Wireless music (2) and some useful links
Some time ago, we hooked up an iPod to the stereo, with the goal of moving the CDs into storage in the cellar and freeing up some space for the increasing number of DVDs that we seem to be acquiring. The CDs are in fact still in the lounge, although mainly because we haven’t cleared space to store them elsewhere.
However, whether the iPod is a viable alternative depends on your listening habits. I like to have background music on when I’m doing other things, so I use playlists a lot, which works well for me. Ruth likes to be able to pick a particular album to listen to. So Ruth wasn’t completely convinced that the iPod is the right way to go – you can wear your finger out on the scroll wheel before you can hear a piece by Yo-Yo-Ma.
So, the iPod has been replaced with the Roku SoundBridge in the lounge, which allows her to use the remote control to scan quickly through albums and artists, or even to search on a part of the name of the album she’s looking for. It also plays radio stations off the internet.
We have a Linksys NSLU2 network disk server with a couple of USB hard drives attached which is linked to the Roku SoundBridge via Wireless LAN. The nice thing about that is, that the NSLU2 comes with Linux installed and there is a whole pile of software which you can install additionally, to add new features. We added mt-daapd, which allows the little NSLU2 (it’s smaller than a paperback book) to act as an iTunes server. Considering the NSLU2 costs around 80 Euro, it is amazing value for money. We leave it (and the hard disks) running 24×7, which means we don’t have to boot a PC or Mac to listen to our CD collection. The same applies to listening to the internet radio stations – the Roku uses the WLAN connection to access the internet directly, without needing a PC running.
If you’re interested in running a set-up like this, the following additional links may be of interest:
- To install additional software on the NSLU2, you need to “unsling” it first. In other words, replace the firmware. The main website for all things unslung is www.nslu2-linux.org. This site is, however, run by people who know a lot about the NSLU2 and Linux for people who know at least a bit about Linux. I found it a bit intimidating (never having had anything to do with Linux previously) and held off a long time before deciding to unsling our NSLU2. In retrospect everything worked fine and if you just follow the instructions you shouldn’t have the slightest problem.
- wiki.arslinux.com is the site that finally gave me the confidence to get started. It actually refers to an older version of the unslung firmware, but the steps are the same and everything is clearly explained. I should add that I ignored the dire warnings on both this and the previous site that you need to check that you have RedBoot access before proceeding, and at least in my case, it wasn’t necessary, because everything installed right the first time.
- Ron Pedde is the author of mt-daapd, and his site is worth a visit, especially if you want to get adventurous and run his latest nightly builds of beta software, or if you need help setting up his software.
- The documentation for the creation of playlists with the “official” stable build of mt-dappd is difficult to find, so this forum post is helpful.
- For more info on the NLSU2, Tom’s Networking is very helpful.
- And finally, Roku have a number of forums and an FAQ available, where you can download the beta software or make suggestions for the next release, as well as getting competent help if you run into problems setting up the SoundBridge.