Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[rknox]

I have been experimenting with using BubbleUPnP to let MC see Chromecast devices as dlna zones.   I have been doing this on a Windows setup, but my main setup connected to my primary audio system is an Id. It seems BubbleUPnP must be on the same system (instance of MC) where zones are accessed.   I'm probably showing my lack of familiarity with Linux, but how can I install BubbleUPnP on the NUC Linux system?  That is, how do I get a command prompt etc?
 
Thanks,
 

[hoyt]

I'm not sure if you can get to the command line on the Id NUC, I know you can't on the IdPi, but your point about it being on the same instance isn't correct.  I have a Windows NUC running MC and a Raspberry Pi (non-Id), running BubbleUPnP.  The DLNA renderer shows up on my Windows machine, my Mac running MC, as well as the IdPi in fact. 

[JimH]

You can't.  The Id is a closed system.

[MikeyFresh]

I'm not sure if you can get to the command line on the Id NUC, I know you can't on the IdPi, but your point about it being on the same instance isn't correct.  I have a Windows NUC running MC and a Raspberry Pi (non-Id), running BubbleUPnP.  The DLNA renderer shows up on my Windows machine, my Mac running MC, as well as the IdPi in fact.

That's my experience as well, BubbleUPnP Server need not be running on the very same instance as MC. BubbleUPnP Server can even run on one of my Renderers, the Sonore microRendu, and it still has the same effect across the whole LAN.

[rknox]

Thanks all.   I do see the Chromecast DLNA renderers on the Id, but can't get music to play.  Casting to Chromecast DLNA renderer works fine on my Windows system.  I will review setup - the Id is a client (plays from a Server instance on a Windows machine).  Normal playback (player zone) setup works fine.


One question, version shouldn't matter?   Id is version 20, server is 21 and test windows environment (where i successfully tested BubbleUPnP) is version 24.   I do need to update at some point ...

[MikeyFresh]

Thanks all.   I do see the Chromecast DLNA renderers on the Id, but can't get music to play.  Casting to Chromecast DLNA renderer works fine on my Windows system.  I will review setup - the Id is a client (plays from a Server instance on a Windows machine).  Normal playback (player zone) setup works fine.


One question, version shouldn't matter?   Id is version 20, server is 21 and test windows environment (where i successfully tested BubbleUPnP) is version 24.   I do need to update at some point ...

I'm not sure I quite understand. So your Id is not a server but only a renderer (you called that client)? This Id does not physically house a library of it's own then?

In order for the Id to play to the Chromecast renderer "zones" that Id would have to be playing the part of server if I'm not mistaken.

However, if the Id does see those zones it certainly means your BubbleUPnP Server set-up is functioning. What are you using as a control point? Can't you just use that control point to dial up the known to exist Chromecast renderer and direct music to it from your existing Windows server instance?

The Windows server instance is MC21, or is it something else like miniServer, AssetUPnP, Twonky, etc...?

I use JRemote as my control point, and I can play from any of 3 different instances of MC acting as a server (by selecting that specific server) to any of the others acting as renderer, as well as other non-MC endpoints too. This includes a Chromecast Audio.

BubbleUPnP Server resides on only one of those machines, a Mac mini running MC20.

[hoyt]

Thanks all.   I do see the Chromecast DLNA renderers on the Id, but can't get music to play.  Casting to Chromecast DLNA renderer works fine on my Windows system.  I will review setup - the Id is a client (plays from a Server instance on a Windows machine).  Normal playback (player zone) setup works fine.


One question, version shouldn't matter?   Id is version 20, server is 21 and test windows environment (where i successfully tested BubbleUPnP) is version 24.   I do need to update at some point ...

I have had that behavior before, and just tried to replicate it and couldn't.  But I do recall at some point feeling like I had to play to the BubbleUPnP zone strictly from the server.  However, I just tested a lot of different ways and didn't have that problem - and I never had Bubble setup on the same host as the server, it was always a different host.

For instance, I just connected JRemote to my IdPi (which is a client of my server on a Win10 NUC).  In JRemote I see the zones from the Id.  I select the Bubble DLNA zone and browsed in JRemote to play something.  It played just fine.  This is with an IdPi, a Rasperry Pi running Bubble and the library being on a Win10 device, so what you're describing should work.

I agree with MikeyFresh that you're not going to see the Bubble DLNA zone on the clients itself, you'll see it as "There: Bubble DLNA."  Do you have this option set on your server: Tools > Options > Media Network > Client Options > Show playback zones from the server on the client : Checked?

[rknox]

I'm not sure I quite understand. So your Id is not a server but only a renderer (you called that client)? This Id does not physically house a library of it's own then?

In order for the Id to play to the Chromecast renderer "zones" that Id would have to be playing the part of server if I'm not mistaken.

However, if the Id does see those zones it certainly means your BubbleUPnP Server set-up is functioning. What are you using as a control point? Can't you just use that control point to dial up the known to exist Chromecast renderer and direct music to it from your existing Windows server instance?

The Windows server instance is MC21, or is it something else like miniServer, AssetUPnP, Twonky, etc...?

I use JRemote as my control point, and I can play from any of 3 different instances of MC acting as a server (by selecting that specific server) to any of the others acting as renderer, as well as other non-MC endpoints too. This includes a Chromecast Audio.

BubbleUPnP Server resides on only one of those machines, a Mac mini running MC20.

Yes, Server instance is MC21 on an actual Windows Server.  I use Load Library from Id instance to connect to Server.  I do this for historical reasons, as originally I was using other Music Server software.  It seems though that this complicates things when it comes to using zones.   I realize I could create a Server instance on the Id and just import my music collection from my (physical) server folder.  I use JRemote.  I'll continue under hoyt's reply.

[rknox]

I have had that behavior before, and just tried to replicate it and couldn't.  But I do recall at some point feeling like I had to play to the BubbleUPnP zone strictly from the server.  However, I just tested a lot of different ways and didn't have that problem - and I never had Bubble setup on the same host as the server, it was always a different host.

For instance, I just connected JRemote to my IdPi (which is a client of my server on a Win10 NUC).  In JRemote I see the zones from the Id.  I select the Bubble DLNA zone and browsed in JRemote to play something.  It played just fine.  This is with an IdPi, a Rasperry Pi running Bubble and the library being on a Win10 device, so what you're describing should work.

I agree with MikeyFresh that you're not going to see the Bubble DLNA zone on the clients itself, you'll see it as "There: Bubble DLNA."  Do you have this option set on your server: Tools > Options > Media Network > Client Options > Show playback zones from the server on the client : Checked?

Following from response to MikeyFresh, i also had created a separate test environment using mc24 on a w10 machine.  From there i discover that if I use server model (main library/import music lib) then I can use dlna zone created by BubbleUPnP (independent of where that software is running).  However if I instead load a library instance (from my mc21 running on a windows server), then yes, I need to have "show playback zones from the server ..." checked and zone now is "There:  CCA (DLNA)" format.   This doesn't work, similar to when I tried to use my Id as client with library loaded.   Interestingly, it wakes up the CCA device (audible noise) and I hear clicks with adjusting volume.  Playback skips songs (as if trying to transcode or not able to use format).   So,


- seems a solution is to collapse my server structure, just using instances as server and import libraries (main library).

- however, i don't quite understand why zones don't work with load library/client-server mode.  And, what does "There: device name" do?  Shouldn't it still allow that zone to be played?   What is the purpose of  "show playback from the server ...".   This aspect of zones is confusing.

- My music is all in ALAC (Apple lossless) format, which in theory means it can't play without trancoding to CCA device.  Yet, with transcoding turned off on BubbleUPnP and Client settings set to don't convert audio, I am able to play my music to CCA (as long as I'm using server model (main library) approach.  Is MC doing some auto transcoding?

- this further makes me wonder if i am not having success in client/server (load library) mode due to some  format (ALAC) issue.  But this of course begs question why does it work as above?

[hoyt]

- seems a solution is to collapse my server structure, just using instances as server and import libraries (main library).

- however, i don't quite understand why zones don't work with load library/client-server mode.  And, what does "There: device name" do?  Shouldn't it still allow that zone to be played?   What is the purpose of  "show playback from the server ...".   This aspect of zones is confusing.

- My music is all in ALAC (Apple lossless) format, which in theory means it can't play without trancoding to CCA device.  Yet, with transcoding turned off on BubbleUPnP and Client settings set to don't convert audio, I am able to play my music to CCA (as long as I'm using server model (main library) approach.  Is MC doing some auto transcoding?

- this further makes me wonder if i am not having success in client/server (load library) mode due to some  format (ALAC) issue.  But this of course begs question why does it work as above?

1) I don't think you should do that.  I have a single server and everything connects to it.  If you have a single PC on most of the time, you should make that your library PC.  From that PC, you should then setup the shared zones, then your other PCs, Mac, or Linux devices running MC should be clients of that library.
2) I'm not sure.  Perhaps the BubbleUPnP client gets attached to a server and don't let another IP talk to it?  I have had that happen as well.  But it doesn't if I stick to using the Bubble server as a DLNA zone from my primary server.  Also, on occasion, I've had to restart the Bubble service.  Rarely, but occasionally.
3) Check on the server Tools > Options > Media Network > Add or configure DLNA Servers.  That's different than the client settings because the DLNA zone isn't a client.  I honestly don't know how much of this works and quite frankly don't care (it's a Google Home, so if it transcodes, it doesn't much matter to me).  However, I just played a DFF file to it and I see this in the logs (192.168.2.101 is my MC server and 192.168.2.10 is my Raspberry Pi running Bubble):

Code: [Select]

[CastSocketRead (107317)     ] INFO     - 0:09:03.126    - b                           : Kitchen Home: player state: IDLE
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.181    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : input URL: http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.183    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : GPU transcoding is disabled by server configuration
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.184    - FFMpegUtils                 : using cached probe info for http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66_dff
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.186    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : input format: iff
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.189    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : input ext: dff, codec: dsd_msbf, samplerate:352800, bits: 8, channels: 2, ReplayGain: false
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.228    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : decode params: {"itemId":"F910998","url":"http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66","ext":"dff","supportsL16":false,"supportsL24":false,"supportsWAV":true,"soxResamplePrecision":0,"forcedSamplerate":-1,"maxSamplerate":192000,"defaultSamplerate":192000,"convert24BitTo16Bit":false,"downmixMultichannelToStereo":true,"convertMonoToStereo":true,"padEndOfTrack":true,"rendererUdn":"3a4c0d992168dd2a55a3c738a5339788"}
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.234    - FFMpegUtils                 : using cached probe info for http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66_dff
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.236    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : input url: http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66, format: iff, ext: dff, codec: dsd_msbf, samplerate:352800, bits: 8, channels: 2, duration: 206.827285s, ReplayGain: false
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.239    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : forced resampling to default samplerate (192000) due to source samplerate > max samplerate (352800 > 192000)
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.242    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : resampling 352800 Hz to 192000 Hz
[qtp17035095-107349 (107349) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.244    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : decode info: {"contentType":"audio/wav","samplerate":192000,"channels":2,"bitsPerSample":16,"duration":206.827285,"bytesPerSecond":768000,"decodeUrl":"http://192.168.2.10:58050/ffmpegpcmdecode/stream/46bfacfc-aac5-401e-aaab-60c5d6313aee.wav","hasReplaygainApplied":false,"isAudioChanged":true}
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.252    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : sending redirect: http://192.168.2.10:58050/ffmpegpcmdecode/stream/46bfacfc-aac5-401e-aaab-60c5d6313aee.wav
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.262    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : Range request: bytes=0-
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.264    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : written WAV header
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.266    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : Content-Length: 158843400
[qtp17035095-107353 (107353) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.270    - FFMpegUtils                 : ffmpeg process started: ffmpeg -seekable 1 -i http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66 -vn -f s16le -ar 192000 -ac 2 -
[qtp17035095-107352 (107352) ] INFO     - 0:09:03.295    - r                           : proxy stream request /stream/audio/63be5fbc304c5745e6d775ea66493a66 => http://192.168.2.101:52100/Music/F910998.dff
[cling-111 (107358)          ] INFO     - 0:09:29.681    - b                           : Kitchen Home: stop()
That's with Transcode turned off on my BubbleUPnP server and the DLNA settings set to Original in MC.  If I change MC to 16 bit WAV, I get this:

Code: [Select]

[cling-125 (107372)          ] INFO     - 0:14:31.21     - b                           : Kitchen Home: mime-type: audio/wav
[cling-125 (107372)          ] INFO     - 0:14:31.23     - b                           : Kitchen Home: should proxy: true
[cling-125 (107372)          ] INFO     - 0:14:31.53     - b                           : Kitchen Home: play()
[cling-125 (107372)          ] INFO     - 0:14:31.54     - b                           : Kitchen Home: launch receiver...
[CastSocketRead (107317)     ] INFO     - 0:14:32.601    - b                           : Kitchen Home: receiver launched or joined
[CastSocketRead (107317)     ] INFO     - 0:14:32.605    - b                           : Kitchen Home: loading url=http://192.168.2.10:58050/chromecast/transcode?url=B14A246DA53DF8DD077EAF88197F8374C6722C6870C03ED47D86BB16A0ED93745E0F1C2A8C8EF4075F06F2B85A11F7923708FFCC0E5C0BDB9EECA499C5636150065B54EB43C371D7017ACF322CCCD316&ext=wav&preserveMultichannelAudio=false&enableAC3Passthrough=false&enableEAC3Passthrough=false&deviceUDN=3a4c0d992168dd2a55a3c738a5339788&itemId=3B680633B8C4830F2DAD302B6F5EBE34 metadata={songName=Stay, albumName=Forget About It, images=[{url=http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/image/0b4e23f751c1d5f411889be45f92bc46}], trackNumber=1, artist=Alison Krauss, albumArtist=Alison Krauss, title=Stay, metadataType=3}...
[qtp17035095-107260 (107260) ] INFO     - 0:14:33.27     - r                           : proxy stream request /stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237 => http://192.168.2.101:52100/Music/F910998.wav
[cling-96 (107333)           ] INFO     - 0:14:36.118    - b                           : Kitchen Home: stop()
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.390    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : input format: wav
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.391    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : input ext: wav, codec: pcm_s16le, samplerate:2822400, bits: 16, channels: 2, ReplayGain: false
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.408    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : decode params: {"itemId":"F910998","url":"http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237","ext":"wav","supportsL16":false,"supportsL24":false,"supportsWAV":true,"soxResamplePrecision":0,"forcedSamplerate":-1,"maxSamplerate":192000,"defaultSamplerate":192000,"convert24BitTo16Bit":false,"downmixMultichannelToStereo":true,"convertMonoToStereo":true,"padEndOfTrack":true,"rendererUdn":"3a4c0d992168dd2a55a3c738a5339788"}
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.413    - FFMpegUtils                 : using cached probe info for http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237_wav
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.415    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : input url: http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237, format: wav, ext: wav, codec: pcm_s16le, samplerate:2822400, bits: 16, channels: 2, duration: 206.826667s, ReplayGain: false
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.417    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : forced resampling to default samplerate (192000) due to source samplerate > max samplerate (2822400 > 192000)
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.418    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : resampling 2822400 Hz to 192000 Hz
[qtp17035095-107261 (107261) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.419    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : decode info: {"contentType":"audio/wav","samplerate":192000,"channels":2,"bitsPerSample":16,"duration":206.826667,"bytesPerSecond":768000,"decodeUrl":"http://192.168.2.10:58050/ffmpegpcmdecode/stream/eb9427cf-6e5f-4ac8-9cbe-c2dca01c9029.wav","hasReplaygainApplied":false,"isAudioChanged":true}
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.428    - ChromecastTranscodeServlet  : sending redirect: http://192.168.2.10:58050/ffmpegpcmdecode/stream/eb9427cf-6e5f-4ac8-9cbe-c2dca01c9029.wav
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.442    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : Range request: bytes=0-
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.444    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : written WAV header
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.444    - FfmpegPCMDecodeServlet      : Content-Length: 158842924
[qtp17035095-107332 (107332) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.447    - FFMpegUtils                 : ffmpeg process started: ffmpeg -seekable 0 -i http://192.168.2.10:58050/stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237 -vn -f s16le -ar 192000 -ac 2 -
[qtp17035095-107259 (107259) ] INFO     - 0:14:45.462    - r                           : proxy stream request /stream/audio/35fb505921698dbdac23a0383ffd8237 => http://192.168.2.101:52100/Music/F910998.wav

[rknox]

Thanks hoyt.  Where are those log files?   Are those mc app logs in (windows) event viewer?

[hoyt]

Thanks hoyt.  Where are those log files?   Are those mc app logs in (windows) event viewer?

They're the log files from Bubble.  I'm running in on linux, so they're located at /var/www/bubbleupnp/BubbleUPnPServer.log.  Not sure where they'd be if you ran Bubble on Windows.

[rknox]

I have figured things out - BubbleUPnP logs were helpful.   I can now select (either from Id MC or JRemote) a zone like "there:  living room (dlna)" and play music.  This is in fact a Chromecast Audio (CCA) device, dlna instance created by BubbleUPnP on my Windows Server (always running).  The reason it wasn't working initially was an audio format issue.   I realized finally that settings for this were controlled by "Server Add or configure dlna servers".  Mode was set to original, which tried to play my ALAC files which CCA doesn't support.  Once I chose Mode to be Specified output format, and format = PCM 24 bit, music started playing.  Bubble logs were showing file format as MP4 (my ALAC) initially, and WAV once I got it working.

Some things to note:
- I had some time ago created several DLNA server instances from previous experiments with 3rd party renderers.  To solve my problem I deleted all of them so now just have generic dlna.  With muitiple dlna server instances, it is not clear to me how you assign those to a renderer/zone.  That is, if I have multple dlna servers, how do I know which one is feeding my "There: living room (dlna)" zone?   Anyone?
- there is a transcoding option in Bubble, but I kept this turned off as I didn't want to introduce unnecessary transcoding.  In fact on my windows server instance of Bubble, the ffmpeg transcoder isnt working (some error).  In any case I am succeeding without that aspect of BubbleUPnP.
- I know specifying format under dlna settings have changed as of mc23.  My server is mc21 still.  One point of confusion is that format=pcm 24 bit I believe is actually calling for wav transcoding.  For me, calling it wav might be more intuitive.  I kept seeing pcm 24 and thinking it was only referring to bit depth - realize now that isnt the case.  I think ...
- My windows server is a microsoft whs (I know this is ancient but for me it still serves a useful function, no pun intended) running mc21.  I was not able to upgrade mc to 24.  No errors just nothing after initial file unpacking.  This might not be right place for question, but, what version stopped working with whs (windows 2003), or is this something that could be fixed?
- my motivation for using chromecast is finding that elusive perfectly synced whole house audio solution.   I can say that when it works it is very good - I create a group in google home and then let bubbleUPnP create a dlna instance.   Unfortunately, the other source in my group is an Onkyo AVR with chromecast built-in.  I discovered that Onkyo's implemenation is lacking - it did not work with higher res riles - stuttering etc even with lan connection.   I know from other experiments two cca devices (the purchased ones) work really well as a group.

[hoyt]

I have figured things out - BubbleUPnP logs were helpful.

Glad you got it to work!

Some things to note:
- I had some time ago created several DLNA server instances from previous experiments with 3rd party renderers.  To solve my problem I deleted all of them so now just have generic dlna.  With muitiple dlna server instances, it is not clear to me how you assign those to a renderer/zone.  That is, if I have multple dlna servers, how do I know which one is feeding my "There: living room (dlna)" zone?   Anyone?

I haven't done this, but I've seen the setting that if you right click on the DLNA zone (on the server) under the Playing Now tree, there's an option to pick which DLNA server it reads from.  I only have one DLNA server on my MC instance though, because this is the only thing that I use it for (I think).

- My windows server is a microsoft whs (I know this is ancient but for me it still serves a useful function, no pun intended) running mc21.  I was not able to upgrade mc to 24.  No errors just nothing after initial file unpacking.  This might not be right place for question, but, what version stopped working with whs (windows 2003), or is this something that could be fixed?

I'm not sure, but I'd ask on the main MC24 board.

[rknox]

I haven't done this, but I've seen the setting that if you right click on the DLNA zone (on the server) under the Playing Now tree, there's an option to pick which DLNA server it reads from.  I only have one DLNA server on my MC instance though, because this is the only thing that I use it for (I think).

Ah, yes I see it after right clicking:   Associate with dlna server, with a pick list.  Good to know for future!   Thanks.