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AnswerPlaylists on the WHS server?

  • Tuesday, July 10, 2007 7:22 PMMartinc98 Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     

    How can I create playlists that reside on the Home Server itself?

     

    I'm connecting a uPnP device (Phillips SLA5500) to my stereo.  It finds the WHS (Windows Media Connect) and I can play mp3 files no problem.

     

    However, I'm at a loss how to create playlists that will work from this remote device.

     

    I tried using WMP from a client to create a playlist, but it only appears possible to create the playlist that resides on that client - and therefore is not available to the other WHS clients...

     

    I saw a few other posts that seem to imply that it's possible to do this, but I didn't see any specific steps on how to do this...

     

    (but I am very happy to see that my generic uPnP device can at least select by artist, album, genre, or folder!)

Answers

  • Thursday, July 12, 2007 5:49 PMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer

    Hi Martinc98 - This is still in rough draft form.  Spent some time on this yesterday trying to make playlists possible.  Any feedback would be great!  :-)

     

    Currently, Media Connect on Windows Home Server does not allow new creations of Playlists to be used.  Here is a potential workaround for how to edit the new Playlists and make them usable on your Xbox 360 or other media connect devices.

    • Open \\Server\Music

    • Create a folder called “Playlist”
    • Open Windows Media Player 11 on your Windows Vista or Windows XP computer.
    • Click “Now Playing” Tab.  Remove any music that maybe in the “Now Playing” list.
    • Drag and drop the music you wish to listen to from \\Server\Music. You can drag and drop single songs, multiple songs, and even folders if you wish, to the “Now Playing” section. 
    • Click the “Now Playing” drop down menu that is just above the songs that you dragged and dropped.
    • Click “Save Playlist As”
    • Save the playlist to \\server\music\playlist
    • Close Media Player
    • Open “Notepad”
      • In Windows Vista, type “Notepad” in search from the start menu, then hit enter
      • In Windows XP, click run and type “Notepad”, hit enter
    • In notepad, open \\server\music\playlist\<playlist file>
    • You will need to edit all the file locations because they are incorrect.
      • The lines you will be editing begin with “<media src=”.  An example of this is “<media src="\\SERVER\Music\Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>”
    • Change \\Server\Music to “..”
      • Example, “<media src=".. \Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>” instead of “<media src="\\SERVER\Music\Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>”
    • You will have to repeat this for each song until all the songs you wish to play from that playlist have been changed.  Then click file and click save.  You should now be able to see your playlist on your Xbox 360.
  • Friday, July 13, 2007 9:50 PMJason Lohrenz Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Actually if you use wordpad and do a 'replace' you can zip through a rather lengthy playlist in seconds.  Just make sure to save it without formatting (as a regular .txt file with the correct extension instead of a wordpad file)
  • Monday, August 13, 2007 9:52 PMjlslate Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Actually, notepad has a replace option, also.

     

  • Monday, August 13, 2007 10:35 PMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Yes and if you use the "Find" option, search for \\server\music then close the find box. From there on out, you can just simply hit the "F3" key on your keyboard and type ".." and repeate.  Worked great and pretty quick actually.

     

All Replies

  • Thursday, July 12, 2007 5:49 PMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer

    Hi Martinc98 - This is still in rough draft form.  Spent some time on this yesterday trying to make playlists possible.  Any feedback would be great!  :-)

     

    Currently, Media Connect on Windows Home Server does not allow new creations of Playlists to be used.  Here is a potential workaround for how to edit the new Playlists and make them usable on your Xbox 360 or other media connect devices.

    • Open \\Server\Music

    • Create a folder called “Playlist”
    • Open Windows Media Player 11 on your Windows Vista or Windows XP computer.
    • Click “Now Playing” Tab.  Remove any music that maybe in the “Now Playing” list.
    • Drag and drop the music you wish to listen to from \\Server\Music. You can drag and drop single songs, multiple songs, and even folders if you wish, to the “Now Playing” section. 
    • Click the “Now Playing” drop down menu that is just above the songs that you dragged and dropped.
    • Click “Save Playlist As”
    • Save the playlist to \\server\music\playlist
    • Close Media Player
    • Open “Notepad”
      • In Windows Vista, type “Notepad” in search from the start menu, then hit enter
      • In Windows XP, click run and type “Notepad”, hit enter
    • In notepad, open \\server\music\playlist\<playlist file>
    • You will need to edit all the file locations because they are incorrect.
      • The lines you will be editing begin with “<media src=”.  An example of this is “<media src="\\SERVER\Music\Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>”
    • Change \\Server\Music to “..”
      • Example, “<media src=".. \Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>” instead of “<media src="\\SERVER\Music\Joels Music\My band Songs\liverecording.mp3"/>”
    • You will have to repeat this for each song until all the songs you wish to play from that playlist have been changed.  Then click file and click save.  You should now be able to see your playlist on your Xbox 360.
  • Friday, July 13, 2007 7:28 AMNate 1148 Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     

    Wow....

     

    Thx for the workaround, thats a heck of alot of work to do.

     

    Perhaps a fix for RC2..lets hope. I had this reported on beta1 and Im pretty sure it was closed on connect as postponed.

     

    Dawg.

  • Friday, July 13, 2007 9:50 PMJason Lohrenz Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Actually if you use wordpad and do a 'replace' you can zip through a rather lengthy playlist in seconds.  Just make sure to save it without formatting (as a regular .txt file with the correct extension instead of a wordpad file)
  • Friday, July 13, 2007 10:00 PMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
    Good note, I'll try wordpad instead of notepad when I get home.
  • Monday, August 13, 2007 9:52 PMjlslate Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Actually, notepad has a replace option, also.

     

  • Monday, August 13, 2007 10:35 PMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     Answer
    Yes and if you use the "Find" option, search for \\server\music then close the find box. From there on out, you can just simply hit the "F3" key on your keyboard and type ".." and repeate.  Worked great and pretty quick actually.

     

  • Tuesday, September 18, 2007 1:49 AMJoel BurtMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     

    Just to add to this, Notepad has a replace all option.  Works great!

     

    Have it replace \\server\music with ".."