2 way DLNA is it possible?

[aross1976]

so i have seen  that there is a way to use jriver and the accompanying alexa skill to play your music library

but has anyone got it to work with plex or any  regular DLNA server and is anyone working on it?

and also what about the reverse? can we or could we  set up alexa to act as a DLNA server to send alexa audio ,music and optionally alexa responses to any DLNA enabled receiver? would this require additional hardware?
could custom skills be created ,i set up some custom skills like the google skill  but i assume this is all run on  the cloud and that to do DLNA we would probably need to run code on the echo device itself ,is that even possible with AWS skill tools or does it only pet you do stuff on the cloud, would you need to  have something like a FW update for it to  be able to broadcast to DLNA receivers?

[mike27oct]

Well, only in your dreams.  Amazon has not created the Alexa devices for the convenience of people who want to play their music collection stored somewhere in their home network.  It was created to SELL MUSIC purchased from Amazon or uploaded by users to their Amazon account to play on Alexa gadgets.

Nevertheless, there are ways to get around these roadblocks.

One way is by installing the program at this website which some folks use.  https://www.mymediaalexa.com/
I hear it is a good solution, but I don't use it since I have better ways for me to play my home-based music library on Alexa devices.

I can play my network stored music from my WD NAS; even from Plex which I find works fine, but it is not my favorite way.  Bluetooth is required, so if playing music on a iPhone or iPad via Plex app (or anywhere) on it, and then streaming music from iThing to the Alexa device via Bluetooth is preferred for me.  I also do not use Plex app that often. I prefer other apps such as Music Streamer on my iThings to either send music via BT, or in the case of the Google Home and Chroecast, this app allows me to Google-cast to them.  Casting is preferred over using BT for a variety of reasons.

If you use Android mobile devices, there are good music-playing apps for them, too.

Check out these ideas.

[aross1976]

yeah not officially supported but there are  home made skills like the google skill  so whe wouldn't someone be able to create a custom skill  to do it?

what i really would like though is if they released a way to do the reverse as well

i want to use whole home audio to sync music between my echo devices and my stereo AVR

without needing to  connect a dot to my stereo ,  my AVR  has DLNA
so would it be possible for alexa to sync audio between echo devices and DLNA enabled
receivers

broadcast  alexa music and optionally voice responses via wifi to any DLNA receiver

[mike27oct]

I suppose you (not me) need to do some serious googling to find answers to these new questions. 

I DID tell you how things can work seamlessly, perfectly, no skills needed, etc.  If you have not tried
these yet, and/or are not happy with the solutions, find another for yourself.  Let us know what you come up with.  Good luck.

[aross1976]

yes you told me how to  get  audio from a DLNA server to  the  dot
and i will definitely  be checking that out

but  i am also  asking if  it would be possible to do the reverse
have  a dot act as a DLNA server to cast alexa music to a DLNA receiver
if it would be possibel  for someone to create a custom skill or if  it would require access to part of the system that only amazon  has , like a FW update

[mike27oct]

The only way for a Dot to be a "server" is to send music via BT to a device, but it is not DLNA, it is BT wireless signal.  What else you want to do is not in the cards as far as I know.  Alexa devices are not DLNA "aware" and do not show up on my network as such.

[aross1976]

yes i know they only support bluetooth and that DLNA is wifi
but it would be great if amazon added the ability  for the  echo to cast to DLNA
or if someone could create a custom skill
seem like the echo would have capability to do it hardware wise it would just need to be implemented in the software

[mike27oct]

Most of these questions need to be asked TO Amazon customer service. 

[asianrocker]

yes i know they only support bluetooth and that DLNA is wifi
but it would be great if amazon added the ability  for the  echo to cast to DLNA
or if someone could create a custom skill
seem like the echo would have capability to do it hardware wise it would just need to be implemented in the software

Uhm dude did you even click the link? Coz that link is the 'custom skill' you want. LOL. It's not via the app but I think that one is via Pc. But if you care to read the link. That is EXACTLY what you want.

[mike27oct]

I really doubt he has looked into the PC app for Mymedia;he just wants to complain alot.

Meanwhile, I and others can play their home music on alexa devices AND many other devices I mentioned above using some various methods described..

[asianrocker]

I didn't realize you need to pay to use that thing. But well, that is why people make program to make money.

And to the OP yes of course you can do anything you want with Alexa. But you do need to make it your self if you don't want to pay.

AWS account is not free as far as I know or I would have created an account already and make custom skills for my echo.

I know AWS ACCOUNT is free to make but you need to pay for server use.

[aross1976]

I didn't realize you need to pay to use that thing. But well, that is why people make program to make money.

And to the OP yes of course you can do anything you want with Alexa. But you do need to make it your self if you don't want to pay.

AWS account is not free as far as I know or I would have created an account already and make custom skills for my echo.

I know AWS ACCOUNT is free to make but you need to pay for server use.

no i have not checked the link yet

yes the AWS is not free technically but it is virtually free you can  make your own skills and just publish them personally to yourself it is only if a skill is made public and accessed a ridiculous  amount of times that it will become pay, you would have to access the skill like  1,000,000 times  in one month  to be charged anything lots of people are using the custom google and youtube skills    such as myself
you just create an account and   make the skill and then do not publish it to anyone but your account

ok i just checked the link  ,seems you are not good at comprehending what i am looking to do  here

 i want to be able to cast music FROM my  alexa /echo dot TO my  DLNA receiver

as well as have it be able to access music from a DLNA server

this would do half of  what i want,  i specifically asked if it was possible to  do the reverse

maybe i am not making it clear enough

 it would  work like this ,  "alexa ,play  radiohead radio" " getting your radiohead radio station from  pandora, radiohead radio"

then i would be able to  tell alexa to play in another room using the whole home audio feature but instead of  just being able to tell it to sync the audio to other echo devices or sonos speakers i would be able to sync it with  a DLNA enabled receiver

like i can  use UPnP on my android tablet to cast  audio FROM my tablet TO my DLNA enabled AVR
i run  UPnP on my rooted 2015 custom rom fire tablet ,which runs android , the dot also is running a form of android
so it should be technically possible hardware wise to have the dot cast whatever audio it is playing via DLNA TO any DLNA enabled receiver , but with AWS i am pretty sure you can just create skills that run in the cloud and not on the actual device , but i am  unsure about this ,  the code to be able to do this would have to be run on the device itself not in the cloud i would think
 

[asianrocker]

YAP, dude you're right. I don't know what you want to do completely. Pretty sure you can do what you want if you know how to make skills. There is nothing an AI can't do. It's just a matter of you as a user having this 'ridiculous' need and making it yourself. An AI is only as good as how it was programmed.

I thought that was what you needed. Guess you need a more complicated setup for your music needs. But I think you can use that program as a guide to what you ultimately want to do.

[dragon123]

Plex can now do this! You can now say: Alexa, ask plex to play Fleetwood Mac and it will, even on devices without spotify like a fire 8 HD tablet or vobot alarm clock. I'm very glad they added this (late last year), I was fed up with bluetooth connections for music in the kitchen etc. It seems you do need to have your plex music library in mp3 format only, at least trying to play flac gave me so many pauses and hickups it was unusable.