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[bspachman]

I'm gradually moving all of the machines in my house to use the Library Server/Library Client relationship. It's especially sweet since I got my new MacBook Pro (Core i7 2.8GHz)! I'm easily able to run MC15 in Parallels and use my laptop as a Client.

However, I'm having difficulties determining what filetypes should 'just work'. Here's what I've discovered so far...

THE SETUP:
- MC15 (recent build) running under a Parallels VM with Windows 7 as the GuestOS. (It also happens to be my BootCamp partition).
- Latest CCCP and QuickTime are installed on the VM.

THE OPTIONS:
On the HTPC (Library Server)--
* "Share your library, playlists, and view" - enabled
* Default port: 52199
Advanced settings - "Respond to auto-detection requests" - enabled
Authentication is enabled w/username & password
(Although I wouldn't guess that it's relevant in this thread, DLNA Server and DLNA Renderer are also enabled. I'll eventually get to working my iPhone into the equation...)

On the MBP (Library Client)--
* Library Server is disabled (as are all of the DLNA options)
* "Automatically sync changes..." - enabled
* "Play local file..." - enabled
* "Show playback zones from the server..." - disabled
* Don't convert audio
* Don't convert images
* Don't convert video


VIDEO:
AVI (Xvid/MP3): plays fine w/'automatic'
FLV: plays fine w/'automatic'
MKV: plays fine w/'automatic'
MOV (H264/AAC 2ch): plays fine w/'automatic'
MP4 (H264/AAC 2ch & DD): plays fine, but see below...
M4V -- a video from the iTunes store does not work. MC throws an error saying it can't play the file. The filetype is set on the client to use the QuickTime engine.

Notes: Getting MP4 files to play required some experimenting on the client. The 'automatic' filetype setting didn't work. What I had to do was use "JRiver Video Engine (DS filters)", then manually specify the Haali Media Splitter as the Source AND enable Haali Media Splitter (AR) and ffdshow Audio Decoder as other filters in order to get all of the stream functions working (subtitles, alternate audio tracks, etc.)

AUDIO--
AC3: plays, but see below...
APE: plays fine w/'automatic'
APL: FAIL--throws an error about checking the file location. Plays fine on the server.
WAV (DTS): digital static, but 'plays' w/'automatic'
M4A: plays fine w/'automatic'
M4P: looks like it plays, but no sound. The filetype on the client is set to use QT.
MP3: plays fine w/'automatic'
WMA: plays fine w/'automatic'

Notes: my AC3 files when played with the playback method set on 'automatic', tried to open the file on a webpage with a QT object, then crashed MC. If I set the playback method to "JRiver Audio Engine (DS filters)", then it plays back fine, but MC hangs when trying to advance to the next track.

Any thoughts as to why the AC3 & APL files won't work properly?

SUGGESTIONS:
- If Library Server is enabled, DISable all of the Library Client options (unless it's possible to do both at the same time--but why would you?)

Best,
Brad

[bspachman]

A followup...

Naturally, I would assume that if Library Server/Client wasn't able to play a given file type that turning on the option to "Convert audio when necessary" would help--except it doesn't.

Turning on that option with my setup DOES allow APL files to play, but with audio conversion enabled, AC3 files don't play at all, m4a files don't play at all, and m4p files also error out.

Is there a way to get my main filetypes all working on a client at the same time?

brad

[Matt]

A file must be playable by the JRiver playback engine on the server for the server to be able to convert it for a client.

For a file to work on the client without conversion requires that the playback engine selected supports URLs.  This works fine for any native audio formats (ape, mp3, flac, wav, etc.) and images.  For types that use Directshow or QT, it will depend on the filters installed.

[bspachman]

A file must be playable by the JRiver playback engine on the server for the server to be able to convert it for a client.

That makes sense to me, but since all of my file types (with the exception of m4v and m4p) are using either Automatic, or the JRiver audio engine, why do AC3 and m4a files fail when using audio conversion?

For a file to work on the client without conversion requires that the playback engine selected supports URLs.  This works fine for any native audio formats (ape, mp3, flac, wav, etc.) and images.  For types that use Directshow or QT, it will depend on the filters installed.

OK. Is it possible to extend the apl format (generally a native audio format for MC) to work on the client without using conversion?

best,
brad

[Matt]

OK. Is it possible to extend the apl format (generally a native audio format for MC) to work on the client without using conversion?

This will be supported in a future build.

It gets a little complicated since an APL references a relative path that doesn't really make any sense when the file is getting accessed as a URL.

[jmone]

* "Play local file..." - enabled

This is the key to happiness.  If you put your media on a NW Share so that both the Server and Client access the same way (eg \\SERVER\Media\....etc, or X:\Media\...) then both can access the media without having to do any magic to get them to play as both the Server and Client will see the original file in the same path and hence and EVERTHING will play.

[bspachman]

This is the key to happiness.  If you put your media on a NW Share so that both the Server and Client access the same way (eg \\SERVER\Media\....etc, or X:\Media\...) then both can access the media without having to do any magic to get them to play as both the Server and Client will see the original file in the same path and hence and EVERTHING will play.

Ahah! I wasn't sure what the parameters were for being a 'local' file. Now that I've mapped the same drive letters on the client as are defined on the server, things are working slightly better. For example,

- APL files now work without being URL-aware. (Although when a build comes out with that upgrade, I'll certainly check it out.)
- AC3 files now appear to advance to the next track without hanging.

However, m4p files still only appear to play--there's no audio. I will try playing them with iTunes to see what happens. Maybe I'm missing an authentication step somewhere....

brad

[bspachman]

UPDATE:

Of course, since I'm trying to play m4p files on a 'new' computer (ie my Parallels Windows installation), I needed to install and play a few of the files with iTunes to authorize them. Now MC plays them fine in client mode--both with and without 'local files' being enabled.

Damn DRM....grumble, grumble...

brad