I am flipping out!
I have a XP Pro desktop and a Vista Laptop. Both have MC latest ver loaded onto them, as do all my pcs. I also use a NAS drive where ALL the files are located!
I've been doing the Windows Remote Desktop to control the Desktop unit iwth but it is really clunky and visually off a tad.
I tried yesterday to use the MC 15 app itself to run the XP unit from the Vista machine... and got some results but not full functionality. Only played those files I grabbed and pasted into MC 15... no playlists, no searching... nada.
Is there some step by step info that can show me how best to setup the two machines?
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First, I'd like to be sure that I understand what you want to do and what you have done so far.
You want to play music through MC 15 on the win XP computer right?
You want to control what's played from MC 15 on the Vista PC, right?
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Assuming That I understand, here are some instructions:
On the Win XP PC in MC 15 (the server end):
S1. On the left side of the MC 15 window, look below "Audio" just past "Drives & Devices" you should see "Services & Plugins". You may see a list with "Media Network" in the list. If there is no list below "Services & Plugins", click on the right arrow head to the right of ""Services & Plugins". Now click on "Media network". The center and right portion of the screen will change to show network related information. Near the top of this area, click on the button labeled "Options...". A dialog window will appear. In that window, look for the words "Library Server" near the top of this window to the left of center. Just below "Library Server", you will see a checkbox labeled "Share your library, playlist and views." Check this checkbox.
S2. Below the checkbox, there is a list of settings. Scroll down in this list until you see Advanced Server Settings". If there isn't a list under this heading, click on the right arrow head to the right of "Advanced Server Settings". Make sure that the checkbox labeled "respond to Auto-detect requests" is checked. Make sure that the checkbox labeled "Enable Authentication" is unchecked.
S3.Click the button labeled "OK" at the bottom of the dialog window to save your changes and exit.
S4. Make sure that MC 15 on the Win XP computer is using the library you want to use to play music. If MC 15 is already using the library you want, you can skip the rest of this step. Click on "File" in the menu at the top of the MC 15 window and then "Library" Choose "Load Library" and in the sub menu that appears next, choose the library you want.
On the Win Vista PC in MC 15 (the client end):
C1. Click on the "Media Network" as you did in step S1. The click on the Options button as you did in step S1. Look for the words "Library Server Client" about halfway down the dialog window. In the list of settings below those words, make sure that the checkbox labeled "Show Playback zones from the server..." is checked. Someone else mentioned Syncing changes with the server. If you want to check the checkbox labeled "Automatically sync changes made on the client...", you can change library fields (tags) on the client PC and have thos echanges updated on the server PC. I do not use this setting so I can't provide more detail on when changes are sent to the server PC.
C2. Click on the "OK" button to save your changes and exit.
These steps prepare server and client to work together. They are done once. Now I'll list steps you do on the client PC (Vista PC) whenever you start MC.
1. Tell MC 15 on the Vista PC to connect to MC 15 on the Win XP PC. From the File menu, select "Library" and then "Connect to Library". A dialog window will appear. Click on the button labeled "Search". MC 15 should show a progress dialog with text like "Searching..." and when it finds the MC 15 on the Win XP PC, the dialog will disappear and you will be connected.
2. Select where you want to play your music. Look below "Audio" for the words "Playing Now" . There may be a list of playback zones. If there is no list, click on the right arrow head to the right of "Playing Now". There should be one or more lines labeled "There"..." These correspond to zones you have defined on the Win XP PC. Click on the line corresponding to the zone you want to play music.
3. You should see the library views and playlists from MC 15 on the Win XP PC on your Vista PC. Select what you want to play and select play. You should hear it being played through the zone you selected.
The process will be simpler in MC 16 which has just appeared as a sneak peek beta version.
Bill
