Topic: House Band -- Amazon Echo integration is available (Read 286207 times)

kensn · « **Reply #100 on:** May 05, 2016, 09:56:27 am »

Quote from: kensn on May 05, 2016, 08:28:39 am

My Zone is called Patio.

The Zone is named Patio

When the app queries the Zones it comes back from JRiver as Jukebox: Patio

The Clients PCs name is being put in front of the Zone name by JRiver.

I am not naming the Zone Jukebox: Patio.

I can post some screen shots if needed, but to the Server the Zones will always be referred to by the Client PC Name: Zone Name rule.

sarkonovich · « **Reply #101 on:** May 05, 2016, 11:15:18 am »

Okay...thanks. I'll need to setup a client/server configuration set up to test on.

I assumed that if you renamed "Jukebox: Patio" to "Patio" -- and that's the way it was displaying in Media Center - then "Patio" is what the MCWS query of available zones would return. But it sounds like that's not what happens in this case.

I'll look into this more and report back here.

Thanks for your patience.

Steve

kensn · « **Reply #102 on:** May 05, 2016, 11:40:10 am »

Thanks for your work on this. I think Alexa is going to be around for a while...

sarkonovich · « **Reply #103 on:** May 06, 2016, 11:31:18 am »

So, I think I replicated your set up, but cannot replicate your problem.

Media center running on two computers, A and B.
Zones on computer A: Player and Living Room

House Band linked to Media center on B.
B is playing from A's library
Zones on B: Player, There, There: Living Room.

I rename "There: Living Room" on B to "Living Room"

I ask House Band, "What are my zones?" I get: "Player, There, Living Room."
House band can successfully switch the zone on B to Living Room.

Is this a different set up from yours?

mwillems · « **Reply #104 on:** May 06, 2016, 12:03:23 pm »

Quote from: sarkonovich on May 06, 2016, 11:31:18 am

So, I think I replicated your set up, but cannot replicate your problem.

Media center running on two computers, A and B.
Zones on computer A: Player and Living Room

House Band linked to Media center on B.
B is playing from A's library
Zones on B: Player, There, There: Living Room.

I rename "There: Living Room" on B to "Living Room"

I ask House Band, "What are my zones?" I get: "Player, There, Living Room."
House band can successfully switch the zone on B to Living Room.

Is this a different set up from yours?

You're looking at server zones from a client, not a client zone from the server which is what kensn's describing. Server zones show up as "There: zone name" by default, but can be renamed. The reverse is not true: server to client control enumerates client zones as HOSTNAME : ZONENAME (I think so that it's consistent with non-MC DLNA zones). No edits to the zonename will eliminate either the colon or the hostname in the server to client control scenario (at least no way that I can discover).

sarkonovich · « **Reply #105 on:** May 06, 2016, 12:54:06 pm »

Okay...the light is gradually dawning. Maybe. Thank you.

So -- sorry for being dense -- how do I set this up with multiple instances of MC. I seem to be able to change the zone names on both A and B.

Steve

mwillems · « **Reply #106 on:** May 06, 2016, 01:18:22 pm »

Quote from: sarkonovich on May 06, 2016, 12:54:06 pm

Okay...the light is gradually dawning. Maybe. Thank you.

So -- sorry for being dense -- how do I set this up with multiple instances of MC. I seem to be able to change the zone names on both A and B.

Steve

You can change zone names on the client, but changing the zone name won't change the whole string on the server (i.e. it won't change the "HOSTNAME :" portion of the enumeration on the server, just the zone name part), and changes to the names on the server don't stick.

On the server instance can you see the clients zones? If not, make sure that the following options are checked

1) On the client Options-->Media Network-->DLNA renderer should be checked.
2) On the server Options --> Media Network --> DLNA controller should be checked.

I know it may seem trivial in a 2PC setup that there's such a distinction in the nomenclature, but it becomes rapidly more meaningful when you have multiple clients because this is the mechanism by which the clients can be controlled from the server and from each other.

I've attached a picture of how remote zones on clients look from the server:

In the picture "Player" is the only local zone. The zones below that are actually named what you see to the right of the colon. If you attempt to rename them on the server it will appear to work, but will revert eventually because they're generated from the way the client identifies itself (at least that's what happens in my own testing).

kensn · « **Reply #107 on:** May 06, 2016, 02:16:34 pm »

And I thought I was making it easy linking it to the client...

sarkonovich · « **Reply #108 on:** May 06, 2016, 03:20:24 pm »

I've pushed a change to the code that, I think, should fix this issue.

I'll admit in front of God and everyone that I did it without setting up a client with zones to test it on. But I did name one of my zones "Jukebox: Patio" and I can now change the zone to that. (And Jukebox-Patio, Jukebox/patio, etc., should work).

Let me know if that works. If not, I guess I'll have to be responsible and set up something to test properly.

Steve

kensn · « **Reply #109 on:** May 07, 2016, 09:40:32 am »

Great work. House band will now switch Zones for me. I have tried the skill connected to the server and connected to the client and can switch Zones both ways.

Connected to the Server or the Client gets the following results:

Me "Alexa open Houseband"

Alexa "What should I play?"

Me "What is my current Zone?

Alexa "The current Zone is Main PC Zone"

Me "Change the zone to Jukebox Patio"

Alexa " I've changed the Zone to Jukebox Patio, what should I play?"

at this point anything requested is still played to the Main Pc Zone. When asked what the current zone is, Houseband replies with the Zone requested but always plays to the Main Pc Zone.

Houseband also reverts back to the Main Pc Zone when restarted.

so to sum it up.... Great work so far, getting really close !!

So Houseband needs to play to the Zone that is switched to.

It would be convenient to be able to specify a default Zone during setup.
Nice if it would remember the requested Zone on a restart.

Thanks again,

Ken

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #110 on:** May 07, 2016, 10:00:36 am »

neat test perhaps?

someone w/ multiple clients all connecting to ones own Main server, changes their authentication (just the pass is all that would be needed) to a test account for main server/all clients.

Then they let sarkonovich into main server via his laptop/pc/houseband (library access key), then he uses echo to play audio on client patio from his residence... if you can use echo to change clients locally, it should work to control off of home network as well?

I can be away from home, connect to main library in office then choose to play music in garage/client. ( i dont own an echo yet.. otherwise i'd run the test myself from a friends/family members lappy/pc etc)

sarkonovich · « **Reply #111 on:** May 07, 2016, 10:08:38 am »

Well, that's something -- but not much.

So, you're saying, basically, that switching zones never has any effect on where the music plays for you?

Looking at Media Center, can you see the zone change after the command is given?

On my simple setup, Media Center with a couple zones (one of which is another copy of Media Center on another computer, the other is a PSAudio DAC), this all works.

The default MCWS command I use to play music includes "Zone=-1&ZoneType=ID"....just play to whatever zone is currently selected, right? (i.e., those parameters aren't doing anything in the command...)

sarkonovich · « **Reply #112 on:** May 07, 2016, 10:21:51 am »

@xtacbyme: that would work. (When Amazon was testing House Band I gave them access to my server. It's very weird to have someone else controlling your stereo!)

But I should be able to set this up myself. Don't I need:

Controller (Media Center on computer A) => Client (Media Center on computer B) => Zone (my DLNA dac)

I can't seem to get this set up in a way that causes problems though.

Steve

kensn · « **Reply #113 on:** May 07, 2016, 11:27:12 am »

Quote from: sarkonovich on May 07, 2016, 10:08:38 am

So, you're saying, basically, that switching zones never has any effect on where the music plays for you?

That is correct.

Quote

Looking at Media Center, can you see the zone change after the command is given?

No. If I look at Playing Now - Overview in standard view I do not see the current Zone switch. I do see the requested items show up in Main PC zone.

I can test some MCWS commands later today...

mwillems · « **Reply #114 on:** May 07, 2016, 01:27:12 pm »

Quote from: kensn on May 07, 2016, 11:27:12 am

That is correct.
No. If I look at Playing Now - Overview in standard view I do not see the current Zone switch. I do see the requested items show up in Main PC zone.

I can test some MCWS commands later today...

Kensn are you using zoneswitch by chance?

sarkonovich · « **Reply #115 on:** May 07, 2016, 02:22:05 pm »

You should certainly see the zone change in the server House Band is linked to.

I would look at Services => MediaNetwork (selecting the server that House Band is linked to) and see if you can see the Set Zone command sent to that server from House Band. After saying, "Change zone to....." you should see in the activity log a command like:

<server address>/MCWS/v1/Playback/SetZone?Zone=yyyy&ZoneType=ID&Token=xxxxxxx

I guess the first step is figuring out whether the command is being sent (which I have to assume it is), or whether your server isn't responding to it (I'm guessing it's that.)

For each zone change, the value of Zone= should be different.

On my end, the bare enabling of ZoneSwitch (which I'd never heard of!), without any rules, doesn't affect anything. But that's a good suggestion.

Steve

sarkonovich · « **Reply #116 on:** May 07, 2016, 03:54:17 pm »

One more question, just to eliminate possibilities:

Are you sure that you're forwarding the port for the IP address of the server that House Band is linked to? That is, are you sure that House Band is controlling the server you think it is?

Steve

kensn · « **Reply #117 on:** May 07, 2016, 09:58:21 pm »

So using MCWS calls from my Jukebox pc I can see the following:

http://"my server IP":52199/mcws/v1/Playback/Zones

<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="NumberZones">4</Item>
<Item Name="CurrentZoneID">10012</Item>
<Item Name="CurrentZoneIndex">0</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneName0">Main PC Zone</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneID0">10012</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneGUID0">{blah blah blah}</Item><Item Name="ZoneDLNA0">0</Item><Item Name="ZoneName1">JukeBox: Living Room Multi Channel</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneID1">10045</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneGUID1">{blah blah blah}</Item><Item Name="ZoneDLNA1">1</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneName2">JukeBox: Living Room</Item>
<Item Name="ZoneID2">10046</Item>
ect...ect...ect...

When I ask Houseband to change the current Zone and then resend the MCWS call the response shows the Zone has changed to the correct Zone.

Then after Houseband to play something and resending the MCWS call I see the Zone was instantly changed back to the Main PC for playback.

Went and checked my Zone Switch settings on my Server and found a couple of goofy old settings.

Deleted them

Everything works GREAT now!!! The last piece of the puzzle was the Zone Switch.

Thanks mwillems for the clue...

Great job Steve !!!

Ken

sarkonovich · « **Reply #118 on:** May 08, 2016, 08:51:11 am »

Excellent!

Thanks mwillems for solving the mystery!

mwillems · « **Reply #119 on:** May 08, 2016, 01:25:26 pm »

Glad my guess panned out! It was the only thing I could think of on the JRiver end that would cause playback to keep going back to the same zone regardless of external switching. It's a neat feature that I use everyday, but can be frustrating if your rules are misconfigured and/or you've forgotten you enabled it

meizy · « **Reply #120 on:** May 15, 2016, 11:09:27 am »

Hi,

Thanks for this wonderful skill.

Please help me out here:
I have 2 JRiver servers exposed to the internet, so one of them is working with the default port (52199) and the other one changed to another port (52198).
My home router forwards requests to the right server based on the port.
JRemote works nicely with this configuration - I guess it gets the port from the Access Key.

When I configured House Band using the Access Key of the non-default-port-server it still works with the default port, and not taking the configured port from the Access Key.
Am I right?

If so, any plans to fix it?

thanks,
Moshe

sarkonovich · « **Reply #121 on:** May 15, 2016, 11:24:04 am »

Moshe,

Yes, that's right: currently, House Band only works with the default port.

I'll take a look into seeing what would have to be done to accommodate non-default ports, and report back.

Steve

sarkonovich · « **Reply #122 on:** May 15, 2016, 02:19:26 pm »

Moshe,

Okay...it should work with non-default port values now.

Thanks for catching that!

Steve

meizy · « **Reply #123 on:** May 15, 2016, 02:57:14 pm »

That was quick!

Can I test it already, is it fixed in the published skill?

Moshe

sarkonovich · « **Reply #124 on:** May 15, 2016, 03:07:08 pm »

Yes, give it a shot. Let me know if it works!

Steve

meizy · « **Reply #125 on:** May 15, 2016, 03:15:17 pm »

Indeed it works!

thanks

dlbeck · « **Reply #126 on:** May 30, 2016, 07:26:12 am »

Please help....

House band had been working with JRiver until we had a power outage. Now I can't link my Echo with JRiver. When I try to link MC in the Alexa app it says that linking failed. Cannot reach JRiver Media Center....not accessible from outside your home network. I checked my port forwarding and it's correct. Other ideas?

Thanks...David

JimH · « **Reply #127 on:** May 30, 2016, 08:19:42 am »

If the Echo and MC are on the same LAN, you don't need port forwarding. That's only needed when you want to access MC from the outside world.

sarkonovich · « **Reply #128 on:** May 30, 2016, 09:26:05 am »

@dlbeck:

Actually, House Band always accesses MC from outside your network, since it's in the cloud.

If it was working before, and isn't now, it's a port-forwarding issue. I'd double check. Did the IP address of your server change? This will often happen if you reset your router, and you haven't assigned MC a static IP address.

That's the first things I'd check.

Moe · « **Reply #129 on:** June 05, 2016, 07:59:44 pm »

I've just got to say thank you for this, it's totally awesome.

I do have some feature requests though

I would love to be able to rate the currently playing track "Alexa, ask house band to rate this song 5 stars"
Some more video support would be nice, television seasons/episodes
This one is more a personal thing and I feel bad for bringing it up, but I really don't like the name house band, for some reason I have a hard time remembering it and it's kind of long. I'd like an option to have it called something else, I would suggest MC or EmmSea if you're worried about Amazon not allowing MC.

Thank you again though, this is totally awesome and one of the big reasons that I bought an Echo in the first place.

sarkonovich · « **Reply #130 on:** June 06, 2016, 09:15:39 am »

@Moe,

Thanks for the kind words!

I do have plans to work on the program over the next couple months.

I will definitely look into adding ratings (though that will require getting Amazon to re-certify the program, which is always an adventure.)
And, additional video support is definitely on the list.

I sort of agree with you about House Band. I've turned against it a bit, too.
There are lots of constraints on what you can name your skill, though. For example, it has to be two or three words that are not easily confused with a similar sounding phrase. So, I think M. C. might satisfy the 2 word requirement, it sounds just like the English work "emcee", which is disallowed.

Amazon keeps saying that they are going to be making major changes to how skills can be invoked, because they realize that the current system is not scaleable. I agree it's a total pain now....

I'll be sure to post back here if there's any news on program updates!

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #131 on:** June 06, 2016, 09:20:54 am »

Quote

I'll be sure to post back here if there's any news on program updates!

Quote

additional video support is definitely on the list.

Woot, Woot!

kensn · « **Reply #132 on:** June 06, 2016, 09:32:06 am »

I agree on invoking using House Band.

How about "Jay River" ?

Ken

sarkonovich · « **Reply #133 on:** June 06, 2016, 09:34:48 am »

I'd need approval from JRiver to use their IP. But maybe I could get it? I agree, though, that would be best.

Steve

JimH · « **Reply #134 on:** June 06, 2016, 09:53:50 am »

Not a great idea.

How about Good Vibrations?

sarkonovich · « **Reply #135 on:** June 06, 2016, 10:05:56 am »

There's a shop in Portland, OR (where I live) with that name. But I'm sure I wouldn't need their approval...no chance of confusing the products they sell

with JRiver

JimH · « **Reply #136 on:** June 06, 2016, 10:30:43 am »

Tune Up

kensn · « **Reply #137 on:** June 06, 2016, 10:34:59 am »

Would really like something a bit more natural sounding.

"My Media Server"

"The Media Database"

House band isn't terrible... Just doesn't roll off the tongue.

sarkonovich · « **Reply #138 on:** June 06, 2016, 10:41:06 am »

Well, if there's a clear consensus I might change the name!

I sort of like "Tune Up"

I don't know if "my media database" rolls off the tongue more easily than "house band."

You can also say, "ask the house band to play...." That sounds a bit more natural.

Really, you just want to be able to say, "Alexa, play...."
I'm hoping that they will move the platform to a "default" skill model, so you can choose which skill gets launch with words/phrases like "play" or "what's the weather." There are signs that they are going to do this....

Moe · « **Reply #139 on:** June 06, 2016, 01:51:00 pm »

I think they should just put you on the JRiver payroll so we can have it called Media Center or JRiver

Moe · « **Reply #140 on:** June 12, 2016, 05:57:08 pm »

I kind of doubt it's possible, but it would be cool if you could get the Echo to read some fields for you. For instance, I include a biography for all of my artists, it would be cool if I could say ask House Band to read me the bio for Led Zeppelin.

sarkonovich · « **Reply #141 on:** July 12, 2016, 11:01:07 pm »

Hello!

HouseBand was meant to play on devices that are running JRiver Music Server -- Sonos, or some other media server, including your laptop.

So, if you want to use HouseBand to play your local music files to your Echo, you just need to set up a bluetooth connection between the server and your Echo.

What you heard the first time, most likely, was not HouseBand playing your local files at all, but just the native Alexa music service.

Steve

sarkonovich · « **Reply #142 on:** July 13, 2016, 11:17:30 am »

No, you'd absolutely get voice control. So, if you have JRiver running on your laptop, and your laptop connected via BT to your Echo, you can listen to your local music through your Echo, with voice control.

Steve

cgott42 · « **Reply #143 on:** July 25, 2016, 07:05:57 am »

Does this allow me to play my JRiver library while using Amazon Tap away from home?

sarkonovich · « **Reply #144 on:** July 25, 2016, 10:27:12 am »

That would be cool, but no. That's a hardware thing.

But, I think you could use Gizmo on your phone, and then bluetooth that to the Tap, to get your library to play on the Tap.

Steve

cgott42 · « **Reply #145 on:** July 25, 2016, 11:03:04 am »

Quote from: sarkonovich on July 25, 2016, 10:27:12 am

That would be cool, but no. That's a hardware thing.

But, I think you could use Gizmo on your phone, and then bluetooth that to the Tap, to get your library to play on the Tap.

Steve

Gotcha - so it seems that Home Band is to control what plays on my JRiver on my PC?
Is there integration with Gizmo - so I can tell Alexa (Tap) to play song ... from Gizmo, or do I have to select the song by hand, and it'll just use Tap as a BT speaker?
I accidently found Home Band plays videos too - I was able to tell it "Alexa ask Home Band to play Breaking Bad" - however is there a way to tell it what season, episode - because when I did she still played S01E01?

sarkonovich · « **Reply #146 on:** July 25, 2016, 11:45:55 am »

Yes. HouseBand is really to play music from JRiver to any JRiver client - a PC, yes, especially if it's connected to a home stereo. Or commonly some sort of DLNA compliant music server like Sonos or (higher end) or something like this: http://www.psaudio.com/products/directstream-dac/

Actually, now that I that I think of it, it might work the way you want it to. I'm away from the setup right now but...

If, after you start up Gizmo on your phone, it shows up as a zone on your JRiver media server -- which it might...never looked -- then it should work with the Tap. I'll have to experiment tonight. But you would then be able to select Gizmo as the zone (which you can do with HouseBand). Connect your phone's audio to Tap via bluetooth, and then use voice command to play music through the Tap from your home library.

You could give it a shot!

About video. There is *very* rudimentary support for video. Basically, as you discovered. You can say, "play the *the movie* ...." or "play "the video...." and HouseBand will return all matching videos.

I am rewriting HouseBand, and am going to incorporate video support and classical music support. But I've been distracted by other things!

Steve

Steve

cgott42 · « **Reply #147 on:** July 26, 2016, 11:17:03 am »

In addition to the about Q of whether Amazon Tap can control Gizmo or Houseband via voice ("Alexa tell ... to Play ... song")
also - is there a way for Gizmo/Houseband to remember where I left off in a "song" - I have a library of lectures on mp3 and would like to listen in the car, these lectures are usually longer than my car ride - and would like that JRiver (Gizmo/Houseband) can remember where I left off, the next time I get in the car to listen.

MrMcKlusky · « **Reply #148 on:** August 03, 2016, 03:31:44 pm »

Is there possibly a way to also make it recognize the Images media?

I run a lighting system in my home theater that I have images in my MC that are solid colors or landscape/album covers that I select and what ever colors are in the image it "paints" the rooms 7 zones that color

Right now I just select a picture, but with House Band I could just say Image "green" or Image "blue" or whatever you name the image

MrMcKlusky · « **Reply #149 on:** August 03, 2016, 03:33:28 pm »

Then the room accent lighting shows the current color of what showing in JRiver

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Author Topic: House Band -- Amazon Echo integration is available (Read 286207 times)