Media (UPnP/DLNA) setup on a Linux/Android home

[topdownjimmy]

My (newly) working setup uses:

UPnPlay (control point on Android)
Rygel (UPnP renderer on desktop/HTPC)
MediaTomb (UPnP server on desktop)

[nrayever]

Mmmmm, some interesting ideas. Let's see which one works best.

[keithspg]

Arrgh! There appears to be nothing that 'just works' and supports more than just 'file transfer' type media playing/syncing.

All the apparently 'full featured' android programs cannot see my server (ushare running on my tower). The ones that can see the server just give a list of songs (a couple give a list of albums, Woo Hoo) but will not allow a playlist or copying more than one song at a time to my phone/tablet. I have tried almost all of them, Skifta, Eminent, UPnPlay, ShareMe, BubbleUp, etc. The Program on my Motorola phone (just labeled DLNA) sees the share then allows me to copy multiples, but complains at each one saying that it cannot play the sound format, though it does just fine. Also, I need to 'accept' each transfer which is a pain.

I tried to set up rygel on the tower, but do not know what I did wrong, but I was confused as to how to tell it that my media was in a different directory than 'My Music'. Ushare installed and was easy to configure. I want this to run as a service as on a server and not as a user program. Ushare appears to do that.

I have forked-daapd running as well, but it cannot be used by the current android progran nor does it allow me to copy an album or all the songs in a playlist to my phone/tablet.

What am I doing wrong?

K

[keithspg]

Is anyone reading this thread any more? My challenge is purely music (sound, no video).

So in the meantime, I have figured it out. I have forkedDAAPD running and can play the songs on devices that can use the DAAP protocol.

Also with the upnp/dlna stuff. I currently have the ushare program running. It is great as I can play files on my phone served from the server (linux). It appears that I can use the phone as a 'remote' and select music or playlist to pull music from the server and play it on a 'renderer'. The renderer can be a phone and that appears to 'work'.

What I want is speakers in the kitchen. I want to control what is playing on them via the android app (either andromote or 2player). The part that is missing is a renderer. I am so confused and cannot figure out what to buy that will work in this seemingly 'normal' setup. All seem to be aimed at TV (video and audio) which require a screen and selection, etc. It appears that a Roku box should work, but it does not appear to be dlna/upnp compliant. It seems like the only solution is to get an apple AIrport Express and configure it in pulse audio as a speaker. It does not appear that this setup would allow it to appears as a 'dlna renderer' in any of the android programs and would, therefore, not work as I wish.

Can anyone point me in a direction to do this? I can handle the analog amplification if needed also do not want to spend 400.00 to do it (sonos). I have speakers and amplifiers.

Please help.

Keith

[freakalad]

I've got a similar need:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12104072

Have you built a solution?

[keithspg]

Yes, I did. I bought one of these: Sony NS 300

It works ok, but think I will build one out of a Raspberry PI. DLNA is very limited. There should be a better solution. My issue is mainly that I cannot select a point in a podcast. It will only start from the beginning and play through. If I stop and start, it starts over. Really a pain. Also, there are open audio formats that it will not play. Also, It none of the remotes will play an MP4 internet music stream. Probably also related to the format issue.

Keith

[freakalad]

Sounds like problems related to the DLNA client/renderer, and not the server.
I've used DLNA served up by a few servers on a few renderers without the issues you've indicated.

I have a few ideas of my own for when my RasPi is *eventually* delivered.... either an XBMC/OpenELEC HTPC device serving up DLNA, or something else

[dhysk]

This suggestion was only from a page ago I was just wondering if you tried squeesebox?

That is the way I'm going because any computer can serve as the server, and any computer can also serve as a player. Also there is a raspberry pi project going that looks promising as well as instructions on how to use a wifi router and sound card dongle as a receiver.

Logitech also sells devices, all can be controlled via a free android or iOS app. With one server and a bunch of receivers (computer, hacked router, RPi, Logitech equipment, ect.) you can play a different song on each device or play the same song on all of them.

[freakalad]

I've used SqueezeBox waaaaay back in the day when it was still SlimServer.
Not a bad solution, but as with soem such solutions, it's ends up being a fairly narrow vendor-specific solution.

I now try to stay away from such stacks & rather focus my efforts on Open Data & Protocols, so that my clients & servers interact purely at a protocol/API level & not too strongly bound to a specific client/server set.
DLNA is one such vendor-neutral/agnostic solution.

[tagawa]

A bit late to the party but I had the same problem as you - searching for a hardware audio renderer. After a fair bit of research, I bought a Grace Digital radio (GDI-IR2600 - Innovator X). Sure enough, it's a bona fide UPnP renderer. It looks as though all their digital radios are, based on various reviews I've read such as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2DBVRH..._res_rtr_alt_1

So I can send songs to the device, remotely change the volume, etc. with regular UPnP requests. Using an inspector, it seems they also have a lot of Grace Digital-only actions for e.g. choosing preset stations. They have iPhone and Android apps which can control this.

The only downside is that it seems to be fussy about what it can play. Some MP3s work, some don't. WMA is mostly OK and OGG seems fine. Haven't tried other formats. Overall, very happy with it so far (no affiliation, by the way).