SPY mode

SPY mode is where you get your non-Sonos plays from Last.fm, but you get your Sonos plays directly from your Sonos zones themselves.

Spy mode is only applicable to Sonos owners. The other mode is Last.fm mode (aka LFM mode) where the application is set up to obtain all of your track plays from your Last.fm account. You need to use LFM mode if you don’t own Sonos equipment.

This part of the User Guide discusses SPY mode only. See here for a comparison of the two modes. The AlbumPlays install procedure initially defaulted this application into the other mode (ie. LFM mode).

There are two parts to Spy mode:

• Play count processing : this component uses your track play data to update MediaMonkey, and optionally Last.fm also. It runs upon the PC which is hosting MediaMonkey.
• Observation & Detection (aka O&D) : this component observes your Sonos units, and detects your track plays. It needs to be running whenever listening to your Sonos. It may run on your PC, could run on your NAS, or upon a cheap Linux device attached to your network.

Contents:

• Day-to-day operation: an overview of regular usage of Spy mode
• Unmatched Spy observations: plays not found in MediaMonkey; how to handle
• Listeners: creating additional Listeners, enrolling them, how to scrobble to LFM for them
• Controlling the O&D component: control it from your main computer
• Using the Text File transfer option: obtain Spy observations from the text file instead of the database
• Last.fm scrobble corrections: handle any Last.fm “corrections” or “rejections” of your scrobble submissions
• Applicable to both LFM & Spy Modes:
  • Importation issues: Unmatched, Lost, Late, Reviewed, Resurrected, Duplicated or Streamed
  • Handling mismatches (plays where AlbumPlays cannot find the track in your MM database)
  • Housekeeping: Tracks (re-tagging, deleting, moving or upgrading tracks)
  • Housekeeping: Play history (delete unwanted MM plays, and manually scrobble missed plays)
  • AlbumPlays playlists (multi-target playlists, with optional auto-refresh)
  • Using a USB playlist target (travel with your whole music collection, and all your playlists)
  • Missed Tracks playlist (an auto playlist of tracks skipped from whole albums)
  • Google Play Music (Integration with your Google Play Music library)
  • Problems (how to best avoid them, and how to analyse them should they occur)
  • Application backups (configure AlbumPlays to backup MediaMonkey & AlbumPlays databases)
• Installation:
  • Spy Observe & Detect: this extra module is used by Spy mode, and needs to be running whenever listening to your Sonos … where to install it? … on your PC or elsewhere? .. how to install it on Windows
  • PC Prerequisites: extra things required on your PC before you can install or use Spy mode
  • Configuration Wizard: initialise your Spy mode configuration file
  • Quick Start guide: overview of the main config options, with some worked examples
  • Scrobbling Quick Start guide: how to config AlbumPlays to scrobble your Sonos plays
  • Reference – Configuration – O&D component: details & advanced options
  • Reference – Configuration – Play Count component: details & advanced options
  • Unmatched Sonos plays?: fix any track location mistranslated between Sonos & MediaMonkey
  • Update (installing new versions of AlbumPlays)
• Raspberry Pi: running the AlbumPlays Spy O&D module on a Raspberry Pi
  • Why? … What is a Raspberry Pi? .. How would it help? .. What do you need?
  • Install options … assisted install or manual install? … preparation required
  • Control your Raspberry Pi … remote control from your Windows PC
  • Assisted RPi Installation steps:
    • Install RPi … install & boot the Raspberry Pi, and establish interoperability with Windows
    • Install AlbumPlays … install Spy component of AlbumPlays onto the Raspberry Pi
    • Initial configuration of AlbumPlays … get AlbumPlays running with a basic configuration… it finds your Sonos zones and start detecting track plays
    • Wrap up steps … convenience functions, also send yourself Alert email if problems develop, also secure your Raspberry Pi against hacker attack, and your database agaist corruption
  • Manual RPi Installation steps:
    • Connection .. what to plug where … connect to your network
    • Controlling it from your Windows PC .. so that it has no need for its own screen, mouse nor keyboard
    • Configuring your Raspberry Pi .. install patches & updates ..auto-start remote server (vnc) .. Windows clipboard support for paste from Windows .. reserve a fixed IP address .. backup your configuration
    • Preparing your RPi for AlbumPlays … enable Windows Explorer to access your RPi .. install a GUI for package management (Synaptic) .. allow access to a NAS share .. install AlbumPlays prerequisites
    • Installing AlbumPlays … coming soon
    • Installing AlbumPlays upgrades … coming soon