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[DSKO]

Hi all!

I come from Norway, and I'm a completely new user of J River Media Center 15 (beta).
I've been using Winamp for more than 10 years for music,
and Zoom Player for more than 5 years for video.
I'm a programmer and a civil engineer in computer science.

I've used and liked Winamp because of:

• OK CUESHEET support
• Excellent Drone skin
• Excellent OSD plugin McTOSD
• Lots of other types of plugins

But now I am shifting all attention over to using DLNA around my apartment,
so Winamp and Zoom Player is a no-go.

This is my setup around my apartment:

• Gigabit LAN
• 802.11n + 802.11g WLAN
• HP StorageWorks DataVault X510 Windows Home Server with TwonkyMedia Server
• Homebuilt HTPC with Windows 7 32bit in living room
• Samsung LED LCD-TV UE55B7070 (DLNA) in living room
• Asus EEE Box B202 with Windows 7 32bit for bathroom
• Dell Precision M6400 with Windows 7 64bit as work laptop
• PS3 in living room
• Viliv X70 with Windows 7 32bit as remote control
• Later: Samsung LED LCD-TV UE40B7070 (DLNA) in bedroom
• Later: Samsung DP-U250 with Windows 7 32bit in kitchen when it is available in Norway

My plan is to use Windows Home Server as the one-and-only-media-file-source to serve all media using DLNA,
(TwonkyMedia Server (TMS) now, but later native Microsoft DLNA Server implementation in Vail)
and the Viliv to control all DLNA renderers in all zones with DLNA.

I've started testing with TwonkyMedia Manager (TMM) as a DLNA Controller and as DLNA Renderer.
It has a very limited user interface, is not enhanced for touch, but works sort of OK with a stylus.
But the biggest problem with TMM is that it sometimes loses contact with the other DLNA devices,
so I need to push the content all over again to the renderer.

Then I found out that J River Media Center now supports DLNA! :-)
So here are my findings with beta version 15.0.46:
(Please excuse if any of my questions are FAQ's,
but I really have tried finding the answers on my own...)

----------------
1. To connect to the DLNA server (WHS), I need to choose

File -> Library -> Connect to Library -> Connect to a DLNA Server -> <WHS>

and press Connect.

a) Why make this procedure so difficult and unlogical?

b) How can I avoid doing this every time I start up MC?
I guess it is supposed to be possible to store this in the Library Manager,
but there is no explanation on how to do that with a DLNA Server.
I couldn't make it work anyways...
And on the help-pages it says that DLNA Servers will show up under
"Search for Library Servers..." in the Library menulist.
They don't.

c) Why the need to associate the DLNA Server with a "Library", BTW?
For caching?

2. On one of the PC's, MC seem to load only a few of the files from TMS on WHS.
I've tried to use "Clear Library...", but nothing happens or changes;
MC doesn't seem to even try to reload all files;
the same few, files is still there after trying to clear.
This must be a bug.

3. I am not interested in using MC as a DLNA Server;
only as a DLNA Controller and as a DLNA Renderer.
So I selected only DLNA Controller and DLNA Renderer
under Network in Options.
But when I try to use MC as a controller
and push some MP3's from WHS TMS DLNA "Library" to another renderer (MC on another PC),
the MC controller complained:
"This feature requires a DLNA server to be running.
Please enable a DLNA server in Options > DLNA"

This doesn't make sense; I already have a DLNA Server running on WHS?
Is this a bug?

4. Let's say I wanted to use the MC DLNA Server...
The DLNA Server setting under Network in Options is confusing for me.
"You can add multiple servers..."
Why mess things up with several DLNA Servers?
Why not have only ONE MC DLNA Server running,
but the ability to configure DLNA device settings based on the MAC-address for the device?
(Like TMS does it...)
And where is MC as a device choice, BTW?

5. Using only 2 x MC + TMS (+TV) on the network,
I'm not able to use MC as a DLNA Controller with a MC DLNA Renderer on another PC
(even with MC DLNA Server enabled on each MC instance).

I get an error on the MC DLNA Renderer saying:
"Media Center encountered errors trying to play the last several files.
Please make sure that the path in your media library points to the right location."

Looking at the URL the MC DLNA Renderer is trying to play,
it seems it is trying to play from the MC DLNA Controller PC itself;
and NOT from the TMS DLNA Server.

But using TMM as a controller with MC as a renderer works just fine!
Looking at the URL the MC DLNA Renderer is playing;
it is correctly from the TMS DLNA Server and NOT from the TMM controller PC.

6. The user interface of MC seems very good and customizable,
but is there a transparent OSD plugin for MC that can float on top
of all other windows like McTOSD for Winamp?
----------------

Thanks for the attention!
I'm looking forward to using MC in the future
if these issues can be explained/solved for me! :-)

[JimH]

Welcome to Interact.   That's a lot of questions.   Could you choose one or two to work on?

[DSKO]

Oh, that was quick! 

Points #3 and #5 are the most important (for now...)

Thanks!

[JimH]

3. I am not interested in using MC as a DLNA Server;
only as a DLNA Controller and as a DLNA Renderer.
So I selected only DLNA Controller and DLNA Renderer
under Network in Options.
But when I try to use MC as a controller
and push some MP3's from WHS TMS DLNA "Library" to another renderer (MC on another PC),
the MC controller complained:
"This feature requires a DLNA server to be running.
Please enable a DLNA server in Options > DLNA"

This doesn't make sense; I already have a DLNA Server running on WHS?
Is this a bug?

You could probably use MC to import files from Windows Home Server, then use MC's DLNA Server.

In any case, check all 3 DLNA options.

5. Using only 2 x MC + TMS (+TV) on the network,
I'm not able to use MC as a DLNA Controller with a MC DLNA Renderer on another PC
(even with MC DLNA Server enabled on each MC instance).

I get an error on the MC DLNA Renderer saying:
"Media Center encountered errors trying to play the last several files.
Please make sure that the path in your media library points to the right location."

Looking at the URL the MC DLNA Renderer is trying to play,
it seems it is trying to play from the MC DLNA Controller PC itself;
and NOT from the TMS DLNA Server.

Try eliminating Twonky, just to test.

[DSKO]

You could probably use MC to import files from Windows Home Server, then use MC's DLNA Server.

In any case, check all 3 DLNA options.

Hmm... As I said, I don't want to use MC as a DLNA Server.
Why would I; I already have a DLNA Server?
And I certainly don't want to import files,
as this creates another (unneccessary) dependency.

Try eliminating Twonky, just to test.

You mean eliminate the TwonkyMedia Server out of the equation?
See my answer above on #3.
Anyways; I take it for granted that MC as DLNA Controller works OK
with MC as DLNA Server.

Your answers worries me...
It leads me to believe that MC can only be run as a DLNA Controller,
just as long as you also are using MC as DLNA Server!

To me; this breaks the whole DLNA concept,
one must be able to mix DLNA devices from different vendors.
And I guess it means MC is not truly DLNA Controller compliant...

If this is the case, and this is the intended design that won't be changed in the future,
I'm going back to using TwonkyMedia Manager
as DLNA Controller and DLNA Renderer...

[JimH]

I offered the suggestions as a way around the problems you found and as a test.  

We've used MC successfully with Twonky and other servers.  Different versions seem to have problems sometimes.  The versions of Twonky that are included with NAS drives often have problems but can be updated to newer versions.

Import is simple and can be done automatically.

[DSKO]

I offered the suggestions as a way around the problems you found and as a test. 

We've used MC successfully with Twonky and other servers.  Different versions seem to have problems sometimes.  The versions of Twonky that are included with NAS drives often have problems but can be updated to newer versions.

Import is simple and can be done automatically.

Can you confirm that MC as a DLNA Controller (DMC)
for the time being and for the future is dependent on using MC as the DLNA Server (DMS)?

[JimH]

Can you confirm that MC as a DLNA Controller (DMC)
for the time being and for the future is dependent on using MC as the DLNA Server (DMS)?

No.  MC should be able to act as a standard DLNA Controller, regardless of the server.

http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/DLNA

[DSKO]

No.  MC should be able to act as a standard DLNA Controller, regardless of the server.

http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/DLNA

Ahh, good! And thanks for your very quick responses!



So, back to my OP @ #3;
why then, do I get the error message:

"This feature requires a DLNA server to be running.
Please enable a DLNA server in Options > DLNA"

and you confirm this by saying that I should "check all 3 DLNA options" (including DLNA Server)?

I'm confused... ?

[JimH]

and you confirm this by saying that I should "check all 3 DLNA options" (including DLNA Server)?

Did you try it?

Do I understand that you have a WHS and it has Twonky running on it?  Can you connect to it from Win7?  Sorry if you've explained all this, but I want to be sure what you're trying to do.

[DSKO]

Did you try it?

Do I understand that you have a WHS and it has Twonky running on it?  Can you connect to it from Win7?  Sorry if you've explained all this, but I want to be sure what you're trying to do.

Yes, I've tried it; see OP @ #5.

And yes; I have a WHS with TwonkyMedia Server (TMS) running on it.
All client PC's have Windows 7,
and they all can connect to the WHS through MC DLNA Library, shares (SMB), RDP, WHS Connector, and so on.

This is what is working:

• Using MC as DMP to play media files from TMS (as DLNA Library) on local PC
• Using TMM as DMC and MC as DMR with media files from TMS
• Using TMM as DMP to play media files from TMS (as DLNA Server) on local PC
• Using TMM as DMC and TMM as DMR with media files from TMS
• Using WMP12 as DMC and WMP12 as DMR with media files from TMS

[JimH]

What build of MC are you using?  46 is at the top of this board.

[DSKO]

What build of MC are you using?  46 is at the top of this board.

I'm using 15.0.46.

[DSKO]

My point with question #3 in OP is that since you say that

"MC should be able to act as a standard DLNA Controller, regardless of the server."

Why is there a need to "...enable a DLNA server in Options"
on the MC DLNA Controller (DMC)?

Is this potentially because MC doesn't see and recognize the TwonkyMedia Server on WHS for some reason?

Are you saying that if MC was able to see and recognize the TwonkyMedia Server on WHS,
I would not have to "...enable a DLNA server in Options" on the DMC?

[bob]

My point with question #3 in OP is that since you say that

"MC should be able to act as a standard DLNA Controller, regardless of the server."

Why is there a need to "...enable a DLNA server in Options"
on the MC DLNA Controller (DMC)?

You shouldn't need to. That appears to be a problem.

Is this potentially because MC doesn't see and recognize the TwonkyMedia Server on WHS for some reason?

Are you saying that if MC was able to see and recognize the TwonkyMedia Server on WHS,
I would not have to "...enable a DLNA server in Options" on the DMC?

No, I think that is a different issue. We'll check on the "...enable a DLNA server in Options" problem first.

[DSKO]

You shouldn't need to. That appears to be a problem.

Thank you!

Let me know if you need any specific testing and logs on this;
I'll gladly help!

[bob]

What's going on is that MC is getting the information from the DLNA server, processing it and passing it along to the renderer. What would need to be changed is for MC to get the information from the server and pass it directly to the renderer, kind of a redirect mode. This might take some time since it's not a really great fit for the type of client/server model we are using.

[DSKO]

OK!

Thanks for confirming it!

I'm surprised missing this simple and basic DLNA DMC feature
hasn't been reported before.

In order to make MC DLNA DMC compliant,
I guess this needs to be fixed/implemented, IMHO; don't you think?

If so, when can we expect this to be implemented?

[DSKO]

Hello?

[bob]

ICMP Echo Reply.

Actually, it's a matter of priority. Hopefully soon.

[DSKO]

Cool!

Then I'm going to buy MC soon; when this is implemented!

Thanks!

[DSKO]

What is the status on this?

Thanks!

Espen

[JimH]

No change.

[JimH]

Might work in this build:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59026.0

[DSKO]

OK, I had to buy MC15 in order to test out the fixed DLNA controller functionality;
the trial period had expired...

But the functionality looks very promising! 

Here are my findings and bugs using MC15 as a DMC (and DMR) with Twonky Server 6.0.1:

• Most of the time (~99%), when queueing up several songs/files for playing
  on an instance of MC15 as a DMR from another instance of MC15 as DMC,
  MC15DMC is "stuck" when it is supposed to change to the next song (from Song1 to Song2).
  MC15DMC just seems to start all over on Song1 again, but no sound,
  and the time ticks up to 4 seconds and goes forever in a loop: 0:00 - 0:01 - 0:02 - 0:04 - 0:00 - 0:01...
  
  I have to press the Next button manually to go to the next song.
  
  
• Trying to rename one of MC15 DMR instances from "HTPC: HTPC" to just "HTPC"
  on a specific MC15DMC does not work permanently.
  When I start up MC15DMC again, the name is back to "HTPC: HTPC" again.
  I've tried reinstalling MC15 on the HTPC, but no change.
  On the other instances of MC15 I'm able to change other DMR names permanently without problem.
  
  
• Controlling and streaming to my Samsung LED LCD-TV UE55B7070 does not work.
  MC15 complains: "There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. ..."
  Twonky Manager has no problem controlling and streaming to it,
  and this is with the same DMS (Twonky Server)
  
  
• Using keyboard hot-keys CTRL + Left/Right Arrow is supposed to rewind and fast-forward the song.
  This seems to only work when playing on the local instance of MC15.
  
  
• Using two (or more) instances of MC15 as DMCs and controlling the same MC15DMR instance
  gives all kinds of strange problems.
  For example, let's say I send Song1 from MC15DMC1 to MC15DMR and it plays correctly,
  and then I send another Song2 from MC15DMC2 to MC15DMR which takes over the playback.
  MC15DMC1 will then show the time for Song2 but the title for Song1.
  MC15DMC2 will show both the time and the title correctly from Song2.
  
  Twonky Manager is able to retrieve whatever is playing on other DMR's (and controlled by other DMC's),
  and I guess MC15 could/should do the same.
  
  
• When sending and streaming internetradio (for example a mp3 stream from Digitally Imported) from MC15DMC to MC15DMR,
  the song title is only showing on MC15DMR and not on MC15DMC.
  
  
• Trying to stop playing a song in the MC15DMR instance just stops playing the current song,
  and then it starts playing the next song in the MC15DMC queue.
  Pausing the song from the MC15DMR instance works OK.
  The same goes for internetradio streams.
  Testing together with Twonky Manager, it seems this problem is in the MC15DMC functionality,
  and not in the DMR functionality.
  
  
• At one time, all instances of MC15 crashed when I took down Twonky Server.
  However, I am not able to reproduce it.
  
  
• And finally back to my #1 point in my OP;
  how do I automatically connect to the DLNA Server (Library) when starting MC15?
  
  

Please let me know if you need any logs
or more details.

Espen

[bob]

Hi DSKO,
are you still using Twonky as the server for your DLNA setup?

[bob]

• Controlling and streaming to my Samsung LED LCD-TV UE55B7070 does not work.
  MC15 complains: "There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. ..."
  Twonky Manager has no problem controlling and streaming to it,
  and this is with the same DMS (Twonky Server)
  

Is this a problem in the current version? Which build are you using?

[DSKO]

Yes, I'm always using the latest versions,
so I'm using MC 15.0.101 and I'm using Twonky Server 6.0.1 as DMS.

Espen

[DSKO]

What is the status of all the errors I've reported in this thread?

Espen

[bob]

Yes, I'm always using the latest versions,
so I'm using MC 15.0.101 and I'm using Twonky Server 6.0.1 as DMS.

Espen

Sorry, I missed your reply here.

When you play something to a DLNA zone, the server used to provide the content is the first one in your list of DLNA servers. Is that the same server you can use from the TV using the remote to get content?

A dump from wireshark or a fiddler trace could be helpful here.


Your first issue regarding using MC as DMR and DMC with twonky as a server, can you try this with MC's DLNA server turned off? This changes the logic used by the controller...

[DSKO]

When you play something to a DLNA zone, the server used to provide the content is the first one in your list of DLNA servers. Is that the same server you can use from the TV using the remote to get content?

A dump from wireshark or a fiddler trace could be helpful here.

I am using Twonky Server as my only DLNA server.
And yes, using Twonky Server to stream to the TV works OK
with both Twonky Manager as DMC (on the same PC as MC15),
and also using the TV itself as a DMP pulling the content.

Your first issue regarding using MC as DMR and DMC with twonky as a server, can you try this with MC's DLNA server turned off? This changes the logic used by the controller...

Again, I am using Twonky Server as my only DLNA server.
None of my MC15 instances have MC's DLNA server turned on (why would I).

Please also see this post http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59668.msg403060#msg403060
where the same problem seems to be reported.

If you want me to help out here with traces from wireshark or fiddler,
first, you need to give me more details about what kind of traces and info you need,
and also I would appreciate more feedback on ALL of my reported errors.
I've spent a lot of time testing and writing down all the problems to help you out.
I also had to buy MC15 in order to find out if one of my original problems was solved.
It was, but now the new problems are making MC15 unusable as DMC/DMR in other ways.

And before you ask, I am using MC15 v15.0.122 now,
and the same problems are there.

Espen

[bob]

I am using Twonky Server as my only DLNA server.
And yes, using Twonky Server to stream to the TV works OK
with both Twonky Manager as DMC (on the same PC as MC15),
and also using the TV itself as a DMP pulling the content.

Again, I am using Twonky Server as my only DLNA server.
None of my MC15 instances have MC's DLNA server turned on (why would I).

Please also see this post http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59668.msg403060#msg403060
where the same problem seems to be reported.

If you want me to help out here with traces from wireshark or fiddler,
first, you need to give me more details about what kind of traces and info you need,
and also I would appreciate more feedback on ALL of my reported errors.
I've spent a lot of time testing and writing down all the problems to help you out.
I also had to buy MC15 in order to find out if one of my original problems was solved.
It was, but now the new problems are making MC15 unusable as DMC/DMR in other ways.

And before you ask, I am using MC15 v15.0.122 now,
and the same problems are there.

Espen

I' apologize for this taking so long. We've been doing a lot of DLNA tweaking lately and it's hard to prioritize all of the issues.

I'm going to try to duplicate your setup as much as possible here tomorrow for testing.
I'd like to try and handle your issued one at a time to try and keep down the confusion (my confusion that is).

As you've discovered, there is no way to connect to a library on startup currently. I think that'd be a nice addition and we are looking into it. As you may know, plugplayer tries to do this, it doesn't always work but it's pretty cool when it does.

I'd like to sort out the MC as DMC issues. My setup here to duplicate your problems will be with twonky on one PC, MC as renderer on another PC and MC as a controller on a third PC.

The MC as DMC to the TV issue is different. There, I may need a wireshark trace. The simplest way to do this is to install wireshark as detailed here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=57668.msg402391#msg402391
except don't put anything in the capture filter since we are involving 3 devices.

Then get everything setup to the point of playing a file, start the capture, then drag and drop a file on the zone or right click it and send it to the zone. Stop the capture. email the capture to bob (at) jriver (dot) com.

Thanks!
Bob

[bob]

Some preliminary results.
I didn't have any trouble getting the current MC (15.0.128) to act as controller and renderer using the Twonky server (all on separate PC's). In my zone for the MC renderer on the MC controller, I turned repeat off. The only glitch I saw was after the last item in a playlist, the position slider continued to cycle between 0 and 5 seconds but as expected nothing was playing. I tried mp3's and flacs. More testing on Monday...

[DSKO]

Some preliminary results.
I didn't have any trouble getting the current MC (15.0.128) to act as controller and renderer using the Twonky server (all on separate PC's). In my zone for the MC renderer on the MC controller, I turned repeat off. The only glitch I saw was after the last item in a playlist, the position slider continued to cycle between 0 and 5 seconds but as expected nothing was playing. I tried mp3's and flacs. More testing on Monday...

Bob

Are you saying you reproduced ALL scenarios from my bullet point list, but had no problems?
Some of the scenarios requires 2xDMC + 1xDMR.

I've now sent you Wireshark tracefiles + MC Log.txt file using MC15 15.0.132,
unsuccessfully trying to push a MP3 file to my Samsung UE55B7070 TV.
I also captured a trace doing the same (successfully) with Twonky Manager 2.0.3.34 on the same PC.
 
Also, as additional information regarding using the TV as DMR;
when I try to click the Samsung TV (Zone) entry in "Playing Now", it just disappears.
After some time, the entry comes back again.

Some more comments on v15.0.132 (previous tested version was 15.0.122),
ref my bullet point list from from September 2nd:

• #1: This seems to be fixed after v15.0.122!
• #2: Not fixed.
• #3: Not fixed; see Wireshark tracefiles.
• #4: Not fixed.
• #5: Not fixed.
• #6: Not fixed.
• #7: Not fixed.
• #8: MC15 still seems to crash sometimes; but I haven't seen a pattern yet...
• #9: It seems automatic connect to the (latest) DLNA (library) server on MC15 startup is implemented after v15.0.122. Thank you!

Espen

[DSKO]

• #1: This seems to be fixed after v15.0.122!

Well, it seems I was a little bit too fast on this one...

After having MC15 running overnight (without playing or doing anything),
the problem is back; on two different instances of MC15.
However, when restarting MC15 (DMC), problem is gone.

Some observations:

• I updated tags (using Mp3tag) on ~100 files before leaving MC15 running overnight.
• When the problem is NOT there, the infodisplay on top (on the DMC) says "Waiting" the last ~5 seconds before changing song, but when the problem is there, "Waiting" does not appear these last ~5 seconds.
• There seems to be other problems having MC15 running overnight or for a long time with DLNA. When selecting one instance of MC15 running both as a DMC and DMR (HTPC) from the "Playing Now" list, from other instances of MC15, the HTPC entry disappears and comes back again after a minute or two. Restarting the HTPC instance seems to fix it.

Espen

[bob]

Bob

Are you saying you reproduced ALL scenarios from my bullet point list, but had no problems?
Some of the scenarios requires 2xDMC + 1xDMR.

No, just the basic 3 PC scenario using MC and DMC and DMR and Twonky as DMS. I didn't let it run overnight. I will tonite.

I've now sent you Wireshark tracefiles + MC Log.txt file using MC15 15.0.132,
unsuccessfully trying to push a MP3 file to my Samsung UE55B7070 TV.
I also captured a trace doing the same (successfully) with Twonky Manager 2.0.3.34 on the same PC.
 
Also, as additional information regarding using the TV as DMR;
when I try to click the Samsung TV (Zone) entry in "Playing Now", it just disappears.
After some time, the entry comes back again.

Thanks for the traces, I'm looking at them now. This is probably the issue we'll work on first since the focus on DLNA right now is getting it working with the kinks in various renderers.

Some more comments on v15.0.132 (previous tested version was 15.0.122),
ref my bullet point list from from September 2nd:

• #1: This seems to be fixed after v15.0.122!
• #2: Not fixed.
• #3: Not fixed; see Wireshark tracefiles.
• #4: Not fixed.
• #5: Not fixed.
• #6: Not fixed.
• #7: Not fixed.
• #8: MC15 still seems to crash sometimes; but I haven't seen a pattern yet...
• #9: It seems automatic connect to the (latest) DLNA (library) server on MC15 startup is implemented after v15.0.122. Thank you!

Espen

The intention is to work through the points you bring up one at a time.
Thanks...

Bob

[DSKO]

Well, it seems I was a little bit too fast on this one...

After having MC15 running overnight (without playing or doing anything),
the problem is back; on two different instances of MC15.
However, when restarting MC15 (DMC), problem is gone.

Some observations:

• I updated tags (using Mp3tag) on ~100 files before leaving MC15 running overnight.
• When the problem is NOT there, the infodisplay on top (on the DMC) says "Waiting" the last ~5 seconds before changing song, but when the problem is there, "Waiting" does not appear these last ~5 seconds.
• There seems to be other problems having MC15 running overnight or for a long time with DLNA. When selecting one instance of MC15 running both as a DMC and DMR (HTPC) from the "Playing Now" list, from other instances of MC15, the HTPC entry disappears and comes back again after a minute or two. Restarting the HTPC instance seems to fix it.

Espen

I haven't had this problem since the above happened,
but yesterday I updated tags in some ~100 files again,
and I experienced the problem again.

I left MC running overnight this time also.

I have a theory that MC is caching the file metainfo locally,
and when the file is updated on the server,
the metainfo (for example the file size) does not match the "physical" file on disk.

I can also see that for example the coverart is not refreshed in MC
for some of the on-disk updated files.
Also, some of these on-disk updated files cannot be played,
and MC throws out an error message.

It seems MC is not refreshing, or does not receive a "refresh notification"
from the DLNA server, because I have to manually reconnect to Twonky
in order to fix this.

But reconnecting exposes another error;
playlists and links disappears (see other thread...).
 
Espen

[bob]

It seems like you might be on to something here, I ran into a similar problem while trying to get the disappearing zone to happen in the debugger. I'm still trying to reproduce it in the debugger... Thanks for the report.

[DSKO]

These errors are REALLY annoying me;
why do I get no love?



Aren't there anybody else experiencing these errors?

Espen

[horse]

Don't have as much DLNA as you an am using MC as the DLNA server, rendered and control point. I'm also using a Denon 4806CI DLNA for music, Plex on OSX for video and music. That and a few Win 7 machines but they don't get involved very often.
Have an iPad and iPhone with M Connect DLNA client / control point which works but with major problems as documented elsewhere with playing more than one tracknwhen I allow it to sleep.

Have found using the WebRemote on the iPad a much better solution for being able to control multiple zones and send music to DLNA renderers that show up as zones. With the iPad as my remote I can orchestrate my music and video to other devices.

I would not say this setup never needs restarting, but it varies as to what gets confused and needs restarting.

With MC managing the library and all my tagging needs. Including export to evil iTunes just so I can load the iDevices and the DLNA server implementation allowing me to easily customize my menu's and dynamic playlists. I am getting close to what I've been trying to achieve since the early days of uPnP and DLNA.

My server is 2008R2 as I had very bad experience with WHS in the early days and I have it running on a lian li custom machine with Core 2 Mobile, mini ITX mobo, RAID controller, extra USB sound for additional audio zones with speakers (back yard and dining room) 12 TB of music ( RIFF tagged WAV and MP3 for portable devices, DVD and BD all in mkv's and server based PVR using HDHomeRun dual digital tuner)

PLex of the Mac uses smb share for all video as it's library works better. Music is via DLNA but i prefer direct to the Denon for bit perfect streaming

[Caeruleus100]

Espen,

I'm having exactly the same problem as you with my Samsung LCD (LE40C580); I cannot push any media to the TV as a DMR from Media Center at all.
The TV appears as a zone before disappearing and reappearing some time later, and when it does appear, the standard error of "There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. ..." pops-up.

I am able to pull any media I want from MC and play it on the TV (although this is not recognised by the MC app at all.

Bob,

I'm running Win 7 x64 with the latest build of MC.  Pushing media to the TV works well with WMP 12 and Twonky (although I much prefer JRiver as a server/player/controller package).  Even the included 'Connected Media' app in Android 2.2/HTC Sense on my Desire HD can control and push media from the MC DLNA server to the TV, but this is hardly feasible as the Desire HD needs to stay turned-on throughout, and this drains battery- hardly practical for watching a full movie.
Is there anything I can do to help solve these problems?

Also, I imagine that seen as MC doesn't recognise the playing media when pulled to the TV, the DSP Studio settings for the TV as a zone do not apply; so is there a way of confirming what format audio/video is being pulled to the TV?  The video streams are evidently 1080p, I just would like to confirm what audio streams are being played so I can determine how they're being handled by my TV/Hi-Fi setup.  I imagine the answer is that it's contingent on what features and protocols are present in the TV client software, but thought I'd ask anyway.

My main priority is to get the full DLNA architecture between server/controller/renderer, specifically in the case of Samsung's proprietary DMR client.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Best of luck.

Caeruleus.

[bob]

Espen,

I'm having exactly the same problem as you with my Samsung LCD (LE40C580); I cannot push any media to the TV as a DMR from Media Center at all.
The TV appears as a zone before disappearing and reappearing some time later, and when it does appear, the standard error of "There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. ..." pops-up.

That's because the rendering device returned an error of some kind so we removed it's zone. The next build (>15.0.164) will require multiple  errors before removing the device. This may change the behavior for your TV. Some renderer errors aren't fatal though occasionally the renderer can get into a messed up state where it can't be used without a power cycle.

I am able to pull any media I want from MC and play it on the TV (although this is not recognised by the MC app at all.)

You're saying you can use the TV as a renderer and controller using it's remote and play stuff from the MC server without trouble, right? I'm not sure what you mean by "although this is not recognised by the MC app at all."

Bob,

I'm running Win 7 x64 with the latest build of MC.  Pushing media to the TV works well with WMP 12 and Twonky (although I much prefer JRiver as a server/player/controller package).  Even the included 'Connected Media' app in Android 2.2/HTC Sense on my Desire HD can control and push media from the MC DLNA server to the TV, but this is hardly feasible as the Desire HD needs to stay turned-on throughout, and this drains battery- hardly practical for watching a full movie.
Is there anything I can do to help solve these problems?

Make sure that, if you have more than one DLNA server configured in MC, the first one is compatible with your TV. I.E. it shouldn't have the WMC Compat box checked.

Also, I imagine that seen as MC doesn't recognise the playing media when pulled to the TV, the DSP Studio settings for the TV as a zone do not apply; so is there a way of confirming what format audio/video is being pulled to the TV?  The video streams are evidently 1080p, I just would like to confirm what audio streams are being played so I can determine how they're being handled by my TV/Hi-Fi setup.  I imagine the answer is that it's contingent on what features and protocols are present in the TV client software, but thought I'd ask anyway.

The MC controller doesn't query the renderer for the play state of media sent to it by another controller (like the TV itself, or Plug Player for example). We may add this in the future. The audio and video streams sent to the TV depend on the transcoding settings in MC's DLNA server setup. You can tell it to never convert for audio, images and video in which case you'll always get the original whether the device can play it or not. You can also sent the conversion (for each of audio, images and video) set to convert always or when necessary. Always means ALWAYS. When convert when necessary is set, we try to do intelligent conversion based on the renderer. Right now, that works best for the PS3 and Xbox360 for Video, the rest are assumed to handle mpeg2 ts (required by the DLNA protocol) for video. For audio, every DLNA device is expected to handle mp3 and L16 wave without transcoding (required by the DLNA protocol), everything else is transcoded.
So, if you have a device that plays most anything, say a WDTV, you should probably never convert. For TV's, unless your library is all mp3's, jpegs and mpeg2 video, you will be doing conversions.

[ohyeah]

Hi,

I have a squeezbox but i cannot manage to send music to it via MC

is it possible?

[JimH]

I believe it is, but you need Whitebear.  http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=61143.0