CAV6.6 / MC11 link software - Page 3

I just wanted to contribute to this thread a bit.. I just installed a CAV6.6 in my home and just purchased MC 11 yesterday (after my 30 day evaluation expired).. the MC CAV6.6 plugin is great!

A couple quick questions:

1 - I have 7 rooms.. my main living room where my home theatre PC is, then six additional zones.. if none of the zones are powered on, i can't play anything out of MC 11 (with the CAV plugin loaded)..audio plays for 1-2 secs then stops.. if i turn on at least one zone, it works just fine.. any ideas how to remedy this?

2 - MC 11 build 305 is released.. any updates to the CAV 6.6 link software to accomodate this new build? seems to be a bit flakey at times..

-Brett

Any word on when you'll have a new build ready?

Nice work Carl. Does it have the ability to use only select sources from the MC11 zones?

As in, can I just use sources 1 & 2 from the first and second zones in MC? While not having it pay any attention to other zones in MC? I've got two other zones; one for the touchscreen's console and the other for the home theatre that I would like to have the plug-in completely ignore.

Nice addition of the AutoStop parameter. The others listed in the .INI file are pretty self-explanatory. What other params are there?

I also notice the plug-in keeps the Media Center.EXE program from quitting. That is, if you have the CAV66.exe program running and you quit MC11 the task stays listed in the task manager. It appears to be keeping something open (handle? dll?) to the MC executable. I note that if you quit the CAV66 plugin it does close the MC executable. Trouble is, if you quit MC11 leaving the plugin running and then restart MC11 you get a second process. I have no idea if or how this might negatively affect the stability of MC11. But given how readily MC11 eats it own database I'm not eager to take many risks here....

How about adding an option to the File menu for exiting both the CAV66 plugin along with MC11? Something like just "Exit" for quitting the plugin and "Exit and Quit MC11" as a new option that ends them both?

Or note that when MC11 is exited to automagically quit the plugin. This might be best as I'm worried about how well the shutdown process will handle things being cleaned up.

It'd also be nice to have the program automagically minimize itself to the systray. Not just to the taskbar; on a touchscreen PC it's helpful to avoid cluttering it up. Perhaps .INI options for "MinimizeOnStartup" and "MinimizeToSystray" would make sense?

I'm noticing an odd problem but it may not be the plug-ins fault. If MC11 is playing files from a network share and that goes missing it seems to get hung up. I was using two different zones and one stopped showing actively changing tracknames. In returning to the console I noticed some red [x] icons next to some track names in MC11's view. The cav6.6 plugin didn't seem to be dead but it wasn't providing any data to the CAV6.6. I'll try to repeat it.

I am finalizing plans for a new home construction.

I am strongly considering Russound CAV6.6 for full-house audio/video, and using an HTPC with MC11.

I will have the CAV6 in the Living Room (LR) and a "distribution center" (DC) in the lower-level (LL).

I want to wire the entire house to support Multi-zone Audio, Video, and S2 keypads (in at least 6 zones), internet, phone, tv and video cable, and support for in-wall dspeakers and ability to attach additional speakers at the room from junction box.

What wiring goes where?, i.e. [1] to keypad, [2] to junction box at floor, [3] back to LR CAV6, and [4] back to LL distribution center?

I know how the Cable modeom to router to patch panel to zones fits into the DC, but what else do I want to set up down there?

Lastly, I want the wiring to be able to handle home automation also. What addtl wiring reqs are needed for this?

I have read other posts which have helped me to understnad pieces of this but I don't have a grasp of the whole setup schematic. I will source everything out of the US but I reside in Philippines. Local support for what I purchase will likely not be avaialble, so my ability to support this is required. I can handle the the ethernet, HTPC installs, and that wiring, but the multi-zone w/keypads together with A/V and HDTV start to confuse me.

Thanks for any help!

p.s. If anyone has set up sub-zones and ABUS, would appreciate some explnation on this also. Thanks.

The CAV requires a LOT OF WIRING. Be sure you put it into a place that lends itself to that. I have sub-zones and I've responded over in the J.River forum.

Version .310 of MC11 seems to be a little better at handling proper quitting but it's still not quite right. As is stands now if you start the plug-in without MC11 being running it will start MC11 but not quit it properly. If you start MC11 and then start the plugin you get the same problem.

Interesting when I start MC11 by itself it starts as an application. When I start the CAV66 plugin first, however, MC11 starts are a child of a SVCHOST process. Don't know if that's relevant as quitting still leaves it hanging either way.

When looking at the threads and handles with PROCEXP (from sysinternals) it looks like you're opening a handle into MC11 and it's not getting released when you quit. That seems to be keeping MC11 in memory. But without source or at least symbols I can't do much more to debug it.

Not sure about this but it also seems like the MC11 process is opening a handle to the COM port that the plugin would use. I don't seem a similar one being opening by MC11 when run on a different machine. But the quit/not quitting issue still exists when trying MC11.310 and the plugin on the new machine.

I've been monitoring this thread, and I was curious if you plan to release the C++ source for us with development backgrounds. I may (or may not) create a plug-in for Meedio (HTPC software) for the Russound.

Your source would definitely save me a lot of pain.... any help is appreciated...

Dave C

how about taking this plugin a step further and add the ability to turn on/off zones and control individual zone volume and such.. the rs232 commands are published on russounds doc center..

even better, implement a text to speech program that you could direct toward specific zones.. i could wake people up with messages =) =)

-Brett

My wishlist includes:

Playlist selection
Caller ID (from modem) sent to keypads

Thanks for the great plugin - I use it -everyday-

Al

Playlist! Definitely!

I have looked through these threads and I am new to this software. My environment contains the following Russound Equipment.
CAV6.6 with a second on order, ST2 AM/FM XM tuner, PC with Microsoft Media Center Edition 2005, PC now running this JRiver Media Center 11. I also own the Russound PC Power Tools software and that has made it very easy for me to program things. I just added one of the Russound color keypads and it works and looks great.

I evaluated the SMS3 250 Russound Media Server and I found it to be very easy to install and use. One of the requirement of the CAV6.6 is to assign the ST2 Tuner to Sources #1 & #2. I have the XM Radio portion of the ST2 connected to Source #1 and the AM/FM tuner connected to Source #2.

So, this is where my question of how to map, (edit the .INI file) of the plugin to let me properly assign a single zone from the Media Center 11 to a single Source and I would like that to be Source 5 or 6.

Can anyone tell me if this is possible and how their .INI file is set and what the have done in Zone assignments within MC11?

I tried deleting all but Zone 5 and that did not seem to work. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated as this looks like a great application. An instruction manual would be great.

Thanks;

This not a requirement of the CAV6.6. I also have this particular tuner and have it as sources 5 and 6 on my CAV. However, I would agree that the tuner is shipped by default set to sources 1 and 2. In your ST2-XM manula you will see on page 5 in bold type that your MUST assing your sources. On page 26 it gives detailed instructions on how to assign source number, etc.

Sorry for asking this here but does anyone know if there is a plugin or app anywhere that will allow the Russound CAV6.6 to talk to a pc running itunes?

I would imagine there is some demand for this but haven't been able to find anything - any help or direction would be greatly appreciated

If not is anyone interested in writting such an app for $?

Thanks

Rob

Hyslopc

I wasn't aware that the MC could stream multiple streams, I guess that make it a lot like the dedicated Russound MP3 hardware (once one adds your app)

I have not used MC yet. I have a CAV 6.6 and will be adding another one in the spring. I also use iTunes as I have 3 iPods and have purchased some of my songs off the itunes store (DRM). I was thinking it would be cool if someone had an interface to iTunes to the CAV 6.6 and a google search got me here.

It looks like Russound just announced a CAV6.6 to iPod interface called ibridge (I can't post a link but if you search for Russound ibridge you will find it). It will allow full control over the ipod - sounds cool.

My original plan was to dedicate an old laptop as a dedicated itunes server for the CAV 6.6 but it looks like I now have two choices MC or the new ibridge and a dedicated iPod (since the whole setup is in a utility room). Either one should be a lot less expensive than the Russound MP3 player (~$2500 cdn).

I love the CAV 6.6 (I have Power Tools and thus have been able to customize the zone labels and source names)

Thoughts or input welcome :-)

Rob

That's pretty odd - any ideas on why it happened?

Nice work getting it going again!

cheers
Al

hyslopc,

Great plugin. I started it up with Dark=Y in one of the zones, and now I can't get the light to come back on! I tried resetting the ini file with Dark=N and power cycling everything, but the display is still dark. HELP!

BTW, I tried to download 1.21 from your link above , but it seems to be dead. What's the latest version? I'd like to try the ignore flag since I have a MC zone that is directly connected to a 2-channel system that is independent of the CAV6.6.

Thank You! The solution was so simple, it eluded me.

Got the latest version. Thanks for updating the link.

I've been using your sofware for a couple of weeks now and there are a couple of things that I find myself wishing for often:

• Provide an ini file option to display Artist before Song Title. I have a lot of instrumental jazz in my collection and I often want to look to see what artist is playing, but by the time I look at the keypad, the text has stopped scrolling and I can only see the song title. I can click Next, Back to refresh it, but this interupts the music.
• Related to the above, when Play is pressed while a song is already playing redisplay the scrolling song name and artist. Right now, Play restarts the current song, which I have not had a need for.
• Here's the biggie (and frankly, less important). Allow navigation up and down the Viewscheme/Playlist hierarchy. If playback is stopped, the Stop key invokes "menu mode" (or press and hold). +/- would traverse up and down the tree and |</>| would cycle through the items at that level. Play obviously plays whatever is currently selected (Playlist, Genre, Artist, Album, Song). Stop could cancel back to the active Playing Now.

I'll certainly continue using and enjoying the software as is, but if you find yourself with time on your hands...