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[proximuss]

Hey there,

MC 23.0.80, noticed that my DLNA always is shown with a gray play icon under Playing Now. Despite the fact that every mp3 and flac is configured to be played on DLNA - doubleclicking anything from library plays on local PC speakers. The only way to wake up the DLNA is to play something that is already in DLNA's playlist, doubleclicking any song suddenly wakes DLNA up and it starts to play. Then - anything that I doubleclick from library - also plays on DLNA as configured (correct behaviour).

It doesn't matter whether my DLNA receiver is physically turned on or off, MC always displays it grayed out upon start.

Please advise.

[JimH]

Is DLNA a machine?  If so, it would be better to use a different name.

Or is it a receiver?  What model?

Please describe your setup.  One machine?  Two machines?

[proximuss]

MC is on Debian Stretch 64bit PC, DLNA is  Pioneer Receiver 921-k. Both connected on the same local network, no firewall between these two. All works, all plays, except the starting thing in my initial post.

[Awesome Donkey]

You might try the 23.0.90 beta found here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113518.0.html

There's been a lot of DLNA changes in that build.

[proximuss]

Same thing with your suggested beta release. Exactly the same thing. Previously, when running on Ubuntu with same receiver - there were no such problems.

[proximuss]

What looks strange to me is that if i select my VSX921 device and choose from menu Controls -> Play, it lits the icon green and starts to play what's in the playlist for that device. But from library window - no luck, icon remains grey and playing is done through pc speakers. So basically that's the only way to wake up the device (even if device is physically turned on)

[bob]

What looks strange to me is that if i select my VSX921 device and choose from menu Controls -> Play, it lits the icon green and starts to play what's in the playlist for that device. But from library window - no luck, icon remains grey and playing is done through pc speakers. So basically that's the only way to wake up the device (even if device is physically turned on)

I feel like I'm missing something here. Where is this "library window" and where are the icons?
Are you using something other than MC as a control app?

[proximuss]

No, I am using MC itself, no other apps or anything. When I launch MC - top left panel shows a row Playing Now under which you can expand: Overview, VSX-921 and Playing from main library. Each of those three have its own icon, VSX-921's one is grayed out always upon a start. That's what i was referring as icons.

Now the library - the view that you get when you click on Audio located on the same top left area. It opens all my library displaying covers etc. Under each CD cover there's a play button which starts particular album to play.

So .. to be precise, this is how it is in my case:
1) start MC
2) VSX-921 play icon is grayed out (no matter whether physical device VSX-921 is powered on or off)
3) trying to play any album starts the playback on PC's speakers, VSX-921 icon remains gray, even though i have configured every mp3 and flac to be sent to VSX-921 over DLNA
4) the only way to start a playback on VSX-921 is to click on VSX-921 (under Playing Now) and doubleclick any song which is in its playlist from previous session, then it suddenly can wake the VSX-921 even from turned off state, icon becomes green and it plays
5) then i can play ANY album and all is directed to VSX-921 as expected

let me know if you have any further questions,
waiting for solution,
thanks

[bob]

No, I am using MC itself, no other apps or anything. When I launch MC - top left panel shows a row Playing Now under which you can expand: Overview, VSX-921 and Playing from main library. Each of those three have its own icon, VSX-921's one is grayed out always upon a start. That's what i was referring as icons.

Now the library - the view that you get when you click on Audio located on the same top left area. It opens all my library displaying covers etc. Under each CD cover there's a play button which starts particular album to play.

So .. to be precise, this is how it is in my case:
1) start MC
2) VSX-921 play icon is grayed out (no matter whether physical device VSX-921 is powered on or off)
3) trying to play any album starts the playback on PC's speakers, VSX-921 icon remains gray, even though i have configured every mp3 and flac to be sent to VSX-921 over DLNA
4) the only way to start a playback on VSX-921 is to click on VSX-921 (under Playing Now) and doubleclick any song which is in its playlist from previous session, then it suddenly can wake the VSX-921 even from turned off state, icon becomes green and it plays
5) then i can play ANY album and all is directed to VSX-921 as expected

let me know if you have any further questions,
waiting for solution,
thanks

Ok, I suppose you are using a zoneswitch rule for the playback of mp3 and flac in item 3) above.
How did you configure that?

[proximuss]

What i was trying to achieve with zoneswitch is: no matter what you play (i only have mp3 and flacs) - play it on VSX921 through DLNA, i am not interested in playing on local speakers at no costs. So.. went under Options -> Audio (zone to configure: Player) -> Settings -> Zoneswitch, clicked enable zoneswitch, added two entries one for *.mp3, another for *.flac. Set both to be played on VSX921. Also set default Player to be stopped. That's all there is. Have I missed anything?

[bob]

Ok, I think I know what's happening.

First, just so we can be on the same page, the "graying out" you are talking about isn't that the entry for the VSX-921 is gray, it's that the icon to the left of it's name is gray.
That's normal, the only time it's green is when there is actual playback occurring.

Next, the playback through the player zone even when zoneswitch is configured.
I have been able to confirm that behavior by setting the rule then disabling the DLNA controller function of MC so all of the networked renderers disappear from playing-now.
What appears to be going on here is that Media Network takes a certain amount of time to startup and communicate with renderers when you first start MC and if the renderer hasn't been registered in MC yet, the playback will go to the default zone (player).

If you wait long enough for the zone to be registered in MC that won't be an issue.
You can force MC to startup Media Network more quickly by opening Services & Plugins->Media Network in a tab and choosing the startup option Last Location.

[proximuss]

Okay, true - though there is no visually any sign that DLNA is active, that creates the whole confusion, how the end user should know when the right amount of time has been passed so it can finally work. I gave it like 2-3 minutes and yes, it works now.

Services & Plugins->Media Network in a tab and choosing the startup option Last Location. Looking at that page, i do not see any startup option? where is it located? I see only Server, Overview, Activity log, then there are 3 buttons: Options, Learn More, Reset Statistics, but nowhere i see startup option.. looked inside Options.. no luck there either.. could you please be more specific where is it located? Thanks

[bob]

Tools->Options->Startup->Startup Interface->Last Location

[proximuss]

I think i found it - it's from Options -> Startup ->Startup interface -> Location: set to Last Location .. is this the right one?
Though restarting MC doesnt auto-activate DLNA immediately,.. still some magic time to wait without understanding how long.
Also, why on startup it should wait magical time but if i immediately go to VSX921 and hit play on previously played items - it starts immediately without no waiting?

So there is a way to wake it up immediately!

[proximuss]

plus.. if vsx921 is turned off physically, it wont start even if i give a magic time at startup. No matter how long i wait, playing an album is not triggering zoneswitch and turning vsx921 on. Again - directly starting a song from previous vsx921 playlist - turns device immediately on and plays it!

at the end i only want a simple thing - be vsx921 over DLNA my default and only playing device, since who listens on PC speakers when you have a hifi in front of you. Though these little nuances get into a way of enjoying flawless experience.

[bob]

I think i found it - it's from Options -> Startup ->Startup interface -> Location: set to Last Location .. is this the right one?
Though restarting MC doesn't auto-activate DLNA immediately,.. still some magic time to wait without understanding how long.
Also, why on startup it should wait magical time but if i immediately go to VSX921 and hit play on previously played items - it starts immediately without no waiting?

So there is a way to wake it up immediately!

With the Media Network tab set and Last Location MC will immediately start sending out device queries upon start.
But DLNA is a chatty protocol and the renderering devices are all seen as dynamic. They can be present or not, on or off. If they are off and you turn them on, they start advertising their presence and eventually show up in the MC tree in a non-deterministic period of time.
The reason you can go to the rendering device itself and even play before the device shows up in MC's tree is that renderers with a playback interface will just sit with their last used server connection (which is like a web browser connection, it's state based not like a constant connection ie telnet or ssh). They won't give a darn until you actually try to playback and if the device isn't there, then they fail.

[proximuss]

So why can't I configure MC so VSX921 would be the only default device. And when I hit play under any album cover - it would simply act the same way it works when i directly start playing anything under VSX921 previous session playlist - it starts the device immediately, it plays immediately - seems like a perfect way i would expect it to be? Otherwise right now it is kind of odd working with VSX921 as the only device i am playing on. Some backhacks with Media Network tab selected .. why so complicated? (and by the way - if device is turned off - Media Network tab thing still don't help where direct play from previous vsx921 playlist - turns device on like a charm). Thanks

[bob]

So why can't I configure MC so VSX921 would be the only default device. And when I hit play under any album cover - it would simply act the same way it works when i directly start playing anything under VSX921 previous session playlist - it starts the device immediately, it plays immediately - seems like a perfect way i would expect it to be? Otherwise right now it is kind of odd working with VSX921 as the only device i am playing on. Some backhacks with Media Network tab selected .. why so complicated? (and by the way - if device is turned off - Media Network tab thing still don't help where direct play from previous vsx921 playlist - turns device on like a charm). Thanks

MC works that way because the renderers are dynamic.
MC doesn't even know their IP address until they send out their SSDP broadcasts to register their presence with MC.

Perhaps a way to make a sticky DLNA zone would be useful, it would depend of course on the renderer getting a static address or fixed lease.

[proximuss]

My vsx921 always has a static IP address inside my local network so this is not a problem for me! So please think of something so this can be solved.

Other question - is there any use of VSX 921 remote control while playing over DLNA?.. next/previous track, switchable through DLNA?

[bob]

My vsx921 always has a static IP address inside my local network so this is not a problem for me! So please think of something so this can be solved in a civil way
Other question - is there any use of VSX 921 remote control while playing over DLNA?.. next/previous track, switchable through DLNA?

In general DLNA isn't setup for multiple active controllers.
You can do things like change volume and seek (as long as it's not near the end of a track) but the next/back functions will confuse MC because the DLNA controller does the track transitions on its playlist.
You'd be better off using Gizmo or JRemote on a phone.

[proximuss]

Thank you for your answers, looking forward to static ip dlna solution as default player.