antneed Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 I have a external, self powered, USB HD that I want to load with music and plug into the back of my C4 controller. Questions: 1. Do I just format the drive as FAT32? 2. Any special naming or hierarchy of folders I need to create for Control4 to see the folders & files? 3. Can I simply add folders of music onto the drive? (For example: most of my music is in individual folders by album name, “The Beatles - Abbey Road”) 4. Can I add them to C4 or does my dealer? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 FAT32, MAX 2TB partition, externally powered for USB drives Any organization you like, typical is a mother 'music' folder, and then inside a folder per artist. System only cares about the tags, how it's stored on the drive is irrelevant. You can plug it into the controller, dealer needs to add it and setup daily scanning. (maybe HE can setup? not positive) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 7 minutes ago, RAV said: FAT32, MAX 2TB partition, externally powered for USB drives Any organization you like, typical is a mother 'music' folder, and then inside a folder per artist. System only cares about the tags, how it's stored on the drive is irrelevant. You can plug it into the controller, dealer needs to add it and setup daily scanning. (maybe HE can setup? not positive) Actually a USB drive will simply show up automatically after a few minutes and scanning options should be available under media in HE Note that it should be an externally powered HDD - the controllers do not output enough power to (reliably) power a spinning drive and case (USB stick is fine, some very basic usb to drive can work hen using a SSD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Oh, and while the how the file structure is isn't overly important, it's best to have music sorted by their relevant 'CD' or 'disc' because the interface is made around that structure. Just have a folder 'Beatles' with every number in it is going to create weird entries, as would just having random songs in a folder called 'Rock' If your music is rips of discs, it'll work just fine, iteunes single song lists tend to not work very pretty within C4 for browsing (though you can use playlists with them and just use those) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 I have a 500GB USB HD, no external power supply. Will this work with Control4? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 43 minutes ago, antneed said: I have a 500GB USB HD, no external power supply. Will this work with Control4? 4 hours ago, Cyknight said: Note that it should be an externally powered HDD - the controllers do not output enough power to (reliably) power a spinning drive and case (USB stick is fine, some very basic usb to drive can work hen using a SSD) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 Will this work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 IF it's an SSD in there, it's worth a try, most seem to be fine - if it's an HDD, then it may work, but can intermittently lose power - which not only makes it so it stops working, but can flood your project with USB instances and bog it down. Note that simple is better - if it has any 'autobackup' style software, or built in anti-virus, than there's a decent chance it won't properly load up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 I see. It is a SSD . thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 20 minutes ago, antneed said: I see. It is a SSD . thank you! also if you have a compatible DLNA server it might be best to get it connected to that and use the new dlna driver it handles media so much better. can check the used market too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Matt Lowe said: also if you have a compatible DLNA server it might be best to get it connected to that and use the new dlna driver it handles media so much better. can check the used market too. +1 I was amazed at how simple it was to set up music on a Plex server. also fast and nice to scroll through on my touchscreen or remote. Matt Lowe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 On 2/4/2021 at 7:10 PM, ekohn00 said: +1 I was amazed at how simple it was to set up music on a Plex server. also fast and nice to scroll through on my touchscreen or remote. So you can view your music through Plex on your T3 touchscreen? I thought to view your music folder in Plex you had to view on a TV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 1 hour ago, antneed said: So you can view your music through Plex on your T3 touchscreen? I thought to view your music folder in Plex you had to view on a TV? It's just a way to get C4 to read your music library as Plex operates as a DLNA server. If you only want to use C4 (vs Plex), you can use a NAS drive to read your music into C4 also (eg a Synology NAS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 5 hours ago, antneed said: So you can view your music through Plex on your T3 touchscreen? And on your phone (control4 app), and remotes.... using Plex/DLNA is a nice solution. Oh, and if C4 crashes, you can still have music through Plex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 so I have Plex running on my Mac Mini Plex server , which I use to access my movies, music and pictures. To listen to music though, I open Plex on my Roku attached to my TV. Is there a way to listen to my Plex music without turning the TV on? Like on T3 touchscreen or iphone? sorry I am not sure what DLNA means? thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 16 minutes ago, antneed said: so I have Plex running on my Mac Mini Plex server , which I use to access my movies, music and pictures. To listen to music though, I open Plex on my Roku attached to my TV. Is there a way to listen to my Plex music without turning the TV on? Like on T3 touchscreen or iphone? sorry I am not sure what DLNA means? thank you! Have your dealer add the DLNA driver to your C4 project and connect to your plex server. Then you will be able to play music from your T3 touchscreen, your C4 controller connected TVs, C4 remotes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 1 hour ago, ejn1 said: Have your dealer add the DLNA driver to your C4 project and connect to your plex server. Then you will be able to play music from your T3 touchscreen, your C4 controller connected TVs, C4 remotes... Is that all I have to tell him? Where do I tell him to add the DLNA driver? Specifics please so I can tell him. Appreciate the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 17 minutes ago, antneed said: Is that all I have to tell him? Where do I tell him to add the DLNA driver? Specifics please so I can tell him. Appreciate the advice! Just pay one of the dealers in the forum to remotely log into your system and set it up. Would only take them a few minutes and they will likely be a good contact for you in the future as they are all experts on this forum. If you want to do this, just reply in this thread and ask them to PM you. Honestly, all you should have to say (assuming you have your Plex server setup already), is to connect it to your C4 system audio and it should be 99% done unless you need more tweaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 well I have my dealer coming back out to finish my project , so I think it will cost effective to just have him do it, since it already covered at this point. Again , my Plex server runs on my Mac Mini, not a Synology NAS, if that means anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Quick question: Once the DLNA driver is installed, how do I access my music on my Plex server: On Control4: under “Listen” I click on the “Plex” app? Is that correct? or will my music be found under “Listen” >>>”My Music”? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Listen menu under whatever you call the DLNA driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejn1 Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 4 hours ago, antneed said: well I have my dealer coming back out to finish my project , so I think it will cost effective to just have him do it, since it already covered at this point. Again , my Plex server runs on my Mac Mini, not a Synology NAS, if that means anything. Where does your music reside? Is it on the Mac Mini hard drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 47 minutes ago, ejn1 said: Where does your music reside? Is it on the Mac Mini hard drive? Yes correct, on the Mac Mini Harddrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antneed Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 1 hour ago, msgreenf said: Listen menu under whatever you call the DLNA driver. Thank you Sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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