September 10, 2009
I've been using Meerkat to access my home iTunes library via sharing while at work. With iTunes 9 I'd like to start using the new Home Sharing feature. The Bonjour service runs on the same port but has a different service type "_home-sharing._tcp.". I'm not sure how to determine the service name (or if it matters).
Interestingly there seems to be a second service type: "_touch-able._tcp". The entry consists of a hex value with several fields filled in. The key items are "CtlN" and "DvTy" which seem to suggest this is some kind of authentication record for iTunes Home Sharing.
I don't believe Meerkat can correctly emulate the Home Sharing feature using its existing Bonjour support. Adding support for this would be a nice feature though.
(2 votes)
September 10, 2009
#1
Thanks for the report on
Thanks for the report on this. I will look into what it takes (and if it's possible) to tap into this with Meerkat.
For the service name, that's just a custom name for your own purposes -- it just shows up in the tunnel editing panel and is added to tunnel tooltips, etc. as a reference. There's no "official" name for any service.
As for the "touchable" service, I've seen it before. If I'm not mistaken, it's related to the iPhone/iPod touch "Remote" application hooking up to iTunes.
October 22, 2009
#3
I am very interested in
I am very interested in seeing this also.
December 22, 2009
#4
I would also love to see this
I would also love to see this.
December 24, 2009
#5
Thanks for the votes, guys.
Thanks for the votes, guys. Keeping it on the list to continue looking into.
May 25, 2010
#7
Not yet, but knowing that
Not yet, but knowing that someone has done this is enough to make me look at it again.
Incidentally, I saw your blog post about Meerkat & Slink. Thanks for the kudos as well as the understanding that iTunes is a pretty specific niche for Meerkat and as such, takes a lower priority. I'll see what I can do.
May 26, 2010
#9
For what it's worth, the
For what it's worth, the clear advantage that an app like Slink has in this kind of scenario is that the remote host is 1) known to be a Mac and 2) can be made to run whatever code is necessary to determine the Bonjour environment to copy remotely, via the daemon that runs on all host machines. With this, it is trivial to read in various Bonjour types, pass along the extra data that accompanies them, and replicate this on the client machine.
This would require that Meerkat tunnels run a piece of code remotely. I will look into it but I imagine it will prove to be tricky and possibly upset some users. Needs some more investigation for sure.
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OK, so it seems "Touchable" isn't the key to "Home Sharing". Somehow iTunes 9 knows that the service on 3689 isn't "Home Sharing" even when the Meerkat Bonjour type is defined. Since regular old Sharing also runs on this port there must be some additional information passed that determines whether the remote computer is enabled for Home Sharing on the iTunes account used by the other computer.