Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

[Kaiede]

I'm playing around with Asset UPnP deciding if I want to shell out for it. As a little background, I mostly manage my library in iTunes on a Mac, but then use a shell script to sync the library to my QNAP NAS, which includes exported playlist files from iTunes (which all gets shoved into PLEX for now, including the playlist data, so that PLEX mirrors my iTunes library pretty well).

I've adopted this script for Asset, copying the m3u8 files and , but I'm having issues with Unicode where I have a file that doesn't work, seemingly because it includes the 'ñ' character. This is the only track that doesn't seem to work. I get no album art in the playlist track list on my phone, and my streaming box (CXN V2) simply fails to play it. Playing the track through the album listing is fine.

*EXTINF:175,Mimi & Richard Fariña - Sell-Out Agitation Waltz
/share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/06 Sell-Out Agitation Waltz.m4a

I checked the file after it was copied to the NAS using the 'file' command and it reports that the playlist is UTF8, where /Volumes/Media is the network share:

/Volumes/Media/Music-Playlists/Restaurant Massacre.m3u8: M3U playlist text, UTF-8 Unicode text

So at this point this seems like a possible Unicode bug in Asset? Anything I should be trying short of stripping the Unicode from my file paths?

----

Also, a couple other things:

• BUG: Can't use the User Rename List to rename Playlists. It ignores it. If I go extreme and do something like "FunkyTown**Playlists" in the raw browse tree it will rename it, but then won't have any content.
• Feature Request: I'd love to be able to use the User Rename List to customize how node names get formatted beyond just a sort of search/replace, done right, this could effectively replace the toggles that enable hardcoded versions of the same thing in many cases. An example would be something like:

  format:=Album By Release:={Album} ({Year})

• Nit: No icons for Playlists, Year or Folder items. Makes the root feel a little incomplete.

The first two items on this list I think would really help polish things for the sort of control that's offered.

[Spoon]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

Thanks for the report will check when working on asset again.

[Kaiede]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

• Nit: No icons for Playlists, Year or Folder items. Makes the root feel a little incomplete.

Just wanted to follow up on this one. It looks like this is an issue with HEOS and StreamMagic. If I bring up the server in VLC, I get the icons as I expect.

That’s very weird, but makes it much less likely to be an Asset bug or issue.

[Kaiede]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

Just curious if there’s a timeframe for looking at the “ñ” character issue? Or if there’s anything I can do to help track it down on my end? Although it looks like my trial ended, and as playlists are a paid feature, that might be a bit harder for me to help with now than when I started the thread.

This is honestly the only bug preventing me from switching from PLEX.

[Spoon]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

We tried to reproduce and could not, try Asset v7 which comes into testing very soon on the QNAP.

[Kaiede]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

Hmm, unfortunately, R7 still reproduces the issue for me.

Is there anything I can grab from the debug logs that might help? Browsing through seems to suggest that Asset does understand what's going on.

The item in the DIDL-Lite XML seems to be accurate. It knows the length of the audio file at least when it spits that out. It has the correct path when it builds the playlist:

[21:26:09] OnBrowseDirectChildren::object_id: co089C10D06B382BD9
[21:26:09]   ControlPoint: Stream%20Magic/235 CFNetwork/1195.4 Darwin/20.0.0
[21:26:09]   ContainerLong: 0\Playlists  \Restaurant Massacre\
[21:26:09]   SQL: /share/Media/Music-Playlists/Restaurant Massacre.m3u8
[21:26:09] DIDL Cache Key: Stream%20Magic/235 CFNetwork/1195.4 Darwin/20.0.0 :: 10.0.42.193 :: 10.0.42.142
[21:26:09] Reading playlist contents: /share/Media/Music-Playlists/Restaurant Massacre.m3u8
[21:26:09] Loaded 19 playlist items
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Arlo Guthrie/Alice's Restaurant/01 Alice's Restaurant Massacree.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Arlo Guthrie/Alice's Restaurant/01 Alice's Restaurant Massacree.m4a   Alice's Restaurant Massacree   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Arlo Guthrie/Alice's Restaurant/06 The Motorcycle Song.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Arlo Guthrie/Alice's Restaurant/06 The Motorcycle Song.m4a   The Motorcycle Song   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Tom Paxton/Outward Bound/06 Is This Any Way To Run An Airline_.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Tom Paxton/Outward Bound/06 Is This Any Way To Run An Airline_.m4a   Is This Any Way To Run An Airline?   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/The Chad Mitchell Trio/The Best Of The Chad Mitchell Trio The Mercury Years/06 What Did You Learn In School Today_.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/The Chad Mitchell Trio/The Best Of The Chad Mitchell Trio The Mercury Years/06 What Did You Learn In School Today_.m4a   What Did You Learn In School Today?   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/The Chad Mitchell Trio/The Best Of The Chad Mitchell Trio The Mercury Years/21 Your Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku-Klux-Klan.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/The Chad Mitchell Trio/The Best Of The Chad Mitchell Trio The Mercury Years/21 Your Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku-Klux-Klan.m4a   Your Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku-Klux-Klan   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/John Denver/Poems, Prayers & Promises/12 The Box.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/John Denver/Poems, Prayers & Promises/12 The Box.m4a   The Box   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/John Denver/Whose Garden Was This/06 Whose Garden Was This.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/John Denver/Whose Garden Was This/06 Whose Garden Was This.m4a   Whose Garden Was This   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Jim & Jean/Changes/05 Crucifixion.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Jim & Jean/Changes/05 Crucifixion.m4a   Crucifixion   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/06 Sell-Out Agitation Waltz.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/06 Sell-Out Agitation Waltz.m4a   Sell-Out Agitation Waltz   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/01 Scarborough Fair _ Canticle.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/01 Scarborough Fair _ Canticle.m4a   Scarborough Fair / Canticle   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/12 7 O'Clock News _ Silent Night.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/12 7 O'Clock News _ Silent Night.m4a   7 O'Clock News / Silent Night   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Sounds Of Silence/01 The Sound Of Silence.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Sounds Of Silence/01 The Sound Of Silence.m4a   The Sound Of Silence   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M_/11 The Times They Are A-changin'.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M_/11 The Times They Are A-changin'.m4a   The Times They Are A-changin'   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Peter, Paul & Mary/Peter, Paul And Mary/10 If I Had A Hammer.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Peter, Paul & Mary/Peter, Paul And Mary/10 If I Had A Hammer.m4a   If I Had A Hammer   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Peter, Paul & Mary/Peter, Paul And Mary/12 Where Have All The Flowers Gone.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Peter, Paul & Mary/Peter, Paul And Mary/12 Where Have All The Flowers Gone.m4a   Where Have All The Flowers Gone   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Compilations/Folk Duets/20 The Greenland Whale Fisheries.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Compilations/Folk Duets/20 The Greenland Whale Fisheries.m4a   The Greenland Whale Fisheries   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Judy Collins/Golden Apples of the Sun/09 Crow on the Cradle.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Judy Collins/Golden Apples of the Sun/09 Crow on the Cradle.m4a   Crow on the Cradle   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Judy Collins/Fifth Album/12 It Isn't Nice.m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Judy Collins/Fifth Album/12 It Isn't Nice.m4a   It Isn't Nice   
[21:26:09]   /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Joe & Eddie/The Best Of Joe & Eddie/07 What's That I Hear_ (Freedom Calling).m4a
Added Fixed URL: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Joe & Eddie/The Best Of Joe & Eddie/07 What's That I Hear_ (Freedom Calling).m4a   What's That I Hear? (Freedom Calling)

But when I go to play it, it does this:

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/f7-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1
Opening audio file: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Jim & Jean/Changes/05 Crucifixion.m4a

Streaming File Untouched [49554685 bytes]: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Jim & Jean/Changes/05 Crucifixion.m4a
Serve Entity Set to: audio/mp4

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/f8-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/f8-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/f8-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/f9-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1
Opening audio file: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/01 Scarborough Fair _ Canticle.m4a

Streaming File Untouched [22867195 bytes]: /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/Music/Simon & Garfunkel/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme/01 Scarborough Fair _ Canticle.m4a
Serve Entity Set to: audio/mp4

Where in this case, f8-co089C10D06B382BD9.m4a is "Sell-Out Agitation Waltz" in the affected folder. So it's like it all works up until the point where it has to go read the file.

Also interesting in that it seems like R7 doesn't show album artwork for tracks in my playlists anymore either while R6 did (although "Sell-Out Agitation Waltz" wouldn't show artwork in the track list).

By comparison, the album itself as I said, works fine:

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/d-5356456033607965565-coE4C51483058042EB.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1
Opening audio file: /share/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/01 Reflections In A Crystal Wind.m4a

Streaming File Untouched [23411149 bytes]: /share/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/01 Reflections In A Crystal Wind.m4a
Serve Entity Set to: audio/mp4

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/aa/5942379320188515/cover.jpg?size=0[/url]
=============================================

===========ProcessFileRequest================
[url]http://10.0.42.142:26125/content/c2/b16/f44100/d-3378899990749493372-coE4C51483058042EB.m4a[/url]
=============================================

Content Range: -1 to -1
Opening audio file: /share/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/06 Sell-Out Agitation Waltz.m4a

Streaming File Untouched [21458842 bytes]: /share/Media/Music/Mimi & Richard Fariña/Reflections In A Crystal Wind/06 Sell-Out Agitation Waltz.m4a
Serve Entity Set to: audio/mp4

[PeterP]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

Thanks for the bug report.
Please send one of the problematic M3U8 files to peter@dbpoweramp.com for analysis.
Also, include configuration dump (normal) of your Asset instance.

[PeterP]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

One anomaly that I can see here is that your playlist files reference music by /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media/... - while your watched music folder appears to be /share/Media/...
Since this is QNAP, /share/Media is a shortcut to Media on some volume, presumably /share/CACHEDEV4_DATA/Media, so this should work just fine unless there's a bug in Asset, which I'm now investigating.
Perhaps altering either the playlists or watched folder settings to point at the exact same path might mitigate the problem?

[Kaiede]

Re: Unicode Issue With Playlist (+ Bug Report & Feature Request)

Thanks for the bug report.
Please send one of the problematic M3U8 files to peter@dbpoweramp.com for analysis.
Also, include configuration dump (normal) of your Asset instance.

Just wanted to add here that I have finally gotten around to following up.

I also got time to dig into the bug itself and managed to root cause it, so I figured I&*8217;d share the short version of the findings here in case anyone else might run into this.

There&*8217;s a mismatch between the file system and the m3u8 on which UTF normalization form is being used for the file path. This is going to be more common for folks on a Mac who put their libraries on a NAS. Linux uses form C for file paths, while macOS used to use form D on HFS+, but is now &*8220;form insensitive&*8221; with APFS. The playlist files I was generating used form D because that was the form iTunes was returning through the AppleScript/OSAScript interface. However, copying the files over SMB resulted in file paths using &*8220;form C&*8221;, likely due to some conversion by the QNAP or Apple.

There&*8217;s a couple tools (iconv and convmv) that can fix existing playlist files and the file names to ensure they use the same normalization form, as a workaround (convmv has to be run from the QNAP directly). But it&*8217;d be great if Asset was a bit more form insensitive itself, at least for the playlist file content.