Just got your Slacker Portable (G1/G2) (First Time Setup Info)

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
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Charleston SC
There is quite a few of us waiting on our first Slacker, I think some pointers may be needed for us first timers. Reading past Slacker sales on Woot I have seen a lot of issues about setting it up the first time. Give us a few hints, or steps to help us out of the box.
 
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DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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First thing do is setup your account online, if you have one already setup, then you just have to go to the portable tab and add your radio ID. Once you do this it will be ready, go back to the portable tab and add the stations you want. (May want to keep that limited initially see sentence below in blue)

DO NOT INSTALL THE INCLUDED SOFTWARE THAT COMES WITH THE SLACKER G1

Now if you plan to refresh via USB, go online and download the latest version of the USB Software Refresher, get that installed. (All you'll see is a icon in your traybar) Now when you connect it will refresh your selected stations and download any firmware updates. You can also connect via WIFI if you have a (b or g) wireless router or wireless access point. If your WIFI security requires a password, you'll just have to put this in one time. Your router and WAP has to be broadcasting the SSID for the Slacker device to see it. Once it completes the refresh and/or software download (firmware), you will need to do a shut down by pushing and holding button down the power button (on right side) for 5 seconds (G1) or pushing and hold down the pause/play button (G2), you'll see shutting down on the screen, but it will automatically restart. You'll see the update installing. (Caution make sure your battery is fully charged or at least over 50% because it will ignore the firmware upgrade otherwise) You may need to let the device charge for while prior to unplugging it from the initial refresh to make sure your battery is charged up enough.

If you plan to give it a few hours to refresh then of course you can go ahead and select all the stations including the customized ones you want. The more stations you add the longer that first refresh will take. It averages about 20 minutes per station when adding or doing a totally new refresh when all the songs in a given station has been listened too or in the case of these older Slackers, the music is now expired because it hasn't been refreshed within the last 30 days.

If you are a bit impatient, then you can just add one or two channels initially let it refresh those and remove the others that were already on the device. This will also allow you to go ahead and immediately download that firmware update, which in my opinion needs to be done ASAP. I recommend just putting one or two channels initially myself so you don't have to wait so long to get those stations refreshed and get the firmware update downloaded. Then maybe later when you go to bed or have something to do that will take you a few hours you can add all the other channels you want and let it go ahead and refresh adding all those additional channels. Just remember if you go ahead and put all your channels on it is not unusual for it to take several hours to refresh.

There is really very little if any time difference in doing either a USB or WIFI refresh. I find the WIFI refresh more convenient, but if you don't have WIFI then of course the USB would be your option. I find after getting my initial refresh down that doing future refreshes takes a lot less time. You'll have to decide how often to refresh based on how much of you listen. I've seen folks say they refresh daily, weekly and some even once a month. There is currently a thread about this on DRC Slacker forum. You also may want to verify that your Slacker has the latest firmware (G1: 1.6.112), (G2: 1.9.34) Menu/Settings/About will give you this info.

If you already have an account setup, you can start listening to the stations deciding which you may want on your Slacker Portable. You can also take this time to play around with customizing some of your own stations. This way when the Slacker Portable arrives you just start at the top of this post follow the instructions and you'll be enjoying the service in no time.

There is also a thread about the two subscription packages currently available with some discussion on the merits of each one. My recommendation if you are bothered by a few ads and want the ability of unlimited skips of songs is to go for the Slacker Plus Radio subscription. See discussion here: http://www.digitalradiocentral.com/...dio-subscription-type-slacker-radio-plus.html Remember that no subscription is necessary and you can just enjoy your Slacker Portable using the Free Basic Service.

Thanks Tom C. for the suggested thread, I have made it a sticky as I think many potential new Slackers will find it helpful! If you guys see anything that you can clarify better or that I left out, jump on in. We can make this a really helpful thread. I made the text in my post a little larger since it is a lot to read and this should make it easier on the eyes.
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
558
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Charleston SC
"Now if you plan to refresh via USB, go online and download the latest version of the USB Software Refresher, get that installed. "

done, thanks

"If you already have an account setup, you can start listening to the stations deciding which you may want on your Slacker Portable. You can also take this time to play around with customizing some of your own stations. This way when the Slacker Portable arrives you just start at the top of this post follow the instructions and you'll be enjoying the service in no time."

Already playing around with custom, checked Slacker Classic Country station and found 80's country, please. Playing around with some Marty Robbins, Boxcar Willie, and Conway Twitty. Only 36 years old but if I'm going to get Slacker I don't need regular radio music.

"There is also a thread about the two subscription packages currently available with some discussion on the merits of each one. My recommendation if you are bothered by a few ads and want the ability of unlimited skips of songs is to go for the Slacker Plus Radio subscription. See discussion here: http://www.digitalradiocentral.com/slacker/s...adio-plus.html Remember that no subscription is necessary and you can just enjoy your Slacker Portable using the Free Basic Service."

Thinking this over, I have heard maybe 1 ad an hour, might need the skips, not sure. With 40 stations I could just change the station if out of skips, right?
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
558
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Charleston SC
I have a ? about filling up the unit with stations, would I have more songs per station with out refresh if I only chose 20 stations instead of 40. Will unit fill up available space no matter # of stations chosen?
 
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DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Already playing around with custom, checked Slacker Classic Country station and found 80's country, please. Playing around with some Marty Robbins, Boxcar Willie, and Conway Twitty. Only 36 years old but if I'm going to get Slacker I don't need regular radio music.

Sweet, you are already ahead of the game! I'll be honest I haven't really done much with country because I find their country stations to be great, though to be honest their classic country did take me some work to get it classic enough for my liking. :) But yeah I have done probably 6 custom channels now and have really taken my time adding a few artist here and there and they are coming along nicely. It is really kind of fun!

Tonight I am listening to Bluegrass and I keep clapping I am enjoying the heck out of it. Those few beers I've drank probably are adding to the affect! LOL

Thinking this over, I have heard maybe 1 ad an hour, might need the skips, not sure. With 40 stations I could just change the station if out of skips, right?

I would test it out, my son has not subscribed because he said the commercials are so far and few between. Once he uses his 6 skips he just changes channels like you are thinking and then comes back to the station and that skips the song anyway. Always a way around stuff I suppose. But the ads are like one time per hour.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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I have a ? about filling up the unit with stations, would I have more songs per station with out refresh if I only chose 20 stations instead of 40. Will unit fill up available space on matter # of stations chosen? Am I making any since????

Initially the service will only push 100 songs to the device. It is only with listening and refreshing that the stations get more and more songs beyond the initial 100. But it will indeed use all the extra space available and your stations can get up to 500 songs in them.
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
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Charleston SC
Initially the service will only push 100 songs to the device. It is only with listening and refreshing that the stations get more and more songs beyond the initial 100. But it will indeed use all the extra space available and your stations can get up to 500 songs in them.


Would you happen to know how much space that equals, 500 songs= ? stations on the 8g unit. I could stick to fewer stations for longer playlist.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Would you happen to know how much space that equals, 500 songs= ? stations on the 8g unit. I could stick to fewer stations for longer playlist.

Well if you figure 100 songs per station on initial push, then 5 X 100 would be 5 stations and they claim 5 hours per 100 songs, so that would be 25 hours of music. WOW!

Is that what you wanted to know?
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
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Charleston SC
Well if you figure 100 songs per station on initial push, then 5 X 100 would be 5 stations and they claim 5 hours per 100 songs, so that would be 25 hours of music. WOW!

Is that what you wanted to know?

I didn't know if you knew the "gigs" that came to. They say 40 stations put what does that mean space wise.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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I didn't know if you knew the "gigs" that came to. They say 40 stations put what does that mean space wise.


Well I just opened iTunes and selected 100 songs and it says it will play for 6.2 hours and takes up 500 mb of space. But that is just normal AAC's at various bitrates but generally higher than what we'd get pushed to our portables which is 40kp AAC+.

But I really don't know precisely.
 
Oct 29, 2008
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refreshing with usb (basics)-

This process is done with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). In order for this to work you need to have the ip address 192.168.0.1 available. So your best bet is to check that this address is not being used on your network already. This address would either be on your modem, or router. If that address is being used you need to change it to another address. Otherwise the ICS refreshing will never work on usb. If it is your modem that needs changed you will have to contact your internet provider which may, or may not be able to change it. You can also change the address in a router if you have one. Changing these settings will vary from brand to brand. What I can tell you with my experience is I have a hard wired Linksys router. By default once this brand router connects to the internet it creates a private address which is different then the ICS address. So in this case a Linksys router is a good thing to have.
Once you establish that you have a address other then the one listed above. If you are still having problems. You would then want to disable firewalls, anti virus, etc programs. These can block your portable from connecting to the internet. You can then bring one at a time back online to figure out which program is blocking the connection. If still not working it could be a router if you have one. The settings may need to be changed in some cases.
In my case I had a hard wired Linksys router, no firewall program, AVG anti virus installed with usb slacker refresher software installed of course. My refreshing has been flawless.
If you can connect to refresh the process takes a little time. So just be patient. ICS has it's little steps it goes through to connect to the slacker servers. Once you see refreshing on your portable you made it in the door.

Please note if you are refreshing wifi you can ignore the above info. You are using DHCP not the ip address stuff.
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
558
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Charleston SC
Well I just opened iTunes and selected 100 songs and it says it will play for 6.2 hours and takes up 500 mb of space. But that is just normal AAC's at various bitrates but generally higher than what we'd get pushed to our portables which is 40kp AAC+.

But I really don't know precisely.

Ok thanks, DAB. Ill learn by using. Ill let this thread be for new install ?.
Thanks for the sticky, I hope I wont need you when unit gets here:p
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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What I can tell you with my experience is I have a hard wired Linksys router. By default once this brand router connects to the internet it creates a private address which is different then the ICS address. So in this case a Linksys router is a good thing to have.

Thanks for the clarification on USB connecting. It does seem the most problematic!

Just a side note based on my experience, every Linksys hardwired or wireless router I have ever setup has the default IP address of 192.168.1.1, so this is why there is hardly ever a problem with Linksys routers and those that have had issues can generally do a reset and this will solve the problem. Some of the older routers by Netgear especially, but D-Link as well do sometimes have a default of 192.168.0.1.

If you are having problems and you think this is the issue, then you can contact the support line for name brand of the router you have and just tell them you need to be walked through changing your default IP address to something else.

I have left my Linksys Wireless Router at the default 192.168.1.1 but I also have a Linksys Wireless Access Point and I did change it to 192.168.2.1 because it initially was conflicting with my Wireless Router.

This stuff can be a bit complicated, but with a bit of help it can be solved, so don't get too frustrated right off the bat.

If you can use Wireless though that is the best way to connect hands down in my opinion!
 

TX WJ

Intelligent Donkey
Oct 15, 2008
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Once it completes the refresh and/or software download (firmware), you will need to do a shut down by pushing and holding button down for 5 seconds (G1)

What button do I push?

Thanks for the instructions.
 

cruisaire

New Member
Dec 31, 2008
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Woodstock, Georgia
Many...many thanks to you DAB! I too am building on the web player in advance of its arrival. I have a linksys wireless router at home and want to get it right the first time!:cool:
 

RoadRunner

Member
Oct 13, 2008
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Once it completes the refresh and/or software download (firmware), you will need to do a shut down by pushing and holding button down for 5 seconds (G1)

What button do I push?

Thanks for the instructions.
You need to push the power switch down.

Tom, I would just guess that if you wanted playlists 5x the normal size, you'd want 1/5th the number of stations supported. So, on a 40 station player, I'd put 8 on there, and over a series of updates, you'd probably still end up using all the available space. Honestly though, I have 12 stations on my 15 station player and rarely get to listen to a station long enough to hear repeats. I do refresh nightly, and probably get about 8 hours of listening time/day. So if you're listening more, or refreshing less, YMMV.
 

RoadRunner

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Oct 13, 2008
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I also wanted to add (for general purposes of the sticky) that I have found WiFi updating much more reliable and easy that USB updating, even though that seems counter-intuitive. It might just be my intentional ignorance of Microsoft's ICS.

I'll also add that I've been very skeptical of DAB's claims that Netgear routers/WAPs were more problematic, until he explained why in this thread. We suggest Netgear to our remote users since they are so easy to support. BUT, DAB is correct that the default IP for a Netgear is 192.168.0.1, which is apparently not the case for Linksys. For those who do not know, 192.168.x.x is a reserved Class B address for private networks. So you can really set up your network to use any number between 1 and 254 for those addresing schemes. Knowing that MS has 0.1 hard-coded into ICS, I'd recommend avoiding that regardless of whther you are using it or not.
 
Oct 29, 2008
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Thanks for the clarification on USB connecting. It does seem the most problematic!

Just a side note based on my experience, every Linksys hardwired or wireless router I have ever setup has the default IP address of 192.168.1.1, so this is why there is hardly ever a problem with Linksys routers and those that have had issues can generally do a reset and this will solve the problem. Some of the older routers by Netgear especially, but D-Link as well do sometimes have a default of 192.168.0.1.

If you are having problems and you think this is the issue, then you can contact the support line for name brand of the router you have and just tell them you need to be walked through changing your default IP address to something else.

I have left my Linksys Wireless Router at the default 192.168.1.1 but I also have a Linksys Wireless Access Point and I did change it to 192.168.2.1 because it initially was conflicting with my Wireless Router.

This stuff can be a bit complicated, but with a bit of help it can be solved, so don't get too frustrated right off the bat.

If you can use Wireless though that is the best way to connect hands down in my opinion!
Good to know. I have only owned Linksys routers. So I could not comment on other brands.

If you want to find out the ip address you are using. If you open the command prompt - Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt (or Start > Run > CMD.exe) - then run "ipconfig". This will show the address. If you have a router it would be the "default gateway" number. If your address is different then 192.168.0.1 you have a green light. Otherwise you'll need to change it.

If you are without a router, and using the modem ip address 192.168.0.1 . That will need to be changed. I have heard some internet providers will not change this address. So contact provider about that. If they won't change it, and you want to do usb refresh. Your best bet will be to pick up a router. Probably go with a Linksys. Unless you know the brand you are getting will not default on 192.168.0.1. Of course as DAB stated you can always contact the router manufacture for steps on to change the ip address.
 

TOM C.

Member
Oct 25, 2008
558
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Charleston SC
Ok, You guys had me worried, I had 2.5 y/o belkin router that was so weak that I ran a 50 ft cat5 cable right after setting it up because of drop outs. I was not to worried about it because I was hard wired now, then I read that its better to connect Slacker to wifi than usb. This got me to thinking about the Wii that wont pick up ether. So to best buy I went. After 1.5 hours on the phone with ATT DSL, I now have a Linksys N ULTRA rangeplus sale $79.00, same price I paid for the Slacker I think. Oh well, I needed it, now I can go to DRC, refresh Slacker and play Mario Kart.
 
Oct 29, 2008
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I considered a wifi set up at my house with the G2, but you usb has been flawless for me. So I did not bother with the wifi. On the G2 side you can now refresh, and listen to the portable at the same time with a recent update they gave us. This is not important to me since I don't play the portable at home, but I'm sure this may come in handy for some other users.

TOM C - Did you call ATT about your ip address ? How did that go ? Will they not change the ip address on your modem ? So you went with the wifi instead ?