DRIVER: iTunes Driver *BETA*

[Ted Singh]

We are pleased to provide a beta version of the iTunes driver for mControl. We are still working on this and will be offering refinements over the next few weeks.

This beta has been validated with mControl v2.1.3554 and the mControl v2.1.3554 Generic Driver. We have tested the following scenarios:
- mControl PC: Vista, iTunes PC: Windows 7
- mControl PC: WHS, iTunes PC: Windows 7

1. Upgrade to mControl v2.1.3554 *BETA*: http://www.embeddedautomation.com/fo...ead.php?t=1720

2. Install the mControl v2.1.3554 *BETA* Generic Driver: http://www.embeddedautomation.com/mc...c%20Driver.zip. (These files go in the \server\plugins directory.)

3. Download the iTunes driver *BETA*: http://www.embeddedautomation.com/dr...0-%20Beta).zip. The iTunes driver consists of two components:

(a) Generic Driver iTunes command file: This file contains the commands that mControl can issue to iTunes via the Generic Driver. Copy the mdl_EAGenericiTunesController.xml file to the \server\plugins directory
(b) iTunes Controller: This is the program that takes the commands issued by the Generic Controller (over a network port) and feeds them to iTunes. Copy the iTunes Controller (091001 - Beta) directory to the machine on which iTunes is running. This does not have to be the same PC on which mControl is running.

4. Start iTunes

5. Start iTunes Controller (iTunesControler.exe):


6. Using the mControl Editor, add the iTunes controller to your mControl device list:


Please note, you must allow your firewall to permit mControl and the iTunesController to use port 7000. (The port is configurable)

7. Execute commands from the mControl Editor:


8. Execute commands as part of macro actions:

[Ted Singh]

Of course, once you've added devices to mControl, they are automatically available on the mPanel interface. Additionally, the mPanel provides an additional media control page for these devices.

1. View the iTunes controller device on the mPanel:


2. By pressing the "play" button on the iTunes device, access the iTunes media control page:


Album art will automatically show up if you have it defined properly within iTunes

3. If you select the "Album List" from the iTunes controller page, you can view and select additional albums:

[pcr23]

Ted,
Does the iTunesControler.exe need to be running for this to work or only during inital setup?

Thanks,
Paul

[Ted Singh]

Paul,

The iTunesController is the bridge between mControl and iTunes, so, yes, it needs to be running. This is the logical order I used to start applications:
1. Started iTunes
2. Started iTunesController - which then will initiate a connection to iTunes
3. Restart mControl server (with Generic Driver enable) - which will then establish connecton to the iTunesController.

[pcr23]

Thanks Ted
I got it working fine, but for some reason, I can't control it from either of my mPanels. It shows up on my mpanels but there isn't a "play" button to press to go to the next screen. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but I can't get to the iTunes controller interfface from either mpanels or mcontrol. I can set a macro to play a song and that works fine. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Thanks,
Paul

[Ted Singh]

pcr23,

You likely need a more recent build of mPanel software - contact support and they can email it to you - it is a beta and not posted on this forum.

Ted