My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR FOX T2

HDR FOX T2 // UPnP DLNA Issue

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    andrewfg

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    Hi,

    I am the software author of Whitebear media server ( http://www.whitebear.ch/mediaserver )

    One of my clients has a Humax HDR FOX T2 and is experiencing tremendous difficulties getting it to play MP3 files served by Whitebear media server. (It plays native MP3 files, but won't play files transcoded on the fly from (say) flac to MP3. My current guess is that it is a timing issue in the HTTP transfer process.)

    I am trying to find somebody who knows a lot about the inner quirks of the Humax UPnP functionality, so that I can (hopefully) adapt Whitebear media server to get it to work properly.

    | Mon 27 Jun 2011 15:02:06 #1 |
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    raydon

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    andrewfg - 4 hours ago  » 
    Hi,
    I am the software author of Whitebear media server ( http://www.whitebear.ch/mediaserver )
    One of my clients has a Humax HDR FOX T2 and is experiencing tremendous difficulties getting it to play MP3 files served by Whitebear media server. (It plays native MP3 files, but won't play files transcoded on the fly from (say) flac to MP3. My current guess is that it is a timing issue in the HTTP transfer process.)
    I am trying to find somebody who knows a lot about the inner quirks of the Humax UPnP functionality, so that I can (hopefully) adapt Whitebear media server to get it to work properly.

    I'm just a little confused by your post. You say your client has difficulties in playing MP3's served by Whitebear, then say it plays native MP3's. Do you mean he has difficulties in playing other formats transcoded to MP3 ?
    Unfortunately the Humax UPnP server is closed source. Only people who can help you with that is Humax.
    I have an HDR T2, but as a first step I've tried to prove Whitebear transcoding works to a PC based DLNA client. Installed your server and squeezebox on my PC, and using XBMC as the client I can play mp3's OK, but flac fails.
    Checked Whitebear and it listed all transcoders except lame.exe as being available. Located Lame.exe in one of my other multimedia apps and copied it to C:\Program Files\Squeezebox\server\Bin\MSWin32-x86-multi-thread. Whitebear server now listing a full set of transcoders but XBMC still won't play flac.

    | Mon 27 Jun 2011 19:42:50 #2 |
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    andrewfg

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    I'm just a little confused by your post. You say your client has difficulties in playing MP3's served by Whitebear, then say it plays native MP3's. Do you mean he has difficulties in playing other formats transcoded to MP3 ?

    Correct.

    as a first step I've tried to prove Whitebear transcoding works to a PC based DLNA client. Installed your server and squeezebox on my PC, and using XBMC as the client I can play mp3's OK, but flac fails. ... Whitebear server now listing a full set of transcoders but XBMC still won't play flac.

    So it sounds like I have the same problem with XMBC then. (I will look into this too). But on this forum I would ideally like to focus on the Humax issue...

    | Mon 27 Jun 2011 21:58:54 #3 |
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    raydon

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    andrewfg - 2 hours ago  » 

    I'm just a little confused by your post. You say your client has difficulties in playing MP3's served by Whitebear, then say it plays native MP3's. Do you mean he has difficulties in playing other formats transcoded to MP3 ?

    Correct.

    as a first step I've tried to prove Whitebear transcoding works to a PC based DLNA client. Installed your server and squeezebox on my PC, and using XBMC as the client I can play mp3's OK, but flac fails. ... Whitebear server now listing a full set of transcoders but XBMC still won't play flac.

    So it sounds like I have the same problem with XMBC then. (I will look into this too). But on this forum I would ideally like to focus on the Humax issue...

    Yes, I understand that. I was just trying to establish a baseline I could work from. Going on from there. Copying over the lame.exe just prevented anything from playing at all in XBMC, or even being listed on the HDR T2, so I just removed it again. Once I did that MP3's were listed on the HDR T2, but nothing else. So, I renamed a .flac audio file and gave it the .MP3 extension. Refreshed the database and it was then listed on the T2. Selected it and it played back successfully. So, bottom line is the HDR T2 will only recognise and list audio named with the .MP3 extension, but will accept other formats transcoded to .MP3 by the server.

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 0:48:00 #4 |
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    andrewfg

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    So, I renamed a .flac audio file and gave it the .MP3 extension. Refreshed the database and it was then listed on the T2. Selected it and it played back successfully. So, bottom line is the HDR T2 will only recognise and list audio named with the .MP3 extension, but will accept other formats transcoded to .MP3 by the server.

    Hi Raydon,

    The issue is not whether the Humax can SEE the files; (I already know that it can only see MP3s); Rather the issue is whether it can PLAY them. My client's testing indicated that it can play those files that are native MP3, but that it cannot play those files that are transcoded from another format on the fly to MP3. The player does download the first part of such files, but no sound comes out of the player, and after about 15 seconds it skips to the next track.

    BTW what you did concerning removing lame.exe and renaming a .flac as an .mp3 sounds a bit like mumbo jumbo; but you evidently did confirm that it can only SEE MP3s

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 7:02:34 #5 |
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    raydon

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    andrewfg - 4 hours ago  » 
    BTW what you did concerning removing lame.exe and renaming a .flac as an .mp3 sounds a bit like mumbo jumbo; but you evidently did confirm that it can only SEE MP3s

    It may sound like mumbo jumbo to you, but strange as it must seem, when I replace the lame.exe file the HDR T2 will not even list native MP3 audio tracks, let alone play them. And I renamed the .flac file to .MP3 so that it would appear in the HDR T2's media list.
    Never mind, I hope you find someone who can help resolve your problem.

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 12:00:58 #6 |
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    andrewfg

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    strange as it must seem, when I replace the lame.exe file the HDR T2 will not even list native MP3 audio tracks, let alone play them. And I renamed the .flac file to .MP3 so that it would appear in the HDR T2's media list.

    Ok let me try to confirm that I undertand what you are saying:

    1) If lame.exe is present then Whitebear does NOT seem to offer native MP3s in the Content Directory of the Humax?

    2a) If lame.exe is deleted then Whitebear DOES seem to offer native MP3s in the Content Directory of the Humax?

    2b) If lame.exe is deleted then Whitebear does NOT seem to offer FLACs as transcoded MP3s in the Content Directory of the Humax?

    3) If lame.exe is deleted, and a file has been renamed from a FLAC to MP3, then Whitebear DOES seem to offer this (as an MP3) in the Content Directory of the Humax? But in this case, surely to all external appearances, it isn't a FLAC anymore anyway? And essentially case 2a) applies (at least superficially)...

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 13:19:58 #7 |
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    raydon

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    1. Correct
    2a. Correct, and they are playable.
    2b. Correct.
    3. Correct. So yes, 2a would apply, and no, they are not playable. When I tried it yesterday I didn't notice it had skipped from the renamed FLAC to a genuine MP3 in the same folder which contained the same audio content. (I was not looking for this as your first post did not fully explain the nature of the problem)

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 16:07:00 #8 |
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    andrewfg

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    Hi Raydon,

    Thank you very much for your feedback. In points 1,2a,2b you highlighted a bug that I had overlooked in the Whitebear code. And I have in the meantime fixed it. (It will be incorporated in the next release).

    Notwithstanding your kind help, this was still unfortunately not the issue that I had originally addressed. => So I would like to keep this thread going in the hope that someone can help solve my original problem (namely why the Humax won't play MP3 tracks that have been transoded on the fly...)

    | Tue 28 Jun 2011 21:49:37 #9 |
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    raydon

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    In the light of my experience with Whitebear I'm curious to know how your client managed to get the HDR T2 to even list the non-MP3 audio files. Very strange...

    | Wed 29 Jun 2011 18:17:06 #10 |

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