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[JimH]

I was wondering if there are any plans to make Gizmo a stand alone music player, i.e. it can play music files stored on the sd card. It doesn't seem very far being able to be one.

Not at this time.

[MrHaugen]

Wireless sync, and local playback of at least music, would be super nice.

[JimH]

Local playback works now, but it plays from the server.

[MrHaugen]

Yes, I know. Bad choice of words. Just thinking of the times you don't want, or can't, stream tons of data. Nah, it's not super important for now. Notification tray controls or a simple Widget is more pressing I think. I'll manage with Spotify and Winamp when I'm not home.

[WinoOutWest]

Yes, I know. Bad choice of words. Just thinking of the times you don't want, or can't, stream tons of data. Nah, it's not super important for now. Notification tray controls or a simple Widget is more pressing I think. I'll manage with Spotify and Winamp when I'm not home.

+1 on the notification bar controls
+1 for widget controls and
and my own variation on widget request:
+1 for widget control on the lock screen like some of the existing Android players have so you can pause, next etc without even unlocking.

I'd also love to see Gizmo handle local music on the SD card, wireless syncing of my playlists to my Android etc.

A hard core Apple fanboy was over last night and I showed him Gizmo on my phone - he was blown away.  Then I let him have access to WebPlay on his iPhone.... he left mumbling something about finally having something to utilize his 6GB data plan on.... I think I may have just converted another lost soul over to the MC world.
 
Keep up the awesome development!

[MrHaugen]

+1 for widget control on the lock screen like some of the existing Android players have so you can pause, next etc without even unlocking.

That is a very important one

[Raphoune]

I use WidgetLocker to put any widget on my lockscreen. With this solution, you don't have to choose between the 1,000 apps which have a locksreen feature.
So +1 for widget only...

A better "playing now" view and additional commands (Reshuffle / Reshuffle remaining) could be nice too.

[ohyeah]

hi that is great
is it possible to consider gizmo as a zone ?
the idea is to have the same that on the main zone
thanks

[debt_collector]

i downloaded the latest Gizmo, installed it on my HTC Desire and and followed instructions on http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Gizmo but i cant connect despite entering the right key to Gizmo. i tried to connect to two PCs connected to my router both running MC15 but still no cigar. I am able to connect to both PCs via the webremote facility using my browser on my HTC Desire.

[JimH]

Update to the latest MC available at the top of the MC15 board.  That should fix it.

[sfroach]

Hello,
I have latest version of MC & Gizmo on my PC & Android HTC Incredible.
MC plays OK on my PC .
I’m also able to stream FLAC music via a PS3 (DLNA renderer) on a stereo in a different room. However, this requires the plasma display to be the user interface for the PS3.
Gizmo has the MC generated code.
Gizmo ‘Play here’ plays to the Android device OK
Gizmo ‘Theater View remote’ controls MC running on the PC OK.

How do I get Gizmo to ‘Play to server’ with the server being the PS3 (DLNA renderer)?
My goal is to NOT have the plasma display be the user interface; but to use my Android for the UI.
Thanks,
Steve

[JimH]

I’m also able to stream FLAC music via a PS3 (DLNA renderer) on a stereo in a different room. However, this requires the plasma display to be the user interface for the PS3.
Gizmo has the MC generated code.
Gizmo ‘Play here’ plays to the Android device OK
Gizmo ‘Theater View remote’ controls MC running on the PC OK.

How do I get Gizmo to ‘Play to server’ with the server being the PS3 (DLNA renderer)?
My goal is to NOT have the plasma display be the user interface; but to use my Android for the UI.

Welcome to the forum.
I don't think the PS3 is a DLNA Renderer.  If it doesn't appear in the list of servers and renderers, it may not be.

Edit -- It is a Renderer, but it is not controllable.  You can't push content to it.  It can only pull content from a DLNA Server.

[sfroach]

Thanks for the reply.

I found the Sony Playstation3 on http://www.dlna.org/products/  under Product Category = Game Console.

The PS3 IS listed as being a DNLA server.

When I'm streaming uncompressed L16 no header format (converted from FLAC - PS3 unsupported) from MC to the PS3 everything works OK as long as I use the PS3 user interface on the plasma display.

I want to continue  streaming to the PS3, but use Gizmo on my Android as the user interface for MC. This frees up the plasma display to be off or viewing other muted content.

Shouldn't this be possible?

Thanks,
Steve

[JimH]

No.  A device has to be a controllable Renderer for that to work.  Please see our wiki article on DLNA for definitions.

In your example, the Android is the DLNA Controller, MC is the DLNA Server, and the PS3 would be a DLNA Renderer.  But the PS3 can't be controlled by the DLNA Controller.

[sfroach]

Ha,
Wiki is very helpful.

Is it correct to describe a PS3 as a DLNA Player, because it can't be controlled by MC?

So to accomplish my goal, I need to replace the PS3 with a DLNA Renderer like a WD TV Live Plus?


Thanks,
Steve

[JimH]

It may be right to call it a DLNA Player.  I'm not sure.

Are you trying to play audio only?  Or more than that?

[sfroach]

I use the PS3 as a media extender for photo's & internet video so I'm just looking for an audio device.

I'm looking for a high quality audio DLNA Renderer which can be controlled with Android Gizmo and/or a Pronto remote (with LCD).

My audio format is FLAC so ideally the controlable DLNA Renderer will natively play FLAC or the Uncompressed L16 no header format.

I'm hoping for an alternative to building an HTPC with MC sharing an audio library (with my existing MC PC).

Thanks again,
Steve

[thunderstorm77]

I've been using the latest version of Gizmo on my Galaxy Tab over the last 3-4 days, and it's absolutely fantastic. It's fast, reliable and responsive. One thing I'm missing: Possibility to see the entire Playing Now list. From what I can see, now you're only able to see the track currently playing.

[Sheugel]

If you "long press" on Playing now, it will show you the option "Show files".
Personnaly I get a connection error with that feature...

[sh]

Just installed gizmo 168 and MC 169
tried some small videos (2-5 mb) at first a weird thing happened, touching a file played another file in my video library  ? 
but after 3-4 attempts it did the job correctly.

it's a good start. glad to see the video.

[JustinChase]

I noticed the same thing with Gizmo recently (maybe only after upgrading to the newest version?), where I selected a playlist, but got all my files playing.

Turns out, the smartlists that referenced another smartlist all got corrupted, so it was not limiting to the smartlist excluding to only the files I wanted, and instead was playing everything in my library.

I had to "correct" all of my smartlists to fix this issue.  I don't know for sure when it happened, but it was definitely within the last week, and last couple of builds of MC and Gizmo.

Once I fixed the smartlists, everything works again.

[thunderstorm77]

If you "long press" on Playing now, it will show you the option "Show files".
Personnaly I get a connection error with that feature...

Thanks - I got the same error.

[skeeterfood]

Thanks - I got the same error.

Me too,  but otherwise working great!

This is on my Archos 101IT (posting this from it).

Quick wish list:
* Show previous/next cover art and use swiping to switch tracks, at least in landscape mode
* Tap on cover art to play/pause
* Make the play button show || when playing,  l> when paused.   It seems really strange to click "play" to pause...
* Access to full file list using icon for remote zones
* Ability to re-order and otherwise change the playlist

-John

[sdgrizdan]

Press and hold any album, artist, or track to get options including "Play".

The phone's hardware buttons for volume, menu, and back should all work.

What about enabling the search button on the android device as a shortcut to the search on Gizmo?

[famu97]

I think I found two bugs with the Gizmo App
1. For some reason the Gizmo app is playing tracks out of sequence of the album.  I don't know why it's doing that but I can't figure out why when the sequence plays fine with MC on my pc.
2. When I long press a track/album to start playing on Gizmo, the album art cover is displayed & the track starts playing. then if I hit the back key to go back to an albums then long-press another album & click Add to add more songs to Playing Now, it then goes to the Playing Now screen but it doesn't display the correct album art. It displays the Gizmo program icon as the album art.  don't know what that's about either.

[imugli]

I notice with the (Fantastic) sky.fm and DI.fm android apps, they have a bandwidth count, which is particularly useful for those in the bandwidth backwater that is Australia.

Any chance of this being implemented in Gizmo?

[abrise]

Is there a way to change icon size and font size within gizmo? I found them far too big in my 800*480 HTC hd2-androidised- screen.

I find Gizmo really useful, I use it everyday.

[wig]

Welcome to Interact.  Thanks for the kind words.

Video requires conversion, and we're not quite there yet, but soon.  It should happen in the next month or so.

What's the status of video, Jim? I 'm working on a review for my tablet and wanted to include something about video if possible.

I tried a couple different types of video files with the latest build, but no success.

[JimH]

Video conversion is working, but there are still some issues with Gizmo.  I believe these will be fixed in the next week or two.

[wig]

Video conversion is working, but there are still some issues with Gizmo.  I believe these will be fixed in the next week or two.

Is the cache supposed to appear in the location set in Tools-> Options..File Location?

Mine is set at F:\Documents\My Videos\J River Conversion Cache\ , but after trying to play several videos, that folder is empty.

My videos are on a NAS and play fine from the server.

[JimH]

A newer build of Gizmo can be found here:

[moved to the Android Market]

15.0.175 / 23 (January 12, 2011)

1. Faster: Improved browsing performance with a future server.
2. Changed: Improved the quality of browse thumbnails.


15.0.174 / 22 (January 11, 2011)


1. Changed: 'Here' zones exposed by a server will show with the name
'Server' (instead of showing two Here zones).
2. NEW: Added support for the hardware search button.
3. Changed: When switching modes between playback targets, the browse or
search context will not be disc
4. Fixed: Possible battery drain issue when leaving program in Playing
Now stopped when switching to other programs.
5. Fixed: Long-clicking root items like Search or Commands would show
invalid menu options.
6. Faster: When viewing files while browsing, less fields are requested
from the server -- reducing server load and bandwidth substantially.
7. Changed: Removed 'Show files' menu option from root choices.
8. Faster: Improved performance of core web service calling / parsing
engine.
9. Changed: While playing, the play button shows a pause graphic.
10. Fixed: Browsing images could fail to show for some items in certain
cases.
11. NEW: Added a 'Reshuffle' command to the commands menu.
12. NEW: When viewing an image, the menu allows setting the image as the
wallpaper.
13. NEW: New image viewing system with gallery slider (gallery hides
automatically, can also tap image in non-gallery area to hide, tap in
gallery area to show).

[wig]

A newer build of Gizmo can be found here:

http://www.jriver.com/install_gizmo.html

15.0.174 / 22 (January 11, 2011)

2. NEW: Added support for the hardware search button.

Nice. Search is only usable for songs at this point, since searching for an Artist or Album only let's you play the entire Artist or Album, instead of letting you click through. (edit makes this coherent)

11. NEW: Added a 'Reshuffle' command to the commands menu.

I noticed you also made some changes to the play commands, adding (Shuffle) and removing (Add > as Next). I really hope these will be customizable in the future.
Also, short-tapping a song currently initiates a (Play) command instead of opening the Play menu.

12. NEW: When viewing an image, the menu allows setting the image as the
wallpaper.
13. NEW: New image viewing system with gallery slider (gallery hides
automatically, can also tap image in non-gallery area to hide, tap in
gallery area to show).

I like the gallery slider. One question; is the system converting images for viewing? If so, where are they being stored?

[WinoOutWest]

I can't seem to find (and hopefully change) the ratings of  a song from Gizmo.
I presumed this would be std functionality.  Most likely I am just missing something...
Where is this?

[Matt]

I like the gallery slider. One question; is the system converting images for viewing? If so, where are they being stored?

Yes.  The server converts images to the display size (normally the screen size of your Android).

The gallery strip uses thumbnails and playback uses the full image.

Converted images are not stored (save for the RAW cache if you're using RAW images).

[HTPC4ME]

first time using gizmo, and im confused what is Here for?  what do you want to do. choose where to play it offers Here, Mb2r, And Xtacy HTPc. i choose here. and nothing plays on phone.. What Is Here?

one more question please. when using gizmo as remote. and choosing playing now, i see the current track, how do i see the whole playing now list? the songs after the playing now\ or before the current playing song.. meaning if song is playing now, and i want to go back 10-20-50 songs in playing now. how do i accomplish this?
Thank You.

[JimH]

Here plays here (on your phone).  If it doesn't play, try turning up the media volume.  Try playing some local music files in the default music player. 

Which phone do you have?

[HTPC4ME]

windows mobile HTC HD2 windows mobile removed and flashed with DFT_LEO_NAND_Android

droid version - 2.2 - Build 2.29.405.5
software version - 2.29.405.5

when i chose here it worked that time(but i did it differently)... maybe im not understanding full layout\commands yet. steps i took...

what you want to do? choose where to play, chose Here, chose audio, , ratings, 5, adult party mix then i chose commands and play. and it just stayed on the commands page and didnt play the adult mix... NOW if i continue on so adult party mix, then choose artist, then album, then choose a SINGLE song in that mix (basically you would be as far as you can go in the tree) it plays automatically\instantly (not having to use commands) so basically commands are not playing when i choose play. and gizmo will only play one song at a time.

Now if i choose play on server - audio, ratings, 5, adult party mix, commands play. the same thing it just stays on commands screen, BUT jriver on server plays whats ALREADY in the playing now(if nothing in the playing now) then it wont play anything, and gizmo stays on commands screen.

also for using gizmo for remote - and choosing playing now, i see the current track, how do i see the whole playing now list? the songs after the playing now\ or before the current playing song.. meaning if song is playing now, and i want to go back 10-20-50 songs in playing now. how do i accomplish this?
Thank You.

[Rob L]

commands isn't for that... it purely triggers those controls on the server. It's not about operating on the selection in Gizmo. It's separate from the playback, if you see what I mean.

All you need to do is select where you want to play (e.g. from the header at the top of the interface) then browse through to the media you want to play. Once you're at the track level, it will just play when you click on it. If you want to operate on the files before you get to the file level, just do a long press, and the options will come up as a pop-up menu.

Once you're playing on your android, you'll get the cover art and five buttons at the bottom. The left one of those toggles you between the current playing now list and the cover art.

[HTPC4ME]

guess i need to learn android

Hey Thanks

now for playlists...

i chose play here, and played song and playlist show up... NICE!

When i chose to play at server or HTPC.. it shows the track playing and only 4 buttons, not getting the playlist button when connecting to server.

[water1]

I'm using Motorola i1, firmware v1.5 on Nextel system. JRMC15 at version .172
Gizmo quit working. I uninstalled Gizmo and Gizmote. Gizmo no longer shows in market. I downloaded from link on forum. It won't install.
Any suggestions?

[JimH]

The link you should use is the one in the Market for your phone.  If it doesn't show up there, then the phone may not be capable of running Gizmo.  

If your device cannot access the Market, you can download Gizmo here: http://files.jriver.com/gizmo/Gizmo.apk

[water1]

The link you should use is the one in the Market for your phone.  If it doesn't show up there, then the phone may not be capable of running Gizmo.
  If your device cannot access the Market, you can download Gizmo here: http://files.jriver.com/gizmo/Gizmo.apk

It worked in the past. Any reason it would not now work?
As I said, I downloaded it and it won't install. Is there any limitation on the firmware version of Android?

[HTPC4ME]

When i chose to play? at server or HTPC in gizmo2 it shows the track playing and only 4 buttons, not getting the playlist button when connecting to server, as i do if i choose to play here. (anyone else confirm)

Another thing i've noticed (maybe someone can confirm as well) when choosing what do you want to do? if you choose a client who connects to server it will control it but it will not show the cover nor the name of file for that client.

i'm wondering if this has to do with this topic by any chance? (last post describes problem in standard view not gizmo, but maybe there is a correlation?) http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=61666.msg414433#msg414433

Thanks

[skeeterfood]

When i chose to play? at server or HTPC in gizmo2 it shows the track playing and only 4 buttons, not getting the playlist button when connecting to server, as i do if i choose to play here. (anyone else confirm)

I can confirm this, and it's a serious deficiency.

John

[HTPC4ME]

Thanks Skeeter - For putting a Hault to my searching.. I bet i have 3 hours wasted researching the forum and wiki for a simple answer someone else could have tested within seconds or by someone already knowing the answer... ?

Much appreciated!

skeeter do you have\use gizmo by any chance? if so can ya confirm my second question as well?

Another thing i've noticed (maybe someone can confirm as well) when choosing what do you want to do? if you choose a client who connects to server it will control it but it will not show the cover nor the name of file for that client.

[Sheugel]

I can confirm this, and it's a serious deficiency.

John

I also can confirm. I only have the 4 control buttons on my HTC Desire.

Another thing i've noticed (maybe someone can confirm as well) when choosing what do you want to do? if you choose a client who connects to server it will control it but it will not show the cover nor the name of file for that client.

That is working for me with a DLNA renderer Philips NP2900.

Sheugel

[HTPC4ME]

Sheugel - may i ask what your settings are on client\server? maybe one of my settings is off and not pushing names and cover arts?

[Sheugel]

I thought you were refering to Gizmo not displaying data when you were pushing music to the client, talked too fast sorry.
Anyway, I think some DLNA clients won't display the metadata. I also own another DLNA audio renderer Philips WAS7500 and it doesn't show the song played. Also the volume can't be controlled through DLNA.
Maybe, you can try to check the DLNAExtra option...

[HTPC4ME]

no you were correct

i was talking about both gizmo 2 and clients pc's connecting to server or clients.

if you hav e server for all media, and clients and are using gizmo - then when connecting to server with clients (my clients being other pc's) on the server itself you cannot see what is playing on the clients. and when clients are playing and you connect to them with gizmo you cannot see what the clients are playing either. but you can control them.

my setup:

server  - all clients connect to it.
in server under playing now, if i choose htpc client. i cannot see thumbs or the file that is playing in the standard view display text. but i can control the htpc(play,pause, stop, load files etc) they just never show up in clients playing now on server.

same with gizmo, if i choose what do you want to do? choose where to play - htpc it controls the htpc playing now. but no cover art shows, and no name. so you have no clue what is going on in theater room on that client.

[Sheugel]

It looks like it's only possible to control the "Playing Now" of the PC client with Gizmo (or with the server) through DLNA (and not through the Library Client feature).
It implies that:
- when the "Playing Now" of the PC client is set and controlled from Gizmo or the server, it shows the data properly. On the client it will show one song at a time, all you can do is control the playback with play, pause or stop.
- if you set the "Playing Now" directly from the client, the "Playing Now" of the client won't be reflected to the server or Gizmo.
Make a test by disconnecting your PC client from your library server.
Settings for DLNA are:
- on the server: Library Server, DLNA Server and DLNA Controller ticked
- on the client: DLNA renderer ticked
Then control your PC client with Gizmo.

PS: the fifth button (Playing Now list) will show if you choose to "Play Here" on Gizmo... which is not what we're looking for...

Sheugel