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Author Topic: Initial Feedback on PlayPower  (Read 1771 times)

drmimosa

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Initial Feedback on PlayPower
« on: August 04, 2017, 12:19:05 pm »

PowerUp is working for me so far. Here is a basic outline of my setup:

JRiver 23 on Media PC
Engen and NAS on Pi ID
One zone for Media PC playback, One zone routes to Tuneblade Airplay House Audio.
Engen setup to turn my Media amp and two additional zone players
A slew of control USB devices attached to the Media PC: USB-UIRT, FLIRC, HDMI-CEC.
Eventghost controlling things via command line.
 
First of all, the whole idea is just freaking magic. My goal is to have the entire system turning on via one touch on Panel and Radio KISS by the end of the weekend.

A few notes:

-IR Blasts from my device worked (USB UIRT http://www.usbuirt.com). Learning and blasting worked right off the bat, which is great since I don't think this is an officially supported device.

-On first attempt, it took about 30 seconds for the scene to turn on, enough for me to think hmmmm. But then it seemed to switch immediately. [Edit, now it works instantly all the time, even after program restarts.]

-On the setup page, a button that said "Test" would be very useful to help setup the control routine.

-A few times the configuration for my zones just dissappeared. Not sure why. Once I noticed this I just always hit "OK" after making a change, then the behavior seemed consistent.

-MCC commands work. It would be useful to access the parameters for certain commands, like stop. Then you could stop playback in other zones when music plays in a particular zone. Or, an addition to the MCC library such as "Stop Playback in non-active zones"?

-Exe program also work. For example, I shut off my display using an Eventghost command to HDMI-CEC.

-Ok, Radio KISS turns everything on now, wow that was success faster than anticipated.

Additional thoughts:

-Conditional switching in Engen is going to be really useful. Does this mean we can soon use sensors to turn on the lights?

-launching EXE programs also open up a giant range of possibilities. For example, I can imagine a path to launch a Pandora radio station from a RadioKiss button: Silent audio file Pandora.ape automatically plays to "Pandora" zone via via ZoneSwitch, then PowerUp launches a browser link to Pandora. Maybe you can call this feature Pandora's Box. Just kidding.

[Edit: I got this idea to execute (minus the ZoneSwitch), understanding that this is very far from the intended use of the feature! Playing any file from JRemote or KISS in a zone from called "Pandora" launches a browser radio station on my HTPC and it plays through the house on Airplay. I could probably also set up a command to kill Pandora when music plays in other JRiver zones, for me this going to be really useful]

I'll add notes as I use it over the weekend, let me know if there are any specific usages you want tested before this feature goes to public build.
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drmimosa

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2017, 12:30:56 pm »

The configurations disappeared again.

I think it happens after I do the following steps:

Open Options
[before clicking on Engen Setup]
Change any option from any menu Do anything or nothing
Hit Cancel

Then, next time I open Options>Remotes>Engen Control the configurations are gone.
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JimH

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2017, 12:46:59 pm »

Thanks.  We've been trying to track it down and that may be it.
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JimH

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2017, 01:14:04 pm »

I can reproduce it.  Thanks again.
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drmimosa

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2017, 01:40:32 pm »

Great, glad to help.

It seems to happen any time I hit the Cancel button from any Options menu or sub-menu.

Hit OK and the configuration stays.

Also, the "Search" function on the options menu is missing on the Remotes submenu.
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drmimosa

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2017, 02:39:57 pm »

I think I found the other problem:

When PowerUp send On/Off commands to individual Engen Devices, they respond immediately.

When PowerUp sends On/Off commands to Engen Scenes, there is a delay of up to 30 seconds. Sometimes the scene doesn't activate at all.

I've now reproduced this delay a couple times, after initial activation, turning scenes On are delayed or inconsistent. Separating the PowerUp commands from a Scene into individual Engen On/Off commands and they work immediately.
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JimH

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Re: Initial Feedback on PowerUp
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2017, 02:49:53 pm »

We will check.

I just noticed you're calling it PowerUp, which isn't a bad name, but we call it PlayPower.
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drmimosa

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Re: Initial Feedback on PlayPower
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2017, 02:51:42 pm »

Whoops! It was close, I'll sell that name if you need it.  ;D

Signing off for a bit, thanks again for your vision and hard work here. This has a LOT of potential for executing simple and complex commands.
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