DLNA Navigation [#8740] FIXED

[Scott]

I love the DLNA feature - MediaMonkey let me set up in minutes a server that works far better than DLNA servers I've spent weeks messing with. MM works better, faster, and was SO much easier to set up. Truly an amazing addition to the program!

I'd like to access my entire music collection via media sharing. However, navigating the collection via DLNA is really difficult. For example, I have over 14k artists and 11k albums in my library, and scrolling down a list like that on a DLNA client is extremely slow - and some clients won't even display more than a couple hundred.

Ideally MediaMonkey would use letter nodes to break these lists down into smaller chunks, much like other DLNA clients I use (PlayOn, MediaTomb). I know Magic Nodes can do this within MediaMonkey itself, but I don't see a way to get the DLNA server to surface those.

Has anyone found a way to make navigation more manageable?

[nohitter151]

If you must navigate using letters to break up, the only way I could think would be to browse the "Location" node, but that would only work assuming you have your music files saved into alphabetized folders. (which you could set up easily with MM)

Personally I prefer to just listen via playlist or auto-playlist.

[Lowlander]

I haven't tested, but maybe MagicNodes are available for DLNA sharing?

[nohitter151]

I haven't tested, but maybe MagicNodes are available for DLNA sharing?

No, they aren't selectable from the media sharing options. However, you can make magic nodes sub to the "Playlists" node, I bet that would work...

[Scott]

It seems when I make the magic node a child of the Playlists node, it loses its "magic". It has the "expand" caret at first, but clicking the first time makes the caret disappear. Then MM tries to add all 40k tracks to a single playlist - not even grouped by artist (or album) anymore.

I'm not a magic node guru though - is there some setting that would make it work correctly?

[nohitter151]

It seems when I make the magic node a child of the Playlists node, it loses its "magic". It has the "expand" caret at first, but clicking the first time makes the caret disappear. Then MM tries to add all 40k tracks to a single playlist - not even grouped by artist (or album) anymore.

I'm not a magic node guru though - is there some setting that would make it work correctly?

Better to ask in the MagicNodes thread, I'm not much of an expert on it either.

[Milquetoast]

I just set up my Xbox Media Center to connect to MM's UPNP server and it's quite fast -- but I am running into the same issue of navigation. Let's say I want to listen to The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. When I'm in MM, I go to Music -> Album Artist -> The Beatles, and I see the albums listed beneath it. I can select A Hard Day's Night and I see all the songs. When I'm on the Xbox, I go to Music -> Album Artist -> The Beatles, and all of a sudden every single Beatles song is listed, but no way to get to the individual albums. I'm not sure I understand why every other part of the navigation process is identical to MM, yet the albums aren't listed separately like I expect them to be.

[KEP]

Ditto that. Very odd assortment of selections available under shared nodes. No real rhyme or reason, that I can make out.

[Lowlander]

I've been thinking on this for a while and have added the following to Mantis: http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=8740

[KEP]

Those sound like very good and useful ideas! I'd have to think quite a bit, too, to really come to terms with them.

Actually, one of my goals for today was to try all this with an XBox the kids left behind. They've never really understood MM, and being the iPod addicts they are were never really interested in moving beyond iTunes. <sigh> Well, if I could get stuff streaming to an XBox, especially downloaded videos, I think that'd wake 'em up!

Only thing is, I have no clue what to do once I run an ethernet cable to the XBox and turn it on. (I "came of age" when Pong was first being shown in the Museum of Science and Technology!)

[Lowlander]

I don't have an XBox, but generally in MediaMonkey you just enable Media Sharing and set it up (Tools > Options > Media Sharing) and then it should show on the XBox wherever the XBox shows Media Servers on the network.

[KEP]

I don't have an XBox, but generally in MediaMonkey you just enable Media Sharing and set it up (Tools > Options > Media Sharing) and then it should show on the XBox wherever the XBox shows Media Servers on the network.

Heh, yeah, it's that "should" part I'm worried about. I haven't had any (real) issues with media sharing between PCs. But man, I have tried to use the XBox as a DVD player, and for a guy who didn't grow up with a game controller in hand, "it's an experience."

Well, can't really break it, eh?

[Lowlander]

Maybe time to get out the manual

[KEP]

They still make those???

[Lowlander]

Yep http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/ ... uals-specs