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How To Build A Home Media Server From An Old PC

Will Mueller — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:00:23 +0000

Almost all of us geeks have at least one or two old computers hanging around the house, in a corner, in a basement, attic, etc. Most of the time these, possibly, useful computers go to waste and eventually sit in that same corner, basement, or attic for years until being wastefully thrown away out of necessity. Fortunately, this does not have to be the case for all past acquaintances.

Today, I will show you how to put your old otherwise junky desktop to great use as a Home Media Server. Lets begin!

(For more cool articles on how to build home media servers, check out these articles by Damien on how to set up a Media Server [Part 2] using Linux. Or if you are ready to invest some cash check out our PDF guide on How To Build A Great Media Center For Your Home.)

In this installation guide on how to build home media servers, I am using an old, reinstalled version of Windows XP SP3 with a 1TB Hitachi hard disk drive. (Note: This should work equally well on Windows Vista with User Account Control (UAC) off and an Administrator account set up on the server.)

Start by clicking “Start” and “Control Panel.” Select “Network Setup Wizard.” Press next twice and then select “This computer connects to the internet thorough a residential…” and then select “Next.”

Enter a name and description for your server and then click “Next.” In the next window, leave “MSHOME” as the workgroup name and then click “Next.”

Now, select the “Tun on Windows File and Printer Sharing” option and click “Next.” Make sure the info is right and click “Next” again. On the following screen select “Just finished;” and then click “Next” and “Finished.”

Since we now have your home server connected to your home network we need to actually start allowing for the storing and sharing on files on the network. To do this, find a directory, for example, C:\ and then create a new folder called whatever you like. Now, right-click on the folder and click “Network Sharing and Security”. When the Security and Sharing window loads, select “Share this Folder on the Network” and “Allow Network User to Change My Files.”

Now that you have a shared home server directory set up you need to be able to start sharing your files! To do so, simply go to your other computer(s) that you wish to access these files at and click on “Start” and then right-click on “My Computer” and select “Map Network Drive.” Now, click “Browse” and select the name of the home server and click the “+” beside it to expand the options and click the folder that we just created.

To access your newly established home media server, simply go to “My Computer” and double-click on the drive you created and your in! You should now be able to copy and paste files to your hearts desire! (If Windows asks you for a username and password, enter your username and password for your home server account.)

Do you use a Home Media Server? What do you use it for? Tell us in the comments!

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Using Your Linux Computer As A UPnP AV Server (Part 3)

Damien Oh — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:01:28 +0000

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of computer network protocols that allows devices to connect and share files seamlessly. It is like accessing a computer and sharing files in your local network except that there is zero configuration required and you can simply plug in your device and get connected.

By setting your Linux computer as a UPnP AV server, you will be able to access your collection of music, photos and videos that reside in your computer wherever you are within the house.

Below are some of the applications that can turn your Linux computer into a UPnP AV server:

1. MediaTomb

MediaTomb is an open source (GPL) UPnP MediaServer with a nice web user interface. It can be easily installed and configured and is compatible with a variety of UPnP compatible devices.

Some of the features that I like about MediaTomb is the ease of use and the simple Web interface. There is not much configuration required. On my Ubuntu machine, I installed it via the repository and got it running in less than 5 minutes.

It supports a variety of file formats including mp3, wma, wav, flac, ogg, avi, mp4, jpg, png and gif and is able to transcode the media files from one format to another.

2. Fuppes

FUPPES stands for Free UPnP Entertainment Service and is one of the most popular UPnP server around. If you have tried MediaTomb, you will find a great deal of its features and media support are also available in FUPPES. It also supports on-the-fly transcoding and is able to stream to various devices, including your PS3 and Xbox 360.

One thing to note about FUPPES is that it is not included in the repository and one has to compile it from its source to get it working in your computer. Alternatively, you can download the deb file (for debian-based Linux only) and double click to install.

The initial configuration will require you to manually edit the config file. After that, you will be able to make all changes via the Web interface. Once you get it running, it will be a great software with a lot of versatility and tweaking options.

3. GMediaServer

GmediaServer is a UPnP compatible media server that receives no or little love. While it is not as feature-rich as FUPPES and MediaTomb, it is lightweight and readily available in most Linux repositories. Although it has stopped development for the past year, it still has a small group of Linux fans who loved its simplicity and stability.

There is no Web interface for GMediaServer and you’ll have to use the command line interface to configure and get it started. While most people are put off by the command line interface, most seasoned Linux users still find that the CLI is still the best way to get things done quickly and efficiently.

GMediaServer only serves audio and video files and does not support transcoding.

4. GeeXboX uShare

uShare is a UPnP and DLNA server that is designed to provide access to multimedia content to GeeXboX. It can also be used as a standalone media server for most UPnP devices.

GeeXboX uShare is lightweight and is able to provide access to images, videos, music or playlists files. It supports a wide variety of file formats, including the following:

[Video]: asf, avi, dv, divx, wmv, mjpg, mjpeg, mpeg, mpg, mpe, mp2p, vob, mp2t, m1v, m2v, m4v, m4p, mp4ps, ts, ogm, mkv, rmvb, mov, qt, hdmov

[Audio]: aac, ac3, aif, aiff, at3p, au, snd, dts, rmi, mp1, mp2, mp3, mp4, mpa, ogg, wav, pcm, lpcm, l16, wma, mka, ra, rm, ram, flac

[Images]: bmp, ico, gif, jpeg, jpg, jpe, pcd, png, pnm, ppm, qti, qtf, qtif, tif, tiff

[Playlist]: pls, m3u, asx

[Subtitles]: dks, idx, mpl, pjs, psb, scr, srt, ssa, stl, sub, tts, vsf, zeg

Installation of uShare is easy as it is included in the most Linux repository. There is a Web interface that you can use to add media folders and view your share details. It is also fully compatible with PS3 and Xbox360.

5. VUZE

If you like to download a lot of media files via torrents, Vuze would be a great choice of uPnP software that you can use to share your files. Vuze is previously known as Azureus and it is a bit-torrent client as well as a media server. On the first look, most people will not realize that there is actually a uPnP media streaming component built into the software. Only when they venture deep into the backend (also known as the Options page) then can he/she discover the configuration to set it up as a media server.

The server module does not support any transcoding, but I found that the streaming speed and stability is rather good when I stream my music to a computer in another room.

This is the end of the Linux media series. If you missed the first two parts, here they are :

- Using Your Linux Computer As A Media Center (Part 1)
- Using Your Linux Computer As A Media Server (Part 2)

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Using Your Linux Computer As A Media Server (Part 2)

Damien Oh — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:01:21 +0000

Previously, I have discussed how you can use your Linux computer as a media center. Now, if you are not in front of your Linux machine most of the time, but still want to access all your media files from any internet connected devices such as your smart phone, workplace computer, PDA or even PS3, the only option is to set up your Linux computer as a media server and stream your multimedia content to wherever you are over the internet.

This part of the Linux media series will cover the various software that you can use to convert your Linux machine into a media server.

1) Sockso

Among all the media server software, Sockso is the easiest to use. There is no installation or any configuration required. You just need to download the file, double click the application to launch it and there you go, your media server is up and running in less than 5 minutes.

Sockso comes with all the necessary tools to allow you to enjoy your music over the air. It does not support video streaming as yet, but for audio files, it supports MP3, WAV, FLAC and Ogg. There is also an on-the-fly transcoding feature that converts the audio file from one format to another while streaming.

For those who want a click-and-go solution, Sockso is the best for you.

2) Jinzora

Jinzora is a Web-based media server written completely in php. It supports both audio and video streaming and is able to play a huge library of audio/video formats, including AAC, M4A, Midi, MP3, MP4, Ogg Vorbis, RM, WMA, AVI, WMV, MPEG and MOV. It also supports on-the-fly transcoding.

Since it is Web-based, that means you have to set up and configure your own LAMP server before you can get Jinzora to run on your Linux machine. Installation is not as straightforward and there are quite a number of steps that you have to do. Luckily, all the steps are well documented and you simply need to follow the instructions to complete the installation.

Some may find it difficult to install and configure Jinzora, but I can assure you that it is all worth the effort. Once you get it running, you will appreciate its slick interface and the extensive features that it supports.

One thing good about a Web-based software is that it can be easily customized for the Web 2.0. When playing a track, Jinzora does a great job in retrieving the meta-data (such as lyrics, album covers and ID3-tags). There is also a social-networking module which you can use to build a social music site.

If you are willing to shell out that extra effort to set up and maintain the LAMP server, then Jinzora will be a great choice for you.

3) SqueezeCenter

SqueezeCenter (formerly known as Slimserver) is originally a software from Logitech to power their SqueezeBox devices, but it is now an open-source software that you can use to stream MP3 music from your machine.

Configuration is easy. Once you have it installed, go to your browser, type in http://localhost:9000 and follow the instructions to configure it. You should be able to get it started in less than 5 minutes.

The interface of SqueezeCenter is like your local music player where it displays the songs on one side and the playback on the other side. I find this setting familiar, simple and nice.

At the moment, SqueezeCenter only supports mp3 streaming and can be listened to from any computer using a MP3 software player, such as Winamp, iTunes and Totem movie player. You can also get it to play in your browser via a hack by Charles. You will need a Netvibes account for that.

4) Simplifymedia

If you have heard of Orb, then SimplifyMedia is something similar, just that it works on Linux as well as on Mac and Windows platforms. What SimplifyMedia does is to create a shared path from your local machine to the remote computer that you are on so that you can access your music files easily.

For the Linux version, there is no installation required and running the application is as easy as double-clicking the downloaded file.

To use SimplifyMedia, you will need to install the application on the remote computer that you are working on and sign in to your account. It does not have its own player and uses your system’s music player (Rhythmbox, iTunes and Winamp) to playback music. If your version of Linux does not come with Rhythmbox pre-installed, you will have to install it before you can playback music from SimplifyMedia. Read more about SimplifyMedia and see its features here.

5) Gnump3d

Gnump3d is a MP3 and OGG streaming server mainly for the Linux platform. Although the development stopped 1 year ago, by far, this is still one of the best native Linux media servers around.

Gnump3d is simple and easy to use. Some may find it limited in features, but if you only have MP3 files and need just a simple server. Gnump3d could be a good choice. If you are using Ubuntu (Hardy and below), Gnump3d is found in the repository, which makes the installation a breeze.

In part 3 of this series, I will discuss using your Linux computer as a Universal Plug and Play (uPnP) AV Server.

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