Pandora 10-foot experience

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offroad

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#21

Post by offroad » Wed Dec 11, 2013 2:53 am

just some notes. this allows me to create an app that launches Pandora right from the desktop. then I just need to map the application to a launcher. Used this to avoid the issue of Chrome not starting with relaunch.

This is not quite a fix, you can still exit full screen mode as normal, but you can start a web site/app full screen:
1. Bookmark the page you want to open on startup.
2. Open a new tab and go to the 'Apps' section
3. Drag your bookmark onto the app area to create an app shortcut
4. Right click on your newly created 'app' and select 'Open full screen'
5. Right click on it again and click 'Create application shortcuts...'

This will give you a shortcut to open your chosen page in full screen. If anyone finds a way to disable the full screen popup please post it.

offroad

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#22

Post by offroad » Wed Dec 11, 2013 3:59 am

ignore my last post. it did not work out

Found that chrome is a very fickle application. it will not keep your bookmarks or links if you make the before mentioned setting as READ ONLY (three posts back). So don't do that until you have CHROME behaving correctly. You can set chrome to open your specific web page for Pandora. Then set Pandora as the default web page, after you make a copy of the chrome launch icon. Rename it whatever you want. After Pandora is behaving correct then you can set the READ ONLY flag.

offroad

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#23

Post by offroad » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:27 pm

Finally working. Thanks for all the notes in this thread.

RELAUNCH is set to just startup CHROME as an app. Not a web page. Since I do not use CHROME for anything else it is a dedicated PANDORA player in KIOSK mode with the web page as the home page.

It's my way to make this work when all else failed. Lucky for me I have close button (alt f4) or the green button on my remote. Helps when testing.

lurch66

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#24

Post by lurch66 » Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:00 pm

looks like the link just stopped working. I have been using this for quite some time but a few days ago it goes to the "Pandora available on the xbox 360" page instead of pandora. Anybody have a fix with a new link?

3rob3

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#25

Post by 3rob3 » Wed Jun 11, 2014 11:27 pm

I just used it yesterday and it was fine, will have to try again.

webminster

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#26

Post by webminster » Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:39 am

Yes, it looks like they broke the link, seeing the same here. Must have happened in just the last few days, was working well Sunday.
-Alan

eeprom

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#27

Post by eeprom » Thu Jun 12, 2014 3:55 pm

Does anyone know how the URL is being discovered to begin with? It's wherever the XBOX path winds up pointing I'm pretty sure. It would be cool to have a write-up on that so we can look it up on our own whenever Pandora decides to make changes.

webminster

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#28

Post by webminster » Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:39 pm

Never seen any such writeup, but assuming someone put a sniffer between their Xbox and the internet to capture the request URLs.

I sent a quick note to Pandora support to ask them if they'd provide any clues on URL changes, and got the expected "sorry not on our supported device list" response.

Anyone know what happened to the guy who was working on the Pandora add-in (McPandora?). It kinda works, has problems, but he seems to have disappeared or abandoned it. At least it still does seem to work.
-Alan

matthers

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#29

Post by matthers » Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:15 am

If i had an Xbox360 or PS4 I'd be sniffing for sure. Just found out its no longer working and it's a great source for music on my HTPC. Hopefully won't be long until the new url surfaces

Chuggy

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#30

Post by Chuggy » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:37 pm

Has anyone been able to get this working again after they changed the URL? I am now just getting the stoc ps/xbox screen.

yjeep93

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#31

Post by yjeep93 » Fri Jun 27, 2014 4:18 pm

Anyone have a new link?

webminster

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#32

Post by webminster » Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:49 pm

I've not heard that anyone has figured out a workaround yet, I haven't (aside from just using my Roku).
-Alan

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Doctor Feelgood

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#33

Post by Doctor Feelgood » Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:10 pm

yjeep93 wrote:Anyone have a new link?
I keep looking, but nothing yet.

In the meantime I re-installed MCPandora, and while I appreciate that it is truly integrated in Media Center, it isn't quite what I would expect. Like - anyone know how to actually skip a song?

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mcewinter

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#34

Post by mcewinter » Sat Jun 28, 2014 1:32 pm

Some people here deem it good advice lately to switch inputs. With that said, I bought bluetooth receivers driven by my phone or tablet. Some might say to get a Roku or Chromecast. Pandora and MC apparently don't seem to mix well, it's a shame.

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makryger

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#35

Post by makryger » Sat Jun 28, 2014 2:18 pm

mcewinter wrote:Some people here deem it good advice lately to switch inputs. With that said, I bought bluetooth receivers driven by my phone or tablet. Some might say to get a Roku or Chromecast. Pandora and MC apparently don't seem to mix well, it's a shame.
For the record, chromecast uses hdmi-cec, so when you send a show to the chromecast to be played, it automatically turns on the TV and switches to that input (on most modern TVs). Now, switching back is a whole different question. In my case, I have a serial port from htpc to computer, so I could switch inputs back when I turn on my HTPC. Not *quite* as easy as having it all on one screen, but better than nothing.
My Channel Logos XL: Get your Guide looking good! ~~~~ TunerSalad: Increase the 4-tuner limit in 7MC

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mcewinter

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#36

Post by mcewinter » Sat Jun 28, 2014 3:24 pm

HDMI-CEC is great if you have the equipment to support it. When I replace my TV and AVR I will definitely go that route but both components are in perfect working order at the moment. Honestly, I'm still able to use MC for most everything. For the most part, outside the living room is where I have adopted other solutions.

webminster

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#37

Post by webminster » Sat Jun 28, 2014 6:46 pm

There seems to be very little info out there on McPandora, no Web site (except Assassin's how-to's). Guy who wrote it has disappeared (heard rumors he passed, no real info there either). No source code.

There's the love/hate buttons (Pandora's thumbs-up and -down). Doesn't skip if you thumbs-down though. The normal WMC playback controls mostly work, but I think you can't just skip a song - you have to skip forward with the skip button to get to the next one.

Unfortunately I find the add-in mostly doesn't work for me, has problems on my WMC. Sometimes doesn't finish playing a song, goes to next too early. And sometimes just loses it - starts skipping to next song, not playing anything, until finally the Pandora service starts refusing the skips - may start playing then, or just stall out and play nothing.

It was a really nice start, unfortunately I don't think it'll ever be fixed up to be really good. Your mileage may vary.
-alan
-Alan

Fusion

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#38

Post by Fusion » Sun Jun 29, 2014 3:42 pm

If you use IE instead of Chrome, and force Internet Explorer to use the User Agent string from an Xbox(Pandora's site thinks an Xbox is hitting their site), it works again... except the buttons on my remote won't work with it so it's VERY crippled for me. You won't need a special URL that way, just tv.pandora.com. But it seems that no keyboard keys at all work for me with it that way. I tried forcing the User Agent string in Chrome but it still won't come up there.

Registry settings to change the IE User Agent:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Mozilla/5.0"
"Compatible"="compatible"
"Platform"="Windows NT 6.2; Trident/6.0; Xbox; Xbox One"
"Version"="MSIE 10.0"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Mozilla/5.0"
"Compatible"="compatible"
"Platform"="Windows NT 6.2; Trident/6.0; Xbox; Xbox One"
"Version"="MSIE 10.0"
(Paste that into a text file, name it XboxUserAgent.reg. Then run it.)

Chuggy

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#39

Post by Chuggy » Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:52 am

Did you by any chance try the link in this post:

http://thedigitalmediazone.com/2013/06/ ... n-an-htpc/

It seems to have a bunch of parameters built into the URL. Once you changed you registry I'm curious if this would work.

barnabas1969

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#40

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:54 pm

mcewinter wrote:HDMI-CEC is great if you have the equipment to support it. When I replace my TV and AVR I will definitely go that route but both components are in perfect working order at the moment. Honestly, I'm still able to use MC for most everything. For the most part, outside the living room is where I have adopted other solutions.
The best way I've found to use Pandora is via an Internet-enabled AVR. My Yamaha RX-A2010 comes with a free app for your smartphone/tablet which allows you to control the AVR. This works great with Pandora and several other Internet music sources. No need to even turn on the TV when listening to music.

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