[MighTiVo]

Anybody know of a package to convert a PC into a dedicated enet based MP3 server?


Seems like this would be a good market, download a Linux CD image, boot your PC and now it performs like an Audiotron, SlimMP3, etc.


Perhaps some tweaks necessary for non standard drivers but also the ability to change the code (perl, etc) to suit your own needs.

 

[garion]

I just set up a PC based MP3 machine using Linux and I'll post my experience, even though I didn't use a pre-made package.


I'll start by talking about how I orginally wanted to set things up, and where things ended up.


First, I want to have the MP3 reside on my workstation machine. The I would have a laptop running Linux mount the remote directory using NFS, and play the MP3's using a standard Linux program (xmms). It turns out the laptop is a bit too slow to handle all that (Pentium 233, 48Megs).. Cant store the MP3's on the laptop, cause not enough space (only a 3G drive, 13G of MP3s)


Then I firgured that I could run the laptop as a remote X terminal, running with the workstation as the server. The only problem with that idea is the fact that sound doesn't get sent through the X session. So I setup esound on the laptop, and forwarded the sound from the workstation to the laptop. So now I had all the programs running on the workstation, but the display and sound on the laptop. Ideal situation right? Well.. One problem. it seems that the laptop is too old to have a real CardBus slot, and will only do 16bit as opposed to the 32bit its supposed to do. SO I could only get 10Mbit on the 10/100 card I have. In other words, dropped packets... Dropped packets == choppy sound. Ugh. Next idea.


3rd and final attempt.. I decided that the laptop itself could not be used as the sound playing device. The orginal reason for the laptop is that its a small size. I don't want a monitor and a keyboard taking up space on my bar. So the laptop is a great interface for display and control of the MP3 player. But I need a playing device.. I had a bunch of spare parts around.. A 30G drive, an old ISA gravis ultrasound MAX card, AMD k6-266, and a nic.. Missing case, MB, and memory... Strangly enough, I found www.pcliquidators.com, that had a case, MB w/ 32M installed for $80.. So I purchased that, and installed my other stuff into it, and got it runnign with a Mandrake 8.1 install.. Config it to play MP3s, copy the MP3's to the MP3 machines drive. So now I have a playing device, but no way to control it (no monitor, other than the workstations, which I borrowed to install). So I setup the laptop to run X with a simple windowmanager (Blackbox) to conserve memory.. I then setup SSH to log into the MP3 machine with no passwords (public key logins) and with forwarding X. Now when I log into the laptop, I have a entry in myt .bashrc that is more or less "ssh [email protected] xmms".. Now after a few seconds after I log into the laptop, xmms off the mp3 server pops up. Now i have a way to control the mp3 player on the laptop... This setup works REALLY well.. I now also setup mozilla to run on the workstation and display on the laptop (imagine mozilla in only 48M on a 233?)..


Now I'm adding extra things... When I rip a CD on the workstation, I have a cron that uses rsync to send the new files to the MP3 machine.. ANd for the girlfriends machine running windows, I setup a Samba share for her to load her ripped CDs onto.


Now I have to write a decent front end for the MP3 player so taht my girlfriend can play her CD's without having to mess with xmms's file select dialog (being a programmer, I just need the time.. I have it about 50% finished now..)..


I also have make this comment on the sound card I used, the ISA Gravis UltraSound MAX. This is a fairly old card that someone had given me.. But I have to say this. This is the best sound card I have ever heard. Its a huge full length card, but it seriously rocks. Off my normal SoundBlaster Live card, I can pick out MP3's at 128bit without a problem... But on this card, I cant without listening REALLY close... (and this is on Diva 6.1 speakers (see the Audio/HiFi area on here for more info..))..So if you can find one of these cards (and have the space for a full length ISA card), I highly recommend them..


If you have any question about the setup of configuration, feel free to ask..


This may not have answered the orginal guys question, but I thought that my experience might add some light..

 

[dflynn]

>Anybody know of a package to convert a PC into a dedicated enet based >MP3 server


Try "Shoutcast" (made by the same people who make WinAmp).


Shoutcast - Distributed Network Audio Server (DNAS) www.shoutcast.com


Whats Nice:


1. Its Free


2. Does not require much hardware. (Can run on a P-300)


3. Easy to setup.


4. SHOUTcast Server is available for the following platforms: Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris.


5. Server can be remote controlled by a Web browser.



What's Not so Nice:


1. Can only use clients can can accept shoutcast steams (WinAmp -Win , Xmms - Linux, Audion -Mac)


2. Funky Docs (need to read carefully, mostly aimed at the budding online DJ so it tends to get deeper than the casual user needs to know).


I set up Shoutcast on my home network on a spare pc in the basement connected to a low power FM transmitter and use the others pc's on the network to monitor and control the ShoutCast server. The FM transmitter lets me use either a pocket radio or the home stereo (range is about a 1/2 block with some dead spots in certain areas).


Darrell Flynn

 

[garion]

In addition to shoutcast, you also might want to check out one I ran across a year or so ago called "enda". It can be found on freshmeat.


Another possible solution is to use a sound server, like esound (esd) or artsd to send the sound to the remote machine. I had problems with dropped packets (old laptop not handling a 32bit CardBus NIC card very well).. If you have a standard PC and a PCI NIC and decent cabling, you could put that old P133 to use by just by running a sound server.


The problem I have with the shoutcast and its friends is that you cant control song while its playing. No fast forward/rewind within the song. That was one feature that I wanted, and the reason I did a dedictaed PC just for playing.

 

[Trojan_Horse]

I've become a big fan of Andromeda. It's got a really simple interface, and it just plain works.

http://www.turnstyle.com/andromeda/

 

[noobis]

Yeah, I've got a huge collection of mp3 (I've ripped all my cd to have it as mp3) and andromeda rocks!!

I've putted andromeda in winamp minibrowser then browsing and playing mp3 has never been so easy. Check this screenshot: http://cadrebleu.free.fr/driver/jukebox3.jpg


All you need is andromeda (a little php or asp script) and a webserver (apache+php for instance), advice just try easyphp http://www.easyphp.org/?lang=en (a all-in-one apache+php+mysql very easy to install).


As andromeda streams the music, if you have a local network it's perfect to have your music collection in one place in the house and access to music on each pc.

 

[redmodel]

Andromeda looks great!


But, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about it.


Is it good for video files as well?


Also, when I load up music, I usually like to load up about 5 or 6 albums at once. Is it possible with Andromeda to queue music?


*EDIT*


I just checked the demo, and got the playlist question answered...

but my other question is the album covers that are shown in your winamp minibrowser, are those the "folder.jpg" files, and do they automatically appear in the program?

 

[SeanKelly]

I use http://www.icecast.org/

 

[noobis]

For the albums covers, I use the standard feature of andromeda:
_folderListImage.jpg for the list of subfolders

and _folderOpenImage.jpg as the picture displayed when browsing into the album.

But you can use only one picture for both, you can define the picture name to be used and the image display size of both in the config/preference file of andromeda.

Covers load automatically in andromeda and andromeda is loaded by default in winamp's minbrowser as its homepage.

To get andromeda as minibrowser's homepage, I just edited the winampmb.htm file located in the winamp folder and replaced the html code by this one:
Code:

winamp

where http://127.0.0.1/music/andromeda.php is the url of your local andromeda file.


So everything is done automatically, the only boring part is to find the cover pictures. Usually I go to allmusic.com to get them...


For the video file, I've not tested because I've got too many videos to be stored on my HD. But I think it should be ok. Just consider to put in the preference file: "play locally" (and not stream) to not loose any performance (especially with high bitrate divx). Video will be played with their default application (eg: windows media player).


But for videos I've got another trick. As I burn all my divx on cd, I've made a little trick that launch the movie in full screen automatically when the a cd with an avi file is inserted.

 

[Scyber]

I use netjuke on my home lan:

http://netjuke.sourceforge.net/


Works pretty good for me.


-Scyber

 

[turnstyle]

Hey all, this is Scott from Andromeda. I just wanted to drop in and say thanks for all the help in getting the word out. So, Thanks! -Scott


(I posted something similar in a different AVS thread, so please forgive if it seemed like spam)

 

[emlee]

Scott! Andromeda ROCKS. I can't believe how simple it is.


For anyone that wants a simple but elegant, web based management system and streaming system for your MP3 collection... Andromeda is the way to go.

 

[turnstyle]

Scott! Andromeda ROCKS. I can't believe how simple it is.


hey, thanks emlee! I only recently discovered the AVS forums, but I've got to say, they are hard-core. Anyways, I'm glad you like Andromeda & thanks for the plug. I really appreciate the help in getting the word out. -Scott

 

[cJAY]

Some of these look great! What I want to do, is to tie my MP3 server into my HT. Then I want to be able to control the juke box from any PC in the house. This would be much like the guy with the laptop on the bar.


I have a whole House audio system. If I'm in the main floor, I want to be able to control it from that PC. If I'm upstairs.......


I always want it to play from the Server. Does that make sense?

 

[pen25]

use sme from e-smith www.e-smith.org does more then just stream mp3's it can be a file share router firewall email server dns http.. all on a old tech pc.. i started a thread in the htpc forum about e-smith i run it and it works great.. downfall?? you cant use it as an everyday computer and it is so simple to setup

 

[turnstyle]

Hey cJAY,


I regularly remote-control an old PC that's wired to my stereo, and use it as my media server. In my case, I'm running XP Pro's Remote Desktop, but I have some other options listed at my site . Persoanlly, I use my Wi-Fi laptop to control the music - it's great!


The cool thing about remote control is that you can use it to access *any* audio soucre. So, I use it with my Andromeda as well as Rhapsody and Internet radio.


As for pen25's post, I understand that some e-smith users also run Andromeda. I just found this PDF document that covers installation. Some of it is in Dutch, but it's pretty easy to follow anyway.


best,

Scott

 

[jpascone]

Quote:

Originally posted by Scyber I use netjuke on my home lan: http://netjuke.sourceforge.net/ Works pretty good for me. -Scyber

Netjuke rocks! Slightly more difficult set-up then andromeda (which sets up in seconds) but it is so robust, database driven and FREE (unlike Andromeda) Thanks for this pointer, I tried 5 other similar jukebox applications and this is definatley the one for me.

Thanks!!

 

[turnstyle]

One of Andromeda 's key qualities is indeed the ease of setting it up. In fact, you don't need to know any programming at all to get it running. Typically, you just drop it in a web folder along with your music.


It's also easy to maintain - just drag in new music - there's no need to also use a web interface to update your collection.


Personally, I wanted to be able to simply drag around music and folders, and that's why I designed Andromeda not to use a database.


It is true that I charge for it (there is a free evaluation) but it costs less than 2 new CD's (unless you get them from Kazaa) and that all goes toward making it better.


-Scott

 

[pen25]

stop messing with this stuff.. if you have an old computer say an old pent 1 166 a couple nics a big hard drive you can turn that old box into a media server for free outside of the hardware.. www.e-smith.org you wont be sorry.. takes about 45 min to setup

 

[turnstyle]

For those following the saga of this thread, Andromeda just got a little writeup over at radio.About.com , kinda fun!