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[Matt]

[some of these notes require Media Center 15.0.32 and later]

We spent some time today getting WebPlay running on a Windows Mobile 5.0 device.

The end result was pleasantly surprising.  It was easier getting this several year old Windows Mobile 5.0 device streaming audio than a new Android or iPhone.

Windows Media Player on the device will not play M3U playlists.  So we added an 'ASX' link next to 'M3U' on WebPlay.

That launches Windows Media Player, but it turns out WMP will not play MP3 files, only WMA. (really?)

So then we tried the free TCPMP 0.72 (since replaced by the commercial CorePlayer).  TCPMP nicely plays both M3U and streaming MP3 files.

That means with TCPMP installed, you can pick 'M3U' in WebPlay to play any of your content with your data connection.  It converts anything that isn't an MP3 to an MP3.

It's possible newer version of Windows Mobile won't require TCPMP, and it's also possible there are other or better alternatives to TCPMP.  Your feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[jmone]

Looking forward to trying the ASX link (but away for a few days) on the WinMo 6.5 HTC HD2 Device.  FYI - Coreplayer will already accept and play M3U playlists with either MP3 or WMA (including lossless) under WebPlay but I think it is an expensive add on for a mobile I think and while TCPMP is it's free forerunner it is now very old and dated. 

It converts anything that isn't an MP3 to an MP3.

A better concept that will work with your older WinMo 5 is to convert everything that is not WMA to an WMA....


Thanks
Nathan

[jmone]

Testing reported in another thread with the M3U option:  "Coreplayer for WinMo works and streams M3U's perfectly.  In WebPlay select, M3U --> Download --> Open and it will then play in Coreplayer and it will stream both MP3 and WMA Lossless just fine.  While Coreplayer will play a native FLAC file, I get a Unknown file format! (1060) when trying to stream it in the m3u file."

In the latest version of MC:
- WMP & ASX Playlists:  These playlists are not opening in Windows Media Player with "Cannot play any items in the playlist".  Error detail is "Cannot play the file.  The file is either corrupted or the Player does not support the format you are trying to play".  An example of the "Location" Windows Media Player is trying to open is "http://server:52199/WebPlay/MCWS/v1/File/GetFile?File=4441&ConversionProfile=iPhone".

- Coreplayer & ASX or M3U Playlists: Coreplayer will play from both ASX or M3U playlists just fine.  I notice that everything is now being converted to MP3 for both ASX and M3U and IF a conversion is done the the Coverart and Meta Data is lost (but is kept if the original was an MP3, it used to play WMA Lossless in a M3U perfectly with Coverart and all!)

I don't know why everthing is being converted to MP3, and I expect that is why it is failing in Windows Media Player, WMA is the obvious choice for this playform by the look of it.

Thanks
Nathan

[Matt]

I don't know why everthing is being converted to MP3, and I expect that is why it is failing in Windows Media Player, WMA is the obvious choice for this playform by the look of it.

Thanks for the testing.

The WMA encoder doesn't lend itself to on-the-fly conversion, which is why MP3 is used.

So is it correct that Windows Media Player on a WinMo device can't play a streaming MP3 file, even when using WinMo 6.0 and WinMo 6.5?  That's kind of amazing to me, so it makes me wonder if it just requires a certain mime type or other server header we're not giving it.

Can WinMo with WMP play any web radio that uses MP3?

[jmone]

The issue is what will WMP (WinMo) support.  I'll try some other streaming media in MP3 and see what it does, though I think you are on the right tack as it was the same with Coreplayer and FLAC, no problem playing it but it errored out in a M3U option.

Thanks
Nathan

PS - Regarding the conversion in general, I'd prefer to only convert non compatible tracks (eg why convert WMA for WinMo?).  I'd also happly build a MP3 and a WMA HH cache so that when streaming / syncing, MC can grab the correct version for that device without transcoding on the fly (its quicker for HH Syncing anyway)

[HTPC4ME]

just  a question... we're not gonna have to convert our WHOLE library of mp3's to get them to stream to our windows 6.5 devices are we?  i really hope not being my whole library is .mp3 or .flac.

thanks for the clarification.

also if i may have a request.. i'd prefer to use a nice interface player on my winmo device...tcpmp, or pocketplayer, winmo for webplay. i made the mistake of buying coreplayer for a whopping 30 bucks. and ive used it maybe 2 times. the interface is unfriendly \ ugly compared to pocketplayer\tcpmp or winmo.

i do agree with jmone though in regards to the out datedness of tcpmp.
thanks

[jmone]

Matt - here is some stuff on streaming to WinMo http://learnthemobileweb.com/2010/01/streaming-windows-media-audio-to-mobile-devices/

xtacbyme - WebPlay "should" be able to play all tracks in your library (and convert if necessary on the fly).  At present we have a problem streaming MP3 to the native WMP on WinMo but I'm sure it will work out (it always does) as WebPlay needs to work with the Native apps on each platform, else whats the point....buy more s'ware (I can do that already).  I was also talking on the "Stacks" feature that enables you to create a 2nd or 3rd version of the track that are ready to go.  This features greatly increases the speed of syncing to a HandHeld device but could also be used to feed WebPlay and other streaming services in MC (DLNA etc).

Thanks
Nathan

[jmone]

Matt - From what I've seem it looks like it is WMA only for streaming to WMP/WinMo:
1) This site http://us.raidentunes.com/manual-wmatranscoding.html states "When the client is using Microsoft Windows Mobile 5,6 the songs must be in WMA format otherwise the portable device won't play them in a playlist at all. "
2) "HTCradio only lists mobile compatible channels streaming using Windows Media player" (http://www.htcradio.com/) and they few I tried are all ASX playlists containing Windows Media Audio 9 feeds.  Linked sister site "MobTuner has mobile and pc compatible mp3 streams"  says "You need a Streaming mp3 player to listen - basic players that let you listen to mp3 songs may not work so you might have to search the internet to find a player - if you have a Windows Mobile phone, GSPlayer is one of the free players - TCPMP will also work on Windows Mobile 5."

Soooo it looks like:
1) Support for WMP/WinMo - ASX feeds should contain WMA audio, either from the users library as is or transcoded when needed (the radio stations must do this somehow)
2) 3rd Party Players/WinMo - M3U feeds work fine with existing 3rd party players with MP3.

Thanks
Nathan

[jmone]

I can not find anything from MS that says Windows Media Player Mobile (as it is called) will support what media fiels in an ASX container.  I did find this discrption that "The Advanced Stream Redirector (.ASX) format is a type of XML metafile designed to store a list of Windows Media files (.WMA, .ASF, .WMV) to play during a multimedia presentation" http://all-streaming-media.com/faq/streaming-media/Metafiles-ASX-Advanced-Stream-Redirector.htm

[jmone]

This is old but....it's from MS: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311886

Supported Formats
These formats are supported if they are encoded in a supported manner. See the "Supported Encoding" section in this article for details.
.wma - Windows Media Audio (playback and stream)
.wmp - Windows Media Player (playback and stream)
.wmv - Windows Media Video (playback and stream)
.asf - Advanced Streaming Format (playback and stream)
.mp3 - MPEG Layer 3 (playback, but not streaming)

Edit - also later version http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839084/en-us

[Matt]

Thanks for the research.

It's pretty lame that WMP doesn't support streaming mp3, especially since it has mp3 decoding.

Do you think recommending GSPlayer (or something similar) is a good answer?  Did you see any mention of what WM 7 will do?

[jmone]

Can't argue with the logic that WMP is deliberately crippled to force people to WMA streaming...

Here is what I would recommend for WinMo Devices:
1) Default Support using WMP Mobile:  Use ASX Link in WebPlay.  Supports WMA Audio streaming so all tracks will be transcoded to WMA on the fly (if possbile to do) OR a WMA version from the stack will be used. 
2) 3rd Party Media Players:  Use M3U Link in WebPlay.  Supports MP3 Streaming so all tracks will be transcoded to MP3 on the fly OR an MP3 version from the stack will be used.  User will need to install a 3rd Party Media Player like CorePlayer (commercial), Tcpmp (free but no longer developed), GSPlayer (free but no longer developed)....and I'm sure many others (users could list what works, looks good etc)

I'd not worry about the fact that some apps can stream different codecs in different playlists containers, I'd keep it simple with two links in WebPlay
- M3U for a MP3 stream
- ASX for a WMA stream



Users can use the Default WinMo apps (WMP) with MC streaming WMA tracks from the library (and if possible on the fly conversions OR use stacks).  If a user wants to get a 3rd party app then they can ALSO use the M3U stream.

The same logic goes for Video (eg ASX supports WMV)....

Thanks
Nathan

[jmone]

Note: I've not tested if WMA in ASX plays in WMP Mobile from WebPlay as it is not a current option to test (I'm just assuming it will work!)

[JustinChase]

So, I tried this from my WinMo 6.5 phone, no luck.  I then tried it from my laptop and got this message...

Oops! This link appears to be broken.
Suggestions:
Search on Google:

If I backup and enter just this in the address bar

http://192.168.1.72:52199/LibraryServer/

it shows this...

Library Server JRiver
WebRemote
WebPlay
MCWS
Library Server
Library Server enables browsing and playing from this library with a client copy of Media Center.  Connecting requires Media Center to be installed on this device.

Library Server also contains several other components which are listed below.

WebRemote
WebRemote allows you to to use a web browser on a PC or a portable device as a remote control for this library.

WebPlay
WebPlay allows you to play media from this library on your iPhone or other device.

MCWS (web service)
MCWS is a web service for getting files, controlling the program, and more.  It is most useful for developers.



But when I select WebPlay from here, I get the message above.

Any ideas how to get this working for me?

thanks.

[JimH]

Make sure you have the latest build.  It's at the top of this board.

[JustinChase]

Well, I had .35 installed on the Server, and upon installing .46, it seems to be working.  I'm not sure why it was offering me WebPlay before, but wasn't' actually available, but it seems to be working now, which is really all that matters to me

However, it only shows iPhone and Android as options, but nothing for WinMo.  In 2 weeks this will not be a problem for me (new phone), but in the meantime, how do others have it working with a WinMo device?

Also, when I tested it with the laptop (just selected files to play), and select a video, it was less than full screen, and it seemed to play fine for 3 seconds, then a small pause; almost as it it was playing the wrong framerate, and showing me the "extra" frame for a split second.

is this adjustable somewhere?  I can live with it, considering the option is no video, this is much better.  I know it's a work in progress, so I just wanted to throw that out there.

[HTPC4ME]

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=57273.new;topicseen#new

check that out. lots of info for winmo we're all workiing on.. hope it helps