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[Gatherum]

Could that possibly be related to my own issue with crackling?

[cncb]

It very well could be. Maybe compression artifacts or similar?

[cncb]

v1.3.4 is available which fixes the audio conversion problem.  I removed the PCM options because these will not play and I don't think there are any practical differences from WAV anyways.  You should delete and redo any downloads if you did some with conversion options set.  Sorry about that.

[Gatherum]

v1.3.4 is available which fixes the audio conversion problem.  I removed the PCM options because these will not play and I don't think there are any practical differences from WAV anyways.  You should delete and redo any downloads if you did some with conversion options set.  Sorry about that.

I'm guessing the update takes a minute to publish? I only have 1.3.3 and there are no updates available.

[Gatherum]

Okay, I got it. A few bugs and errors to report:

• You accidentally indicated the new version as 1.3.3 in the change log.
• The options for wifi and mobile conversions are juxtaposed: Changing the options for Wifi Audio affects mobile/cellular conversions; whereas, changing the options for Mobile Audio affects wifi conversions.
• The MP3 options (or at least, MP3 High) result in files that are half their original run time, leading to abrupt cut-offs.

Additionally, I have a recommendation: Add FLAC 16-bit and FLAC 24-bit as conversion options. Use case: A given media library is comprised mostly of APE's. Disabling conversions under this scenario becomes unfeasible because Monkey's Audio's symmetric algorithm requires processing power for decoding that most mobile devices don't have. Meanwhile, converting everything to uncompressed WAV solves the decoding problem but still results in massive files to stream through a wireless bottleneck—especially where high-resolution source files are concerned. In theory, having FLAC as a conversion option would address this by way of both smaller files and a more efficient compression algorithm, no?

[cncb]

1) Thanks - I will fix that.
2) I don't see this.  What leads you to believe they are switched?
3) I will have to test as I haven't seen this yet.  Does it happen consistently?
4) I agree FLAC would be a good conversion option but unfortunately is not available.  You might want to lobby JRiver for this.

[hoyt]

HTTPS appears to no longer be playing files for me.  I can browse all the way to the file I want, hit play, it will show up in the Playing Now window, but the time never advances. 

Not sure what/ when this changed, but I can play from Panel using port 52200, but MO does not.  If I open up 52199, and re-setup my server in MO using http, it plays back normally.

[hoyt]

HTTPS appears to no longer be playing files for me.  I can browse all the way to the file I want, hit play, it will show up in the Playing Now window, but the time never advances. 

Not sure what/ when this changed, but I can play from Panel using port 52200, but MO does not.  If I open up 52199, and re-setup my server in MO using http, it plays back normally.

Of course right after I posted that, I swapped back to my HTTPS setup server and it played.  Perhaps I simply needed to restart JRiver and reconnect...

EDIT:  Something is certainly up.  If I open up Android Auto and try to play to the HTTPS setup server, it does as I described in the prior post.  It then carries this behavior over to MO4 Media even after I've existing AA.  In AA, I hit play on the file I want, and the display then reads "Loading..." eventually it will say "Error playing file.  Check conversion settings or app storage permissions (for offline playback).".  If I then exit AA and open MO on its own, the same thing happens (without the error).  It loads all of the files in Playing Now, but doesn't play them.  Hitting the play icon doesn't seem to help.  If I then close MO and reopen it, I can playback just fine. 

If I do the above, but open my HTTP server in AA, it plays fine.  I then exit AA and open MO.  If I select my HTTPS server in MO, it won't play.  If I swap to the HTTP, it will. 

So it appears AA is screwing with HTTPS playback somehow. 

[cncb]

So it appears AA is screwing with HTTPS playback somehow.

I use https with Android Auto all the time.  You could try to "force close" MO or restart your phone to try to get it out of the weird state it is in.

[TheShoe]

Was trying this out on the Shield TV.

I have a DVD ripped to folder and am using particles for episodes.

When I select an "episode" (which is a particle), I can hear audio only - stuttered playback, no video.

Would it be possible to support playback of files based on particles?

-

Have to see if an external player works any differently next...

[cncb]

Would it be possible to support playback of files based on particles?

I'm not sure, but if you ripped it as a "disk/folder" instead of mkv files, you would probably have to set the file type to be converted for it to be able to be played back.

[TheShoe]

looks like if I set the external player to VLC it plays back fine.  subtitle support too!

alas however it does not actually playback using the start/stop time of the particle and just plays back the entire file.

[Gatherum]

2) I don't see this.  What leads you to believe they are switched?

I figured out the problem: MO 4Media is switching to the Wi-fi Audio settings when the phone's wi-fi is turned on--not explicitly when it is connected to a wi-fi network. In order for the Mobile Audio settings to be used, wi-fi must be turned off entirely. See attachment (note the icon and connection type). Is this intentional?

[cncb]

MO 4Media is switching to the Wi-fi Audio settings when the phone's wi-fi is turned on--not explicitly when it is connected to a wi-fi network.

I can't reproduce this.  My phone works as expected - MO connects via cellular and uses the Mobile Audio settings when not connected to a Wi-Fi network.  Having the Wi-Fi radio on has no effect when connected via cellular.  Is there maybe a particular sequence that causes this to happen?

[Gatherum]

How do you mean "sequence"? I can leave my wifi network and tell MO 4Media to disconnect and then reconnect but the icon at the top indicates a wifi connection. It does appear to affect play-back negatively. Constant hang. Doesn't know what to do.

[cncb]

I was just wondering if there are different steps you take when leaving Wi-Fi.  When I leave my Wi-Fi network, as designed MO automatically reconnects via cellular and vice versa when I re-enter my network so I don't touch anything. 

Are you sure your phone doesn't have a Wi-Fi network connection that might not be obvious?  Does toggling bluetooth have any effect?  Does restarting MO result in a cellular connection?

[DJLegba]

Thanks for adding the View Assets feature. It's so nice to finally have that on an Android device.

I've run into an issue that may be beyond your control, as I think it's probably due to Android 9's aggressive power management. Sometimes when I wake up the phone with MO 4Media active it reports "Could not reach the sever", and I have to reconnect. Other times it won't complain about not being able to reach the server, but the playlist will show only the currently playing song. It will advance to the next track normally, but in order to see the entire playlist again I'll have to go offline and then reconnect.

[cncb]

With the 1.3.3 release, it tries to reconnect after the screen is turned on and it is not connected.  That addressed a similar problem I was experiencing when I woke up my Kindle (older version of Android underneath).  I am not sure why it is not helping for your phone but you could try to set a few connection retries for your server (in MO server settings) in case the network takes a while to be available after wake.  You could also try to turn off "Battery Optimization" for MO in the Android settings.

[DJLegba]

I already have it set to try to reconnect 3 times, but I didn't have the battery optimization disabled. I'll see if that helps.

[Gatherum]

I was just wondering if there are different steps you take when leaving Wi-Fi.  When I leave my Wi-Fi network, as designed MO automatically reconnects via cellular and vice versa when I re-enter my network so I don't touch anything. 

Are you sure your phone doesn't have a Wi-Fi network connection that might not be obvious?  Does toggling bluetooth have any effect?  Does restarting MO result in a cellular connection?

Never mind. Further testing revealed that aside from the connection icon, there is no functional difference between turning wifi on or off on the device; I've just been having issues adequately streaming lossless content because my server is on 5-gHz n-wifi a room over from the router. Even with FLAC's fast decoding/decompression algorithm, high-resolution content has to go through a tight bottleneck with this set-up. I plan to invest in some MoCA adapters later to remedy this but for now, streaming is adequate through the cloud provided maximum cellular signal quality.

I will say that MO 4Media doesn't switch between LAN and cloud connections very aggressively—if at all—when leaving the home wifi network; I typically have to tell it to disconnect from the server and then reconnect. This is fine in most cases but kind of annoying when riding a bicycle or when play-back stops when crossing the edge of the wifi signal. Perhaps MO 4Media could be configured to ping the server every thirty seconds or so even when connected and then proceed with the usual retry attempts if the ping fails?

I do have some other suggestions related to usability:

• Add a Set Rating option to the context menu that appears when tapping a given track that invokes the usual rating options. This would allow one to set ratings for tracks without playing them first and even while other tracks are playing.
• Make the progress bar in Playing Now a functional seek bar. As it is, tapping said progress bar produces another seek bar along with jump buttons based on pre-defined time frames; however, most people would expect the main progress bar to be functional and to be able to simply tap, drag, and release. You can add another context menu for the jump buttons, probably accessible via its own button next to the other play-back buttons or even within the Playback Info context menu.
• Include a toggle in settings to enable the backwards button in Playing Now to act like that of a CD player: Basically, tapping it once would jump to the beginning of a track and double-tapping it would switch to the previous track.
• Include a toggle in settings that allows MO 4Media to keep the screen from turning off while content is playing to the currently-selected zone, preferably while still allowing the screen to dim. Gizmo and JRemote have this feature and it's useful when I'm mobile or even at home and using it as a remote and don't want to unlock my phone every time I want to set a rating or something.
• Enable alphabetical scrolling so that when one taps and drags up and down on the right side of a given list, it scrolls rapidly between alphabet letters. This is another feature in JRemote and it allows one to easily zoom through large media libraries and file lists.
• Chromecast and AirPlay support. Admittedly, this isn't an immediate concern of my own but they're pretty much essential features for an app like this.

[DJLegba]

• Enable alphabetical scrolling so that when one taps and drags up and down on the right side of a given list, it scrolls rapidly between alphabet letters. This is another feature in JRemote and it allows one to easily zoom through large media libraries and file lists.
• Chromecast and AirPlay support. Admittedly, this isn't an immediate concern of my own but they're pretty much essential features for an app like this.

I'd love to see the scrolling feature.

Android devices can already cast to Chromecast. The app doesn't have to support it directly. At least, I can select "This device", tell the phone to cast, and the Chromecast Audio starts playing.

[cncb]

There is not the fancy drag scrolling of JRemote, but you can jump quickly to a letter by tapping the search icon at the top right of the list.  Tap where it says "Jump to" in the search box and type a letter followed by the search icon in the keyboard and it will scroll to that letter.

I have been working on direct Chromecast support and it is almost ready.

[Awesome Donkey]

Honestly, using the jump to I've found it's much quicker than scrolling anyways.

[DJLegba]

With the 1.3.3 release, it tries to reconnect after the screen is turned on and it is not connected.  That addressed a similar problem I was experiencing when I woke up my Kindle (older version of Android underneath).  I am not sure why it is not helping for your phone but you could try to set a few connection retries for your server (in MO server settings) in case the network takes a while to be available after wake.  You could also try to turn off "Battery Optimization" for MO in the Android settings.

Disabling battery optimization didn't help. I was going to say that JRemote doesn't have this problem, but then it occurred to me that JRemote has in fact always had a similar problem. The difference is that JRemote's Playing Now screen shows only the current track, and you must swipe left to see the playlist. More often than not, you'll see the track list of the previous album, so you have to use the Reload Playlist command.

The Playing Now button is almost always visible in your app when playing music, so it would be great if pressing the button always caused the app to reload the playlist. The Playing Now screen seems to know where it is in the playlist (eg 15 of 17), so if isn't displaying a playlist it should be able to reload automatically. When the problem happens it's still got a valid connection to the server, as I can browse the library.

[cncb]

I will try to do something to address this.  Maybe just reloading Playing Now when the screen is turned on?

[DJLegba]

I will try to do something to address this.  Maybe just reloading Playing Now when the screen is turned on?

Would that help if another app has the focus when the screen is turned on?

[cncb]

Would that help if another app has the focus when the screen is turned on?

Yes, but I will try to track down why this is happening instead.  Note that you can manually reload Playing Now by just reselecting the same zone in the zones list (tap upper right corner and tap current selected zone).

[DJLegba]

Yes, but I will try to track down why this is happening instead.  Note that you can manually reload Playing Now by just reselecting the same zone in the zones list (tap upper right corner and tap current selected zone).

Thanks, that's a handy shortcut to know about. But when I confirmed that it works, I also noticed the blank playlist problem only happens if MO 4Media has the focus when the screen sleeps. If I've been using some other app, then wake up the screen and switch back to MO 4M, the playlist is intact and does not disappear after a short delay (as it does if M4M has the focus when the screen sleeps).

[rec head]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with the thread. When I play some music with the app it only plays 2 or 3 songs then stops. I have been thinking that it had to do with being in places with bad wifi but just tried it now and the same thing happened. Any ideas?

Thanks.

[cncb]

If this is when the device screen is off, you need to turn off Battery Optimization for MO 4Media.  See the "Notes" section of the first post.

[rec head]

That did it. Thanks.

Question: If I hit Stop but the app is still in my shade is it still using the battery?

[cncb]

Question: If I hit Stop but the app is still in my shade is it still using the battery?

If you mean still open/running in the background then yes it still uses some battery, but should be very minimal.

[Gatherum]

So what are your thoughts about the feasibility of the other suggestions I made?

Also, remember when I was telling you about the lock screen player controls? Turns out, it's a toggle feature in Android's own Lock Screen FaceWidgets. See attachment.

I doubt it but I don't suppose there's any way for you to mess with these options? It would be really cool to get rating stars in the lock screen.

[cncb]

• Add a Set Rating option to the context menu that appears when tapping a given track that invokes the usual rating options. This would allow one to set ratings for tracks without playing them first and even while other tracks are playing.
  I can add this.
• Make the progress bar in Playing Now a functional seek bar.
  Sorry, I don't think I will change this behavior.
• Include a toggle in settings to enable the backwards button in Playing Now to act like that of a CD player: Basically, tapping it once would jump to the beginning of a track and double-tapping it would switch to the previous track.
  I will consider this, but there are a few shortcuts already to jump to the beginning of the track.  Stop followed by Play will do it as well as the first button in the seek buttons.
• Include a toggle in settings that allows MO 4Media to keep the screen from turning off while content is playing to the currently-selected zone, preferably while still allowing the screen to dim.
  Would you want this to be a per-zone setting?

[Gatherum]

Sure, why not? Per-zone setting sounds good.

[hoyt]

I haven't posted on this in a while, so a few updates:

1) I finally brought my receiver to the same location as my Shield TV and was then able to play back DTS.  My TV evidently won't decode it at all, so that's nice.  I can now playback all of the videos I've tried on my server, really happy with this.

2) I'm still having issues with Android Auto playback via SSL.  I can connect to the server, browse, hit play on a file, but then nothing happens.  I'm not sure what else to do here to troubleshoot.  My SSL certs are about to expire in a few days, at which point they'll auto renew on my webserver and I'll move them over to my JRiver server.  Perhaps that'll take care of the problem.  When you say that SSL is working on AA for you, are you using the JRiver certs?  I guess I could try that again.  It would be really nice to get an error message to the screen if that problem is with my certs.

3) When in Android Auto, playing via http or offline playback, it doesn't advance tracks.  It plays the first one in the list, then briefly an error shows on the screen and then it goes back to showing the first track I tried.  If I hit the next button, it'll play the next track.  I tried this without a car to eliminate as much as possible.  It does this on both my LG G6 and my Pixel.

Thanks!

[cncb]

Yes, I'm using JRiver's certificate, but I don't think it is a certificate issue since you are able to connect fine.  Is playback OK when playing to the device (not in AA) with the same server connection?

[hoyt]

Yes, I'm using JRiver's certificate, but I don't think it is a certificate issue since you are able to connect fine.  Is playback OK when playing to the device (not in AA) with the same server connection?

Yeah, playback outside of AA works fine on the SSL connection.

Edit: Just to test, I flipped back to the JRiver self signed cert and got the same issue.  I rebuilt the server connection in MO4 as well.  As I mentioned before, if I try to play via SSL in AA, then exit AA, go back to MO4, it won't play (it does the same thing, allows me to browse, but nothing ever shows up on the Playing Now screen).  If I then close MO4, and reopen it, it will in fact play from the same SSL connection.  I'm attaching a screenshot of what AA looks like after connecting.  At this stage, even though it looks like it's not connected, I can fully browse the server.

[cncb]

v1.4.0 is now available which mainly adds casting support.  From first post:

- Chromecast targets are added to zone list.
- Audio: New conversion setting was added for "Casting Audio".  Gapless playback is not possible. Volume leveling will be attempted if enabled (audio output cannot be "fixed").
- Video: Chromecast does not support ts playback so videos cannot be converted (MC's only conversion option is ts).  Therefore, the video and audio needs to be natively supported in Chromecast to play properly via casting.

[Ekpen]

v1.4.0 is now available which mainly adds casting support.  From first post:

I

- Chromecast targets are added to zone list.
- Audio: New conversion setting was added for "Casting Audio".  Gapless playback is not possible. Volume leveling will be attempted if enabled (audio output cannot be "fixed").
- Video: Chromecast does not support ts playback so videos cannot be converted (MC's only conversion option is ts).  Therefore, the video and audio needs to be natively supported in Chromecast to play properly via casting.

Greetings:
Playing back my flac files, l noticed cover arts on the phone, but none on the display.
"Play on the menu should be play single file.
Shuttle and play could be expanded to read play all tracks.
An impatient new user may not know this.
This is just informational.
Also simple way to disconnect the cast similar to gizmo,eos,and JRemote.
On the video side, my movies are all in mkv, standard bluray and uhd.
All these play on my wife's new note 9, and my old rusty note 3.
But when cast is on, I get message "can not play video".
After this message, the audio starts to sound weird, but no picture.
I tried 2D, and uhd titles, more than 20, no luck.
Thanks for the new cast update.
George

[cncb]

Hi,

Cover art should display when you pause the music.  Sorry, this is just how the default Chromecast player behaves and I don't see any way to change it.

If you change the zone or close the app, playback/casting will stop.  Not a full disconnect but not much different.

The Chromecast player seems to be more limited in video and audio support so files that can be played back natively on your phone may not be supported on Chromecast.  Unfortunately, MC currently only supports video conversion to ts which is not supported in Chromecast.  I tried a few blu-ray MKVs (H264) that played back fine although I get no sound with DTS audio.

[Ekpen]

Hi,

Cover art should display when you pause the music.  Sorry, this is just how the default Chromecast player behaves and I don't see any way to change it.

If you change the zone or close the app, playback/casting will stop.  Not a full disconnect but not much different.

The Chromecast player seems to be more limited in video and audio support so files that can be played back natively on your phone may not be supported on Chromecast.  Unfortunately, MC currently only supports video conversion to ts which is not supported in Chromecast.  I tried a few blu-ray MKVs (H264) that played back fine although I get no sound with DTS audio.

Good to hear from you again.
I was able to stop casting, with your suggestion before
I posted my message.
What I ask for is a method to "stop casting" similar to eos,JRemote, and Gizmo. (Simple, no pain method"
My mkv files play on my handhelds and also through chromecast.
Using the JRiver remotes, I have no problem or issues sending mkv videos to 7 or 8 Android smart tvs.
I will try stopping the music to see if the cover art will be displayed.
It will be nice, if the cover arts displays at the same time while the music plays.
Thanks again.
I will test, and report back.
George

[cncb]

What I ask for is a method to "stop casting" similar to eos,JRemote, and Gizmo. (Simple, no pain method"

The stop button in Playing Now is an easy way to do it.

[Ekpen]

The stop button in Playing Now is an easy way to do it.

Ok, will try that later.
George

[Ekpen]

The stop button in Playing Now is an easy way to do it.

Hi:
I reported earlier that I got error message, "can not play video".
I have to exit playing flac files, restart video playback in order not to get that error message.
Now I can at least try to watch mkv uhd and standard titles, but with mixed results.
Titles with 2D:
Most will either load the video, but no audio, and if audio loaded, it will sound like freight train.
Uhd titles:
When uhd titles load , I could see via a split screen on my Sony xbr 930 smart uhd tv switching from standard mode to hdr mode.
I tried several titles, same switching.
This is a plus for this program,though I am using a non uhd cell phone.
With this, I tried same with Gizmo and JRemote. They were not able to switch video from standard mode to hdr back and forth.
Despite this capability, the audio does not work.
It is either no audio or if any at all is not useable, sounding like a freight train.
If you fix this audio issue for video, and cover art for flac files I will be happy.
I tried to stop the playback of flack titles, per jour siggestion, no luck with that.
Another request:
A slder control for volume up and down while in the play now menu ?
Thanks.
George

[DJLegba]

- Audio: New conversion setting was added for "Casting Audio".  Gapless playback is not possible.

Gapless playback does work if you set the zone to This Device and use the Android OS to cast the screen to your CCA.

[Ekpen]

Gapless playback does work if you set the zone to This Device and use the Android OS to cast the screen to your CCA.

I  noticed it also, gapless playback works.
With audio, cover art does not display on the screen.
In your case, were you able to get the art work to show up?
George

[DJLegba]

I  noticed it also, gapless playback works.
With audio, cover art does not display on the screen.
In your case, were you able to get the art work to show up?
George

I'm using Chromecast Audio, so there is no display to cast to.

[Ekpen]

I'm using Chromecast Audio, so there is no display to cast to.

Ok, then.
George

[cncb]

I created a new thread to gauge iOS interest: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,117807.0.html