M3U playlists generate "File format error" from Asset UPnP

[lpowell]

I've installed Asset UPnP on a Windows Home Server. This machine is networked to a Denon ASD-3N iPod dock, a DLNA client which is able to playback FLAC files. I've ripped audio CD's to folders in the WHS shared Music\Lossless folder. I'm using MediaMonkey to create M3U playlists in the WHS shared Music\Playlists folder. Likewise, I've setup Asset UPnP to search for music files in the Music\Lossless folder and playlists in the Music\Playlists folder.

Both MediaMonkey and Windows Media Player are able to load and play the songs listed in the M3U playlists on the server. The Denon iPod dock is able to connect to Asset UPnP and find and list the songs in the M3U playlists. However, when I attempt to playback any of the songs, Asset UPnP balks and sends a "File format error" to the iPod dock.

I've tried several variations on the Music folder setup and get the same result regardless of where the M3U files are stored. In addition, I've tried both the latest version 2 of Asset UPnP as well as the version 3 Beta, and got the results with both.

Are there any restrictions in M3U file paths I need to know about in order to use Asset UPnP in WHS?

[lpowell]

Asset UPnP - Failed Product?

I purchased a license to Asset UPnP, installed it on a Windows Home Server box, and it failed to stream FLAC music files listed m3u playlists. I posted the following support request to this forum on 12/26/09:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=20245

Six weeks later, I haven't even received an acknowledgemet of my support request from Illustrate. Since then I have also attempted to stream music files via an iPhone PlugPlayer, and got the same type of error message as before: "Attempt to play streaming audio failed."

My system is set up properly and it works with TVersity Media Server that came installed on Windows Home Server. TVersity is slow to recognize newly saved playlists, and it provides no setup control panel, but at least it actually works.

So what's the problem with Asset UPnP? From what I've seen, it's a broken product with zero customer support.

[Spoon]

Re: Asset UPnP - Failed Product?

Messages get overlooked, you cannot assume it is a failed product because 1 message was missed...

Try installing dBpoweramp Renaissance on your PC, then use PlugPlayer to stream from Asset to Renaissance, if it does not work then you possibly have a firewall on the WHS box blocking asset, install from:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=17415

[DonQ]

Re: M3U playlists generate "File format error" from Asset UPnP

I found this post in trying to solve the same problem. This is how I ended up solving it.
1) Installed uPlayer (doesn't seem to run though).
2) Installed Asset Control, and identified the same problem within it.
3) Found the problem in MediaMonkey. The Unicode playlist option must be unchecked: Tools >> Options >> Library >> Tags & Playlist >> Use Unicode (UTF-8) encoding for M3U playlists.

Hope this helps.

[Spoon]

Re: M3U playlists generate "File format error" from Asset UPnP

Technically MediaMonkey should write an .m3u8 if is writing unicode to a playlist, simply putting UTF-8 in a non-UTF designated file format (.m3u) is not good.