Topic: Different Shuffle Behavior w/ v10? (Read 6196 times)

jimpmc · « **on:** February 28, 2004, 11:06:22 am »

I'm using build 10.0.80 with TiVo. When I use the shuffle option within TiVo and play a selection (say an album), the behavior is not what I remember it doing. Now, it seems to re-shuffle the list every time a song changes. For instance, it will say 1 of 13, then change songs (in random order) and say 5 of 13, then 3 of 13, etc. Similarly, if you try to go back a song, it doesn't go to the one previously played, it re-shuffles again. It's more of a random order each time the song changes. This has led to situations where the same song is played twice within 3 songs, etc. rather than a shuffle of the order on the onset of hitting play and being able to traverse through the shuffled list as desired.

This is different from how TiVo desktop does a shuffle as well as Media Center itself. I also don't remember Media Server/TiVo shuffling each time a song changed. Is this intended behavior now?

-J

jerichochicago · « **Reply #1 on:** February 29, 2004, 06:09:33 pm »

I just started using 10.0.8 as well and it took me a little while to figure out the best way to shuffle. I haven't experienced the return you're getting, though.

Here's how I do it. First, I don't use the TiVo shuffle. I let MC do all the work. I add the [RANDOM] modifier to all of my playlists that I want to shuffle. The result is a playlist that reshuffles every time I play it. I can also go back to previously played songs, and the songs never get played twice until everything has been played. Also, the song count in teh upper right on TiVo is consistent and accurate.

jimpmc · « **Reply #2 on:** February 29, 2004, 09:37:10 pm »

The playlists may work for some type of lists, but what if you just want to listen to a certain album or artist, but in a random order? How do you go about selecting what album or artist to pick without setting up a playlist for each one?

Also, the shuffling behavior seems to have changed from previous builds.

- J

John Gateley · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2004, 02:07:06 pm »

Hi Jim,

I think I changed the shuffle behavior recently. Have you played with the "Use TiVo's Sort Order" option to see if that helps? If not let me know.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2004, 02:32:35 pm »

John,

I played around with turning on and off the "Use TiVo sorting order" option. From best I could tell, when I had it selected, the songs showed up in Alphabetical order instead of by the sort order set in the view scheme. (Example, I have a View Scheme Album -- if I select an album it would return the list of songs on that album in Alphabetical order with TiVo sorting on and if TiVo sorting off then it returns them in track # order as expressed in the view scheme.) What is use TiVo sorting option supposed to represent?

However, the TiVo sorting option doesn't seem to affect the shuffle behavior. The behavior when using or not using the TiVo shuffle option was the same as described above. It appears to re-shuffle after each song change causing duplicates.

Thanks,
-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #5 on:** March 02, 2004, 04:42:14 pm »

Hi Jim,

I see it. I'll look into it.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2004, 06:23:20 pm »

Any update on this item?

Thanks,
-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #7 on:** March 10, 2004, 09:23:14 am »

Thanks for reminding me. I saw similar behavior here, but haven't had a chance to determine if it is a bug or a feature

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2004, 02:35:23 pm »

Just another friendly reminder that this remains an open item.

-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #9 on:** March 22, 2004, 11:18:09 am »

Sorry, been pretty hectic lately, and I'm not going to get to it this week.
Still on my list though...

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #10 on:** April 07, 2004, 08:42:35 am »

Just checking to make sure that this remains on your list.

Thanks.
-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #11 on:** April 07, 2004, 12:35:09 pm »

It is, but will not be in 10.0

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #12 on:** April 07, 2004, 02:15:51 pm »

Thanks for the reply. When you say it won't be in 10.0...do you mean before the official release build, or that it won't make it into any subsequent 10.0 builds after the initial release?

-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #13 on:** April 07, 2004, 02:26:06 pm »

The official release build. Hopefully it'll be in the first one after that...

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #14 on:** June 02, 2004, 10:42:49 am »

Any chance you can look at this again so that its behavior is more consistent with Media Center?

-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #15 on:** June 03, 2004, 03:44:49 pm »

I took a close look at this. Strangely enough, I seem to be doing what TiVo wants me to do, even though it is different than what MC does.

TiVo doesn't ask the Server for a random ordering until it is getting a single song to play, so the list of songs will show up in sorted order.

Let me know if I've misunderstood something, it's been a long while since I looked at this.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #16 on:** June 03, 2004, 04:25:35 pm »

Thanks for the reply. The main issue is that it is resorting the list after every song. This results in duplicates (example, you select an album in shuffle mode...it plays song 4, resorts, plays sort 6, resorts, and then plays song 4 again). The counter changes each time as well (5 of 13, 2 of 13, 7 of 13, etc.) You also can't go back and forth among the shuffled list as it's resorting after every change.

Using TiVo server, MediaCenter on the PC, and in older builds of Media Center/Media Server on the TiVo, it shuffles the list only once at the start of play. This allows you to go back and replay a song in the shuffled order, etc.

Let me know if you need any more details.

Thanks,
-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #17 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:05:36 pm »

Hi Jim,

I tracked it down and fixed it. It will be available in a few days, I'll post here when it is.
Thanks for your patience, and sorry it took so long.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #18 on:** June 08, 2004, 06:31:36 pm »

Great...thanks. Let me know if you need any testing done.

-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #19 on:** June 09, 2004, 03:56:31 pm »

It's available now in MC11 alpha, if you'd like to try it. Be warned though - read the comments at the beginning of the MC11 thread.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #20 on:** June 09, 2004, 04:25:06 pm »

Thanks, but is there any way it can be installed separately on top of 10.x ? I am striving for stability, so going to an alpha of 11 is not likely to happen at this point.

-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #21 on:** June 10, 2004, 10:52:31 am »

It will be in the next build of 10.

j

jimpmc · « **Reply #22 on:** June 10, 2004, 05:57:18 pm »

John,

The shuffle behavior is working well in 10.0.146. Thanks. Now my wife will stop asking me why it repeats songs...

However, I noticed another issue. Regardless of the shuffle setting on the TiVo, it seems to get "stuck" at the end of play (end of the last song). The time shows up and it just stays on the last song. Using the normal TiVo desktop, it returns back to the previous menu. This isn't a big deal normally as one can arrow back, but what is broken is repeat play from the TiVo. It will not play continuously (repeat) for a given selection, whether it be an album, artist, etc. This happens for both non-shuffle and shuffle selected. Using TiVo desktop, it repeats as one would expect.

Hopefully this is easy to fix...otherwise I'll again have to explain to my wife why something doesn't work like it says it will...

Thanks,
-J

John Gateley · « **Reply #23 on:** June 15, 2004, 03:42:43 pm »

Hi Jim,

Fixed (in both v11 and v10, next build).

j

Sharp1 · « **Reply #24 on:** August 04, 2004, 08:17:59 am »

JIMPMC:

Have you tested this fix yet? I have version 9.1.0.192. This used to work, and some v9 upgrade I installed broke it. I would consider an additional upgrade if it will fix this issue.

Though it does bum me out that I should have pay to upgrade to fix something which did not used to be broken.
-Neil

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Author Topic: Different Shuffle Behavior w/ v10? (Read 6196 times)