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[VenoM]

I'm about to give up on this after scouring the web and the Interact forums, but I thought I'd post here to see if there is something I've missed.
After following all of the directions to set up my media network key and username and password, I am still unable to stream music from my PC to my phone. I am, however, able to control playback on my PC and see the cover art on the phone. If I change the mode to "play here", it jumps to the main menu and after selecting "playing now" I see the JRiver art with the status "Stopped" at the bottom and a button that says "resume playback" at the bottom. Nothing happens when I hit the button though. I'm just trying to play some random files that I dragged and dropped into the "playing now" list in Media Center on my PC.

Can anyone tell me what I've overlooked?
Thanks in advance.

[JimH]

You may have a firewall blocking access, but try stopping playback, then selecting something to play.

[RoderickGI]

I'm just trying to play some random files that I dragged and dropped into the "playing now" list in Media Center on my PC.

You're doing it wrong.

But I agree it looks like what you are trying to do should work. It does exactly the same thing for me, and Gizmo is working perfectly. There is just a logical disconnect with what it displays and how it works. Or Gizmo has always been broken...

Anyway, simple answer, Playing Now on the PC belongs to the PC Player Zone. Gizmo on your phone can't access it, because it is in a different Zone. Gizmo can restart playing what is in Playing Now in the PC, on the PC, but not on the phone. Each Zone has its own Playing Now, which is easily seen if you have multiple Zones on the PC, and click on "Playing Now > Overview".

The correct way to do what you want to do is;

Create a playlist on your PC. Drag and drop whatever Tracks or Albums you want to play into that Playlist. On Gizmo, select Mode "Here", select "Playlists", scroll down to your new Playlist from the PC, select it, and tap the first Track and the Playlist will play on your phone.


An alternate process is;

Drag and drop whatever Tracks or Albums you want to play into Playing Now on the PC. When you are finished, click Play on the PC, and then click Stop. MC will put a copy of the current Playing Now into a playlist group called "Recent Playing Now's". Now go to Gizmo, playing "Here", select "Playlists", select the "Recent Playing Now's" playlist group, scroll down until you find the Playing Now that was just created. They are named by date and time. Select that playlist, and play it.


Now if Gizmo appeared as a Zone on your PC, you could just switch to that Zone, add Tracks, and then play them on Gizmo. But Gizmo has never appeared as a Zone on my PC, and I don't think it is intended to. I could be wrong in that.


So, it is all about Zones. That is all.

[VenoM]

Thank you both for the replies.
I did consider the firewall possibility, but I'm reasonably familiar with the firewall I'm using and have had to configure it for other programs in the past without issue. I suppose there could be something I'm overlooking, but it seems that RoderickGI hit the nail on the head when he explained that I was doing it wrong. It's unfortunate that it doesn't behave more intuitively. After playing around with the methods he mentioned, I was able to get it working (albeit in a rather confusing manner). Ultimately, I have the results I need.
I find it pretty strange that I can sit in front of my PC as it plays music and skip through those tracks playing in Media Center with my phone, each time getting the name of the track, cover art, etc. on the phone and I can skip tracks on my PC and have that reflected on the phone, but for some reason I can't render those tracks on my phone and use both the PC and the phone to control playback (as is the case when playing on the PC). Oh well. Not the end of the world, I guess. Just a minor inconvenience.
Thanks again

[RoderickGI]

The way Playing Now and Zones work in MC and associated apps is a bit different to other apps, and takes a bit of thinking about. Some apps just play a Playlist. Playing Now is a dynamic playlist that is built and changed on the fly, although it could be a simple copy of a real Playlist.

Just think of the Playing Now button in Gizmo as tied to the device it was set up to play to.

Gizmo isn't perfect though. I usually play to my phone using Gizmo, but I just played around for a while and started playback on my HTPC. Then I wasn't able to Stop playback on the HTPC after switching Zones (Here, Player), and checking out Playing Now. I had to close Gizmo and re-open it before I could Stop playback on the HTPC. Just quirks to learn to live with.

[VenoM]

I appreciate the time you took to explain.
I wonder if the new Android Media Center will behave differently / offer additional functionality to give us a shortcut around that.
Thanks and happy holidays!

[RoderickGI]

A more direct alternative to Gizmo would be "MO 4Media", if you aren't happy with Gizmo. See https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,114964.0.html

Android Media Center might do the equivalent, in the future, but it is primarily a Media Center and Media Server, rather than a local play app and remote control like Gizmo, to my understanding. It should be possible to play music from another MC Server to an Android device which is running Android Media Center, just like you can with any MC installation. It should operate much like TRemote does now. In fact, it may already do that. But it is still very early in its development cycle.

[VenoM]

I'll take your suggestion into consideration. Generally I avoid subscription models whenever possible. I like to support developers, but I'd prefer to pay upgrade fees for new versions every once in a while so I can decide if I need/want those new features or stick with the older versions if I'm having financial difficulty.

[VenoM]

Well, looks like I spoke too soon.

The "Recent Playing Nows" method has ceased to work for whatever reason. That was a major bummer on New Year's Eve when I couldn't stream my music from my PC in my bedroom.

Is there a way to set up MC to connect to another UPnP/DNLA renderer on my phone such as Bubble UPnP? I'm not looking for anything complicated and I'd prefer a free app if possible.

[RoderickGI]

The functionality of Gizmo and Playing Now hasn't changed.

The method of using a "Recent Playing Nows" playlist still works fine. I just tested it again. The thing you must do though is make sure that the Recent Playing Now contains all the tracks you have added to Playing Now. If you have MC set to play any tracks immediately they are added to Playing Now, then the "Recent Playing Nows" playlist will only contain the first track. Press Stop, then Play on the PC, and MC will add all tracks in Playing Now to a new "Recent Playing Nows" playlist.

It isn't difficult. Just add files to Playing Now, Stop if playback started automatically, Play, Stop, then go to Gizmo and play the most recent "Recent Playing Nows" playlist.

Or just use Playlists as intended. Create a Playlist on your PC. Save it. Play it on Gizmo.

[VenoM]

I will follow your directions precisely and report back in a moment. I haven't added any files to my library because I have been reorganizing my drives and plan on setting up one drive specifically to hold my music. Could that be an issue? I'd rather not scan a library and then start switching drives and directories around.

Edit:  Nope.  I figured I had already been following your directions, but tried again with no difference. No matter how many times I stop and start the tracks, nothing shows up in Gizmo in the "Recently Playing Now's".
My firewall settings seem to be correct and allowing MC full access. The only thing I thought could be an issue was that I use a VPN (even though I'm only trying to operate over my LAN), but disabling the VPN doesn't help either.

Not having any luck with using a playlist either. I can't find the playlist I created. Am I supposed to map a network drive to the directory I saved the playlist to or something? This just seems way too complicated.

[RoderickGI]

Okay, check that you still have the "Recent Playing Now's" Feature still turned on under "Options > General > Features > Recent Playing Nows". If it is off, turn it on. If it was off and you didn't turn it off, did you set MC to "Audio only mode" or "Party mode" at some time, or make some other settings changes that may have forced the Feature off?


If "Recent Playing Nows" was still turned on, try this slightly modified short method to make sure we are on the same page.

Just add files to Playing Now on the PC, Stop if playback started automatically, Play, Stop. Check on the PC under "Playlists > Recent Playing Nows" for the playlist just created, based on the Date and Time in the name. Then go to Gizmo and play the most recent "Recent Playing Nows" playlist.

Not having any luck with using a playlist either. I can't find the playlist I created. Am I supposed to map a network drive to the directory I saved the playlist to or something? This just seems way too complicated.

No. Absolutely not.

If you create a Playlist on the PC, and then can't find the Playlist in MC on the PC, then you are definitely doing something wrong. If the playlist exists on the PC then it will exist in Gizmo, as long as you are connecting Gizmo to the correct Media Center Server.

Remember, your original requirement was;

I'm just trying to play some random files that I dragged and dropped into the "playing now" list in Media Center on my PC.

Which is why I keep talking about doing stuff on the PC first. If you have been trying to do this just on Gizmo, we have had a disconnect, as that would be a different issue.

[VenoM]

Well, the "Recent Playing Now's" Feature under "Options > General > Features > Recent Playing Nows" was indeed checked. Also "Party Mode". Is that a problem?
On the PC under "File > Quick Play > Playlists > Recent Playing Now's" I can also see and load my last playlist on the PC.
I seem to be able to connect to my server from Gizmo since I get no error messages, I can control the playback on the PC and I can see the cover art for the tracks as they are updated as well as the elapsed time during playback in Gizmo.
My options on my phone under playlists are: Car Radio, Recently Playing Now's, Smartlists, Recently Played, Top Hits, and Web Media. Nothing is listed in the "Recently Playing Now's" anymore, which is strange because I was able to see some the other week one evening. I haven't changed anything on my phone or computer aside from automatic updates.

[DJLegba]

It took me a while to figure out what "only works in one direction" means. But yes, Gizmo and Panel show the player's "recent" list even when play to "here" is selected. Perhaps they'll fix this in the future. In the meantime, $10 will get you an app that does what you want.

[RoderickGI]

Also "Party Mode". Is that a problem?

I don't know. I was suggesting or asking about things that you may have set up differently to me...

...and here is one;

On the PC under "File > Quick Play > Playlists > Recent Playing Now's" I can also see and load my last playlist on the PC.

It actually took me a while to work out what you meant by that. I almost never use the File menu at the top of MC, and never use Quickplay.

Do you have the Navigation Bar visible on the left of MC?
Do you see the items "Playlists > Recent Playing Now's" in the navigation bar?
Do you see your recent Playing Now's in that item?

If your recent Playing Now's appear in "File > Quick Play > Playlists > Recent Playing Now's" menu, then they should appear in the Navigation Bar at "Playlists > Recent Playing Now's".
If your recent Playing Now's appear in the Navigation Bar at "Playlists > Recent Playing Now's", then they should appear in Gizmo.

The above has just always worked for me, and it works quickly. So we have to find what is different in your setup/environment/hardware. Or perhaps more correctly, what changed to stop Gizmo working in the last couple of weeks?

Do note that the "Recent Playing Now's" are automatically removed over time by MC. So I guess if there was a date issue on the PC or phone then they may never get added to Gizmo, or get removed immediately. But it is pretty hard to have the wrong Date and Time on a PC or phone these days, so that is unlikely.

While Gizmo connects to the server without errors, does that mean that you can select tracks on the PC using Gizmo, and play them locally to the "Here" zone without any problem?

If so, the only thing I can suggest is that you clear Gizmo's Cache and Data from your phone, reconnect to the server, and then see if the "Recent Playing Nows" method starts working again. Here is how to clear the Cache and Data;

Here is a link that describes how to do that: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-and-when-clear-app-cache-or-data-android

I'm using a Sony XZ Premium running Android 9 Pie and noticed a couple of differences. So this was my process:

Settings
Storage
Tap "Internal shared storage"
Tap "Movie & TV apps"
Tap "Gizmo"
Tap "Clear cache"
Tap "Clear data"

Exit Android settings
Start Gizmo
Enter Access Key

At this point I am asked for the Username and Password for the MC Server I am connecting to. Note that these are the MC Media Network Authentication Username and Password, set under "Options > Media Network > Authentication", if you have it turned on, which you should. They aren't the PC Username and Password.

Once that is done, I am connected.


================================================================

Perhaps they'll fix this in the future. In the meantime, $10 will get you an app that does what you want.

I don't think there is anything to fix, and I don't think there is any app that will do what he wants.

What he has described is that he wants to add tracks to Playing Now on the PC, which means adding them to the "Player" Zone, and then he wants to play those tracks using Gizmo on the "Here" zone.

When Gizmo is set to play to the "Here" zone it doesn't have access to the tracks in the PC's "Player" zone. Gizmo does have access to the PC's Player zone, and can see and control what is being played in the Player zone on the PC in Gizmo, when it is set to the Player zone.

Now if the Gizmo "Here" zone was visible on the PC, then Venom could select the Gizmo "Here" zone on the PC, add tracks, and then play them locally on his phone using the "Here" zone. But the Gizmo zone isn't visible on the PC, so that isn't possible.

[DJLegba]

I don't think there is anything to fix, and I don't think there is any app that will do what he wants.

Yes, you are right (again). Both JRemote and Mo 4Media show the server's "Recent Playlist" no matter what zone the app is playing to, so I apologize for my previous post. It may be a feature the OP needs, but I haven't noticed it as a "problem" since I started using JRiver late in 2014.

[RoderickGI]

Thanks.

Yeah the "Recently Played" item in MC is a Playlist, so it is visible in Gizmo like any playlist. It is different to the "Recent Playing Now's" playlists.

Venom has a specific workflow that he likes to use. I've given him two alternatives, but the selected one has stopped working for some reason. The second option, just creating a Playlist on the PC and then playing it on the phone using Gizmo, would still work fine.

In fact using the Action Window "Build Playlist" function I just created a playlist of two albums and had it on Gizmo and playing in about five seconds. Total.
Click "Build Playlist" in the Action Window on the PC.
Type a brief name for the playlist.
Drag two Albums to the Action Window.
Pick up phone with Gizmo running.
Tap Home, Playlists, scroll, tap new playlist name.
Tap first track to start playback.

[VenoM]

Very strange. No matter what I did, I could not get Gizmo to display the "Recent Playing Now's". I had tried clearing the cache as well as checking "Web Gizmo" in my browser to see if I could control the server and everything seemed to be in order. The recent playlists are correctly displayed in the panel on the left, but only once I followed your directions to build a playlist through the action window was I able to see both the recent playing now as well as the list I had created. I had previously tried to build a playlist through the file menu on top, but that was obviously the incorrect way of doing it.


While Gizmo connects to the server without errors, does that mean that you can select tracks on the PC using Gizmo, and play them locally to the "Here" zone without any problem?
Not exactly sure what you mean there, but I was unable to see any tracks on my PC with Gizmo in any of the smartlists, etc. Probably because I haven't built a library yet. The only thing I was able to do with Gizmo was control playback on my PC and see the track list.

I don't necessarily want any new features, I just needed to be able to play the music on my phone so that I could connect to a bluetooth speaker and stream the music from my phone in another room. Whatever method works is fine by me. So it seems that this band-aid has worked for now. Thanks for your assistance and your patience. I'll take a break from this stuff for a few days and try again then and see if it still works. *fingers crossed*

[RoderickGI]

Not exactly sure what you mean there, but I was unable to see any tracks on my PC with Gizmo in any of the smartlists, etc. Probably because I haven't built a library yet. The only thing I was able to do with Gizmo was control playback on my PC and see the track list.

For when you come back to it, what I meant was can you open Gizmo, connect to your server, select "Here" as the place to play (Zone), select Audio, Album, pick an Album, tap on it and have it play on the phone?
If you can do that, then Gizmo is working fine, and Playlists should be showing up in Gizmo.

Also, if MC on the Server has tracks, which you can play and control using Gizmo, or the PC, then you already have a Library. If you didn't have a library, you wouldn't have a list of tracks to play... unless you have been selecting tracks by going through "Drive & Devices > Explorer > etc.", which doesn't require tracks to be imported into a Library before you can see them, and select them to play. Please tell me you haven't been using MC that way!


Also, read this when you are ready: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Playlists