There are 2 different Mconnect Apps 1 is called MconnectHD and the other is Mcontrolhd the Mconnect can stream to all types of devices and from alot of servers the other is called Mcontrol and it mainly just works on the Bridge 2…I guess they have other devices for it but i don’t own any that it can control except the DS with the Bridge 2, It is pretty neat because not only does it give you the ability to rename the bridge from the cm-210 or what it changes to when you restart your router but it also finds it immediately on your network and gives you the ip and mac address that is in the setting on the app. the app also has a built in Vtuner as a source which works nicely to stream to your ds without having to get any other type of streaming player for internet radio or even from your NAS or HDD connected to a router works great too
Nice tip, thanks. Was not aware of this additional mconnect app. Seems to work better with the B2, less dropouts.
I was going to announce this when both the ipod/ipad and android versions of mconnect are available. As far as I know the android version will be available in a week or two.
Dennis
I was about to try this, however ‘Play to’ was only limited to my control point. I am not able to select other renderers, except via Airplay.
I found all my uPnP libraries, though.
You will need an update for the bridgeII for vTuner to work to it. I have the update and I am testing it, but I am not going to release until after I am back at work next week, so I can fully test it. I also need to wait for the android version to be released by Converse Digital, so I can test it fully too.
Dennis
Any reason to keep MconnectHD ?
Given that Dennis has not completed his testing yet, I wouldn’t be in a rush to make changes to my system, including removing mconnect. Sounds promising, though. But will it run on my old iPad? Doubtful.
No it won’t run one old ipad/ipods. It needs at least version 7.1. Currently I only have one ipad(Paul’s) at work that will run it, and none at home.
Dennis
magister said Given that Dennis has not completed his testing yet, I wouldn't be in a rush to make changes to my system, including removing mconnect. Sounds promising, though. But will it run on my old iPad? Doubtful.What I meant was will the new app have all the features of MconnectHD ?
I am not sure, but there might also be a new version of mConnectHD with vTuner support. I’ll check when I get back to work.
Dennis
I broke down and got a new iPad–too many apps now just won’t work on my old first-gen version. (I’m annoyed about that, but it’s a different discussion.)
Got the new mcontrol app. Having vtuner will be nice and it can do some cool things like upgrade the firmware from within the app (not yet, of course, since Dennis hasn’t posted it; but the facility is there).
But this version does NOT address the issues I have had for a long time with mconnect, one serious and one less so.
#1: if you set up some music in the playing queue and then go off to check email or look at some websites, mconnect/mcontrol is apt to quit and lose the music you queued up. It doesn’t always do so. I don’t know whether it’s a time issue (you don’t interact with it for X minutes) or an issue of resources in iOS (an app that isn’t actively in use must give up its memory if other apps need it). But either way, mconnect/mcontrol should save the queue. Safari, for instance, keeps track of what web pages you had open. When you go back to it, the pages are not actually open (that’s OK, saves memory or whatever) but the addresses are there on each tab so it’s easy to reload. Losing a carefully constructed queue with the music I want tonight is not acceptable.
#2: mconnect/mcontrol does not provide the option to remember the renderer and library that were used in the last session. Every time I start I must tell it to use the same settings as I used before. The first few times it’s no big deal. By the 200th time it’s really annoying. (Remembering previous settings should be an option, not a default, since some people carry devices around when they are out and about. But my iPad lives in the listening room.)
I know PSA works with mconnect so maybe you could pass these comments along.
Yes and just as bad my Playlists are gone a few days later, I’ve given up on making any.
Keep losing PlayTo: Bridge II on Control… it cannot find my Bridge II. I love to use Vtuner so, it’s really disappointing. Other times, it will just appear and work fine. The error message reads: “Please connect a received H/W to the network in order to browse the media server”
However MConnect always has my Bridge II available in PlayTo.
Can someone help
The version of BridgeII code that works with Vtuner has not been released yet. The current version might work, but issues like you mentioned might occur. I’ll post when a vtuner capable version is released.
Dennis
I’m glad I found this thread, I’ve been having the mconnect drop issue and it drives me crazy cause it’s so unpredictable. I thought it was just my setup. I also use the Technics Music App, it too works with the B II, it’s a bit more stable but also drops intermittently. With the Technics app I never lose the ‘play to B II’, but it resets the queue and I have to initiate my library (I have the Melco N1A). Can this be a B II issue?
As far as losing the queue: we need help from someone who knows how iOS apps are supposed to work. What I find is that if I set up a queue and then go away from mconnect (e.g., to read via the Kindle app) for a certain amount of time, the queue contents disappear and mconnect closes totally. I don’t know exactly what the “certain amount” is; 10 minutes seems OK, 45 minutes or an hour causes it to vanish, and I have never wanted to take the time to track down exactly where the line is.
It makes sense to me that an OS designed for a device with limited memory and battery life might encourage or require that apps give up their memory if not actively being used. The Kindle app seems to do this. If I stop reading for some time, when I go back it’s clear that the app has gone into hibernation. A screen briefly displays a page from the book that I was reading before the one I’m currently on. Then it goes black and comes back up with the most recent title at the location I stopped. So somehow the Kindle app saves where I was and gets back there, although I’m not sure why it usually shows the previous book for a second.
mconnect does not save the queue when it quits. Why can’t it? Does saving a queue of 25 or 50 songs take a lot more memory than is needed for Kindle to save the title and page number of the book? Perhaps. Or maybe mconnect needs some help.
It definitely needs some help in being able to locate the Bridge. Many times I have waited ten minutes or more and mconnect won’t find it. It does find it eventually, after I have gone to another app. This is highly ironic since the mconnect folks are also the authors of the Bridge module. Other control points display the same behavior with losing the queue after a certain point but do not have trouble finding the Bridge.