Audio-Station-Scrobbler

Not being able to scrobble tracks with Audio Station is no bueno. After brainstorming some crazy ideas, I conjured up a scheme. Read through the entire README before you try anything, thanks! Time for some storytelling.

I sniffed the network traffic while using Audio Station and noted HTTP request patterns during playback of each song. Here is the low-down:

• Lyric modules are an Audio Station built-in feature. With a lyric module installed, Audio Station makes queries for each song and displays lyrics if found. A variety of Synology Lyric modules are publically available. I ninja'd a new scrobble request into one of the lyric modules. My modified lyric module is found here.
• This repository contains a simple Node server that saves a Last.FM session and scrobbles music.

I. Installing and Running Server Code

System Requirements

• Your Synology NAS must have NodeJS v4 or above installed. It can be installed via Package Center, or you can download the source code from NodeJS and include it in your $PATH.
• My Synology NAS is running DSM 6.02-8451 Update 9 and Audio Station 6.02-3093. I have not tested other versions of DSM and Audio Station, but I assume this scrobbler will work if Audio Station has the lyric plugin feature.
• SSH must be enabled on your Synology NAS.
• Check t3h g00gles to find a suitable terminal client for your operating system. You need root privileges for your Synology NAS. Refer to this tutorial for an example.

Cloning/Downloading Server Repository

I have no clue what your system environment is like, but I'll attempt to provide detailed steps with minimal overhead. If you know what you're doing (ipkg is setup, Git is installed, etc...), just clone this repository to your NAS and skip this section. Otherwise, follow along below:

1. Download this repository to your computer.
2. Extract it and upload the entire folder to your NAS. I created a shared folder and uploaded to there.

Configuration

1. SSH into your NAS. Run sudo -i to switch to the root user. Navigate into the directory uploaded from the previous section.

2. Install dependencies by running npm install. Start the server by running npm start.

3. In DSM, go to Control Panel > Task Scheduler. You will create a task to automatically run the server whenever your NAS boots up.

4. Click Create -> Triggered Task -> User-defined script.

5. In the General tab, enter a task name and then check the Enabled box.

6. In the Task Settings tab, edit and paste the following:

   exec /usr/local/bin/node path_to_scrobbler_directory/bin/server.js

   For example, in my environment this is:

   exec /usr/local/bin/node /volume1/code/Audio-Station-Scrobbler/bin/server.js

7. Click OK to save this task.

Keep your SSH connection open so the server can continue to run for now. It's necessary for the following section.

II. Last.fm Authorization

This section explains how to obtain an API account and get the necessary information to scrobble your music.

Create API Account

To use the Last.fm API, sign up for an account. The only field that matters is Callback URL. Set Callback URL to:

http://local_address_of_your_nas:3000

Zang, now you have your own API key and API secret.

Grant Application Permissions

Complete the following URL with your API key and open it up in your browser.

http://www.last.fm/api/auth/?api_key=xxx

Log in if neccesary and grant your application permission to your account. Last.fm will redirect to the callback URL you specified earlier. Take note of the displayed authorization token, it is tied to your user account and API key and is valid for 60 minutes.

Get Session Key

Complete the following URL with your API key, authorization token, and API secret. Open the URL in your browser.

local_address_of_your_nas:3000/auth/q?api_key=xxx&token=xxx&secret=xxx

Your NAS will request a session key from Last.fm. Assuming all the information you provided is correct, your API key, API secret, and session key will be stored your NAS environment. According to Last.fm, the lifetime of session keys are infinite.

You can close your SSH connection now. Proceed to plugin installation.

III. Install Plugin

Install the plugin from this repository. It is required. The plugin feeds song information to the scrobbling server.

IV. Restart Server

Restart your NAS in order for the scrobbling server to automatically run in the background. That's all folks, get scrobbling!

Limitations/Potential Issues

• When playing music via playlist, Audio Station queries lyrics for the current song and the following song. Therefore, your NAS will submit two scrobbles back-to-back. I assumed Last.fm would reject the second scrobble, however that is not the case.
• If env.js is lost, you'll need to start the entire setup/installation process over again since your API information and session key are stored. Alternatively, you could persist them to your bash profile.

To-Dos

• Update "Now Playing"
• Add stop script
• Implement scrobbling delay

Contribution

Is something broken? Does this README need to be updated? Open an issue, or even better, help me fix my shit! Suggestions and improvements are welcome!

• Clone this repository
• Create a new feature or fix branch
• Write tests to accompany your feature or fix in the test folder
• Develop your feature or fix
• Commit early and often
• Run npm test
• Pass your tests and mine
• Push up your branch and submit a pull request

AAAHHHHHHH SHIIIIIEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTT