INTERACT FORUM
Windows => Plug-in Development => Topic started by: Zoner on December 14, 2003, 10:48:38 am
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I just bought a Russound CAV6.6 6-zone/6-surce whole-house audio system, which includes 6 Russound UNO in-wall keypads. My plan is to use this system to distribute audio from MC9 around my house. Before I bought the CAV6.6, I wrote to Russound and got the low-down on its RS-232 protocol, which is very extensive. I write comms software for a living, so I don't expect any problems on that side. In fact I don't expect any problems with the project at all, but thought I'd post here before I start in order to get any tips and learn about any gotchas I might encounter.
My basic plan is to write an MC plug-in which on startup connects to the CAV6.6 via RS-232, check which zones are listening to MC, and if any are, query MC about the artist & track name for those zones, and tell the keypads to display that info. Unfortunately each keypad can only display 12 chars, so I will have to alternate the display between artist & track name. The plug-in would then monitor MC for changes to any of the zones, and update the keypad displays accordingly.
On the other side of things, the plug-in would listen for button presses on the keypads (eg next track), and send the appropriate command to MC.
Appreciate any thoughts / tips / recommendations / warnings.
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It didn't take long to find what look to be two big problems:
1) MC doesn't provide an API to wait/listen for changes - can this really be true!? I didn't even bother checking for this before I started, since I just took it for granted that this would exist.
2) MC doesn't provide any support for zones in the API...!?
Please tell me that I'm missing something here?
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Cinemar has a product, Main Lobby Server, that is signaled whenMedia Center information changes. See http://www.cinemaronline.com. ML Server has RS232 capabilities and has plug-ins for some LCD displays.
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Thanks, I already checked that out before deciding on this solution. This is, if they can detect it, then I can detect it to. And if there's no way to detect changes, then ML must be just polling. I have a bit of time before this system has to be ready, so I think I will try and convince J River to provide a better API for MC10.
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2) MC doesn't provide any support for zones in the API...!?
It didn't, then it did, and then it didn't again.
Not to put you off, cause your project sounds awesome, but the MC SDK is pretty poor and the pleas of third-party developers aren't getting a lot of attention at the moment.
Maybe it will change, maybe it won't - we haven't had any indication.
Either way, I wish I had your setup :)
Good luck!
Scott.
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As it turns out (see other thread), MC supports zones via windows messages. As such, I'm going to look at writing this using Girder. That would have the added advantage of enabling use of the Girder "DVD Spy" plug-in. Hopefully Girder can handle the Russound R-Net serial protocol - I will check that out and report back.
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As an FYI to an old thread, we now have a Russound CAV6.6 plugin for MainLobby.
So now you can control J River's product and your Russound system.
http://www.caseserve.com/cinemar/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1782
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I ended up writing my app in C++, and it's working now. So I have control over MC10 from my in-wall keypads now. It's pretty darn cool! I haven't done anything too fancy yet - just play/pause/stop/next track/prev track, etc. Volume is already taken care of by the system itself. Very happy with this CAV6.6, BTW - I would recommend it to anyone.
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Hi
I just installed RUssound CAV6.6. Currently iam using all 6 sources, and for distributing media/mp3 i use the Happauge MediaMVP. I read about the MC10 and multizone capability. Could someone post how this is connected to the CAV? In my case the MediaMVP output is one of the sources for the CAV. When we use MC (J River) product, it seems like its just sw. so i need a audio/video out from the pc to Russound, how is that connected?
the serial connection for Rnet is useful to address keypads and such, but how do we exactly distribute multizone audio/video using the russound to different zones, if there is just one source connection from pc to CAV?
appreciate any help
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You can have as many connections from your PC to the CAV as you have soundcard channels. I have a 6-channel soundcard, and so can setup 3 sources on my CAV, each connected to an MC11 "zone". Note that you must use MC11 if you want to run more than one source (zone) - MC10's multi-zone support isn't really up to the task.
I have written software to connect the CAV6.6 to MC11. If you are interested in a free copy, go to the thread at AVS: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=419953.