Mezzmo - FAQs

Also, check our User Forum for the latest FAQs and How To Guides - Conceiva Software Forums.

If you have further questions regarding Mezzmo, then please contact us using our Customer Support page.

System Requirements Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2003, Windows Home Server (WHS) Minimum of 512MB RAM Minimum of 50MB free hard disk space Minimum of 1024x600, 24 bit resolution display Home network connection: Wired Ethernet (LAN) cable, Wireless, Homeplug Powerline or MOCA. For streaming HD Video, either 1GB Ethernet (LAN) cable, 100MB Ethernet (LAN) cable or Wireless N (with full signal strength) is recommended Internet connection (recommended) Transcoding: Minimum 2.4GHz CPU and 1GB RAM is required. For 720p or higher resolution video transcoding, a Quad Core CPU with 4GB RAM or higher is recommended Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Slovak, Hungarian, Turkish, Hrvatski, Czech

Why Do I Need A Media Server?

What is DLNA?

DLNA stands for Digital Network Living Alliance and comprises more than 200 companies such as Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Panasonic, LG, Intel, Motorola and Microsoft. DLNA aims to create a standard that attempts to take the next step towards the digital home. The digital home is an evolution of the idea that PCs, consumer electronics and mobile devices should work together through a wired or wireless network to share digital content within a home environment.

There are now more than 12,000 devices that are DLNA-certified to choose from including TVs, Blu-ray players, games consoles, mobile phones, tablets, digital media players, harddisk recorders and many more. DLNA adoption is growing very fast - 440 million DLNA-certified products had already been installed in consumers’ homes by the end of 2010. It is estimated that 2 billion DLNA-certified devices will be available by 2014. There are now more than 4000 models of TVs that are DLNA-certified.

Why do I need to use a media server?

The most popular UPnP and DLNA devices can be generally broken down into two types: media servers or media clients. Media servers stream your movies, TV shows, music and photos to media clients.

Examples of media servers are Mezzmo, NAS drives, DVRs and harddisk recorders.

Examples of media clients are TVs, games consoles, Blu-ray players, AV receivers, home theater systems, mobile phones, tablets and digital media players.

If you have recently purchased a TV or Blu-ray player that has DLNA capability, then it is a media client and it is capable of playing movies, TV shows, music or photos streamed from a media server. So, your next step is to choose a media server so that you can stream movies, TV shows, music and photos to your TV.

10 important things to look for in a media server

1. Streaming features

2. Device support

3. Transcoding

4. File format support

5. Scalability (many files, many devices)

6. Speed

7. Connection

8. Ease-of-use

9. Customer support

10. Regular updates

Mezzmo vs. Competitor Products

Why choose Mezzmo?

Mezzmo has many advantages over other software and hardware media servers. The following table compares several hardware/software media servers available today.

	Mezzmo	Tversity	Twonky	Serviio	NAS drive
Type	Software	Software	Software	Software	Hardware
Price	$29.95	Free/$39.99/$69.99	$39.95	Free/$25	~$99.00
Streaming features
Device support
Audio formats
Video formats
Image formats
Subtitles (external, embedded & burning)
Blu-ray, DVD + ISO Streaming
Play To features
Merged folders
Gapless playback
Preferred audio & video channels
Parental control using content ratings
Transcoding
Pre-transcoding
Scalability
Speed
iTunes-like Library
Media file search/filtering
Create playlists
Import media from PC
Import from other media servers
Import/rip from audio CDs
Meta data retrieval - artwork, artist, album, genre, episode, etc.
Display titles
Sort titles
URL playing
Android App
Ease-of-use
Documentation & Customer Support

12 reasons to choose Mezzmo

Try Mezzmo for free and see for yourself!

If you are still unsure about Mezzmo, then please download and try our free, 15-day trial version. It is fully featured and is limited to 15 days of use. All our products have a 30-day money back guarantee should you purchase Mezzmo and change your mind about using it. Visit our Download page.

Video Tutorials

There are many video clips on web sites like Youtube that demonstrate Mezzmo in action with DLNA TVs, Blu-ray players, games consoles and other UPnP or DLNA devices. Click here to watch a small selection of helpful videos created by Mezzmo users.

Installing Problems

I cannot install Mezzmo.

Make sure your computer matches Mezzmo system requirements: Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 8 (32-bit or 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit or 64-bit), Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 or Windows Home Server (WHS), at least 512MB RAM, at least 50MB free hard disk space, at least 1024x600 screen resolution, free from viruses and malware.

Mezzmo does not run after installing it.

Uninstall Mezzmo. Reboot your PC. Close all programs - including those in your system tray. Install Mezzmo. Try running it now. If the problem persists, contact our Customer Support team.

If you are installing Mezzmo on Windows Server, then you may need to install the Desktop Experience (go to Server Manager -> Features).

If you are running Mezzmo on Windows XP, make sure you log in using a user account that has administrator privileges.

I cannot uninstall Mezzmo.

Reboot your PC. Close all programs - including those in your system tray. Go to Control Panel and double click on Add/Remove Programs. Locate Mezzmo and double-click it to start the uninstall. If the problem persists, contact our Customer Support team.

Registration Problems

My trial version expired.

If you like using Mezzmo, you need to purchase it to continue using it. Go to the www.conceiva.com to purchase Mezzmo. We accept all major credit cards and PayPal. For your peace of mind, Mezzmo comes with a 30-day money back guarantee if decide it is not suitable for you.

I purchased Mezzmo, but I cannot register it.

After purchasing Mezzmo, you should have received an email from us with your serial number and license key. If you have not, check your spam folder and spam settings in your email software.

To register Mezzmo, open the email containing the serial number and license key. Select the serial number using your mouse and use the Edit/Copy command in your email software to copy it to the Windows clipboard.

Now, go to Mezzmo and click the Help/Register menu item to display the Register dialog. Type in your name into the user name edit box. Then, right click in serial number's edit box. Click Paste from the popup menu to paste the serial number into the edit box. Next, copy the license key from the email and paste it into license key's edit box. It is important that you copy all numbers/characters in the serial number & license key in order for the registration to work.

After entering the details, click OK to register. Close Mezzmo using the File/Exit menu item, and then start it again. If your details were entered correctly, then the Trial Version screen will no longer appear.

Importing Problems

I have folders of music/movies/photos on my computer. How can I add them?

Click the Insert/Add Folder menu item to select the folder containing the files you wish to add. Mezzmo will add all the files and sub-folders into your Mezzmo library. You can start streaming these files immediately. In the background, Mezzmo will also get all the attributes, album artwork, lyrics and thumbnails for the files in the folder.

I continually download new music, TV shows, and movies. Do I have to add these files into Mezzmo manually every time?

No. The best thing to do is use add a folder into Mezzmo where you save the files on your computer. Mezzmo reads this folder dynamically, so if there are any new files in the folder, then they are added into your Mezzmo library and can be streamed immediately. Also, if you delete or change files in this folder, Mezzmo updates your Mezzmo library appropriately.

After I add some files into Mezzmo, I see User Tasks and System Tasks in the Status pane. What's Mezzmo doing?

Mezzmo is getting all the attributes from the media files that you are adding - artist name, album name, song title, file format, video codec, audio codec, image width, image height, and much more. It also gets album artwork, music lyrics and creates thumbnails. All this information is used to organize your Mezzmo library and is delivered to your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device so you get the best possible user experience.

Mezzmo is a multi-tasking and multi-threaded software application. It is designed to take advantage of your Dual Core, Quad Core or higher processor. So you can safely use your computer, or stream media in Mezzmo to your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device, whilst Mezzmo is collecting and storing information about your files.

I cannot import my iTunes database.

Make sure you have located your main iTunes database. It is typically a file called "iTunes Music Library.xml" in the "iTunes" folder under your "My Music" or "Music" folder. Make sure the file is not currently open in iTunes (i.e. close iTunes). All media files and playlists from iTunes are imported by Mezzmo - except for smart playlists.

I cannot import playlists from my media player.

Mezzmo supports the .PLS, .M3U, .WPL and .ZPL playlist file formats. Make sure the playlist files follow these standard formats. Make sure the playlist files are not currently open in another media player.

Mezzmo does not find all my media files on my computer when using the Scan Drive/Folder For Media Files dialog.

Make sure the file types selected in the dialog match the files that you wish to add into Mezzmo. Make sure the files are not open in another software application. Make sure the files are supported by Mezzmo. Try scanning again - only new files will be added and existing files will be skipped.

Streaming Problems

I cannot see the Mezzmo media server listed on my UPnP or DLNA-enabled device.

There may be several reasons:

• Make sure both your computer and UPnP or DLNA-enabled device are connected onto your home network.
• Make sure your computer's firewall is not blocking access to the Mezzmo media server executable or to Mezzmo media server's port number. Go to the Media Server Settings dialog in Mezzmo and click the Configure Windows Firewall button if it is enabled. If you are using another firewall, make sure "MezzmoMediaServer.exe" and the port listed in the Media Server Settings dialog in Mezzmo are not blocked. Also, the ports 1900 and 2869 should not be blocked.
• Make sure the Mezzmo media server's port number is not used by another software application on your computer.
• Make sure that the Mezzmo media server has been started.
• Make sure the device's IP address is not listed with denied access in the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo.
• Make sure that another media server is not running. It may be conflicting with Mezzmo.
• Check if your network router has a firewall. It may be blocking Mezzmo or ports used by Mezzmo. Reboot your router when making changes.
• Check if your network router has UPnP turned on. Try turning UPnP off. Reboot your router when making changes.
• Check if your network router has IGMP snooping enabled. Try turning it off.   Reboot your router when making changes.
• Disable Hamachi if you have it installed on your computer since it is know to block Mezzmo.

Always refresh or re-scan for media servers on your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device whenever making any of the above changes.

I can connect to the Mezzmo media server, but no music/video/photos are streamed.

1. Go to the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo and locate your device in the list.
2. Double-click on the device in the list to view/edit the device settings.
3. Check that the connection setting (Ethernet, wireless, etc.) is set to match how it is connected on your home network.
4. Check the device profile setting for your device. If it is not a correct match, then select a better matching device profile.
5. If you cannot find a matching device profile, then choose "Generic Device (NTSC)" or "Generic Device (PAL)". These profiles are baseline DLNA profiles that work with DLNA-certified devices.
6. Click OK to save the changes and then try streaming music/video/photos using your UPnP or DLNA-enable device.
7. If you still do not get up and running, send your log files to Customer Support and we will determine the problem.

I cannot stream media to my Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3).

Make sure that the Media Server Connection setting is enabled on your PS3. On your PS3, go to Network Settings -> Media Server Connection. It should be "Enabled".

My videos are stuttering when I stream them to my UPnP or DLNA-enabled device.

There are several possible reasons for this:

• Your home network may be too slow, or not have a consistent bandwidth or may be congested at the moment. When choosing a network for your home, the best choice is wired Ethernet cable (either 1Gbps or 100Mbps). Wireless can also be used but it is not as fast and can fluctuate in speed at times. We recommend wireless-N with full signal strength for best results when using wireless. Homeplug/Powerline can also be used but it can be slower than wired or wireless, and can fluctuate. When streaming, try to make sure that there is no other network activity on your home network, so that you get the maximum available network bandwidth for streaming video.
• The video you are playing may be transcoding on-the-fly. If the format of the video you want to play does not play natively on your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device, then Mezzmo will transcode it on-the-fly so it can be played. Transcoding is very CPU and memory intensive. We recommend a quad-core or higher CPU with 4GB RAM or higher for video transcoding. Also, check your PC and make sure your PC is not running other applications that may be taking CPU and memory from Mezzmo. Try pre-transcoding your files before playing them. To do this, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click "Pre-transcode Files".
• The device settings in Mezzmo may not be optimal.
  1. Go to the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo and double-click on the device to view/edit its settings.
  2. The first setting to check is the connection. Make sure it matches the home network connection that you are using.
  3. Next, make sure the device profile matches your device. If you cannot find a match for your device, then choose one of the Generic Profiles.
  4. Go to the Performance tab. If you know the maximum resolution of your TV, then check the Maximum video checkbox and enter the resolution. Mezzmo will use this to make sure that videos that are larger in resolution are reduced to match your TV. This saves network bandwidth and can reduce stuttering when playing.
  5. On the Performance tab, you can adjust the video bitrate so that the bitrate of videos are reduced in order to reduce the bandwidth used when streaming. This will also reduce quality of the video, so only change this setting when all other changes have no effect.

I've tried everything and I still cannot stream media to my UPnP or DLNA-enabled device. What now?

You need to turn on diagnostic logging in Mezzmo so that we can analyze what is going wrong. Here's how to do this:

1. Go to the Options dialog in Mezzmo and check the "Enable diagnostic logging for customer support analysis" checkbox.
2. Click OK to close the Options dialog.
3. Make sure the Mezzmo media server is running. Click the Media Server/Start Media Server menu item in Mezzmo to start it.
4. Using your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device, browse your media servers and select Mezzmo. Navigate your Mezzmo library using your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device and play the files that are causing the problem.
5. Once the problem has occurred, go back to Mezzmo and turn off diagnostic logging.
6. Go to the Options dialog in Mezzmo and click the View Log Files button. It will start Windows Explorer and you will see two folders. Please zip up these folders and then email them to the Conceiva customer support team at support [at] conceiva.com. Please describe your problem in the email. We will analyze the log files to determine the cause of the problem. Note: The log files can get large. If the zip file is over 5MB, then you may not be able to email it. Instead, please upload the zip file to a free file sharing service such as Megaupload and tell us the download link to download it.

My computer's CPU is running at 100% because of Mezzmo or ffmpeg.exe. What can I do?

If you are streaming files to your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device and your CPU is running at 100%, then Mezzmo may be transcoding files on your PC. When transcoding HD video files, we recommend you have a quad-core or higher CPU with 4GB RAM or higher. If your computer does not fit this spec, then we recommend you pre-transcode your files before you play them. To pre-transcode your files, simply right-click on a file in Mezzmo and click the "Pre-transcode Files" menu item.

If your computer does fit the recommended spec but is still too slow, then there are several things you can do to help fix this situation:

• First step, you can stop all the current transcoding by clicking the Stop All Current Transcoding button in the Transcoding Settings dialog in Mezzmo.
• In the Transcoding Settings dialog in Mezzmo, check the following:
  1. Make sure the transcoding temporary folder on your computer has enough free disk space and is not fragmented. Choose another drive if you need to.
  2. Make sure the folder size is set to a decent size so that many transcoded files can be saved. Compare the folder size to your maximum folder size. If the maximum has been reached, then older transcoded files are deleted to make way for newer transcoded files. So some files may be transcoded many times over when you play them. Files that have been transcoded do not require extensive CPU utilization, since no transcoding is required.
  3. Make sure the CPU priority is set to Normal or lower.
  4. To reduce CPU usage, you can uncheck the Complete partially transcoded audio/video files in background checkbox. However, by unchecking this checkbox, Mezzmo will not finish transcoding files in the background and the next time you play that file, it will require transcoding again.

How do I stop devices connecting to Mezzmo?

1. In Mezzmo, click the Media Server/Media Devices menu item to display the Media Devices dialog.
2. Locate the device you wish to deny access to in the list. If it is not yet listed, use the device to try to connect to Mezzmo. It should be listed after this.
3. Select the device and click the Deny button. Mezzmo will no longer deliver any content to this device.

How can I play music/videos from web sites like Youtube?

The current version of Mezzmo does not support URL streaming. We are planning URL streaming, URL playlists and RSS feeds for a future release of Mezzmo. For now, we suggest you use our award-winning download manager, DownloadStudio, to download videos and music from popular web sites (including Youtube, Dailymotion, Google Video, etc.). Once downloaded, you can stream them to your TV using Mezzmo.

Network Media Problems

I don't understand Network Media Single Source (NMSS). What is it? How does it help me?

NMSS is a feature exclusive to Mezzmo. It lets you collect media from all the media servers in your home and add them into playlists in Mezzmo. This has the benefit of just having to connect to one media server (i.e. Mezzmo) from your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device. So you can connect to Mezzmo, and play any media from your many media servers in your home. This is very convenient. Another benefit is that you only have to learn one set of playlists (all media servers have different playlists) so it will be easier to find your files to play.

I cannot see media servers in Mezzmo's Network Media pane.

Make sure the media servers are turned on. Make sure hardware media servers are connected to your home network. Check the media server's settings to make sure that the computer running Mezzmo is permitted to access the media server. Right-click in the Network Media Pane and click Refresh.

How do I add media from another media server into Mezzmo?

Select the media in the Network Media pane and drag/drop it into a playlist in Mezzmo. Mezzmo does not copy the media from the other media server, but references the media. So when you select and play the media in the playlist from your UPnP or DLNA-enabled device, Mezzmo passes the request to the other media server and it streams it to your device. You have the convenience of just connecting to Mezzmo and just learning one set of playlists.

I cannot play the streaming media from a media server in Mezzmo.

The media server may not be enabled at the moment. The streaming media may not be available at the moment. The streaming media may not be a supported media format that Mezzmo or your device can play.

Audio CD Ripping Problems

My audio CD is not listed by the Rip CD dialog.

Make sure you have selected the drive containing your audio CD in the Rip CD dialog.

The Rip CD dialog did not find track information about my audio CD.

Check you have an active internet connection. The audio CD may not be listed on the currently selected CDDB music server on the internet. You may have to fill in the information manually. To do this, click on each track title and artist to enter the details. Or, change the CDDB music server in Mezzmo's Options dialog (Retrieving Album Information page).

The Rip CD dialog does not find album art for my audio CD.

Mezzmo uses the artist name and the album name displayed in the Rip CD dialog to search internet servers for album art. Make sure the artist name and album name are correct. Click the Get Internet Artwork button after making any changes.

Ripping CDs produces low quality MP3 files.

Click the Settings button to display the MP3 Settings dialog. Choose a higher bitrate.

Ripping CDs produces large MP3 files.

Click the Settings button to display the MP3 Settings dialog. Choose a lower bitrate. Uncheck the embedding of images into the MP3 files.

Organizing Problems

I cannot see all my playlists in my Mezzmo library.

You are probably filtering your Mezzmo library. Right-click in the Mezzmo library tree and click the Reset Filtering menu item. Right click on the Mezzmo library tree and click Refresh.

My smart playlist does not display the media files that I want.

Review the rules that you have created for the smart playlist. Right-click on the smart playlist and click the Properties menu item.

I just added some files into Mezzmo but I cannot see them.

Click on the Recently Added playlist under Music, Video or Photos to see the last 50 media files added into Mezzmo.

I can no longer find a media file that I want to stream.

Type the title, artist name, genre or album name in the Quick Search toolbar to filter your Mezzmo library. Or, select the genre, artist name and/or album name in the Search pane to filter your Mezzmo library.

I want to create a playlist to burn onto an audio CD.

Create a playlist and add the files you want into the playlist. Or, create a smart playlist and enter a search criteria that matches the files you want and limit the smart playlist to 78 minutes.

I have removed/changed my media files on my computer. How do I keep Mezzmo in synch with these changes?

Whenever you make changes to your media files on your computer, you can click the Tools/Maintain Library menu item to maintain your Mezzmo library. The Maintain dialog lets you maintain all aspects of the media files in your Mezzmo library.

You can schedule regular daily maintenance of your Mezzmo library using the Maintain Library dialog.

To just maintain files in a certain playlist, right-click on the playlist and click the Maintain Playlist menu item.

Other Problems

Mezzmo's user interface has become cluttered or messy.

Go to Mezzmo's Options dialog (General page) and click the Restore Window Layout button. This will restore all windows and panes back to their default positions.

My hard disk has become full and Mezzmo no longer runs.

Go to Mezzmo's Options dialog (General/Temporary Files page) and choose a new temporary files location or delete your temporary files in Mezzmo.

Go to the Transcoding Settings dialog in Mezzmo to choose a new transcoding folder location or delete your transcoded files.