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[Hendrik]

Hi,

i have my Library on my Media Server, which is a headless server system, with no audio card. Sadly, MC17 doesn't allow me to play any files unless it manages to output audio.
I would love to be able to test-play some files through my remote desktop, to see if they work on the server, in case there are some issues.

Would it be possible to add a "Null" audio renderer, or possibly just not connect any Audio filters with RO?

[Matt]

We talked a while back about creating our own null renderer since your WHS box didn't have one at first and it caused some trouble with importing.  I suppose this would just be an extension of that.

Another option would be to spend a few Euros ( while they still work ) on a really cheap soundcard like this $3 one.

[Hendrik]

Well i fixed the importing issue by getting the null renderer installed, i would just like to be able to use the Null renderer for playback, too.

PS:
Its not a WHS, and i think the server would be insulted if you called it that.

[Matt]

What happens if you use Options > Video > Advanced > Audio playback device > Default Windows playback device?

I'm wondering if Windows will allow the default audio renderer to work, even if the output doesn't go anywhere.

[Hendrik]

Same error about failure to connect decoder and audio renderer. I tried that already.

Its not a crucial issue or anything, just something that annoys me from time to time. Switching it to disk writer actually works, but i generally forget to delete the files, and had some gigabytes of wavs sitting around.

[Matt]

Its not a crucial issue or anything, just something that annoys me from time to time. Switching it to disk writer actually works, but i generally forget to delete the files, and had some gigabytes of wavs sitting around.

That's an interesting idea -- make a null audio output plugin for Options > Audio.  I like the idea because it would be easy to program, and would let you "play" audio as well for testing.

We're also doing some work to make custom filter selection nicer (something we talked about for v16 but didn't have time for) and with that, selecting a null renderer might get easier.

Please bump this in a couple weeks if nothing surfaces before then.

Thanks.

[Matt]

In today's build:
NEW: Added 'Null Output' output plugin, available in Options > Audio > Audio Output.  Allows playing videos on a machine with no sound card.

The hardest part was deciding if the hardware direct light should come on when it's used

[jmone]

That made me laugh 

[Hendrik]

Great, thanks.

[glynor]

The hardest part was deciding if the hardware direct light should come on when it's used

Ha ha ha ha!!! 

[MrHaugen]

This is great for us that just run the server as a library server I think. Especially on 2008 server that does not nicely support sound out of the box.

Does this mean that I can switch to the Null audio renderer and never have to have any sound card or services running? And will the Duration and Dimensions still be populated? This might help me in my battle against the non updating Durations field.


*EDIT*
No, it did not help with updating the Duration field

[Hendrik]

So i finally got around to testing this, and i sadly have to report that it doesn't work (tested with .47)
Still getting the same message that the audio renderer could not connect to the decoder.

Log here:
http://pastebin.com/GxVUVZqw
... Nothing interesting in it, though.

It somehow smells like its not finding the null renderer, but i'm sure its present this time.

[JimH]

Matt's out for the afternoon.  

Did you choose it under Audio settings?

[Hendrik]

I figured it out, i still had video set to "Default Windows playback device" from testing earlier.

Works fine now, Sorry about the noise!

[mojave]

You should call this the acappella karaoke feature. 

[MrHaugen]

Null Output seems to work well for Audio. I can play the files without activating my Windows Sound Services on the MS 2008 Server.
So, I tried to change the sound output under video to "Same as device used in audio playback", in hopes of making video work without this service as well. No luck.

I get this message:

Something went wrong with playback.
Details:
Failed to connect audio renderer to audio decoder.

To you who understand this sort of things... I'm not supposed to be able to play videos without sound on this server? I thought this Null Renderer would king of fix this thing, and enable me to finally start using Remote Desktop to my server again (2008 disables the sound services when connecting remotely).

[Hendrik]

Works for me on videos with the "Same device as used in audio playback" option.

[MrHaugen]

Could you try it with Windows Audio service stopped as well? I'm wondering if this is a 2008 server problem only, or not.

[fdefunct]

Well i fixed the importing issue by getting the null renderer installed

Any chance on catching a link to the null renderer you installed? Experiencing, I believe, a similar issue with importing. I'm not too concerned about being able to play from the server, but I'll have to shelve MC17 unless I can get it to import properly on my Server 2008 machine.