TOPIC:

Do you need to have the nanoAVR unit synchronized to a computer on the network at all times for the smartphone app to work? I'm concerned that this would mean you have the firmware running and all the settings available to possibly change and screw up accidentally. I see the Android app has very limited control options, which is good! I'm hoping the answer is that you can actually just have the nanoAVR plugged into a network cable and not synchronized except to the smartphone with those few controls (volume, preset, etc.)

Fingers crossed...

By the way is the nanoAVR HDA just not discovered by the masses yet? Seems to present some very compelling possibilities for a streamlined system. Volume control readout on a phone or tablet would be awesome.

Hi, I don't currently have an Android device, but from when I did last have one, I am fairly sure that you don't need a computer also synchronized at the same time. Just use the app, no synchronized computer needed (for the stuff the app provides - preset, volume, mute).

(I am hoping to correct this no-Android situation before long. It will be a nice solution to not being able to see the volume setting on the nanoAVR.)

Thanks John. Page 33 of the nanoAVR manual suggests the same thing:

Once configured, the computer is not required to operate the nanoAVR. The front panel, an infrared remote, or
the miniDSP smartphone app can be used to control:
 Preset selection
 HDMI input selection
 Master volume (remote control and smartphone app only)
 Master mute (remote control and smartphone app only)

Speaking of nanoAVR and smartphones--can you use a micro-USB to HDMI cable and connect a mobile device to the nanoAVR? You might call that MHL (mobile high definition link). No results searching that acronym here. Maybe the connection works but not the charging?

Variations--Lighting cable to HDMI? Thunderbolt to HDMI? These adapter cables are readily available anyway. Need to set the sending device to send PCM audio if that's not the default.

TJ

I know that Thunderbolt to HDMI works ( from a Mac). Don't know about the others. I guess that as long as the adapter produces legit HDMI it would work. Maybe not MHL - don't know.

@ Thomas,

The nanoAVR will indeed be able to control your system without the need of a PC/MAC, that's the whole purpose of that little app.. It's all done directly via IP through the RJ45 port of the unit (i.e. self discovery/self control). As for the MHL, I don't think it would be an issue with these adaptors (providing they support HDMI) although we don't have one here to check.

DevTeam

devteam,

I need your help. I cannot get the iPhone app to connect to my nanoAVR (it's the "H" version, although at the time I bought it last October, it was the only nanoAVR version available).

I've updated the device FW to v1.23 and I've updated the plugin to v1.8 My router is already configured as a DHCP server. When I attach the nanoAVR to my PC, I can confirm the IP address that has been assigned to it, and when I connect the nanoAVR to the PC via ethernet, it shows that same IP address on the plugin.

When I launch the app on my iPhone, it does NOT self-discover the nanoAVR, so I click the "Add Device" button and enter the matching IP address that the plugin and router setup shows for the device. However, every time I then try to connect to it using the phone app, I get a "cannot connect" error.

I'm at my wits end, I've tried everything I can think of; I've tried reserving that IP address in my router utility, unreserving it, etc.

No matter what I do, the iOS app will not connect to the nanoAVR.

Make sure the USB is not connected to the Nano, and that the ethernet cable goes to the right plug on the router. You shouldn't use the "add device" button on your phone, it should automatically list "NanoAVR" and then you click that name. Try powering the Nano off and back on after you know the USB cable is not connected, because it wants to look there first for control. Then when you launch the phone app it should find the Nano within a second or so.

Thank you for the quick response, but I had tried every possible combination of USB/ethernet cabling and router settings involving DHCP, even resetting the router, and no matter what I tried the mobile app would not self-identify or "discover" the nanoAVR unit.

I finally switched out the router and that solved the issue. Weird, because I had no issues connecting to the router with my PC directly or with wireless devices via WPA. It's all good now!

I spoke too soon. The mobile app will only connect with the nanoAVR when the ethernet cable is connected. Anytime I disconnect the unit from ethernet cable, it will no longer connect with the mobile app. Please tell me this is NOT how it is supposed to function.

You have to have the nanoAVR on the network in order to control it over the network. Ergo, Ethernet cable required

[Edit] Having said that, there is an option in the app to connect over USB. I've not ever tried it. It would mean a USB connection from the iPhone/iPad to the nano.

Yeah, it makes sense from a technical perspective that the unit needs to be connected via RJ45, but when I first read devteam's comment that the app wouldn't require a connection to PC/Mac, I had it in my head that it was truly a remote app. If you don't connect to PC/Mac, you still need to physically connect via router/switch, etc. It's cool as long as you have something else in your media stack that has a functioning ethernet port, so I'll be able to make it work.

@ nonlinear,

you'd indeed need a network connection, else the nanoAVR would need to be a Wifi access point/router. I'm not sure if our user manual isn't clear, but maybe clarify where the confusion comes from and we can always add some comment that the nanoAVR is not an access point. (i.e. Wifi module that would advertise himself and allow you to connect to).

DevTeam