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  Household MP3 servers: the only civilised way to live
record Posted by David Gerard on Sunday August 19, @08:22PM
from the all convenience all the time dept.

We have just set up a household MP3 server and it has changed our lives. Like a thousand-disc CD changer without the delays and clunking and whirring noises.

Ever played your ENTIRE CD COLLECTION on shuffle? You Will(tm). Shits on radio, fer sure.


We (well, Lionel Lauer, the housemate) use a PC running the e-smith server, a Linux-based system for sharing an Internet connection around a house or small business. (You can download it free or buy a CD with support.)

As well as its intended use (sharing our Internet connection around the house), there is an add-on module for turning the server into a streaming MP3 jukebox.

Get any crappy old PC (Pentium 90 or better), a cheap network hub and a huge cheap hard disk, follow the instructions, string blue cable all around the house and have YOUR ENTIRE COLLECTION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS.

(Note that the MP3 server doesn't include ripping software, to convert the CDs into MP3s - you have to get that yourself. Note also, I don't think the jukebox server does Ogg Vorbis or other non-patent-encumbered formats, though I'm sure that will come with time.)

I don't know how I coped for so long playing the little silver things separately. It just seems ridiculously primitive.

The next stage, of course, will be setting up the turntable and ripping the vinyl too. All of it ...



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    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them.
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    Getting just the CD
    by David Gerard on Monday August 20, @11:28AM

    If the download is just a tad huge (337MB is several hours on a 56k modem), you might find it easier just to pay a few dollars for a CD burn. The current version is available from Cetus Technology in Sydney, or an older version (possibly not up to the jukebox server) from CheapBytes in the US.

    You may find copies at a swap meet, though I can't be sure.
    [ Reply to this ]
    • E-Smith on CDROM
      by Lionel Lauer on Tuesday August 21, @12:04AM
      You can buy pre-made CDROMs of the current version of E-Smith server from LSL ( http://www.lsl.com.au )in Melbourne. $8.80, according to their current price list. They do mail orders, etc.
      PS: David & I now have more than 9GB of MP3-ised music online, & I've just thrown another 20GB hard disk into the server. Now we can finish ripping our entire CD collections to it.
      Orgasm!


      [ Reply to this ]
    Argh, bloody corporate takeovers!
    by David Gerard on Thursday August 23, @11:30AM

    e-smith just got Borged by Mitel, who have taken this opportunity to fuck up the e-smith website.

    Version 5 (now called SME Server) requires a much larger and more recent machine. Version 4.1 will still run fine on older machines.

    The CD images are still downloadable at various places, and you can still buy CD burns of said images.

    And if you already have a home Unix server you want to put this software on, have a play with the Apache::mp3 module it's based on.
    [ Reply to this ]
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