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wireless music server: can it be done?

post #1 of 12
6/8/05 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
ok; here's the scoop: i piced up a PIII 450mhz 256mb ram dell pc from my school (cu boulder) as a freebee. so....methinks...what can i do with this? and so i say: hey, why not put a 120gb hdd in it (that's as big as the bios will recognize and my music collection is actually only 40gb in FLAC...sob....sob...must buy more music ), and put an emu 0404 (modded personally: i've modded a couple before) and use it as a music player. so i'm pretty sure i'm going to do that at least. but then i think: can i control it wirelessly via my laptop? i have internal 802.11g in my laptop, a 802.11b wireless pci card in the desktop, and i'll be setting up a wireless router shortly. so the question is: can i somehow use my laptop as a remote control??? all the work would be done buy my desktop; the laptop would just be so i could play files from wherever i'm sitting with my laptop (in the house i'm almost always exclusively using speakers, and the desktop isn't very quiet, so i don't want it nearby ). maybe some sort of remote-administrator thing?
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post #2 of 12
6/8/05 at 8:03am
Thread Starter 
another thing: what about a remote control? that would be just as easy as the laptop, but i'd not even need the laptop on to do it. in fact; that's probably the best idea. and thoughts on a good one? i'd prefer to use foobar, but if i must use winamp, i'll suffer through it ......suggestions? oh, i should note that i'm a royal cheap ass. i don't want to spend much. i'm willing to shell out the necessary cash for the 0404 cuz i already know that it's worth it. for a remote i just want something uber-cheap and fuctional. i have a 17" screen for the desktop, so that should work fine. i can just make the font big so i can read it from half way across the room! fun stuff!
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post #3 of 12
6/8/05 at 8:24am
http://www.consumer.philips.com/cons...ESHQNHKFSEKI5P

Philips has it. EDITED: Not sure that it's what you want.
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post #4 of 12
6/8/05 at 9:35am
Yes, you could do this a number of ways, but I only have two to offer at the moment:

The first is to use RealVNC http://www.realvnc.com/ or any flavor of VNC. It is a free app that allows you to view and control a virtual screen of a remote computer. The disadvantage is that it is not very fast and pretty.

Another method is to use web control, which requires setting up and running a webserver on your desktop. It is not as difficult as it sounds, but could be tough to customize if you are not happy with its behavior. I'm sure there are some .NET apps out there as well...
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post #5 of 12
6/8/05 at 12:23pm

XLobby

Check out XLobby at xlobby.com. Free and excellent.

Jim
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post #6 of 12
6/8/05 at 1:23pm
Set the audio library folder on the desktop to "shared." Then just import it, over the network, into your media player software. The music stays on the server and is controlled by the laptop. iTunes does this no problem, works great!
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post #7 of 12
6/8/05 at 1:44pm
A Squeezebox does everything you mentioned beautifully. Here's a link to the manufacturer's website. You might want to couple it with an external DAC, but the internal DAC is quite good.

www.slimdevices.com
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post #8 of 12
6/8/05 at 2:02pm
SlimServer is the software that runs the Squeezebox, but you can run the software via http to run a music server from a different pc, like your notebook
It can be had for free here:
http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html

There is also a fb2k http project on sourceforge that should give you what you're looking for:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/foohttpserver

Some winamp plugins are floating around, too.

As for using a remote that is not your laptop, there's a thread here:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...hp/t18434.html
or, you could get a wireless handheld to drive the http interfaces above, if you're in the mood to buy more toys.
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post #9 of 12
6/8/05 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
some good options. looks like i have a lot of choices, nice. i think i'll try the VNC thing, and also get a wireless remote. that way i have two ways to control it. i'll see how it goes. got to open this sucker and replace a fan or two with some quieter ones
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post #10 of 12
6/8/05 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzziah
some good options. looks like i have a lot of choices, nice. i think i'll try the VNC thing, and also get a wireless remote. that way i have two ways to control it. i'll see how it goes. got to open this sucker and replace a fan or two with some quieter ones
If you do ultimately go the SlimServer + Squeezebox2 route, consider buying a copy of TelCanto for SlimServer (telcanto.com @ ~$40 USD) controlled via a wireless PDA.

This solution is much more user-friendly and powerful than a wireless remote for dynamically browsing music for playback and volume control.

This is my current, preferred solution.
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post #11 of 12
6/8/05 at 10:19pm
I noticed some 3rd party foobar plugins that you might be interested in.
http://pelit.koillismaa.fi/plugins/general.php
Bluetooth Remote Control
LIRC/WinLIRC remote control
TCP/IP Control Server
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post #12 of 12
6/9/05 at 5:36am
I suggest using a program mpd with a one of the web-based front ends. Take a look at Jinzora

This program runs in OS X, Linux, and windows. I actually just found it looking up mpd solutions for you (the other web based interfaces are really ugly.. this one i haven't seen before today) And am tempted to use it for my music player.
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