MediaMonkey forum

Hi Folks
I have a Google Home setup with about 8 Google speakers connected via WIFI that I can cast to from my desktop PC running Media Monkey
But, I have a problematic Samsung Soundbar Q900 (also connected to TV) which is connected to my network via WIFI/Smarthings. When not using it for the TV I cast to it for Media Monkey. BUT, every few weeks it disconnects itself an has to be fully reset. This time I am having even resetting the thing. Media Monkey sees the device in the Cast list but tries to connect, then stops on device, repeat repeat repeat.

So I was wondering..... how would it work if I put a Bluetooth transmitter on the PC and try to play to the soundbar via bluetooth connection? Would the Soundbar still appear in the "Cast list" or do you have to do something different to play to a bluetooth speaker when all the other speakers are connected via WIFI?
Thanks Fraser

No, with Bluetooth you'd have to connect Windows to the Bluetooth device and use it as audio device for Windows. Note that Windows is known for having poor Bluetooth implementation.

Thanks Lowlander
I will try to reset the Samsung soundbar (again).

You might be able to help with something I have noticed about speakers appearing in the "Cast" list. I just unplugged the soundbar from the wall. Launched MM and it still appears in the "cast" list as "Soundbar (google cast)". I have closed and reopened MM several times and it stays in the list. As a test, I powered off a Google Home speaker, and it stayed in the "cast" list as well. So I restarted the PC and launched MM and both speakers still appear in the "cast" list. So it looks like MM isn't refreshing the available speakers, even after closing/restarting MM and even after restarting PC. Where is MM getting its "available devices" from as something doesn't seem right?

Thanks again..... Fraser

Hi,
MM is caching available/found devices for sometime as they can be in sleep mode non announcing itself available on network.

Hi Guys
I have started again to investigate an ongoing problem I have with the Samsung Sandbar. It just becomes "inaccesssible or turned off" in Media Monkey so I have to play to a different speaker (mainly Google branded ones). The Soundbar connects to my WIFI via SmartThings and I can also see it in Google Home. Both SmartThings and Google home can turn the soundbar off on so it is visible on the network, yet it is only speaker that Media Monkey can't access. Also, if I rename one of my Google speakers the new name appears in the Media Monkey list within a few seconds. But if I rename the Soundbar the name doesn't change in MM.

Normally in this situation I do a full initialization of the soundbar and start again. Does anyone have any idea why I can see the soundbar in both SmartThings and Google Home yet MM doesn't seem to see it or update it? Is there anywhere else I can check to see what is on the network that MM would be checking so I can try to work out what is going on?

Does it support DLNA or Chromecast? Also which Build (Help > About) of MediaMonkey are you using?

Just my 2 cents... Windows did not have good bluetooth. Is WIN11 any better?

Sorry guys..... please forget about the "Bluetooth" component of the topic..... that was my original tangent months ago when looking for a solution. Just looking at WIFI now

Lowlander. It supports Chromecast (I assume). It appears in the list as "[AV] SOUNDBAR (Google Cast)". When I re-initialise it and reconnect to SmartThings and Google Home it usually runs ok for a while (sometimes weeks). Then I get the error "Inaccessible or turned off" (or something like that) even though it is visible and working (ie can turn it off and on) from the SmartThings app or Google Home app. It's Just MM can't see it anymore and it doesn't update when I change its name etc, so I don't know where MM gets its connected WIFI devices list as it isn't the same as the Google Home list.

I am running MM 5.0.4.2690

Thanks Fraser

So, the device actually works, but stops working at some point?

Can you please capture the failure to connect from MediaMonkey in a debug log (step 4b) and attach the log to a Support Ticket: viewtopic.php?t=86643

This will help a developer analyze why this happens on your setup.