[XavierItzmann]

Credo che il ripper di CD del BS5 non abbia più accesso al database che gli forniva la grafica del CD o altri metadati.
Penso che sia meglio estrarre i miei CD su un Mac tramite iTunes, aggiungere la grafica lì ed esportare su BS5.

I believe the BS5’s CD ripper no longer has access to the database which gave it the CD artwork.
I find it better to extract my CD’s on a Mac via iTunes, add the artwork there, and export to the BS5.

[XavierItzmann]

Yes, you can no longer drag a soft button into a hard button, like hfat’s Guide to Beo6 Configuration – V2 proposes.

 

However, you can still edit the hard keys by right-clicking (or, on a Mac, “Control Key” click), which opens up the dialog where you can change the functionality of the IR sent. I have not tested whether it actually works.

[XavierItzmann]

On Finder: ⌘-K
or Finder > Go > Connect to server…

You should get a dialog:

Enter your password. Mine is very, very long and of course unique to this device.

If you enter the correct password, a folder will open up:

[XavierItzmann]

An excellent post, Lars, for keeping a Beoplay A3 alive together with an iPad 1 or iPad 2. Here I offer an alternative.

I’ve posted before here on this forum how I wanted to run my A3 with an iPad with the current iPad OS (currently 17.4.1), and how I installed an iPad 6 (the final iPad that fits on the A3 cavity, short of an iPad Mini, which will be too small but will be the alternative after the iPad 6 becomes obsolete), so I have a post on the minimal work required to do this.

I do not use the A3 proper on a day to day: it is merely a stand for the iPad to be on at all times (screen on, unlocked), displaying the B&O App 24 x 7. It is therefore a display to see what is playing on my system, and, on occasion, touched and used as a remote. So I do not use the speaker abilities of the A3 except rarely, when we take it to the patio and play a little bit of music directly from it.

But your post made me think: what if someone wanted to use the A3 as an actual receiver, and use its speakers? Your post is an excellent alternative, but here is another one:

1) On a Mac that is left on at all times (such as my Mac Mini, for example), run Airfoil by Amoeba Software. Run Apple Music (iTunes).

2) On the iPad 6 inside the A3, run Airfoil Satellite, which is a free app available on the Apple Store.

3) OPTIONAL: on an iPhone, run iTunes Remote, which is a free app made by Apple.

Given this setup, at any point from your iPhone you can control your entire library of downloaded music. The audio from videos on the Mac library can be controlled from the iPhone and their sound plays seamlessly on the A3 (but not the video images).

Since Apple lets you download any music you can also stream, you can download unlimited music to your Mac (as much as the disk will fit!) and play it from the iPhone.

You cannot, however, control “streaming” Apple Music from the iPhone: if you wish to do that, you have to access the Mac, either directly, or from another Mac, or from a VNC session on the iPhone, which is suboptimal. The same principle applies if you want to use Deezer.

Anyway, here is the A3, the iPad 6 running Airfoil Satellite, and an iPhone running iTunes Remote.

And here is the Mac running Airfoil (the transmitter) and Apple Music. Airfoil does not have to show its display: you can click it away. Also, it does not have to be on the foreground.

[XavierItzmann]

Stoobie wrote: «It is VERY important to make sure the Beo6 is fully charged between downloads. The charger is too slow to charge properly so connect back to the mains charger after each download and don’t leave it connected to the USB on the computer for any length of time. If the Beo6 battery dies during a download, it can be very difficult to get it working again.» Which of course is correct.

But B&O knew of this, and this why it created the following Frankenstein, which allows you to charge & program indefinitely, to your heart’s content:

 

Ebay listing

[XavierItzmann]

Matador,

Do note that Tignum reports —just today!— that he’s had bad Beo5/Beo6 batteries which presumably were new.

beo5/6 adaptor part

Your problem does sound strange. As I myself have experienced new batteries which refused to work out of the box, perhaps you might consider trying again.

[XavierItzmann]

Thanks, Guy. I’ve reported to Administrator that the pics are missing, here:

Report Problems with the Site Here

[XavierItzmann]

According to Guy on this thread,

Beotime disassembly

the post below had photos until a day or so ago (photos of BeoTime disassembly), and according to Guy the photos are today gone. Do observe that the rest of the thread below does have some photos.

https://archivedforum2.beoworld.ouronlineserver.com/forums/p/189/270504.aspx#270504

Anyway, thanks for asking Administrator!

[XavierItzmann]

Ahh, thought so. So the Beo6 communications with the A9 were one-way, and all based on IR! No A9 feedback to the Beo6 screen!

Given this situation, it makes sense then, that Beo6 cannot communicate to BeoPlay A6, as the A6 only interfaces are WiFi and Bluetooth.

[XavierItzmann]

Thanks, Guy. I wasn’t aware there was a service manual; I’ve now downloaded it.

On mine, I put fresh batteries, these last 48-72 hrs, and poof, the thing is dead again. I thought I might open it up and see if a cleaning might help… but removing the 3 LCDs and the joystick look challenging already.

I think I’ll keep it as a useless ornament, a memento of what it once was!

[XavierItzmann]

Thank you for all your comments.

Yes, I looked carefully at the video. I find it amusing that whoever made the video switches songs (at least once with the control off-camera), and then shows you the BS5 display, talks… and only after a few seconds shows you the display on the remote: the filmmaker understood the refresh on the Beo6 is slow!

I’ll say this about the Beo6: it is the very best B&O volume control I’ve ever had. The wheel is awesome. Sure, the wheel on the Beocom 6000/Beocom 1 was just as good, but the function was hidden behind a function button —if I recall correctly— and in any event, it was a phone, not something you had on your table, with the wheel facing you.

The screen is also quite decent, and the touch is instantaneous, to match an iPhone of its era. Where it fails miserably —as expected— is in the predictive touch area for the on-screen keyboard. From inception, the iPhone predicted your next letter and invisibly made larger the touch area for the predicted letter. I make lots of errors typing on the Beo6 because of the lack of this function.

An issue I’ve noticed with mine and with a couple of others available for sale is that the paint on the hard keys tends to minutely fail, resulting in the white backlight shining thru these small defects on the black background.

[XavierItzmann]

Well, the the Beo6 is working. I don’t have very many songs on the BM, only about 550 so far.

Boy, I hope I have done something wrong with my system… the BS5 “now playing” visualizations on the remote are beyond ridiculously slow!

If I fwd one song, the audio change is instantaneous because of the IR function. But it takes the Beo6 about 10 to 60 seconds to update the full screen data (while keeping the previous cover art) and then an additional 3 to 5 seconds to update the cover art.

I am amused by my little toy, but did people play €550 + configuration fees back in the day? This was from 14 years ago, not 24 years ago!

😉

[XavierItzmann]

I don’t know the answers to your question but I’ll say this:

• I have just gotten a Beo6
• I have just installed CT 6.84
>>>>on Windows 8.1 (64 -bit)
>>>>running under VMWare Fusion 13.5.1
>>>>on an Intel Mac running MacOS 12.7.3
• CT sees the Beo6 connected via USB
• The Beo6 serial is 23378749 on the CT

• The Beo6 is HW revision 14
• The Beo6 firmware is 3.40, with
>>>>BeoLo 1.01w, Wifi 4.34, animation 0.01b

I would appreciate it if any readers could advise as to whether these are the «latest» or perhaps «best» versions of all of the above, or if I need to look for additional software.

Thanks!

[XavierItzmann]

That’s a very polished website!

Best of luck with sales + customers.

[XavierItzmann]

Good call on ordering the Apple USB transformer from mains to 5V.

Many observers through the years have pointed out the remarkably high quality of these, in both design and construction.

Beware, however: fakes abound. Fakes that even have all the little Apple characters and codes. So, buy from a reputable source.

---

PS: while this video is of a cable, which is a different and later technology that many Apple transformers, it explains why the Apple cable is $130 vs. similar-looking Mistery Brand cables selling for $13.

TL;DR: It’s what’s inside.

[XavierItzmann]

@Madskp:

from my Linkplayer experience:

• BS3000 displayed, on activation, that the source was either N.RADIO or N.MUSIC. It then displayed the song and the author via horizontally scrolling displayed; or, the radio station and the song.

• BL3500 only displayed N.MUSIC or N.RADIO; no additional data was displayed.

The scrolling abilities of BS3000 avoided the cut-off titles shown on the BeoCenter 2 video included above.

[XavierItzmann]

Interesting!

[XavierItzmann]

Cool! Thanks, Carolpa. Maybe I’ll assign a button for B&O Radio!

[XavierItzmann]

We’ve got two tablets strategically located. The tablets are always on 24/7 and the only app they run is B&O. Therefore, they always display whatever is playing. There is no need to “wake” them up, nor to switch apps. These are dedicated B&O app devices.

• One is an iPad 6 running the very latest iOS next to a speaker in the living room. The stand for the iPad is a Beoplay A3. The Beoplay A3 emits no sound; aside from its stand function, it powers the iPad 6; that said, in the rare occasions we go sit in the back patio, we can use its installed Deezer app and listen to the A3 from its battery power.

• The other tablet sits at arm’s length from my reading chair, on its dedicated easel which is a wireless charger. If I only need to click a button or two, I do it from my seated position; but if I need to do something more involved, I take the always charged tablet, choose my music, and put it back on its easel. The device is a Fire tablet HD8 Plus from Amazon on its wireless charger. I believe it is the only wirelessly charged tablet available.

Aside from that, there an Essence remote near the lights switch in the living, and a strategically situated IR Eye in the library, with the critical JOIN button, and assorted Beo4’s laying around.

[XavierItzmann]

I’ be grateful if the Android B&O app would let itself work while in landscape mode.

Whereas the iPad B&O app works in landscape, the Android one does not.

[Author]

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