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[TXgary]

Quick question sure it has been asked, but I need to use something other than 52199 as I am using that for another pc with jriver.  My pc connected to home media is 52188.  How do I change to use 52188 instead of 52199?

[TXgary]

I do not want to change to 52199 so want to use 52188

[JimH]

In the Media Network settings, you can change the port.

[TXgary]

Hey Jim
Your talking JRiver Network.  My point is I want the dot to recognize 52188 as the port instead of 52199.  Is that possible?  or am I missing something?

[JimH]

I believe it's the MC port.  You could try it.

[sarkonovich]

Hey Jim
Your talking JRiver Network.  My point is I want the dot to recognize 52188 as the port instead of 52199.  Is that possible?  or am I missing something?

HouseBand should recognize it without any input on your part.

[TXgary]

I got it working, thanks, Jim.  I need to play around with it some.

[TXgary]

Thanks sarkonovich.  Looks good, trying to adjust, will work on it.

[TXgary]

Sarkonvich
Houseband is a fantastic skill for the dot.
Questions:
Is there one location that contains all the commands?
  I have a need to add multiple playlists to playing now and have it shuffled.
I know you can change to another zone, etc. but the controls of playing and knowing where you are and what is in the que, etc.
Learning how to say the command to the skill has been a challenge.
I have lots of music and lots of playlists.  I have learned that simple named playlists are the only way to go.
This skill could really use a lot of development as you have only scratched the surface of its capability. 
You should consider charging for it so as to have the resources for additional development on the skill.
Thanks for your hard work.

[dighairr]

Looking to find a bit more detail instruction on how to link basic for dummies
I get the message:
Linking Failed. Cannot reach JRiver Media Center at http://184.176.30.69:52199 or http://h184.176.30.69.ip.windstream.net:52199 Your Library Server is not accessible from outside your home network. Please ensure that your server is running and accessible from outside your home network.

You might need to enable port forwarding on your router.

Instructions for enabling port forwarding can be found here: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access

[sarkonovich]

Sarkonvich
Houseband is a fantastic skill for the dot.
Questions:
Is there one location that contains all the commands?
I have a need to add multiple playlists to playing now and have it shuffled.
I know you can change to another zone, etc. but the controls of playing and knowing where you are and what is in the que, etc.
Learning how to say the command to the skill has been a challenge.
I have lots of music and lots of playlists.  I have learned that simple named playlists are the only way to go.
This skill could really use a lot of development as you have only scratched the surface of its capability. 
You should consider charging for it so as to have the resources for additional development on the skill.
Thanks for your hard work.

So, the description of the skill in the Alexa app actually has a pretty complete list, though I guess it's not exhaustive. Also, if you say help in the skill, there are several categories of help, and I think they all send a list of relevant commands to a card in the Alexa app. (Honestly, it's been a while since I looked at that part of the code.)

You can add playlists: "Add my [playlist name] playlist"
(Basically, if you say "add" and "playlist" in the same sentence, it should try to add the playlist)

You can shuffle playlists: "Shuffle my [playlist name] playlist."
(Basically, if you say "shuffle" and "playlist" in the same sentence, it should shuffle the playlist)

But there is no way now to add a shuffled playlist, or shuffle what's currently playing. (A "shuffle this" command would be pretty easy to add.)

I agree that the skill could be developed a lot. Not only adding features, but improving basic (search) features. I do mean to get to it!  And I would charge, maybe will at some point, but at this point it's just a pet project!

[TXgary]

Thanks for the update.
I believe it is a good app and one that lots of people will use.
Thanks for putting the time in on it.

[sarkonovich]

Looking to find a bit more detail instruction on how to link basic for dummies
I get the message:
Linking Failed. Cannot reach JRiver Media Center at http://184.176.30.69:52199 or http://h184.176.30.69.ip.windstream.net:52199 Your Library Server is not accessible from outside your home network. Please ensure that your server is running and accessible from outside your home network.

You might need to enable port forwarding on your router.

Instructions for enabling port forwarding can be found here: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access

So, maybe you can say more about what's unclear?

Here is another resource about port-forwarding, that has router specific instructions for lots of models:
https://portforward.com/

(No need to buy anything from that site! Just follow their guides....)

In general, if you can connect to your server from this website, HouseBand should work:
https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html

Enter your access key, and leave the default option ('connect from outside my network')

If you're still having trouble, please let me know!
Steve

[Denti]

I am able to connect at https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html
but only "from inside network." What do I need to do?

[robt]

I am able to connect at https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html
but only "from inside network." What do I need to do?

Its port forwarding again. In your router set up you need to set port 52199 to be routed to the ip address of the machine running MC.

[Denti]

Got it, thanks.

Working now, but it's very clumsy. If I ask for some music, then it plays, but I can't get it to stop with voice commands.

[sarkonovich]

Got it, thanks.

Working now, but it's very clumsy. If I ask for some music, then it plays, but I can't get it to stop with voice commands.

That's not expected behavior, obviously. (Though I've noticed it occasionally on my set up.) All these should work:

"Tell house band to pause"
"Tell house band to stop"
"Tell house band to stop the music"
"Tell house band to pause the music"
"Alexa, open house band.".....then "Stop/pause/etc"

[Denti]

I'm playing around with it. It does well with an artist, creating a mix just by asking to "play [artist x]."  And I can get it to play an album, but sometimes I have multiple versions of the same album by the same artist, so that's difficult: it just loads all tracks without distinguishing. I guess that's to be expected. I haven't been able to get it to tell me what albums I have by a certain artist. Maybe I have too many.

[sarkonovich]

I'm playing around with it. It does well with an artist, creating a mix just by asking to "play [artist x]."  And I can get it to play an album, but sometimes I have multiple versions of the same album by the same artist, so that's difficult: it just loads all tracks without distinguishing. I guess that's to be expected. I haven't been able to get it to tell me what albums I have by a certain artist. Maybe I have too many.

Have you taken a look at the instructions in the Alexa app?

If you say, "Tell house band to play the album 'Kind of Blue' ", and you have multiple versions, it will either a) list them, if you have 7 or fewer versions or b) tell you that you have too many to list, and that you can play them all by saying, "play all."

(Similar behavior occurs when you say, "Play the song 'Freddie Freeloader' ". If you have multiple versions, it will list them.)

If you just say, "Tell house band to play 'Kind of Blue' ", it will play everything (songs, albums, etc) that match "kind of blue."

So, if you are saying, "play the [album/song]...." and it's just playing all of them, let me know. I'll look into it.

[Denti]

OK, I'll test it out. What are the options if there are more than 7?

So, no it doesn't work for me because all my different versions of the album Kind of Blue are named the same, but are distinguished by way of a different field name.

[sarkonovich]

OK, I'll test it out. What are the options if there are more than 7?

So, no it doesn't work for me because all my different versions of the album Kind of Blue are named the same, but are distinguished by way of a different field name.

Yeah, it will just load all of them up as if they are the same album.
However, if you remember what is in the in the field that distinguishes them, you should be able to play the album by saying the album name + the content of the distinguishing field. So, if the distinguishing field says, "SACD" then,
"Play Kind of blue sacd" should work....

[robt]

Naming albums needs some thinking about. I have quite a few duplicate albums in standard resolution and 24 bit etc. I've suffixed all the higher than cd with "Hi Res" and of course Houseband sees that as "Hires" as in hiring a car!

Not Housebands fault at all, just shows some renaming might be required to make it work consistently.

[sarkonovich]

Naming albums needs some thinking about. I have quite a few duplicate albums in standard resolution and 24 bit etc. I've suffixed all the higher than cd with "Hi Res" and of course Houseband sees that as "Hires" as in hiring a car!

Hmm. If I ask for something like, "play the album blood on the tracks hi res", Alexa hears it as "hi rez". I'll look in the code...I thought HouseBand would try out both "hi res" and "hi rez". It would be weird for Alexa to return "hires" given "hi rez."

Also, if you just say, "Play the Album Blood on the tracks" it should list both the regular and "hi  res" version (assuming you have both.) Then you should be able to select "hi res" just by saying, "select hi res".

[robt]

Thanks for that, I will try it out some further today and report back. It may be my accent but Alexa seems to have problems with "Hi Res".

What would she make of "HD"?

[sarkonovich]

What would she make of "HD"?

You can always check in the alexa app. It will show you both what Alexa "heard" and, in the case of unsuccessful searches, House Band will send a card show which search(es) it performed.

I just searched for a non-existent album ("Blood on the tracks hd") and Alexa/HouseBand heard it correctly, and rendered "hd" as, well, "hd"

[brendonp]

This sounds like a great app - however, I'm in Canada, and am getting the "You are not eligible to enable this skill due to geographical restrictions" message.   Any chance you can have it enabled for Canada?  It appears to be enabled for US/UK right now (at least the language selection shows US/GB).

[sarkonovich]

This sounds like a great app - however, I'm in Canada, and am getting the "You are not eligible to enable this skill due to geographical restrictions" message.   Any chance you can have it enabled for Canada?  It appears to be enabled for US/UK right now (at least the language selection shows US/GB).

yes. I'll try to get around to submitting that soon.

[robt]

Hi

At the moment (and for the last few hours) I have been unable to link Alexa to Houseband. I get an "Internal Server Error" message only. Is the problem at my end or is it the Houseband server?

Thanks

[sarkonovich]

Hi

At the moment (and for the last few hours) I have been unable to link Alexa to Houseband. I get an "Internal Server Error" message only. Is the problem at my end or is it the Houseband server?

Thanks

That would be a problem with HouseBand. Has it resolved?

[robt]

Hi sarkonovich

It's a no I'm afraid. I have tried periodically over the last few days and always get the same answer.

If I purposely submit an invalid key, I see your "Linking Failed. Invalid Access Code" page, but when I submit the correct code i get "Internal Server Error".

[sarkonovich]

Hmm. I'll look at it tonight!  Thanks for the heads up.

Steve

[sarkonovich]

Hi sarkonovich

It's a no I'm afraid. I have tried periodically over the last few days and always get the same answer.

If I purposely submit an invalid key, I see your "Linking Failed. Invalid Access Code" page, but when I submit the correct code i get "Internal Server Error".

Well, it works for me. Could you try it again a few times this evening? I don't think it will work, but it will be easier to find the error in the logs.
Thanks,
Steve

[robt]

Have tried again in the last few minutes a couple of times (its 6:15 am here in the UK) and same result.

Disabled and enabled the skill, same. I tried with MC server not running and got the correct error message so presumably some connection is being made.

[robt]

Now 6pm and a couple more tries - same Internal Server Error Message.

Anything else I can do or try at my end?

[sarkonovich]

Now 6pm and a couple more tries - same Internal Server Error Message.

Anything else I can do or try at my end?

No,  you're good. It's timing out trying to reach your server. I'll try to figure out why that's going on - and certainly fix it to give more info when the a timeout occurs.

I'll try to fix it this evening.

[robt]

No,  you're good. It's timing out trying to reach your server. I'll try to figure out why that's going on - and certainly fix it to give more info when the a timeout occurs.

I'll try to fix it this evening.

Ok, not sure when this evening is for you! I shall try in about 8 hours and report back (just tried - no change)

[JimH]

I think he is West Coast U.S., so 8 hours behind you.

[sarkonovich]

Ok, not sure when this evening is for you! I shall try in about 8 hours and report back (just tried - no change)

Try it now (or, when you wake up!) Not really sure if it will solve the problem. Hoping to get lucky. (The alternative is to actually put in the time and figure it out  )

[robt]

Sadly its no change at 0615 gmt. Am I the only person having this issue? It is strange as I had several weeks of use with no connection issues at all.

Good luck with the changes.

[sarkonovich]

@robt

Progress has been made! Let's move this to PM, but we are getting closer.

Steve

[robt]

Ok, got that.

Wont be in a position to try again for about 8 hours, I'll look out for pm...

Rob

[sarkonovich]

I might need a bit of feedback from JimH or others. The problem *seems*  to be that the format of the response to a "/MCWS/v1/Authenticate" request has changed, at least in this instance.

The response is in this format:

{"Response"=>{"Item"=>[{"__content__"=>"XxxXXx", "Name"=>"Token"}, {"__content__"=>"1", "Name"=>"ReadOnly"}], "Status"=>"OK"}}

But HouseBand expects the value of "Item" to be a hash, not an array. Since that has worked up till now, it seems like something has changed.

Has there been any changes to this recently?

[JimH]

Yes.  I'll try to get you an answer today.

[JohnT]

The response to an Authenticate call is an XML package that looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="Token">OeHuyCtW</Item>
<Item Name="ReadOnly">0</Item>
</Response>

It used to only return a token, now it also returns a boolean "ReadOnly" flag which indicates whether the token has full access or read-only access (0 or 1).  An 'Item' in our XML Soap format has a 'Name' attribute and a value.  My guess is the XML parser you're using produces different JSON output depending on whether there is a single 'Item' element or multiple 'Item' elements.  With a single Item element, it creates a simple hash, if there are multiple Item elements, it creates an array of hashes.  Does that sound like what you're seeing?

[sarkonovich]

The response to an Authenticate call is an XML package that looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="Token">OeHuyCtW</Item>
<Item Name="ReadOnly">0</Item>
</Response>

It used to only return a token, now it also returns a boolean "ReadOnly" flag which indicates whether the token has full access or read-only access (0 or 1).  An 'Item' in our XML Soap format has a 'Name' attribute and a value.  My guess is the XML parser you're using produces different JSON output depending on whether there is a single 'Item' element or multiple 'Item' elements.  With a single Item element, it creates a simple hash, if there are multiple Item elements, it creates an array of hashes.  Does that sound like what you're seeing?

Yep. That sounds exactly right. Thanks so much!

All should be working now....

[robt]

Yep. That sounds exactly right. Thanks so much!

All should be working now....

Yep, success!

All working again.

Thanks a lot...

[Hilton]

Hi @sarkonovich

Can you please enable House Band in Australia for us?  Amazon Alexa just formally launched here in the last couple of weeks.

Cheers
Hilton

[sarkonovich]

Hi @sarkonovich

Can you please enable House Band in Australia for us?  Amazon Alexa just formally launched here in the last couple of weeks.

Cheers
Hilton

Yes, I will. It will probably take about a month after I submit it to Amazon,  though....

[mmadd29]

Hi.....excuse me if this has been covered as I didn't see it in this thread, or if this the wrong place to post.

I just bought an Alexa and added House Band.......it does work connects fine......

I have over 2000 albums in my library, but Alexa/House Band only sees 20 of them.

I asked Alexa to play "Clutch" and it did saying shuffling from your library...or something like that.

I then asked to play "Rush" and said it can not find any "Rush" in my library.  The voice command and response was correct.

I then logged into my Alexa, and looked at "My Music Library" and it only shows 20 album, none of which is anything by Rush, so Alexa was correct based on what I saw.

I'm certain that I didn't do something correct, and was wondering if there was a way to see my entire library.  Please note, I have about 60,000 songs in my library all tagged properly.  MC has no issues with anything in my library.

Please advise.

Thanks for your time.

[sarkonovich]

@mmad29

Are you say, "Alexa, tell house band to play Rush?" Or just, "Alexa, play Rush."

HouseBand has nothing to do with your music library in the Alexa app. So, it sounds like you are actually invoking HouseBand to fulfill the request.

Steve