Topic: NEW: Chromecast Support (Read 43132 times)

JimH · « **on:** May 14, 2014, 02:30:36 pm »

Gizmo can now stream audio or video from MC 19.0.134 to a Google Chromecast. Requires latest Gizmo.

When ChromeCast hardware is installed and setup in your local WiFi network, other supported hardware can detect it. It will then be paired with each device.

Once that is done, a ChromeCast logo will show up in Gizmo at the top right. Clicking on it will allow you to select a Cast Device to Cast Audio/Video to, and once connected, any media you play will play to the ChromeCast instead.
When connected, the ChromeCast logo in Gizmo will change to a "filled" screen, and to disconnect simply click it again.

While the ChromeCast is playing, your phone/tablet with Gizmo does not need to remain on, once the ChromeCast has taken over it can safely be put aside. However, if you're playing an audio playlist, Gizmo will need to remain in standby at least to load the next track after the current one finished.

Seeking in video is not instant when playing to the ChromeCast, as our design right now requires re-opening the video at the new position. This can feel a bit disruptive, and depending on how fast the ChromeCast reacts, Gizmo may even show the "Stopped" screen for a brief time while it's working. As long as the TV still shows a loading animation, there is nothing to worry about, and it should resume in a moment. Do not press the "Resume Playback" button in Gizmo at that time, as this will disrupt the seek.

We'll be trying to improve the seeking experience in the future, but for now its good to keep this in mind.

WinoOutWest · « **Reply #1 on:** May 14, 2014, 04:11:56 pm »

Very NICE!

nitephlight · « **Reply #2 on:** May 14, 2014, 04:34:56 pm »

Made my day. Thank you 😃

dees_74 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 14, 2014, 05:42:43 pm »

Can't get it to play. My Chromecast links right up, but when I choose a song, the screen on the TV quickly shows the track's art work and then returns to the gray page that say JRiver. On my device it acts like it is going to play (it says "working...") but never does. Anybody else having issues?

eapool · « **Reply #4 on:** May 14, 2014, 05:51:50 pm »

OK - upgraded everything and I have it working on my chromecast. Seeking audio works fine. If I try to seek video, I get the 'resume playback' button immediately and when I click that button, it starts at the beginning. So, seeking is not working at all for me.

Any thoughts,

Alex

JimH · « **Reply #5 on:** May 14, 2014, 06:16:29 pm »

Quote from: dees_74 on May 14, 2014, 05:42:43 pm

Can't get it to play. My Chromecast links right up, but when I choose a song, the screen on the TV quickly shows the track's art work and then returns to the gray page that say JRiver. On my device it acts like it is going to play (it says "working...") but never does. Anybody else having issues?

Make sure you're using the latest MC. Chromecast support requires MC19.0.134 or above.

dees_74 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 14, 2014, 07:31:37 pm »

Just updated to 19.0.134. Still no luck. Are there any settings in MC that I need to adjust?

JimH · « **Reply #7 on:** May 14, 2014, 10:08:57 pm »

Did you update Gizmo?

contium · « **Reply #8 on:** May 14, 2014, 11:44:22 pm »

Awesome!

Hendrik · « **Reply #9 on:** May 15, 2014, 12:53:25 am »

Quote from: eapool on May 14, 2014, 05:51:50 pm

If I try to seek video, I get the 'resume playback' button immediately and when I click that button, it starts at the beginning. So, seeking is not working at all for me.

Seeking Video is not instant. Look at the TV instead of Gizmo, if it shows a loading animation just wait until its done, and don't press the button.

connersw · « **Reply #10 on:** May 15, 2014, 11:21:31 am »

Hendrik, thank you for your work in getting this going. Unfortunately, I am having some Video issues.

Video does not seem to work unless I select Use Live HTTP Streaming in Gizmo. If I use the "old way," it locks up the Chromecast badly. The Episode Name shows up on the screen with the working bar moving, then eventually it just freezes. My phone's screen shows it as "working...," but it does nothing. After several minutes, the Chromecast reboots itself. If I try to connect to it again, the Chromecast icon disappears from Gizmo, and I have to reboot my phone.

Is Live HTTP Streaming required? If so, that should probably be mentioned in the release notes/wiki.

The issue hampering me is that Live HTTP Streaming does not work to play files locally on my phone as reported here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=87063.msg601433#msg601433 Droid 4 running Android 4.1.2, Gizmo 19.0.133, and MC 19.0.134. The "old way" only works to play Video locally, and Live HTTP Streaming only works to play to Chromecast. It would be nice if I had one option I could just set and forget.

Also, the release only mentions Audio or Video, but I did try sending Images. They only play locally on the phone. Any chance Image support will be added as well?

Castius · « **Reply #11 on:** May 15, 2014, 12:25:14 pm »

Great to see this added. Thank you

I only have 2 min to try it but here is what i noticed on my nexus 4.

When i start a song then start Chromecast. It played on my phone and on the chrome cast.
If i started casting then started the song it only played on chromecast.
Is this supposed to happen?

No luck with video. But didn't have time to test more.

Thank again!

drmimosa · « **Reply #12 on:** May 15, 2014, 01:46:40 pm »

This is great. Thank you Hendrik. It works really well on my system!!

[Edit] Watched a full MKV movie last night. Video quality and audio were very good (ie I didn't miss anything), the film buffered a few times but the stream was successful. This saves me a 30ft hdmi cable to connect server to TV.

Hendrik · « **Reply #13 on:** May 15, 2014, 04:18:07 pm »

Quote from: connersw on May 15, 2014, 11:21:31 am

Video does not seem to work unless I select Use Live HTTP Streaming in Gizmo. If I use the "old way," it locks up the Chromecast badly. The Episode Name shows up on the screen with the working bar moving, then eventually it just freezes. My phone's screen shows it as "working...," but it does nothing. After several minutes, the Chromecast reboots itself. If I try to connect to it again, the Chromecast icon disappears from Gizmo, and I have to reboot my phone.

Is Live HTTP Streaming required? If so, that should probably be mentioned in the release notes/wiki.

Are you sure you were testing with MC 19.0.134?
It should automatically enforce HLS if ChromeCast requests video.

connersw · « **Reply #14 on:** May 15, 2014, 04:26:31 pm »

Positive

dees_74 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 15, 2014, 06:41:33 pm »

Quote from: JimH on May 14, 2014, 10:08:57 pm

Did you update Gizmo?

Yes. It is really strange. It connects just fine and when I choose a track to play, it acts like it is going to play, but the yellow progress bar on the TV goes by in a matter of about one second and then returns to the gray JRiver screen. Meanwhile on the device, the screen shows as though the song is playing except that instead of where the Artist and and Album information usually are, it says "Working..." ?

JimH · « **Reply #16 on:** May 15, 2014, 06:47:25 pm »

Firewall?

RussellS · « **Reply #17 on:** May 16, 2014, 01:16:58 am »

It's really great to see this working now. Thanks for your work on this Hendrik.

I have done some testing and have the following to report.

MC version 19.0.134
Gizmo version 19.0.133
Gizmo device - Google Nexus 7

When I first select a video file to play the loading bar and video thumbnail will appear on the Chromecast display briefly but will then revert to the 'JRiver Gizmo' logo and Gizmo will show the 'Resume playback' button. If I then press the 'Resume playback' button Chromecast will then proceed to load the video and playback fine.

If I try to seek when a video is playing I will again Briefly (around 1 second) get the loading bar and video thumbnail display but will then go to the 'JRiver Gizmo' logo and Gizmo will show the 'Resume playback' button. When I press 'Resume playback' button the video will start playing from the beginning again. So I am unable to seek through a video file at all.

The above two issues do not happen with audio files at all. When selecting audio the playback starts immediately and seeking works as it should.

I hope the above information is helpful.

Hendrik · « **Reply #18 on:** May 16, 2014, 02:17:43 am »

Quote from: RussellS on May 16, 2014, 01:16:58 am

When I first select a video file to play the loading bar and video thumbnail will appear on the Chromecast display briefly but will then revert to the 'JRiver Gizmo' logo and Gizmo will show the 'Resume playback' button. If I then press the 'Resume playback' button Chromecast will then proceed to load the video and playback fine.

If I try to seek when a video is playing I will again Briefly (around 1 second) get the loading bar and video thumbnail display but will then go to the 'JRiver Gizmo' logo and Gizmo will show the 'Resume playback' button. When I press 'Resume playback' button the video will start playing from the beginning again. So I am unable to seek through a video file at all.

I found the reason for this, and it'll need a new MC build to fix it - video streaming had a small bug that caused this.
It'll be fixed in MC 19.0.135.

RussellS · « **Reply #19 on:** May 16, 2014, 02:52:53 am »

Quote from: Hendrik on May 16, 2014, 02:17:43 am

I found the reason for this, and it'll need a new MC build to fix it - video streaming had a small bug that caused this.
It'll be fixed in MC 19.0.135.

Great news, thanks Hendrik.

Ekpen · « **Reply #20 on:** May 16, 2014, 05:37:18 pm »

Quote from: Hendrik on May 16, 2014, 02:17:43 am

I found the reason for this, and it'll need a new MC build to fix it - video streaming had a small bug that caused this.
It'll be fixed in MC 19.0.135.

Greetings:
I am using build 134. Even the build before this has similar issues with Gizmo in the middle of nowhere while playing a movie will go back to the browse screen where you have all the cover arts. Also I noticed, cover arts will delete at random.
Thanks.
George

dees_74 · « **Reply #21 on:** May 17, 2014, 06:33:38 pm »

Quote from: JimH on May 15, 2014, 06:47:25 pm

Firewall?

Tried turning the firewall off an no change. I'll keep tinkering

JimH · « **Reply #22 on:** May 19, 2014, 09:22:26 am »

Quote from: Hendrik on May 16, 2014, 02:17:43 am

I found the reason for this, and it'll need a new MC build to fix it - video streaming had a small bug that caused this.
It'll be fixed in MC 19.0.135.

19.0.135 is available now:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=89325.msg613226#msg613226

RussellS · « **Reply #23 on:** May 19, 2014, 03:50:03 pm »

19.0.135 is working fine now and I can seek through the video without issue.

Many thanks for all the work you've put into this Hendrik.

bennyd · « **Reply #24 on:** May 23, 2014, 05:48:56 am »

Quote from: connersw on May 15, 2014, 11:21:31 am

Also, the release only mentions Audio or Video, but I did try sending Images. They only play locally on the phone. Any chance Image support will be added as well?

I second that, any chance to also cast Photos ?

connersw · « **Reply #25 on:** May 23, 2014, 04:17:31 pm »

Got a chance to test it today, and the latest version of Gizmo fixes the issue so Chromecast automatically uses HTTP Live Streaming regardless of what options are checked. Thank you.

I still can't use HTTP Live Streaming for playback on my device; however, if I leave it turned off, it plays fine and streams to Chromecast fine so that works.

eapool · « **Reply #26 on:** May 27, 2014, 07:50:28 am »

I had the opportunity to use Gizmo and chromecast extensively this weekend. The kids thought it was pretty cool when I moved the TV outside for them to watch cartoons. Overall it worked great, but I noticed a couple little things I wanted to mention:

1 - the progress bar in Gizmo does not update. Not a big deal, but when trying to skip through commercials or get back to a position in a movie, it is hard to guess which point to advance to, since you don't know where you are currently.

2 - Periodically, playback would just stop. I don't have this issue with any other chromecast software (Netflix or Hulu), it still could be something on my network because it looks like the chromecast just drops off the network, so I am looking into it as well, but with issue #1 above it makes it a pain to resume.

3 - If my wife starts a show with her phone and I connect to the chromecast, I can't control the program with my phone. This works in other apps and I think it is basic chromecast concept. I tried going to playing now and stopping/ pause the program, etc and nothing happened.

~~4 - Lastly, volume control. I know it has been mentioned, but it would be nice.~~ - Nevermind, just saw the latest update.

Thanks so much for implementing this. None of the above are major problems, but I wanted to give some feedback on my experience over the weekend.

Alex

park · « **Reply #27 on:** May 27, 2014, 09:39:00 am »

I am considering buying a chromecast now that it has just been launched in Japan. Before I do though I'd like to ask a couple of questions about how MC sends video to it.

1. Most of my movies are mkvs. Will MC send the original mkv to the chromecast?

2. If not, how is multi-channel audio handled? Does it get mixed down or remuxed into a format the chromecast can understand?

3. Can we toggle/choose subtitle streams on the chromecast?

Hendrik · « **Reply #28 on:** May 27, 2014, 09:41:42 am »

Quote from: park on May 27, 2014, 09:39:00 am

1. Most of my movies are mkvs. Will MC send the original mkv to the chromecast?

No, ChromeCast doesn't support MKV, the video will be re-encoded, just like streaming to Gizmo on the phone.

Quote from: park on May 27, 2014, 09:39:00 am

2. If not, how is multi-channel audio handled? Does it get mixed down or remuxed into a format the chromecast can understand?

Multi-channel audio is currently always downmixed to stereo, we may change this in the future to allow multi-channel streaming as well, but not right now.

Quote from: park on May 27, 2014, 09:39:00 am

3. Can we toggle/choose subtitle streams on the chromecast?

No, subtitle or audio stream selection is not available.

In general, it really works the same way as streaming to Gizmo would, with the same features and limitations.
We may expand on this in the future, but no promises yet.

park · « **Reply #29 on:** May 27, 2014, 10:24:15 am »

Thanks for the reply.

I may still buy one to toy around with, but it doesnt look like it is going to be particularly useful for me for a while at least.

jmone · « **Reply #30 on:** May 30, 2014, 03:12:42 am »

Just been released in Aust and grabbed one. Works well though in a quick test I noticed that when play video using "low" the encoded audio stream has the unpleasant chipmonk squeak (goes away when set to High). I presume it is casting AAC (did not have time to check sorry). Has there been any improvements recently on the AAC encoding front with ffmpeg?
Thanks
Nathan

Hendrik · « **Reply #31 on:** May 30, 2014, 04:37:11 am »

Low uses extremely low audio bitrates, so don't expect too much.

jmone · « **Reply #32 on:** May 30, 2014, 08:31:51 am »

Ok, thanks (Gismo was set on Low from when I was travelling)

connersw · « **Reply #33 on:** May 30, 2014, 09:48:07 am »

I actually had a question about this: is Chromecast streaming using the quality settings from Gizmo or does it do its own thing (ala using HTTP Live Streaming regardless of Gizmo settings)? The reason I ask is my TV always shows the signal as 1920x1080 regardless of what Gizmo settings I use, and 720p is the highest anyway. Is that what Chromecast is getting or does Chromecast just automatically up it?

What about Audio quality settings?

jmone · « **Reply #34 on:** May 31, 2014, 01:51:27 am »

Looks good, and the kids think it is "Cool" (not bad for iStuff users!). Only thing I'd mention so far is when starting to play a video, Gizmo starts by saying media playback is Stopped/Resume Playback (Chromecast is showing the preparing bar), then Gizmo after a bit says preparing just before playback starts.

Hendrik · « **Reply #35 on:** May 31, 2014, 03:40:30 am »

Quote from: connersw on May 30, 2014, 09:48:07 am

I actually had a question about this: is Chromecast streaming using the quality settings from Gizmo or does it do its own thing (ala using HTTP Live Streaming regardless of Gizmo settings)? The reason I ask is my TV always shows the signal as 1920x1080 regardless of what Gizmo settings I use, and 720p is the highest anyway. Is that what Chromecast is getting or does Chromecast just automatically up it?

ChromeCast uses the same settings as Gizmo itself. I've been thinking about separate settings, but not sure how to do that without just cluttering everything up.
Just bumping it up to max may not work for a whole bunch of people, if you're streaming over Internet to the ChromeCast for example.

park · « **Reply #36 on:** June 04, 2014, 05:47:08 am »

I bought one out of interest but am not very excited by it to be honest. It would be better if my amp/receiver were able to auto switch to/from it whenever I throw media to it, but since that's not the case it's kind of a p.i.t.a to reach for the remote to switch away from my htpc. I'd love to see Media Center act as a chromecast receiver, like how the chrome extension "Allcast Receiver" works.

escaflo · « **Reply #37 on:** June 24, 2014, 12:07:04 am »

Just a quick question is that I am using Chromecast with my Android phone HTC One (M8) but every time I play movie, it will just randomly stop. I thought it might be my WiFi dropping out but I've also set up my Android to keep the WiFi alive. I am wondering if anybody else got this issue? It is not consistent though. Sometimes I can get through whole movie without it dropping but sometimes it just drop like 15 minutes into it.

I wonder if it has anything to do with Android cleaning up the background app and shutting down or suspending Gizmo even though it is playing. I kind of think that this is the case because the player control on the lockscreen will disappear when the playback stops.

Just wonder if anybody got any solution to that.

bennyd · « **Reply #38 on:** June 24, 2014, 03:54:30 am »

Quote from: escaflo on June 24, 2014, 12:07:04 am

Just a quick question is that I am using Chromecast with my Android phone HTC One (M8) but every time I play movie, it will just randomly stop. I thought it might be my WiFi dropping out but I've also set up my Android to keep the WiFi alive. I am wondering if anybody else got this issue? It is not consistent though. Sometimes I can get through whole movie without it dropping but sometimes it just drop like 15 minutes into it.

I wonder if it has anything to do with Android cleaning up the background app and shutting down or suspending Gizmo even though it is playing. I kind of think that this is the case because the player control on the lockscreen will disappear when the playback stops.

Just wonder if anybody got any solution to that.

I have that also with music, after a while it just stops playing.
With Google Music I don't have this issue, so it seems not to be related to the Chromecast device itself

eapool · « **Reply #39 on:** June 24, 2014, 08:56:27 pm »

Quote from: escaflo on June 24, 2014, 12:07:04 am

Just a quick question is that I am using Chromecast with my Android phone HTC One (M8) but every time I play movie, it will just randomly stop. I thought it might be my WiFi dropping out but I've also set up my Android to keep the WiFi alive. I am wondering if anybody else got this issue? It is not consistent though. Sometimes I can get through whole movie without it dropping but sometimes it just drop like 15 minutes into it.

I wonder if it has anything to do with Android cleaning up the background app and shutting down or suspending Gizmo even though it is playing. I kind of think that this is the case because the player control on the lockscreen will disappear when the playback stops.

Just wonder if anybody got any solution to that.

I have seen this as well. I haven't spent much time trying to troubleshoot it, but do have issue with shows just stopping and the screen changing to 'JRiver Gizmo'

Ekpen · « **Reply #40 on:** June 24, 2014, 09:32:28 pm »

Quote from: eapool on June 24, 2014, 08:56:27 pm

I have seen this as well. I haven't spent much time trying to troubleshoot it, but do have issue with shows just stopping and the screen changing to 'JRiver Gizmo'

+1 with gizmo and also the new eos.

George

Mr. Odd · « **Reply #41 on:** June 30, 2014, 11:46:47 am »

Has anyone else noticed that casting using Gizmo isn't reflected in the "Last Played" field in MC?

skarsol · « **Reply #42 on:** July 05, 2014, 12:11:33 pm »

Quote from: Mr. Odd on June 30, 2014, 11:46:47 am

Has anyone else noticed that casting using Gizmo isn't reflected in the "Last Played" field in MC?

Yes, and its really inconvenient. There's a post about it but no responses.

skarsol · « **Reply #43 on:** July 06, 2014, 09:46:06 am »

Quote from: bennyd on June 24, 2014, 03:54:30 am

I have that also with music, after a while it just stops playing.
With Google Music I don't have this issue, so it seems not to be related to the Chromecast device itself

Similarly, if I'm watching multiple TV shows in a row, it seems to be random if Gizmo is still going to be connected to the Chromecast after each one. Sometimes it's still connected and I can move right along. Other times it's not connected (no Chromecast icon in top bar) but then the icon appears shortly thereafter and I can click it and reconnect. About 30% of the time neither of those things happens and I have to force quit Gizmo in order for it to register the Chromecast again. Is there a way to force it to rescan or similar (not sure how it's detecting if a Chromecast is available or not) instead of having to force quit?

damhooligan · « **Reply #44 on:** July 16, 2014, 04:59:34 am »

I got mc 19 , 19.0.146
and gizmo 19.0.135.

I just got my CC today.
And I'm giving it a test run.
It works with my phone, and my laptop under chrome.

I opened jriver, and the gizmo app.
Gizmo recognised the CC, and I can manage to connect.
However when I press play, video or audio, I get nothing on the tv....

All I get is 'JRiver Gizmo'

I have not yet used any streaming (my default word for a connection without wires).
With the exception of wifi.
So, my previous connection have been for audio a usb-dac.
And for video/movies hdmi.

Is there mayby a 'streaming' setting I have to make?

Cause so far it's not working

damhooligan · « **Reply #45 on:** July 16, 2014, 09:23:41 am »

Quote from: bennyd on June 24, 2014, 03:54:30 am

I have that also with music, after a while it just stops playing.
With Google Music I don't have this issue, so it seems not to be related to the Chromecast device itself

Strangely enough, my google music app does not have a 'cast icon'.
The google video has got one and it works fine.

I have checked to see I got the latest update.
I'm updated just fine, just do not have a cast icon .

JimH · « **Reply #46 on:** July 16, 2014, 11:58:50 am »

I've removed some discussion of other applications. Sometimes we allow it. Sometimes we don't.

JimH · « **Reply #47 on:** July 16, 2014, 12:02:11 pm »

Quote from: damhooligan on July 16, 2014, 04:59:34 am

I got mc 19 , 19.0.146
and gizmo 19.0.135.

I just got my CC today.
And I'm giving it a test run.
It works with my phone, and my laptop under chrome.

I opened jriver, and the gizmo app.
Gizmo recognised the CC, and I can manage to connect.
However when I press play, video or audio, I get nothing on the tv....

...

And for video/movies hdmi.
Is there mayby a 'streaming' setting I have to make?

Use the menu button to try HTML5.

Castius · « **Reply #48 on:** July 16, 2014, 01:47:04 pm »

Have you restarted your cc. The latest chomecast updated with screen casting. You needed to restart. Or audio didn't work.

I did have a problem where gizmo stopped after every image and vidieo. Anyone Ne else have this problem?

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #49 on:** July 16, 2014, 02:24:32 pm »

Quote

I did have a problem where gizmo stopped after every image and vidieo. Anyone Ne else have this problem?

we did/are having same problem, dad came back from Germany and we tried chromecasting his images, and after every image in slideshow, it would stop

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Author Topic: NEW: Chromecast Support (Read 43132 times)