Odd m4a files will play directly but won't via DLNA

[jmcc]

Hi

It seems that the m4a file that can be downloaded here will play in MM4 directly, but won't play when rendered from a MM4 DLNA server to a MM4 DLNA renderer. This is using build 1449. The file was encoded in iTunes 8.

Ta
John

[rusty]

Thanks. Tracked at: http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=8577

Please continue sharing the file a bit longer.

-Rusty

[Ludek]

The file plays fine for me over DLNA, both directly by browsing the server in MM interface and also by using a media controller (PlugPlayer in my case) and MM as renderer.
Is it specific to a particular media controller?
Could you generate debug log as described here: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=6&t=341 (item 4b) ?

[Ludek]

Clarified in the bug:
http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view. ... 577#c28494

I use the http://www.mediamonkey.com/addons/brows ... r-plug-in/ therefore it works for me, this should be workaround for you.
Note that the plugin is part of the MediaMonkey codec pack: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... 54427&sd=d

[jmcc]

Hi Ludek

I'm just running MM4 as the DLNA server and MM4 on the DLNA client, so there shouldn't be any media controller element to it.

You can find the DLNA server debug log here, and the DLNA client debug log here. The DLNA client and server are on different machines - could it be due to some sort of timeout?

Thanks
John

[jmcc]

Just installed MediaMonkey_AAC_Plug-in_1_0_6.exe on the client and it now plays fine. Previously I just had the MM_Codec_Pack_Trial_2.0.0.14.mmip installed on the client and the server (or at least I thought I did).

Thanks
John

[jmcc]

Sorry - spoke too soon. I'd inadvertantly set the DLNA server to convert incompatible files to flac and that was why it had started working. Having put m4a files back in the "compatible" list on the DLNA server, it's stopped working again.

[Ludek]

So please re-generate the logs for the M4A (works fine here). The previous logs were for the M4A->FLAC auto-converted files that failed for another reason that I reproduced (will be fixed in the next build).

[jmcc]

OK - new DLNA server debug log here and client log here.

Thanks
John

[Ludek]

Are you sure you installed the MM_Codec_Pack_Trial_2.0.0.14.mmip on the client machine? From the log it looks that the plugin from the codec pack isn't used for playback. Or maybe you had just trial version of the codec pack that has expired?

[jmcc]

Hi Ludek

I just re-installed the MM_Codec_Pack_Trial_2.0.0.14.mmip on the client and this is working now so it looks like it had expired. What I don't understand is why with the MM4 client playing the file directly it worked, but not when played via DLNA? Wouldn't it use the same codec for both?

How long does it take for the MM_Codec_Pack_Trial_2.0.0.14.mmip to expire? I thought that I'd only re-installed it in early October.

Thanks
John

[rusty]

Hi jmcc,

m4a playback probably worked because you have Quicktime on your machine. But quicktime can't stream over http for MM, so for that case, the plugin is needed.

-Rusty

[jmcc]

Yes - that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

John

[adrianmarsh]

Hi,

(I realise this is possibly partially answered in this post).

A few weeks ago I realised I could get one installation of MM4 to play its music via the speakers of my second PC also running MM4 - a feature I didn't know it had and have been making use of since!! - I'm guessing this is just an automatic DLNA setup, based on what I've read.

But today I stumbled on something. iTunes downloaded the new U2 album for me (.m4a) files, MM4 on my laptop picked them up and added them to its MM4 library.
I can play them happily locally on the laptop. When I try to play via streaming over to the Desktop though, the receiving MM4 on the Desktop complains about the Codec.
But if I copy the files over to the Desktop PC, and play them locally on the Desktop, they play fine there too!

The error one the Desktop is : MediaMonkey is unable to decode this format.

But yet both PCs can play it locally, both have quicktime 7 installed.

So.. whats annoying is two things...

1) That it doesn't play - maybe this is just a limitation we have to live with, and maybe I need the codec pack to get around it, but it seems that if MM4 can play the file locally, then why not over the stream? At the very least the error message is misleading.. It *can* decode it, it just doesn't want to.

2) When playing remotely like this - theres no indication on the Control PC of any error. Indeed I sat there for some time wondering why I wasn't hearing any music at all. On a headless PC, its not much use MM4 popping up an error dialogue, if I'm not on that PC to see it.. Can this be improved? (does DLNA have any error-message protocol, if the playbacks initiated by another device?).

Thanks as always,

[Lowlander]

Read the topic as it explains that streaming requires the MediaMonkey Codec Pack.