BUG in single track GAC generated playlist

[theguywiththefunnyhair]

Hi,

I've found a GAC with 'now playing' scheme will not update if only one single track is loaded and the replaced by a different single track.

Using MB 2.2.0.83 and NR 2.0.0.99 tested with JRMC and WMP.

Cheers

Dan

[theguywiththefunnyhair]

Am i the only one effected by this?

[JBrett]

Dan,
I have noticed this too. At first I thought it was related my custom code, but I noticed the same thing in MediaPlayer. According to Ben, NetRemote is suppose to query the first two tracks, if they are different then reload the playlist. I have traced and noticed the client does query for the first two tracks, but seems to ignore if they have changed. Actually it seems that any time the same number of tracks is put into the playlist (i.e. the count doesn't change) then NetRemote doesn't think the playlist has changed. See the bottom of the 10th page of the Foobar post http://www.promixis.com/forums/showthread.php?p=102571
I hope more people can confirm whether or not this is an issue. (although I did notice sometimes MP works because of a timing issue, the playlist will empty, and NR will query before the track is added back.)

Thanks,
Brett

[Rob H]

We'll be looking at the Mediabridge plugin this week, and probably MediaBridge itself a short while after.

It would probably be a good idea if you reminded us about this in a few days.

[theguywiththefunnyhair]

Actually it seems that any time the same number of tracks is put into the playlist (i.e. the count doesn't change) then NetRemote doesn't think the playlist has changed.

This answers a few questions i had pondered.

:)

[Ron]

I justed tested this with the latest MB and latest NR and under jrmc12 this works fine. What versions are you running?

[JBrett]

Ron,
I haven't update in a while, I'm running 2.2.0.83 MediaBridge and 2.0.0.104 NetRemote. I Will update to the latest of both and check but I don't have WinAmp or JRiver available, (due to my platform, Windows 2003 server (WinAmp), and lack of wanting to pay for a player, (JRiver)). I use my custom player (Satyr). I will re-check MediaPlayer, but it seems a little in-valid, as I have noticed (in the past) MediaPlayer deletes the tracks, pauses, then adds a track back, giving NetRemote time to see the playlist drop to zero then back up to one (sometimes). I also only see this with GAC now, but as stated I only use my custom player (Satyr), and had built in a checksum for this issue, which only seemed to fix the "TreeView" portion. If Dan is listening, (I'm pretty sure he has JRiver) and would be so gracious, he can check, but to duplicate the problem the steps should be:
1. Have a GAC created "NowPlaying" list.
2. Play a single track
3. Play a different single track
The "NowPlaying" list will not update with the second tracks info.

Thanks,
Brett

[Ron]

That is the exact procedure I followed with JRMC12. Curious to see what Dan finds.

[theguywiththefunnyhair]

I still see it as a problem, but it could be the method i use to play (or something..). I've knocked up a VERY simple .ccf to demo the problem, should work ok with JRMC.

To see the problem click an album** to see the tracks, clicking a track will start playing that track immediately, you should see the current track name come up bottom right. Now click another track (different album is good for me, but whatever) and the new track should start playing but the old track name is still displayed. If you want to see the playlist update, hit the 'add' button, this will change the palylist length and bingo, the correct track name should appear with the newly added track. Still not convinced? now you have 2 (or more) tracks in your playlist, click a new track to start it playing the playlist length changes to 1 and the track name is immediately updated.

A word of caution this .ccf has no volume controls so check your within reach of your hardware controls before you start.

**If you just started NR and dont see albums just reopen the .ccf and it should be ok.

[JBrett]

Ok, I think I have all the details. I changed my setup to use MediaPlayer and was able to reproduce the problem consistently by using two NetRemote clients (different machines). I used "mce_1024x768.ccf". On the first machine, navigated to the "Queue" page and left it there. On the second machine I played a single track. This was updated on the first machine. I then played a different single track and the first machine was not updated. If I changed the number of tracks by adding an additional track, the change would then be reflected on the first machine. I also noticed that if I backed out of the "Queue" page then went back into it, it would then reflect the track change. (That is why I had to use two NetRemote clients.) It also explains my biggest question as to why Dan and I were the only ones noticing it, most of the .ccf files require you to back out of the "Now Playing" list to add a track and then go back to the "Now Playing" list, this would reflect the change.
It is also important to note that the speed of the MediaBridge machine does play a factor. I originally did the test with an older (amazingly slow) computer running MediaBridge. It seemed that MediaPlayer was running slow enough to give NetRemote time to query inbetween deleting the track and adding one back, thus the change would be reflected as NetRemote saw the number of tracks change to zero then back to one.

Thanks,
Brett

[theguywiththefunnyhair]

Where are we with this now? has it been confirmed as a bug? is a fix forthcoming? I have a habit of browsing my Library and just playing tracks one at a time, that makes this one is a real thorn in the side.

[Rob H]

I'm not sure - I suspect that Ron was pretty much banned from using a computer this last weekend. We'll have to wait for him to comment further.

[Ron]

Sorry guys,.. family was not allowing me near a computer. Had 92F weather here so it was even to hot in the office :-)

I'm looking at this now.

[Ron]

I have been able to confirm the issue.

[Ron]

Okay found the issue. This is a temporary fix until I can rework the MediaBridge:

Change MP.PlaylistLength to 'MP.TotalDuration' on file GAC.lua line 45 or so.

RegisterVariableWatch('MP.TotalDuration',function( varname,varvalue)