dedicated media box

[joebrandt]

One of my friends is using a spare computer (presently running XP Pro) as a dedicated media server. He has the sound plugged into his amp and playing mp3's on his home audio system. Any suggestions on how to set up Linux as a headless media server?

[Ethyriel]

I've already pimped it on here once today, but MPD is network capable, the daemon running on one rig and the frontend on the other. I think there's a Windows frontend too, but if I remember correctly it's recently deprecated, so I don't know if it works at all anymore.

What kind of capabilities is he looking for, exactly?

[joebrandt]

He is ripping his CD's into mp3's and storing them on his hard drive. He has a network already and would like to be able to manipulate his mp3 playing software remotely as this box is stuck in a closet in his living room. Ultimate goal is wireless manipulation with a pda or laptop. Making this headless (without monitor, mouse and keyboard) would be a plus. We probably need a keyboard for the box to boot though.

[Ethyriel]

Well, first I'd look into distributions like Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, and Arch because they're very easy to setup headless as it's along the normal configuration path. To install and configure a user friendly distribution (read: RPM based) without an xserver tends to run you through hoops, in my experience.

Like I suggested, MPD would work very well for music files, and I think VLC would do many things you might need with video (if any), though I imagine an NFS mount is all you'd be looking for there. Of course, there are other network capable media players out there, look over linuxsoft.cz/en and sf.net to see what's available.

Or you could just use SSH.

It would probably open more possibilities if he hooked up a TV or old monitor and pulled it out of the closet, then you could use one of the file managers designed for remote controls.

[joebrandt]

Thank You