Local Playback Question - Google Chromecast

I KNOW this has been asked and discussed multiple other times in other threads, but I am asking this just to piece together what has been said for my own knowledge.
My Scenario:
Chromecast would play local video files with ease, rather than some .mkv files not having audio. I would just drag the file to a new tab and it could be casted. I could do this as of this morning. My Chromecast has been plugged in all day. Now, whenever I drag the file, it just downloads. I have seen this on the forums elsewhere.
My Question:
Is this because of the update Google released that borked local playback in which they said local playback would come back soon? So by that do we assume local playback should be back by the next update? And what is the current, easiest, workaround for streaming local media?
Thanks to all.

DRatJr said:
And what is the current, easiest, workaround for streaming local media?
Thanks to all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android stick, and Plex. Cheers!

Related

Streaming Music from Computer to Phone

So back in high school I used setup a simple HTTP server that allowed me to browse my music on the schools computers and play it there through VLC player. I figure since I have 160GB of music (way more than I can fit on my phone) I could probably do the same thing, but the problem I'm facing is what app would I use to browse the music?
Any ideas on how I could do this? Over the 3G network it should be ok, at least no worse than pandora and I would have access to all of my music.
Have a look at orb.. you can set it up to stream your entire media library to your device (even videos). It will auto-encode to a supported format and adapt the bit rate to your network speed. It's pretty sexual.
http://orb.com/
go get GMote, best app I've seen yet, works over wifi and 3G/Edge.
Another one for gmote.
Yet another vote for gmote here.
Gmote does not auto convert and will not play .avi. I use it exclusively for music, but I have never been able to get the video to play on my phone.
Morrolan said:
Gmote does not auto convert and will not play .avi. I use it exclusively for music, but I have never been able to get the video to play on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP never asked about video, only music.
I tried out gmote but couldnt get it to work...I have a Belkin wireless router and I dont have a cpu hardwired to it. I messed around with some ports but apparently didnt do it right lol
mianosm said:
OP never asked about video, only music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that. I was responding to the post about Orb. My music works flawlessly on gmote whether I am using wifi or 3g. I definitely give it 3 thumbs up.

Audio/Video out of sync

I've only been using the Chromecast for a day, but it seems the audio and video are getting out of sync after a while and the only way to get it back is to reboot it.
apastuszak said:
I've only been using the Chromecast for a day, but it seems the audio and video are getting out of sync after a while and the only way to get it back is to reboot it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What application are you playing from?
bhiga said:
What application are you playing from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YouTube and Netflix.
apastuszak said:
YouTube and Netflix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd. If you play the same links on a computer, tablet or phone, does the audio stay in-sync?
Does it happen on all videos, or just certain ones or certain types?
Note that A/V sync drift can come from various sources:
In the source - this drift is actually present in the source. If you start playback, pause, then resume, it will still be out of sync, and will be out of sync by the same amount (unless introduced drift is also occurring). Jumping forward/back will also have things out of sync, though the amount might vary depending on the other factors below.
Encoding - since YouTube and other streaming services usually have to encode the source video to their streaming format, an error in the encoding can cause sync drift. Essentially it's the same problem as "In the source" except viewing the original source won't show the drift, because only the encoded versions have it. It's not an error per-se, but often times streaming encoding will not re-sync A/V mid-stream very often, which can lead to things being out of sync if you jump forward/back in the content rather than playing it all the way straight-through.
Introduced during playback - this drift is introduced by the playback or streaming, usually by the player, sometimes caused by audio resampling or other processing. In these cases the audio will start in sync then gradually fall out of sync as playback progresses. Pausing and resuming (not jumping forward/back) will usually re-sync the audio again, then it will gradually fall out of sync as playback continues.
bhiga said:
That's odd. If you play the same links on a computer, tablet or phone, does the audio stay in-sync?
Does it happen on all videos, or just certain ones or certain types?
Note that A/V sync drift can come from various sources:
In the source - this drift is actually present in the source. If you start playback, pause, then resume, it will still be out of sync, and will be out of sync by the same amount (unless introduced drift is also occurring). Jumping forward/back will also have things out of sync, though the amount might vary depending on the other factors below.
Encoding - since YouTube and other streaming services usually have to encode the source video to their streaming format, an error in the encoding can cause sync drift. Essentially it's the same problem as "In the source" except viewing the original source won't show the drift, because only the encoded versions have it. It's not an error per-se, but often times streaming encoding will not re-sync A/V mid-stream very often, which can lead to things being out of sync if you jump forward/back in the content rather than playing it all the way straight-through.
Introduced during playback - this drift is introduced by the playback or streaming, usually by the player, sometimes caused by audio resampling or other processing. In these cases the audio will start in sync then gradually fall out of sync as playback progresses. Pausing and resuming (not jumping forward/back) will usually re-sync the audio again, then it will gradually fall out of sync as playback continues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original source is in sync on the source and on my Roku and TiVo. If I reboot the Chromecast, the video and audio are in sync. It seems after you watch it for a while, the audio and video drift slightly out of sync. Switching between sources (YouTube vs Netflix) or stopping and starting the video does not bring it back into sync. Only a reboot corrects the issue.
apastuszak said:
The original source is in sync on the source and on my Roku and TiVo. If I reboot the Chromecast, the video and audio are in sync. It seems after you watch it for a while, the audio and video drift slightly out of sync. Switching between sources (YouTube vs Netflix) or stopping and starting the video does not bring it back into sync. Only a reboot corrects the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Definitely sounds like it's something to do with Chromecast's decoding.
You aren't using any sort of audio breakout or external stereo, are you?
Also, what firmware build is your Chromecast on? (Check the Chromecast app)
bhiga said:
Interesting. Definitely sounds like it's something to do with Chromecast's decoding.
You aren't using any sort of audio breakout or external stereo, are you?
Also, what firmware build is your Chromecast on? (Check the Chromecast app)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on 14651.
In my setup the TV outputs to a stereo via toslink. My TV is rather old, I bought it in 2008. But it works great and has HDMI, so there's no need to upgrade.
apastuszak said:
I am on 14651.
In my setup the TV outputs to a stereo via toslink. My TV is rather old, I bought it in 2008. But it works great and has HDMI, so there's no need to upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a TV of near the same vintage, just before Sony started supporting video over DLNA.
The only other troubleshooting step I can think of it to see if there's a difference between using the TV speakers and your external. I doubt there will be a difference, but there's a tiny possibility that perhaps there are too many samples being output somewhere, which would introduce increasing drift.
bhiga said:
I have a TV of near the same vintage, just before Sony started supporting video over DLNA.
The only other troubleshooting step I can think of it to see if there's a difference between using the TV speakers and your external. I doubt there will be a difference, but there's a tiny possibility that perhaps there are too many samples being output somewhere, which would introduce increasing drift.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my next try.
I really like the Chromecast. Once is does Plex, the Roku may be up on eBay.
apastuszak said:
That's my next try.
I really like the Chromecast. Once is does Plex, the Roku may be up on eBay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my Chromecast too, but until it gets WatchESPN, I still have a need for the Roku..lol
apastuszak said:
I've only been using the Chromecast for a day, but it seems the audio and video are getting out of sync after a while and the only way to get it back is to reboot it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After updating to 14651 I met the same problem with you. But after a factory reset it works well now. I suggest you to do a factory reset and maybe it will work find like mine.
OOS can happen on the decoding side usually when the Video is at too high a bitrate for the device to handle....
The Audio takes nothing to decode but the higher the bitrate the longer it takes to decode and display the video.
Therefore the Audio comes ON TIME but the video gets delayed leaving you out of sync.
Does the audio PRECEDE the Video? (this is the most common form of OOS you see on the backend)
It usually only happens on the Encoding side when the Audio and Video take two different paths to the encoder.
Thats about the only time you might see Audio delayed compared to Video.
It is possible that the decoding device can get lost or face some memory condition that would cause this but usually it's because it attempted to decode some high Bitrate video in the first place.

[Q] Did someone try the PLEX app with chromecast ?

All is said in title
Sent from my HTC Desire X using xda app-developers app
Yes. It works on my non-rooted chromecast. You need to have purchased a Plex pass subscription in order for it to work.
Movies & TV shows work well if they are burned to your computer & follow the correct naming scheme. Some Plex channels work & some don't. The only thing I haven't been able to stream to chromecast is pictures & slideshows. Otherwise, it has worked great.
What Plex channels worked for you? None of the ones I tried at random worked for me.
Overall it works fine for casting local content. The only issue is that the Plex app on my Android tablet disconnects from the Chromecast after a few minutes, and I have to reconnect it to get control back. I can reconnect without interrupting the video if I do it the right way. The Plex app doesn't disconnect from my Roku player, so it looks like the issue is on the Chromecast side.
DJames1 said:
What Plex channels worked for you? None of the ones I tried at random worked for me.
Overall it works fine for casting local content. The only issue is that the Plex app on my Android tablet disconnects from the Chromecast after a few minutes, and I have to reconnect it to get control back. I can reconnect without interrupting the video if I do it the right way. The Plex app doesn't disconnect from my Roku player, so it looks like the issue is on the Chromecast side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a bug in the Plex Control protocol but it seems to be limited to the device that starts the stream as others seem to be able to jump onto the control and not have restart issues.
Try this and see if I'm correct there....
Next time you lose control, Force Kill the Plex App on your device, Then reload and select the CCast that is streaming.
You should resume control without seeing the Restart from scratch bug.
The loss of control may be CCast related but it may also be WiFi related. Any loss of connection on the device side (even switching bands) seems to disrupt the ability to control.
Plex Devs are aware there is an issue but right now all their CCast attention seems to be focused on the Transcoder and the Surround Sound Transcoding issue.
MediaBrowser will be adding Chromecast support soon.
www.mediabrowser3.com
MediaBrower Server can also act as a backend server for Plex
Asphyx said:
Next time you lose control, Force Kill the Plex App on your device, Then reload and select the CCast that is streaming.
You should resume control without seeing the Restart from scratch bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have to do anything that drastic. I can simply reconnect to the Chromecast and resume control of the current Plex stream without interrupting it as long as I don't change the selection. That's why it's not a big deal.
DJames1 said:
I don't have to do anything that drastic. I can simply reconnect to the Chromecast and resume control of the current Plex stream without interrupting it as long as I don't change the selection. That's why it's not a big deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So your not seeing the Loss of Control, Reconnect and Restart from beginning bug?
I wonder if they fixed that in a recent update...Could be...
DJames1 said:
What Plex channels worked for you? None of the ones I tried at random worked for me.
Overall it works fine for casting local content. The only issue is that the Plex app on my Android tablet disconnects from the Chromecast after a few minutes, and I have to reconnect it to get control back. I can reconnect without interrupting the video if I do it the right way. The Plex app doesn't disconnect from my Roku player, so it looks like the issue is on the Chromecast side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am able to get Nickjr, That Daily Show, and The Colbert Report channels working. However, many others don't work.
Sucks that if your internet goes down that you can't stream local plex content to a chromecast. I was sad when I observed that. Maybe that'll be fixed in the future.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Huh, you're right about that, just tried it. With no internet connection the Chromecast won't connect to Plex over the LAN and instead gives the cheery error message "Oops, shouldn't be here." Along with that other delightful message "Brain freeze!" that you get when Pandora doesn't work, it really helps give the impression of a mature, well-designed, user-friendly product. I'm expecting to see "Shucks, we done screwed up." any time now.
The real player cloud app works well. No $$ needed. And you don't have to upload anything. It'll play smoothly regardless. I'm sorry I spent money on plex to find out that I still needed a subscription
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
You don't need Plex pass, just the Plex for android app is enough. It's released about 10 days ago. It works like a charm for me.
betizad said:
You don't need Plex pass, just the Plex for android app is enough. It's released about 10 days ago. It works like a charm for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not true. You do need the $3.99/month Plex Pass. The paid Plex for Android app alone is not enough. Perhaps you are referring to the special developer version that was temporarily linked here in this forum before being removed. That was not an officially sanctioned release.
As said above, you need to be PlexPass member. PlexPass members have access to the development Android app which is no extra cost. On a side note, I thought they brought back the life subscription.
More on topic, I have used the Chromecast with Plex. It works fine for me. I don't recall if I tried on my LAN that has the PMS. I have used it work and worked well; I bring a TV, use my smartphone for internet access and router, and a tablet to control plex (phone doesn't get an local IP).
Towards channels that work, I've tried Revision3 and worked fine.
The only issue I have encountered is that the resume feature for movies/tv shows doesn't work. I get the load screen. The load screen disappears, but no movie plays. The tablet doesn't show the movie playing either. Basically, you have to restart the movie, and then jump to where you left off. I've seen this issue before with the Android app, which was eventually fixed.
I haven't tried music or pictures.
This is how I get around the problem of Plex for Android disconnecting from the Chromecast while playing a video:
1. The problem:
I start the stream on the Chromecast from Plex on my Android tablet. Initially I can control it from the tablet. A few minutes later I check the tablet screen again, and I see that Plex has disconnected from the Chromecast and the playback controls have disappeared. If I reconnect to the Chromecast, the controls do not come back. If I back up to the previous screen and hit Play again, the video restarts from the beginning.
2. The solution:
When I reconnected to the Chromecast, I should have noticed a small Plex notification icon appear in the notification area at the bottom of the screen. If I click on that, it shows me that the Chromecast is currently playing a video, and I can tap the entry to reconnect to that video stream. The controls come back without interrupting the Chromecast.
It only stays connected for a few minutes before it disconnects again, but at least I can regain control at any time with a few clicks. It's a bit of a strange quirk, because this doesn't happen when I play a video remotely on my Roku using Plex on the tablet to control it (and BTW there's no extra cost or requirement for Plex Pass to play from the Android app to the Roku).
This always works reliably when I am playing a single video. I have seen problems though when I have played multiple videos in a row. In that case when I reconnect to the Chromecast it may suddenly flip back to a previous video and restart at the beginning of that stream before it gives me the chance to select the current stream from the notification icon.
Slightly OT but newsworthy....
Plex has released a PlexPass preview of PMS (0.9.9.0) that is said to fix the Surround Sound Transcoding issues.
Back to the topic at hand...
I'm sure there is a bug in the Plex Control Protocol...
Just about everyone has seen the problem you describe. And I think it is in the Player App that gets loaded to the CCast which they probably haven't looked at recently. Too busy on the Transcoding and PlexWeb stuff.
Why it loses the connection in the first place may not be Plex related just something that is related to Normal WiFi connections that Plex needs to compensate for in their app.
I don't have any info to back up this notion but I am betting that whatever dev team they have working on the Player App for the CCast side is busy working on Music and Picture support (and it's playlist requirements) and what we are using now is just a down and dirty Video Player since that is the Primary Media people stream from Plex and there are so many other options for playing Music available already (Like Google Music app)
Music will on it's own require an expansion and fleshing out of the Control protocol to enable things like Repeat, Shuffle, FF and REW as well as solving the problem of the CCast sending a signal to play next file in the Playlist. That should also solve the issue some are having with multipart videos not playing properly as well.
Works for me. You have to purchase a full subscription in order for it to work. Also make sure when you open the browser you refresh it after you turn or or wake your computer. Chromecast doesn't need to be rooted.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
I pointed the Plex PC application to the folder on my hard drive where my local media content is stored and was subsequently able to use the plex android app to play these items on my chromecast but my question is how do I make sure that the chromecast is playing these media files via the local LAN and not using the internet to do it? i.e. I want to make sure its not using my internet cap space to stream when Ive already downloaded the files and have them on my PC.
kingofkings11 said:
I pointed the Plex PC application to the folder on my hard drive where my local media content is stored and was subsequently able to use the plex android app to play these items on my chromecast but my question is how do I make sure that the chromecast is playing these media files via the local LAN and not using the internet to do it? i.e. I want to make sure its not using my internet cap space to stream when Ive already downloaded the files and have them on my PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try disconnecting your Internet connection while the video is playing then wait a while (at least a minute or two). If continues to play without Internet connection you can rest assured, it's not proxying the media through an external server.
If you disconnect before Plex launches on the Chromecast it may not launch because Chromecast won't be able to look at the Google whitelist.
bhiga said:
Try disconnecting your Internet connection while the video is playing then wait a while (at least a minute or two). If continues to play without Internet connection you can rest assured, it's not proxying the media through an external server.
If you disconnect before Plex launches on the Chromecast it may not launch because Chromecast won't be able to look at the Google whitelist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a newbie in all of this and curious to learn... Why is this necessary? When I'm home, my smartphone is connected to my home network via wifi. Couldn't he just make sure his smartphone is connected to his home network via wifi? If he disconnects, he will no longer be able to browse his collection on the PC and will have to reconnect to select a different movie, correct?

[Q] little bit garbled and lower pitched sound

Hi all,
Yesterday I bought my chromecast and I've set it up without problems, but I noticed the sound played through the chromecast is just a little bit garbled and worst of all, it's pitched like a semi-half tone down. For movies and youtube this'll won't be a problem, but I play the guitar and when music is played, it's horribly out of tune.
I couldn't find anything on the internet as a solution. Does anyone encounter the same problem?
Setup:
Nexus 5 with cm11, android 4.4.4
Stock chromecast
1080p HDTV
roytje88 said:
Hi all,
Yesterday I bought my chromecast and I've set it up without problems, but I noticed the sound played through the chromecast is just a little bit garbled and worst of all, it's pitched like a semi-half tone down. For movies and youtube this'll won't be a problem, but I play the guitar and when music is played, it's horribly out of tune.
I couldn't find anything on the internet as a solution. Does anyone encounter the same problem?
Setup:
Nexus 5 with cm11, android 4.4.4
Stock chromecast
1080p HDTV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a dolby incompatibility....
Does the source have a dolby track and does this happen with a stereo content item?
Asphyx said:
Sounds like a dolby incompatibility....
Does the source have a dolby track and does this happen with a stereo content item?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its with all content; whether its youtube, or casting my whole android screen, google music, I even tried it casting a youtube tab from chrome on my notebook. All same results.. Lower pitched sound and a little bit chopped.
But I sure do wanna try out everything. How can I find out wheter there is a dolby track?
roytje88 said:
Its with all content; whether its youtube, or casting my whole android screen, google music, I even tried it casting a youtube tab from chrome on my notebook. All same results.. Lower pitched sound and a little bit chopped.
But I sure do wanna try out everything. How can I find out wheter there is a dolby track?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is happening on everything then it is unlikely what I suspected it was...Especially if it happens on You Tube as well...
It could be a bad HDMI network connection between the CCast and the TV....
So try this....
1 - Try another input on the TV
2 - Try the CCast on a different TV and see if it still happens
If #1 solves it then it's that one TV Input, You can check the audio setting for that input but the CCast should communicate all of that and send the proper signal. (try re-plugging into the original input and see if the problem goes away)
If #2 has the same problem then it's a lemon CCast and you might need a replacement.
Asphyx said:
If it is happening on everything then it is unlikely what I suspected it was...Especially if it happens on You Tube as well...
It could be a bad HDMI network connection between the CCast and the TV....
So try this....
1 - Try another input on the TV
2 - Try the CCast on a different TV and see if it still happens
If #1 solves it then it's that one TV Input, You can check the audio setting for that input but the CCast should communicate all of that and send the proper signal. (try re-plugging into the original input and see if the problem goes away)
If #2 has the same problem then it's a lemon CCast and you might need a replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a clear moment #1 has already come to mind, so tried another hdmi input, same results.. I don't have another hdmi tv before wednesday.. Will try it then and will post my results..
I just tried my chromecast on another tv and it worked normally, so it was my hdtv.
I checked the internet and there was an update. Updated and my chromecast works perfectly now!
Thanks for the input!
roytje88 said:
I just tried my chromecast on another tv and it worked normally, so it was my hdtv.
I checked the internet and there was an update. Updated and my chromecast works perfectly now!
Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good glad your all well....
HDMI is really a network so any small issues and it falls apart.

Chromecast video on tv audio on phone

Hi my question is is there a player except localcast which allows me to stream videos on my tv via chromecast but let the audio play from my phone? i searched a lot of websites but could not find anything hope someone can help me here
I could see this being possible by running a UPnP server on the Chromecast and diverting/mirroring the audio through that. I think you'd probably need a rooted Chromecast to do it at this stage though (which I don't have).
Sent from my LG Optimus G using Tapatalk
I actually got that to happen accidentally while testing casting from Chrome Beta on the phone. I started a Vimeo video playing on the phone, switched to full screen, clicked the Chromecast icon, the video loaded on the Chromecast and started playing, the phone screen switched to control playing on the Chromecast - but the audio continued on the phone. That didn't happen when I stopped and started again, only the first time.

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