Newbie question - play music on server, web interface?

[RGN01]

Hi all,

This is my first post here so please be gentle! I've had a look through the help and forums and can't seem to find the answer to my question - perhaps I'm phrasing it wrong so I'm going to ask for your help, please.

I want to use an old XP PC to set up a media server for music only (not video). The music has been ripped from CD and the files are currently stored on my NAS box. I want the server to play these files (I could copy them locally) but be able to control it via a web interface from other PCs (and Android phones, if possible). Ideally I do not want to even have a screen on the old PC - it should be entirely remote controlled (I already use VNC for managing the PC but I want a simpler interface for my wife to just play music)

Can I do this with Subsonic? If so, could you point me to the area that covers this, please?

Thanks.

Richard

[BKKKPewsey]

Simple answer YES!!!!

Remember SS is designed to run on a server which in a lot of cases are headless
You will just need to RDP into the server (or temp install of screen/k.brd) for initial install - all other settings are via web interface.

Have a read of http://monroeworld.com/android/subsonic/
Which has a easy to follow tutorial especially relevant for windows users.

[bushman4]

...and what you are looking for is called "Jukebox" mode, or on the Android client is the "RC" button (for "Remote Control" I believe...).

Feel free to ask specific questions if you have issues... that what us volunteers are here for.

Glenn

[RGN01]

Thanks very much - I'll read and give it a try now that I know it is possible!

Thanks again.

Richard

[RGN01]

Well, that was easier than I'd hoped! What an awesome project!

I ran the install and followed the great guides and it is working. Having set aside most of my evening to battle with it I now have time to tune it to my preferences!

Now another question: I can see how to select individual albums etc. to create a playlist but cannot see any way to select all the music I have stored to create one big playlist. I've tried looking through and searching the forum but apparently the words 'list' and 'play' are too common so I can't search for them.

How do I select all music to create one big play list?

Thanks again.

Richard

[GJ51]

Not doable at present, but you can go to the "More" screen and generate a random playlist up to 50 songs.

The Android used to have a random song generator that would do a random list from the whole library, but that has changed to selecting random Albums. Some of our users are getting pretty big libraries, so it may not be practical anymore to do a library wide playlist. I've seen collections over a TB, so the resources needed just to generate the list would take some CPU time I imagine.

For now the Random Playlist generator on the More screen is the only option on the desktop.

You can always submit or add to similar posts in the Feature Request section to describe exactly what you want. Sindre does read the requests and does try to incorporate many of the features requested in the forum if there is enough demand.

[RGN01]

Thanks, GJ51!

Maybe another approach - is it possible to just start it playing and it just plays random tracks from the collection until it is stopped?

Thanks again - I really appreciate your time and effort to answer my newbie questions!

Richard

[GJ51]

I've read some posts that claim there is a way to do this on the linux versions, but I don't think it's available on the Windows install. I don't recall the details, but I think some versions have a box that you can check to generate a new list after the current list is done.

[RGN01]

Thanks very much everyone - I really appreciate the help. I think I'll go and add a feature request.

Richard

[BKKKPewsey]

On windows the "Play more random songs when end of playlist is reached" is available but only for the jukebox or external players
NO I do not know why either

[GJ51]

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Thanks BKKK

[RGN01]

Thanks, both, I've found that selection now and will be using it!

Richard