A friend is considering getting an Ultra and using either a thumb drive or portable SSD for local storage. He has about 500 MB of data and it would probably be on a 1 TB drive. What are people's experience with this setup? How long does it take to index that type of system? How often does it re-index? If you remove and then put the drive in place, does it re-index it? Thumb drive or SSD? Does the usb input provide enough power or is a hub needed? I have looked at various threads but cannot find a general discussion. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.
Thumb Drive or SSD with Ultra
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Skull
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I use a 2tb drive on mine plugged in permanently
I have around 300gb currently on it but I add to it now and again it doesn’t take long to rescan and add after it’s setup
After initial scan it stores the details on it and after rescan changes what it needs to
I have around 300gb currently on it but I add to it now and again it doesn’t take long to rescan and add after it’s setup
After initial scan it stores the details on it and after rescan changes what it needs to
I have a a 1TB Western Digital SSD feeding my WiiM Ultra and it works well. Currently I have about 800 GB of FLAC files on the SSD. When I set it up it took overnight to index the files (about 2500 CD's worth). When I add new FLACs it takes maybe 30 minutes to re-scan the SSD and index, which is a bit of a fag, but not a huge problem. It would be nice if new files were automatically scanned by the WiiM, but I guess that's not possible. All-in-all, it works well.
I know it sounds obvious, but if you have a lot of files on your SSD, do remember to back it up regularly. I cannot even think about re-ripping 2,500 CDs!
I know it sounds obvious, but if you have a lot of files on your SSD, do remember to back it up regularly. I cannot even think about re-ripping 2,500 CDs!
I have a a 1TB Western Digital SSD feeding my WiiM Ultra and it works well. Currently I have about 800 GB of FLAC files on the SSD. When I set it up it took overnight to index the files (about 2500 CD's worth). When I add new FLACs it takes maybe 30 minutes to re-scan the SSD and index, which is a bit of a fag, but not a huge problem. It would be nice if new files were automatically scanned by the WiiM, but I guess that's not possible. All-in-all, it works well.
I know it sounds obvious, but if you have a lot of files on your SSD, do remember to back it up regularly. I cannot even think about re-ripping 2,500 CDs!
Better servers don't rescan existing files, they will check if they're changed, but then it'll also find and add new files.
As well as finding album art, artist information, downloading lyrics, then splitting them up into singles, albums, live
There is a quick rescan and a full rescan option. The quick rescan only looks for changed files, of course. With no new content at all a quick rescan takes maybe 30 seconds.
Also, the WiiM Home app now shows an estimation of how long the indexing might take. This isn't overly accurate at first but is continuously updated.
I haven't tested in detail if it checks the database (or maybe just for the existence of the .uuid file). From my testing it looks like the absence of the ".uuid" file triggers the GUI dialogue asking the user for rescan. As long as the database remains unchanged the re-indexing takes a couple of seconds, only.
Also, the WiiM Home app now shows an estimation of how long the indexing might take. This isn't overly accurate at first but is continuously updated.
As mentioned before, there is no automatic reindexing and it's only needed when new content has been added. A folder named "wiim_cache" gets written to the drive, containing mainly cached cover art picture, an SQLite database by the filename "files.db" and a file named ".uuid". Only if the WiiM Ultra cannot find this information it will prompt the user to build an index.
I'd go with a thumb drive, unless a powered (!) hub is already in use. A 1 TB USB memory key works well for me.
The Ultra can provide up to 1.75 A = 1750 mA of current. This is enough to power a thumb drive under all operating conditions. It's probably not enough to safely support most conventional HDD under heavy load (like scanning/indexing/writing the cached graphics). Might even be tricky with some SSDs.
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Here's a real world example:
WiiM Amp Ultra. 1 TB USB thumb drive. 13374 tracks (mostly FLAC, a hand full of MP3s), 1004 albums, 701 artists. No wiim_cache folder, no .uuid file, starting from scratch.
4:57 pm: Thumb drive attached, hitting "Scan Now".
4:58 pm: After detecting 500 tracks very fast, the estimated time is 32 minutes. That would be 5:30 then. Not going to happen.
5:29 pm: After 31 minutes the remaining estimated time is 34 minutes. So, 6:03? Maybe? Almost!
6:07 pm: All 13374 files have been scanned.
Still 6:07 pm: The index gets built.
And still 6:07 pm: All done.
Total time to complete: 70 minutes.
WiiM Amp Ultra. 1 TB USB thumb drive. 13374 tracks (mostly FLAC, a hand full of MP3s), 1004 albums, 701 artists. No wiim_cache folder, no .uuid file, starting from scratch.
4:57 pm: Thumb drive attached, hitting "Scan Now".
4:58 pm: After detecting 500 tracks very fast, the estimated time is 32 minutes. That would be 5:30 then. Not going to happen.
5:29 pm: After 31 minutes the remaining estimated time is 34 minutes. So, 6:03? Maybe? Almost!
6:07 pm: All 13374 files have been scanned.
Still 6:07 pm: The index gets built.
And still 6:07 pm: All done.
Total time to complete: 70 minutes.
Skull
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Yes...I tried to go cheap and actually cost myself more money. I'm 63 and still learn things the hard way.
Skull
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I was lucky had 3 of those lying around from game consoles and streaming boxes
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