Database Develop

how to stream any video from desktop through chrome

so I have been using xda for some years now flashing roms and getting a lot of info from the good developers and other people like myself would like to say thanks and sorry if i am posting this info in the wrong place i normally stay quiet but since i got my chromecat i have been trying to stream my video's from my desktop and came across this ----file:///c:/ ---- and worked great but no sound. i never give up so what i found out for myself it is much simpler than that and just make chrome browser your default player and there you have it just click play on what ever video you want to stream and you have good quality pic and sound. Thank you xda if someone else found this out then nevermind ijust wanted to give what little back that i could.

correction
thegovenor said:
so I have been using xda for some years now flashing roms and getting a lot of info from the good developers and other people like myself would like to say thanks and sorry if i am posting this info in the wrong place i normally stay quiet but since i got my chromecat i have been trying to stream my video's from my desktop and came across this ----file:///c:/ ---- and worked great but no sound. i never give up so what i found out for myself it is much simpler than that and just make chrome browser your default player and there you have it just click play on what ever video you want to stream and you have good quality pic and sound. Thank you xda if someone else found this out then nevermind ijust wanted to give what little back that i could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most of my videos play sound but all videos play maybe if one of you talented dev could explain maybe its a certain codec or something if any one can find the answer to that please let me know thanks.

I successfully set up Plex Media Server on all of my computers. However, I cannot get ANY videos to play on Chrome regardless of format (tried mp4, avi, mkv). Whenever I try to play a video either thru Plex or thru the Chrome browser, all I get is a black box with the controls. Nothing plays.

I had that problem and from that screen I tried a shot in the dark and right clicked and clicked open video in new tab... And it started playing! Don't know why but it worked.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Is it possible to load costum subtitles in Chrome?

Saschwatch said:
I had that problem and from that screen I tried a shot in the dark and right clicked and clicked open video in new tab... And it started playing! Don't know why but it worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't work either!

Saschwatch said:
I had that problem and from that screen I tried a shot in the dark and right clicked and clicked open video in new tab... And it started playing! Don't know why but it worked.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just make chrome browser default video player then double click to play not right click and should play thats the same screen i get but movies playfor me.

pdl2mtl90 said:
I successfully set up Plex Media Server on all of my computers. However, I cannot get ANY videos to play on Chrome regardless of format (tried mp4, avi, mkv). Whenever I try to play a video either thru Plex or thru the Chrome browser, all I get is a black box with the controls. Nothing plays.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Support is expected soon...
http://rootzwiki.com/news/plex-dial-chromecast-support-soon/

thegovenor said:
just make chrome browser default video player then double click to play not right click and should play thats the same screen i get but movies playfor me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that based on a suggestion I found during research but I am not offered that option, even when right clicking and choosing "Open with".

All the movies I try to play in the browser just start downloading.

Chrome doesn't support all video formats, check what all it supports and use those.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

thesparky007 said:
Chrome doesn't support all video formats, check what all it supports and use those.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive tried mkv, avi, rmvb.. all dl's =/

iandroo888 said:
ive tried mkv, avi, rmvb.. all dl's =/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome only plays MP4 by default.
I have installed and tried using PLEX, but my videos always play choppy on the CC, is there a way I could directly send the URL to the CC? Ya know, make it play like YouTube or something...?

For those using Plex and having problem, I've been using SubSonic for a while and have no issues.

iandroo888 said:
ive tried mkv, avi, rmvb.. all dl's =/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true that Chrome's built-in player only plays mp4 video files.
What you should do for other file types is install VLC, along with the VLC browser plugins. The VLC plugin for Mozilla/Chrome will play most video file types, but there are some issues:
1. You may have to disable other conflicting plugins like Quicktime, because it's darn near impossible to tell Chrome which plugin has priority to play a particular MIME type or file type. Type about: plugins into the Chrome address bar to access the plugins list.
2. Chrome insists on downloading avi files instead of playing them, so you have to trick it: rename the avi file as mpeg and let the VLC plugin automatically determine the correct file type from the header. You can rename it back to avi after you play it in Chrome.
3. There doesn't seem to be any way to select the correct audio track in files with multiple audio tracks, and it always seems to default to the wrong one in mkv files.

DJames1 said:
It's true that Chrome's built-in player only plays mp4 video files.
What you should do for other file types is install VLC, along with the VLC browser plugins. The VLC plugin for Mozilla/Chrome will play most video file types, but there are some issues:
1. You may have to disable other conflicting plugins like Quicktime, because it's darn near impossible to tell Chrome which plugin has priority to play a particular MIME type or file type. Type about: plugins into the Chrome address bar to access the plugins list.
2. Chrome insists on downloading avi files instead of playing them, so you have to trick it: rename the avi file as mpeg and let the VLC plugin automatically determine the correct file type from the header. You can rename it back to avi after you play it in Chrome.
3. There doesn't seem to be any way to select the correct audio track in files with multiple audio tracks, and it always seems to default to the wrong one in mkv files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chrome now appears to play mkv files although it will not cast them correctly.

DJames1 said:
It's true that Chrome's built-in player only plays mp4 video files.
What you should do for other file types is install VLC, along with the VLC browser plugins. The VLC plugin for Mozilla/Chrome will play most video file types, but there are some issues:
1. You may have to disable other conflicting plugins like Quicktime, because it's darn near impossible to tell Chrome which plugin has priority to play a particular MIME type or file type. Type about: plugins into the Chrome address bar to access the plugins list.
2. Chrome insists on downloading avi files instead of playing them, so you have to trick it: rename the avi file as mpeg and let the VLC plugin automatically determine the correct file type from the header. You can rename it back to avi after you play it in Chrome.
3. There doesn't seem to be any way to select the correct audio track in files with multiple audio tracks, and it always seems to default to the wrong one in mkv files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not see how to use the VLC Plugin for Chrome. I unisntalled VLC and installed 2.1.0 and then after I did that I see no option for VLC Plugins in Chrome or a way to export videos from VLC to Chrome. Can you please explain how this plugin works with regards to using it with chromecast?

When you install VLC, you have the option to also install the browser plugins. Chrome shares the Mozilla plugin. After installation, you will find the VLC plugin in the list of Chrome plugins (enter About: plugins on the address bar). It's enabled by default, and you can expand the details to see what MIME types it supports. However you may see other plugins in the list which are also enabled and also support the same MIME types (e.g., Quicktime), and there's no way to control which one has precedence other than to disable one of them.

Streaming from Tablet
With Chromecast would I be able to steam a Note 10.1(2014) tablet wirelessly to my TV...thanks

DJames1 said:
When you install VLC, you have the option to also install the browser plugins. Chrome shares the Mozilla plugin. After installation, you will find the VLC plugin in the list of Chrome plugins (enter About: plugins on the address bar). It's enabled by default, and you can expand the details to see what MIME types it supports. However you may see other plugins in the list which are also enabled and also support the same MIME types (e.g., Quicktime), and there's no way to control which one has precedence other than to disable one of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have re installed Chrome and VLC player, and the VLC plugin does not show up in Chrome when I go to aboutlugins. I do not know why, I definitely installed the Mozilla plugin.

Streaming Flash Player and HTML5

I recently got the chromecast and rooted it and then quickly tried to tab cast some streaming games. While the quality is very good I noticed quite a bit of lagging. So I went out to see if there was any way around this and couldn't really find anything. Also when playing flash videos the sound still comes out of the computer and not the tv. I was thinking we may be able to send these videos directly to the chromecast as they are nothing really but a combination of player + url. I found this but don't really know much about devving so thought maybe I could peak someones interest? Or at least throwing an idea out there.
https://github.com/colinmutter/chromecast-sandbox

aamir123 said:
I recently got the chromecast and rooted it and then quickly tried to tab cast some streaming games. While the quality is very good I noticed quite a bit of lagging. So I went out to see if there was any way around this and couldn't really find anything. Also when playing flash videos the sound still comes out of the computer and not the tv.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There will always be lag. A faster computer will reduce the lag, but there will always be some lag as it's a decode-reencode.
Not sure about the Flash sound. I casted this insect sound page from Chrome and the sound switched from PC to Chromecast and back when I stopped casting.
aamir123 said:
I was thinking we may be able to send these videos directly to the chromecast as they are nothing really but a combination of player + url.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes the player does special things, but if it's simply an embedded player grabbing a YouTube link, perhaps an "enhanced Cast" extension for Chrome could sniff for the direct YouTube link and cast that to the YouTube app directly... Or even more elaborate, something like a media downloader, but instead of downloading, you can choose and queue to Chromecast. That could be useful.

bhiga said:
There will always be lag. A faster computer will reduce the lag, but there will always be some lag as it's a decode-reencode.
Not sure about the Flash sound. I casted this insect sound page from Chrome and the sound switched from PC to Chromecast and back when I stopped casting.
Sometimes the player does special things, but if it's simply an embedded player grabbing a YouTube link, perhaps an "enhanced Cast" extension for Chrome could sniff for the direct YouTube link and cast that to the YouTube app directly... Or even more elaborate, something like a media downloader, but instead of downloading, you can choose and queue to Chromecast. That could be useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried using first row and the like and have been unable to get sound to come thru tv, matter of fact I've been unable to play full screen, also I was thinking maybe there would be a way to somehow install a custom video player like the many available in the play store directly onto chromecast which would enable direct url and other unsupported content to be played directly by chromecast. This would in turn make streaming as efficient (almost) as the way youtube is handled currently.

aamir123 said:
I tried using first row and the like and have been unable to get sound to come thru tv, matter of fact I've been unable to play full screen, also I was thinking maybe there would be a way to somehow install a custom video player like the many available in the play store directly onto chromecast which would enable direct url and other unsupported content to be played directly by chromecast. This would in turn make streaming as efficient (almost) as the way youtube is handled currently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try the insect sound page I tried?
Also, do you get sound on the TV for native apps like casting YouTube?

bhiga said:
Did you try the insect sound page I tried?
Also, do you get sound on the TV for native apps like casting YouTube?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope sound doesnt work with the insect sounds, but does with youtube whether I'm casting the youtube tab or sending directly. Also when I go to hulu and play a video or go to your sound page I get a black box in hulu (no video) or just a blank space for the insect sounds. When I play video on first row I get video but sound from computer. Just for completeness I just got upgraded via an ota from pwncast

aamir123 said:
nope sound doesnt work with the insect sounds, but does with youtube whether I'm casting the youtube tab or sending directly. Also when I go to hulu and play a video or go to your sound page I get a black box in hulu (no video) or just a blank space for the insect sounds. When I play video on first row I get video but sound from computer. Just for completeness I just got upgraded via an ota from pwncast
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like your Flash is being rendered in some odd manner that the Cast extension cannot pick up.
What version of Chrome and Cast extension are you using?
Also, what graphics card and driver do you have?

bhiga said:
Sounds like your Flash is being rendered in some odd manner that the Cast extension cannot pick up.
What version of Chrome and Cast extension are you using?
Also, what graphics card and driver do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome 31, extension 13.1
amd a4 3300m radeon 6480g
using chrome built in flash player

aamir123 said:
Chrome 31, extension 13.1
amd a4 3300m radeon 6480g
using chrome built in flash player
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll check my configuration when I get home.

bhiga said:
Thanks, I'll check my configuration when I get home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any update?

aamir123 said:
any update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got home... Long day on the failboat.
Chome Version 31.0.1650.57 m
Google Cast 13.1008.0.4
AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series 13.152.0.0

bhiga said:
Just got home... Long day on the failboat.
Chome Version 31.0.1650.57 m
Google Cast 13.1008.0.4
AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series 13.152.0.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm both have amd radeon, and same chrome and extension

Movietube-->semperVidLink-->bubbleupnp-->Avia/Allcast

I found this movietube and it plays videos through youtube that aren't easy to find or in some cases these videos do not play on standard youtube, newly released movies in hd such as Last Vegas and many more that the app finds, with movietube they work and then you can use the share video feature with sempervidlinkfree or sempervidlink pro and that grabs the url in a way that allows bubbleupnp ---- Full Version to use it where you can pass it to Avia with in app purchase or possiblyAllcast----->PremiumVersion I haven't tried yet but I believe that sempervidlink+bubbleupnp is capable working with many more apps that don't directly cast.
another possibilty might be for movietube-->sempervidlink-->plex
I have only tested this with Avia as the app to cast so Plex/Allcast may or may not work.

smartymcfly said:
I found this movietube and it plays videos through youtube that aren't easy to find or in some cases these videos do not play on standard youtube, newly released movies in hd such as Last Vegas and many more that the app finds, with movietube they work and then you can use the share video feature with sempervidlinkfree or sempervidlink pro and that grabs the url in a way that allows bubbleupnp ---- Full Version to use it where you can pass it to Avia with in app purchase or possiblyAllcast----->PremiumVersion I haven't tried yet but I believe that sempervidlink+bubbleupnp is capable working with many more apps that don't directly cast.
another possibilty might be for movietube-->sempervidlink-->plex
I have only tested this with Avia as the app to cast so Plex/Allcast may or may not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this with daileymotion and it did not work on first pass, so in the place where the video is shared with sempervidlink I just used Vget and set the playerin options to bubbleupnp and that played through Avia.
Vget also has a chrome extension that requires this dlna cast chrome app and I originally believed that it would cast to chromecast as it showed the cast icon and but until trying it just now to verify that worked it does not.

Showbox + Avia Ive found is the best way currently to watch stuff. Another plus is that it can all be done right from a Android device.

r00t4rd3d said:
Showbox + Avia Ive found is the best way currently to watch stuff. Another plus is that it can all be done right from a Android device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes showbox doesn't work, and I was just posting a way I found for it to work. It seems like a combination of apps make it possible to play videos from almost any app that can share the url of the video being played if it is correct format.

Anyone know where Showbox takes its stuff from?

Probably South Korea
Sent from my SCH-1605 using xda app-developers app

Wow!
Cool!
Now all we need is the ability to cast external subtitles along with the movie!

yahoowizard said:
Anyone know where Showbox takes its stuff from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started wolf of wall street & hunger games and in the network tracking app show box was connecting to various Russian sites, one of them appeared to be their version of Facebook. Vk.me
VM.me may not be Russian but Google translate said it was...

@Show Box 2.3 .apk
AV analysis (7/50, adware):
https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...a21868932e956078bd7bdd265b096ac3fec/analysis/
embedded url/http, dns requests and http traffic analysis:
http://www.foresafe.com/report/A9A7ABEB50C7E8816A085B2497F51B9C

WebCast chrome extension

I've posted chrome extension that allows to stream mp4 files on the pages to Chromecast. I can't post links , so you'll have to search for it in the chrome Web Store, just search for "chromecast webcast"
It's early preview and is buggy. The idea it that it detects when .mp4 file is played on the page and adds page action to omnibox. Clicking there will show you list of video files found on the page and screenshot if it can get one.
To cast to Chromecast you currently are sent away to simple site with player that supports Chromecast. It turned out to be forbidden to cast video from extension, that's why for now this workaround.
I would appreciate feedback and overall thoughts if this extension is useful.

This sounds like vget
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk

drivenby said:
This sounds like vget
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes to some point, but vget doesn't support Chromecast yet. Extension page says support will be added soon.

Installed, but doesn't seem to work for me. I tried opening a couple of local mp4 files in Chrome, and also mp4 streams from the internet archive site suggested earlier to test vGet, like: https://archive.org/details/dick_tracy_detctive
The Webcast symbol never appeared.

DJames1 said:
Installed, but doesn't seem to work for me. I tried opening a couple of local mp4 files in Chrome, and also mp4 streams from the internet archive site suggested earlier to test vGet, like: archive.org / details / dick_tracy_detctive
The Webcast symbol never appeared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not supposed to work with local files. There are other extensions to do that. It works only with embedded HTML videos.
Example with on the link didn't work because it was on HTTPS. I changed permissions to support https and updated extension. In ~60 minutes it will get published. When it updates for you it should work on the example you sent. (You might need to restart browser to force refresh extension).
Meanwhile it does work on site like Vimeo .

Ok, it works now. The controls seem to be limited to Pause/Play.

Casting Video - please help!

Firstly, I have sincerely looked everywhere for an answer to my issues. I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to get this working and I just keep hitting brick walls. For the record, the chromecast works fine with the youtube app etc. I'm casting from my 2013 nexus 7.
Firstly, there's the apps I've tried. Allcast, BubbleUPnP, LocalCast. Secondly, there's the media servers. I've tried PS3 media server, plex, and serviio (win2008 r2 x64).
From memory, the story goes like this. Installed PMS. AllCast stuttered. Localcast either didn't work or stuttered.
Next, tried plex. AllCast couldn't see the server (just says 'loading'). Although, once, it could see the server. Played an MKV and got video with no sound. Tried modifying the generic.xml profile so it was like the chromecast.xml profile, restarted, and once again AllCast couldn't see the server. Tried restarting the server again (after replacing original generic.xml profile), and the nexus 7, still just says 'loading'.
Using LocalCast, I played several MKVs - video, but no sound.
Next, tried Serviio. Couldn't see that server in any of the apps.
Tried PMS again. AllCast still can't see any servers (still just says 'loading'). Created a Chromecast profile in PMS. When I play a video (mkv, avi, mp4) in PMS, the log says the video starts to play, then 5 seconds later it says it stops.
Tried BubbleUPnP. When I send the video from PMS to any video player, the video player either crashes, or just says it can't play the file.
Has anyone actually got a successful setup going with a media server and casting from an app? At this point I'm willing to try anything!

I use plex and there isn't a problem at all. Must be a network issue.
Edit: first suggestion is make sure everything is on a 2.4Ghz network. Chrome won't work on a 5Ghz network.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

What audio do the mkv files have? Ac3? Ac3 is not supported on Chromecast.
See link: https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/media
If the mkv file plays the video but with no audio, then PMS with have to transcode the audio. On a slower computer, you will get major stutter.
PMS transcoding requirements: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/ar...kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-computer-
I re-encoded all of my library, so no transcoding is required and all plays super smooth using any app that you mentioned.
Hope that helps!!!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
Also, check network like Cuzz1369 said
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I am using bubbelupnp server for transcoding on the fly and it works great for me.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

PMS plus Plex (App) paid version works fine for me, as does PMS plus accessing PlexWeb Interface in Android Chrome and casting from there.
I used to use BubbleUPnP + the BubbleServer to read from PMS, but found that disabling PMS's DLNA server helped with general stability a lot so dumped that, particularly as my other major use for BubbleUPnP - casting from other online video sources is now provided direct in Android Chrome.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far. Apologies I haven't replied sooner.
Firstly, I can confirm I'm on a 2.4gHz network (also, chromecast works fine when casting youtube, etc).
I know that chromecast won't play ac3 audio, so I'm trying to use plex or ps3 media server to transcode the audio as mp3. Haven't even been able to get to the stuttering problem - my issues seem to be before we even get to that part!
I am trying to find a solution I don't have to pay for (I mean, this stuff is supposed to work, right??) so bubbleupnp server and plex android app are both out.
@neu - smurph - when you're mentioning PMS, do you mean ps3 media server, or plex media server? if plex, have you tried any other apps to try and stream from plex?
If anyone has an actual functioning setup where they can cast transcoded mkv's where the ac3 is replaced by mp3 and they haven't paid for any apps, could you please let me know what your setup is? I'll be very keen to recreate it!

benzothegreat said:
Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far. Apologies I haven't replied sooner.
Firstly, I can confirm I'm on a 2.4gHz network (also, chromecast works fine when casting youtube, etc).
I know that chromecast won't play ac3 audio, so I'm trying to use plex or ps3 media server to transcode the audio as mp3. Haven't even been able to get to the stuttering problem - my issues seem to be before we even get to that part!
I am trying to find a solution I don't have to pay for (I mean, this stuff is supposed to work, right??) so bubbleupnp server and plex android app are both out.
@neu - smurph - when you're mentioning PMS, do you mean ps3 media server, or plex media server? if plex, have you tried any other apps to try and stream from plex?
If anyone has an actual functioning setup where they can cast transcoded mkv's where the ac3 is replaced by mp3 and they haven't paid for any apps, could you please let me know what your setup is? I'll be very keen to recreate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By PMS I mean Plex Media Server - and for a totally free setup including PMS transcoding any non Chromecast compatible media it should work using Android Chrome via http://plex.tv/web/app or yourserverip:32400/web/index.html#. You can only cast video with Android Chrome though - not music or photos. For that you'll need the paid app or a subscription (which gets you a free copy of the paid app).

Plex will not transcode unless your using the Plex App to playback the files. I'm not sure but I bet Bubble requires you to use the Bubble App as well to get the transcoding.
So your attempt at using Plex with some other app is not going to transcode and since your Audio is not CCast compatible your not going to get Audio.
[EDIT] Ok I just checked....and Plex will transcode without their app but only provided your unit has a profile in Plex that supports your unit....
What you will have to do is check the Plex Server logs to find out what your unit is identified as when streamed to, and make a profile (using the CCast profile.xml as your template), change the parameter <Client name="Chromecast"> to <Client name="yourdevice"> and save it as yourdevice.xml

Asphyx said:
Plex will not transcode unless your using the Plex App to playback the files. I'm not sure but I bet Bubble requires you to use the Bubble App as well to get the transcoding.
So your attempt at using Plex with some other app is not going to transcode and since your Audio is not CCast compatible your not going to get Audio.
[EDIT] Ok I just checked....and Plex will transcode without their app but only provided your unit has a profile in Plex that supports your unit....
What you will have to do is check the Plex Server logs to find out what your unit is identified as when streamed to, and make a profile (using the CCast profile.xml as your template), change the parameter <Client name="Chromecast"> to <Client name="yourdevice"> and save it as yourdevice.xml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Asphyx - that's a great help. I did look around last week and grabbed a profile for the Chromecast - I even replaced the 'generic' one with the CC specific one. Unfortuantely, my problem is before that stage - AllCast doesn't even SEE PMS.. it just says 'searching...' - any suggestions?

same here, I tried almost all the apps and when I want to cast a video from my phone to the CC it buffers and stutters...Is it because I have the free version to try the apps?

benzothegreat said:
Thanks Asphyx - that's a great help. I did look around last week and grabbed a profile for the Chromecast - I even replaced the 'generic' one with the CC specific one. Unfortuantely, my problem is before that stage - AllCast doesn't even SEE PMS.. it just says 'searching...' - any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you have the DLNA server enabled on Plex?
If you do also try enabling GDM in Network settings. Sometimes that helps with discovery issues.

This is ridiculous. I made sure GDM was enabled, and the DLNA server is running because I can see the log. So I tried connecting - all good from allcast. No sound, since I was using the generic profile.
I made sure I had a CC-friendly profile called name="Generic", restarted, now I can't see plex again.
It's like when I have a profile that will work properly with the CC, plex doesn't want to be seen? I've uploaded my log file in case there's anything helpful in there..

benzothegreat said:
This is ridiculous. I made sure GDM was enabled, and the DLNA server is running because I can see the log. So I tried connecting - all good from allcast. No sound, since I was using the generic profile.
I made sure I had a CC-friendly profile called name="Generic", restarted, now I can't see plex again.
It's like when I have a profile that will work properly with the CC, plex doesn't want to be seen? I've uploaded my log file in case there's anything helpful in there..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you need to look at is the Plex DLNA logs...Thats the general log for the entire server you posted...

oops - ok, here are two DLNA logs (not sure which one is the right one)..

benzothegreat said:
oops - ok, here are two DLNA logs (not sure which one is the right one)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your log only shows an attempt to load a photo (probably a preview image)
But it does say User Agent Windows Media Player....That shouldn't say that if it recognized your device as generic Android.
You should not have changed the generic profile, you really need to make a new profile that WILL match your device properly...
I see no attempt to load Video here, perhaps AllCast is not using the DLNA and using UPnP instead....

Asphyx said:
Your log only shows an attempt to load a photo (probably a preview image)
But it does say User Agent Windows Media Player....That shouldn't say that if it recognized your device as generic Android.
You should not have changed the generic profile, you really need to make a new profile that WILL match your device properly...
I see no attempt to load Video here, perhaps AllCast is not using the DLNA and using UPnP instead....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn.. ok i replaced the original 'generic' profile, hoping that would fix it... no dice
How can I tell if allcast is using DLNA or UPnP ?

benzothegreat said:
Damn.. ok i replaced the original 'generic' profile, hoping that would fix it... no dice
How can I tell if allcast is using DLNA or UPnP ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you might just be better off Uninstalling PMS, Deleting all the data folders (in your User space on Windows, Data not saved in the programs folder)
And re-installing it and resetting all your profiles.
See if you can at least see the server under Media Servers.
(I have confirmed this works in Allcast)
Then we can take a look at the logs when you try and connect and we will see if we can't create a good profile for you...
But I have to say it sure looks like it is transcoding for my CCast without any need to change profile.

Asphyx said:
I think you might just be better off Uninstalling PMS, Deleting all the data folders (in your User space on Windows, Data not saved in the programs folder)
And re-installing it and resetting all your profiles.
See if you can at least see the server under Media Servers.
(I have confirmed this works in Allcast)
Then we can take a look at the logs when you try and connect and we will see if we can't create a good profile for you...
But I have to say it sure looks like it is transcoding for my CCast without any need to change profile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Asphyx - sorry again it's taken so long to reply. Ok - uninstalled PMS, re-installed. Allcast found Plex.
Tried to cast a new MKV (would have ac3 audio) from my nexus 7 - video, but no sound. So plex isn't transcoding the audio into mp3/aac.
Next, tried to cast a very old simpsons ep (avi) - and I got no video, and garbled audio...
I've attached the log files in a zip. The 'Neptune' log was about 10mb so I truncated it - but it's basically saying the same thing over and over - something about a bad SCPD response from my chromecast.
Also, I'm pretty sure Plex is recognising the chromecast as 'generic'...

benzothegreat said:
Hi Asphyx - sorry again it's taken so long to reply. Ok - uninstalled PMS, re-installed. Allcast found Plex.
Tried to cast a new MKV (would have ac3 audio) from my nexus 7 - video, but no sound. So plex isn't transcoding the audio into mp3/aac.
Next, tried to cast a very old simpsons ep (avi) - and I got no video, and garbled audio...
I've attached the log files in a zip. The 'Neptune' log was about 10mb so I truncated it - but it's basically saying the same thing over and over - something about a bad SCPD response from my chromecast.
Also, I'm pretty sure Plex is recognising the chromecast as 'generic'...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries on the time delays....Just as long as there are not 4 pages of posts in between so I can catch up! LOL
Neptune log won't help us...but we will get to that...Unfortunately Plex has multiple Logs it gets confusing...
Okyou are seeing the server which was half the problem....
Your right it isn't transcoding...
I just looked at my Generic.xml and it appears to be blank....Just the XML Header...That could be the problem if it's the same on yours.
So open up generic.xml and tell me what it says after
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Author: Plex Inc. -->
<Client name="Generic" />
If nothing then it's not transcoding at all....Which I can reproduce on my end...
Take a look at Plex DLNA Server.log
Do a search for User-Agent and tell me what it says...
Mine says "User-Agent: Dalvik/1.6.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.2.2; Xoom Build/JDQ39)"
Your's should say something different which I think is the problem here with All Cast and Transcoding from Plex.
There may be multiple entries listed so try and distinguish which one is actually Android, My guess is it will be similar to what mine says with some reference to Android version.
Copy what it says and save it in a text file somewhere for later use...
The issue maybe that Allcast is not giving a clear UserAgent reply to Plex. The one I'm seeing is a bit overly complicated and Allcast (like aVia) should have a setting to change the Useragent name in the App...Unfortunately Allcast doesn't have this setting. Something I'm sure Koush could easily fix.
What you can try to do is:
Open the Chromecast.xml file in a decent XML editor (I don't suggest a plan text editor but you can get by with it if thats all you have)
Where is says <Client name="Chromecast"> change the Chromecast to what we saved for useragent (leave out the UserAgent: of course)
Save the file as filename.xml (filename being the same as what you just replaced Chromecast with).
DO NOT modify, change or overwrite the Generic.XML! I know it sounds easier but could mess you up later on in life...Better to match the UserAgent properly.
Reboot your PMS machine to be sure it recognizes the new Profile and then see what happens with Allcast....
If it still doesn't work then we can look at the logs again and go from there...
And just to be clear, this will only work for that particular device if what I'm seeing here is correct.
We should write to Koush to see if he can't give us a clearer UserAgent report setting that we can use to match UserAgent and get the proper transcoding. It might even be nice if he added the ability to report to DLNA a useragent depending on what target device is selected.
So when the target is CCast Allcast reports itself as a Chromecast and Plex handles the proper transcoding.

Asphyx said:
If nothing then it's not transcoding at all....Which I can reproduce on my end...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! My generic.xml file is empty too...
Asphyx said:
Take a look at Plex DLNA Server.log
Do a search for User-Agent and tell me what it says...
...
Copy what it says and save it in a text file somewhere for later use...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok - mine says "User-Agent: Dalvik/1.6.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.4.3; Nexus 7 Build/KTU84L);"
Asphyx said:
The issue maybe that Allcast is not giving a clear UserAgent reply to Plex. The one I'm seeing is a bit overly complicated and Allcast (like aVia) should have a setting to change the Useragent name in the App...Unfortunately Allcast doesn't have this setting. Something I'm sure Koush could easily fix.
What you can try to do is:
Open the Chromecast.xml file in a decent XML editor (I don't suggest a plan text editor but you can get by with it if thats all you have)
Where is says <Client name="Chromecast"> change the Chromecast to what we saved for useragent (leave out the UserAgent: of course)
Save the file as filename.xml (filename being the same as what you just replaced Chromecast with).
DO NOT modify, change or overwrite the Generic.XML! I know it sounds easier but could mess you up later on in life...Better to match the UserAgent properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok - so should I say Client name="Dalvik/1.6.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.4.3; Nexus 7 Build/KTU84L);" ? and what should I call the filename? I can't put slashes etc in the filename?
Asphyx said:
Reboot your PMS machine to be sure it recognizes the new Profile and then see what happens with Allcast....
If it still doesn't work then we can look at the logs again and go from there...
And just to be clear, this will only work for that particular device if what I'm seeing here is correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok will do! - thanks again Asphyx!