Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[bunglemebaby]

I'm trying to set up MC 26 with the following setup:
Server PC - MC setup as server, serving files located on a NAS. There is no actual audio device connected to this machine, just a dummy zone. Once setup I just want it to be a headless server that does this one job. It seems to be working to that end fine.

Client PC - MC setup to load the library from the Server PC and play to a local Zone/Device. This works fine. I would also like to use this Client PC as a Zone that I can play to from another client/controller (e.g. JRemote 2).

JRemote2 on an Android phone - I want to use the phone to command songs to be played from the server to the client PC. This part doesn't work, as I cannot see the Client PC's zones. I can play from the server to the phone just fine.

What settings am I missing here? I assume that this is possible, as otherwise devices like the iD wouldn't really make much sense otherwise (this is actually a bit of a trial run, proof-of-concept for one of these devices as there are only a few circumstances where it really matters if I can control my Client PC from JRemote).

[JimH]

I think you want JRemote to connect to the server and play to the machines you're calling clients.  They are also Renderers.

[bunglemebaby]

Jim, yes this is precisely what I want to do, sorry if I wasn't clear. I just can't figure out how to do it. [edit] Fixed, notes & further question below. [/edit]

I connect JRemote to the Server. I start playing something on the device (or just go to Now Playing screen) and choose a Zone/Client/Renderer to play to. The only available options are "This Device" and my server's dummy zone. No zones from the Client machine are visible. This is the part that I'm not clear on; how do I get those zones to show up?

Currently I have both the Server and Client machines set to enable DLNA server, Renderer and Controller. I also tried with Server disabled on the Client machine. If I connect JRemote to the Client's server (I have a quickie import meta-data cleanup library on that machine), I am able to see both the Client's zones and the Server's zone.

[edit] Correction and fix to my immediate problem... I only had DLNA Server enabled on the Server PC (I guess I forgot to double check that, my apologies).

Which of Renderer or Controller allows playing to the remote zone? I would have expected "server" to "serve the files/audio to the client", but there's clearly something that I've got wrong based on what was happening here.

[JimH]

Forget the clients for now.  Just connect to the server from JRemote.  Play to Player (the server).  Make sure that works.

Set up any zones you want on that server.

Re-reading the Media Network topic on the wiki might help.

[RoderickGI]

With the setup described and JRemote2 connected to the MC Server, you should be able to play to the Client by selecting the Client PC name plus Zone to play to in JRemote2.

i.e. When you tap the Zone icon in the bottom left corner of JRemote2 (the target icon), you should see a popup dialogue that allows you to select the Zone to play which will be named as;
{MC Client Computer Name} if you want to play to the default "Player" Zone on the MC Client.
OR
{MC Client Computer Name}: {Zone Name on MC Client}

JRemote will then display the Zone being played to as;

{MC Server Computer Name}: {MC Client Computer Name}
OR
{MC Server Computer Name}: {MC Client Computer Name}: {Zone Name on MC Client}


If tapping the Zone icon in JRemote2 doesn't display the options above, you have a DLNA problem, such that DLNA devices aren't being seen on your LAN. I have that issue currently, as I have a cruddy ISP router that seems to block visibility. JRiver BingoSSDP makes the router see DLNA devices correctly, as does running PingTools, both run on my Android phone.


Of course, you need to have Media Network turned on in the MC Client for the above to work. But you need that for a MC Client/Server setup to work anyway. As Jim mentions, the MC Client needs to have "DLNA Renderer" turned on under "Options > Media Network > Advanced", but you probably already have that selected.

Alternately you can connect JRemote2 to the MC Client, and select a Zone from the MC Client to play to.


EDIT after your second post:
The MC Server only needs to be a DLNA Server. The MC Client only needs to be a DLNA Renderer. JRemote2 will act as a DLNA Controller.

Well, in theory. But I tend to have my MC Server and MC Client set to run all three, DLNA Server, Renderer, and Controller, just to allow flexibility, controlling and playing from anywhere to anywhere. It can take a little while for DLNA components to be found on a LAN, which I sort of speed up or fix by running BingoSSDP or PingTools, which span SSDP (DLAN Discovery) packets all around the LAN, which lets the router know they exist.

[bunglemebaby]

EDIT after your second post:
The MC Server only needs to be a DLNA Server. The MC Client only needs to be a DLNA Renderer. JRemote2 will act as a DLNA Controller.

Well, in theory. But I tend to have my MC Server and MC Client set to run all three, DLNA Server, Renderer, and Controller, just to allow flexibility, controlling and playing from anywhere to anywhere.

Yeah, the Server/DLNA-Server, Client/DLNA-Renderer and JRemote as DLNA Controller thing seems correct to my interpretation of the terms. But after a bit of trial and error, it seems that the server needs to have DLNA Controller set in order to see remote zones. It would seem that JRemote is actually just telling the Server to act as a DLNA Controller, rather than being a DLNA Controller itself (I'm guessing here). That could make sense in terms of keeping the JRemote app complexity down, since the server already has that built in. It makes for confusing options though.

Alternately you can connect JRemote2 to the MC Client, and select a Zone from the MC Client to play to.

Meaning that if the Client is connected to the server...then I should be able to see the server's files by connecting JRemote to the Client's server? This is purely a matter of curiosity at this point.

[RoderickGI]

I didn't test today with the MC Server only having the DLNA Server turned on. I did test with the MC Client set to only have the DLNA Renderer turned on.

I think JRemote2 does act as a DLNA Controller. But it is a bit unusual, as it initially connects to a MC instance using MCWS commands, not DLNA commands. Bob has confirmed that previously, and I've seen it using Wireshark to monitor network packets. Once connected JRemote2 must use DLNA commands as a Controller.

I checked that by connecting JRemote2 to the MC Client which was only running as a Renderer, I could play to the MC Client. While that worked fine to play to the MC Client, I couldn't successfully play to the MC Server with that setup. But you don't want to do that, so that is fine. So JRemote must have been correctly acting as a Controller, because it certainly wasn't connecting to the Client, sending commands to that, which then forwarded them to the Server, which then played to the Client. A DLNA tells a DLNA Renderer what to do, and then the DLNA Renderer implements that by asking the DLNA Server for the files, and then playing them.

Remote Zones can just take a little while to show up. Minutes sometimes.

Meaning that if the Client is connected to the server...then I should be able to see the server's files by connecting JRemote to the Client's server?

Correct. Well, just by connecting JRemote2 to the Client, even when the Client isn't running a DLNA Server.

So you set up the Client to load the MC Server Library when it is started, then connect JRemote2 to the Client, and play to the Client. That all works even if the Client is only running as a DLNA Renderer.