care about the scan running in the background, as "most cases" (95%?) are PCs/Mac, which have plenty resources to run the scan. > Even when an automatic scan completes, I have to restart the server to see the > library. ?!? That would be a serious bug. > I understand that for TinySBS, you want users to just plug in and play. But > for Full SBS, where there is some setup process, I don't see the point in > scanning before I've told it what I want to scan and how the tags should be > interpretted. According to our usability testing most users are rather "wtf are these questions? I want to play my music now!". Keep in mind that you know the system, you know the tweaks. But you rarely need to re-install from scratch. Users who'd need to tweak these settings most likely don't know they exist at all. This has been discussed in the forums, beta groups etc. several times before. I'm sorry to say there's nothing to fix. It's a design decision.