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[NickF]

I hadn't realised until the last couple of days that WeGizmo is behaving as a DLNA control point and is treating MC as a DLNA renderer.  I had assumed that the interaction was similar to WebRemote where commands were, in effect, like an IR remote or keyboard, operating on a particular zone.  If you set something playing with WebRemote, you could see the file playing in the client and also control it from there.  This is not the case with WebGizmo.  The MC DLNA Renderer cannot be controlled from the MC client.  So if you start a file paying with WebGizmo, it does not show in the client and cannot be controlled from there.

I really don't think this is acceptable, as I have said in this thread on the Media Center 17 forum:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=72936.0

There is really no justification for using DLNA to control MC.  WebGizmo is advertised as a Remote Control for Media Center but it isn't.  If you have something playing on MC, you can't control it from WebGizmo.  You can only control files which were initiated from WebGizmo.  This is plain wrong and highly confusing for users.

Why was DLNA chosen for this?  It has really messed things up.  We need to go back to a true remote control model using MCC and use DLNA for non-MC devices.

Nick.

[Scolex]

I am confused so either I am brain dead today or I am not seeing this behavior.
Just so I have it straight you are saying that if you start playback from WebGizmo/Gizmo that you can no longer control playback from a client or your remote.
Is this a specific type of client or just a regular PC with a remote library connection.

Just for my clarification please describe what each device in the chain is. (DMS, DMR, DMC, DMP)

[Matt]

I think you may have your wires crossed.

WebGizmo is a remote for Media Center.  There's no DLNA.

If the Media Center that's being controlled has a DLNA zone, controlling that zone with WebGizmo will obviously use DLNA.  If that DLNA zone is another Media Center, just connect directly to it with WebGizmo instead of tunneling through the extra layer.

[NickF]

OMG!!!!  Hangs head in shame!  

I had expected, when I selected a zone in WebGizmo, that the client would have switched to it but it didn't so I was looking at the wrong zone, so no wonder the client controls and my IR remote had no effect.

So I was confused by and maybe misunderstood what Matt had said:

from: Matt

from: KoolADE on June 27, 2012, 07:28:36 pm
This happens to me as well. If I use WebGizmo to play a list of songs to another computer, then go to that computer and press Ctrl+S to stop, it doesn't actually stop. It just skips to the next song.

In that case, you started a controller that's sending files with DLNA to Media Center.

The controller is going to keep sending play commands until you stop on the controller, not the receiving machine.

Does that make sense?

So what is the context in which WebGizmo uses DLNA?

Can the selection of the zone cause the client to switch to that zone?  This may make use a bit simpler.

Now excuse me while I go and crawl under a stone!

Nick.

[Matt]

I get the impression you're doing this:
Web Gizmo > Connect to server > Server controls different Media Center using DLNA

I am suggesting:
Web Gizmo > Connect directly to different Media Center


At home, I have a server and a few clients.  But with Gizmo (and WebGizmo) I connect directly to the clients.  Each client has Media Network enabled and also runs a server.

This way, I'm not tunneling playback commands from the server to the client.

[NickF]

Thanks for the explanation, Matt.

The issue I had was with direct control of an instance of MC where WebGizmo is running on that PC's web server.  I have Zones set up for Music and Movies with different audio settings.  So, MC's client happened to be set to Movies.  On WebGizmo, on Play To, I selected Music and selected and played a file.  When I looked at the MC client, I assumed I was looking at the Music zone but it was still on Movies, hence no view or control of what was playing.

What I am suggesting is that, when WebGizmo selects a zone, the MC client should switch to that zone.  Is this possible?

Nick.

[Matt]

What I am suggesting is that, when WebGizmo selects a zone, the MC client should switch to that zone.  Is this possible?

Not currently, and I'm not sure it's a great idea.

For example, my kids watch TV in one zone, and I use Gizmo to control other zones for music around the house.

Switching them away from what they're watching because I played a different album wouldn't be very neat.

[NickF]

In my situation, the Zones both play on the host machine so there is no conflict.  If it isn't possible, I'll have a look at the code for the Play To page and insert a command to switch zones.

Nick.

[MDCry]

How do I control zone 1 and zone 2 of my Denon 3312 using webgizmo? I can play and control the main zone of the denon with no problem. How can I add/create control for zone 2 of my denon receiver? The select a location is for "this location, player and denon 3312". This location and player seem to just play music on my computer.

Any help would be appreciated as controlling zone 1 and zone 2 of my Denon from my laptop is all I really want to be able to do.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[csimon]

I very much doubt DLNA is able to do this, it's an audio switching function of the receiver, not a streaming function.  If the receiver was able to do this, it would expose itself as two distinct DLNA renderers across the network and they'd automatically appear in MC as separate zones.

If you've got 5.1 output from your computer then you can set up MC to see one stereo pair as one zone and another pair as another zone (there should be topics in the forum about this or on the Wiki) and take the outsputs into separate inputs on your Denon, then set the source for Zone 1 to be the first input and the source for Zone 2 to be the second input.

But this is not using DLNA, it's using direct sound output from your computer.

If your on-board audio outputs are already beong used then I guess you could get a secondary USB soundcard to use for this purpose.

[lockdown571]

I wish I had seen this sooner! This finally explains all the problems I've been having with Gizmo. Under "choose a server to play from" I always chose my home server and then selected the client under "where to play". Everything works fine if I select the client under "choose a server to play from" and then "player" under "where to play". I hope you can understand how this is HIGHLY confusing for the end user. I wouldn't think to select a client when it's asking me to select a "server". I really think this needs to be looked into. Maybe just the vocabulary needs to be changed.