Dear Soundbridge Control Freaks,

I have written an open source, multi-platform application for controlling Soundbridge devices from a computer.

The project homepage is: http://goroku.sourceforge.net

Standalone binary packages are available for 32 bit Windows and Macintosh systems and a (pure python) easy_install egg is available for Linux systems.

Comments, suggestions, or bug reports are welcome!

MC

Just installed v1.0. Install was quick and simple. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to pick up my iTunes or MediaMonkey libraries. It sees the Windows Media library.

Is this expected? Or am I doing something incorrect?

Mmm. Can't see my SoundBridges. From the log, I guess this may be because I am running with static IP addresses? I sometimes use another remote control (Java based) but that allows me to specify the addresses for each SB used.

Here's the log...


Anything I can do to make the SB more visble on the network?

Thanks,

Les.

S80_UK wrote:

Mmm. Can't see my SoundBridges.

Detecting the SoundBridges indeed seems to be a bit unreliable. I'm using DHCP for the entire network including the SoundBridges and they're not always found. Sometimes GoRoku finds none at all, sometimes one or more.

Furthermore when I played with the software, it occasionally issued an error message telling me that the SoundBridge wasn't replying.

I also found that the software automatically wakes up all SoundBridges from standby.

Greetings
dupondt

S80_UK wrote:

Mmm. Can't see my SoundBridges. From the log, I guess this may be because I am running with static IP addresses?

GoRoku does depend on bonjour to find your Soundbridges. If you are running Windows, you may need to install Bonjour for Windows. I don't think bonjour would distinguish static addresses from dynamic ones, but if there is no bonjour server running the DNS request will fail.

- Marc

dupondt wrote:

Detecting the SoundBridges indeed seems to be a bit unreliable. I'm using DHCP for the entire network including the SoundBridges and they're not always found. Sometimes GoRoku finds none at all, sometimes one or more.

Furthermore when I played with the software, it occasionally issued an error message telling me that the SoundBridge wasn't replying.

That message pops up when a telnet request times out. It is really a warning, not an error -- it allows you to reconnect. However it sounds like I should allow a longer timeout, both for bonjour and rcp/telnet, to accommodate your network.

dupondt wrote:

I also found that the software automatically wakes up all SoundBridges from standby.

Greetings
dupondt

Yes, it tells each Soundbridge to connect to its first server, if it is not already connected. Maybe this was not such a good idea? Do you want to keep them asleep when they are not playing?

Thanks, everyone, for giving the software a test run!
- Marc

culler wrote:

S80_UK wrote:

Mmm. Can't see my SoundBridges. From the log, I guess this may be because I am running with static IP addresses?

GoRoku does depend on bonjour to find your Soundbridges. If you are running Windows, you may need to install Bonjour for Windows.

Doh! I read that bit when I went to download, and then I immediately forgot to do anything about it. With Bonjour loaded up, it is now working. It did not find Firefly initially, but was happy when I manually selected it from the available servers listed.

Incidentally, having seen a TwonkyMedia server on my laptop earlier, when the laptop was running, it still reports the server later even though the laptop was shut down before the PC running GoRoku was restarted. Not a big deal, though.

Do you plan to add browse support? (I don't generally use playlists).

Oh, and thanks for the sharing app.

Cheers,

Les.

S80_UK wrote:

Incidentally, having seen a TwonkyMedia server on my laptop earlier, when the laptop was running, it still reports the server later even though the laptop was shut down before the PC running GoRoku was restarted. Not a big deal, though.

GoRoku simply asks the Soundbridge to ListServers. I have noticed, though, that the Soundbridge tends to continue to list a server long after it has disappeared.

S80_UK wrote:

Do you plan to add browse support? (I don't generally use playlists).

Yes, browse support is on the way.

- Marc

culler wrote:

GoRoku simply asks the Soundbridge to ListServers. I have noticed, though, that the Soundbridge tends to continue to list a server long after it has disappeared.

It actually depends on the server and how they disappear. Twonky, if shut down properly, will actually say that it is going away and the SoundBridge will then not show it. If it just disappears from the network (PC unplugged or hibernated) then it will be remembered by the SoundBridge.

culler wrote:

Yes, browse support is on the way.

- Marc

Cool. Thanks Marc.

Les, please check your roku PM, I sent you a message. Peter

bregent wrote:

Does bonjour for Windows need to be running on the same box as GoRoku, or on any network box. I'm pretty sure it's not running on my Windows PC, but it is running on my NAS box. GoRoku failed to find my SB when I ran it the first time, but has found it on subsequent attempts.

Bonjour (aka mDNS) needs to be running on the same machine as GoRoku. Bonjour has two aspects. It advertises services and it finds services being advertised. Your NAS and your SoundBridge both advertise their services with Bonjour. Your PC needs to receive the advertisements for the SB service.

It gets installed automatically by lots of Adobe and Apple products. So it probably got installed on your PC without you knowing about it.

bregent wrote:

Still, I think it would be a good idea to optionally allow the user to manually enter the ip.

OK. I'll think about how to do that.

- Marc

culler wrote:

bregent wrote:

Still, I think it would be a good idea to optionally allow the user to manually enter the ip.

OK. I'll think about how to do that.

- Marc

Oh jeah,

that would be great !

Your GoRoku Soundbridge controller looks verry good and I would like to use it.

But I would have to enter the ip manually too ...

I´m looking vorward for your good work.

Thank you so far
Strichi