| Technology is evolving at a rapid pace. With new | | | | out the IP range for your router. More instructions on |
| products, or better versions of older products being | | | | how to set a static IP address can be found online. |
| released every year, older products are rendered | | | | 12) Using the Y cable, I connected the computer to |
| useless. Every household has an assortment of | | | | the stereo system. The male 1/8-inch plug goes into |
| 'outdated' technology. Technology left unused for | | | | the audio out port on the sound card. The red RCA |
| years, covered with layers of dust. | | | | plug goes into the right "AUX in" port on the stereo, |
| But often the usefulness of these 'outdated' | | | | and the other RCA plug goes into the left "AUX in" |
| products is only limited by our creativity and | | | | port. |
| willingness to experiment. | | | | 13) The stereo was set to AUX |
| I recently noticed an old Sony stereo system, and an | | | | After this, I unplugged the monitor and mouse from |
| old Dell Pentium III desktop lying around the house. | | | | the CPU. I neatly stacked the CPU, with the |
| At first I though about disposing of these, but then I | | | | keyboard, under the table on which the stereo was |
| thought better. I ended up with a setup that allows | | | | placed |
| me to remotely play music on the stereo system | | | | If the power button is pressed, the computer boots, |
| using any device with wi-fi and a browser, whether it | | | | loads up Windows XP, and loads up the VNC server. |
| be a desktop, laptop, Palm Pilot, HP iPAQ, or a cell | | | | Pressing the power button again shuts down |
| phone. | | | | Windows and turns off the computer. |
| How it basically works: | | | | This CPU is basically a server with a permanent IP on |
| The Dell computer, which is connected to the stereo | | | | the network, which can receive streams from other |
| system, acts as a server on the LAN. Other devices | | | | devices on the network, and play them on the |
| on the LAN can either stream songs to the server, | | | | stereo. |
| or remotely access the server and launch locally | | | | HOW TO USE THE SERVER TO REMOTELY PLAY |
| stored songs on it. | | | | MUSIC |
| The following explains how I accomplished this setup. | | | | There are two ways to go about playing music |
| It assumes that you already know how to setup a | | | | The first oneis streaming music. This means the |
| wireless router. | | | | music is located on some other device, but is played |
| The following hardware was used: | | | | on the server over the network. |
| - Sony Stereo System | | | | The following explains the steps I took to stream |
| - Old Dell CPU (500 MHZ Pentium III, 128 MB Ram, 6 | | | | music from my laptop |
| GB Hard Drive) | | | | 1) I set my laptop's static IP to 10.0.0.1 |
| - A Y cable (male stereo 1/8-inch plug to two male | | | | 2) I installed the TightVNC viewer and VLC media |
| RCA plugs) | | | | player on my laptop |
| - An Ethernet cable | | | | 3) I launched the VNC viewer, typed in the server IP |
| - Speedtouch wireless router | | | | (10.0.0.5) and the password and remotely accessed |
| - Monitor | | | | the server |
| - Keyboard | | | | 4) Using the VNC viewer on my laptop, I remotely |
| - Mouse | | | | launched VLC media player on the server. I then |
| Note: The monitor and mouse is only required when | | | | clicked on file-> open network stream, and set the |
| the computer is being set up. Once the software has | | | | address to udp://10.0.0.1 (Address of my laptop, |
| been installed and correctly configured, the computer | | | | where the files were located) |
| only needs a keyboard attached to it to boot up. If a | | | | 5) I launched VLC media player on my laptop, clicked |
| laptop is being used as the server instead, the extra | | | | on file -> open file |
| hardware is not needed. | | | | From the menu, I clicked on browse and selected a |
| The following software was used: | | | | whole bunch of songs |
| -Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition | | | | I selected Stream/Save under Advanced Options, |
| -VLC Media Player | | | | and in settings, selected UDP, and set address to |
| -TightVNC server and viewer | | | | 10.0.0.5 (Address of the server, where the files were |
| Note: The same setup could be obtained using a | | | | to be played) |
| different operating system, such as Linux or Mac OS, | | | | After this I pressed ok, and, the songs started |
| since the software required is available for these | | | | playing on my stereo! |
| operating systems as well. | | | | Using my laptop from anywhere in my house, I could |
| What I did, step by step | | | | remotely pause, play, forward, or change songs on |
| 1) I hooked up the monitor, keyboard, and mouse to | | | | the stereo. |
| the Dell CPU | | | | Using VLC media player for Windows CE /Pocket PC, |
| 2) I powered it on, inserted the Windows XP CD, | | | | I can stream music from my HP iPAQ as well! |
| and booted off the CD | | | | The second wayis to play songs locally stored on the |
| 3) Following the onscreen steps, I formatted my 6 | | | | server, by remotely accessing the server from |
| GB hard drive, and installed Windows XP on it | | | | another device. |
| 4) After the installation was complete, I plugged the | | | | The following are the steps I followed to accomplish |
| computer into the router using the Ethernet cable | | | | this |
| 5) I launched up the browser, and downloaded VLC | | | | 1) I launched the VNC viewer on my laptop, and |
| Media Player from | | | | accessed the server as mentioned earlier |
| 6) I installed VLC media player | | | | 2) After launching VLC media player on the server, I |
| 7) I downloaded TightVNC from | | | | clicked Settings -> Add Interface -> Web Interface |
| 8) I installed TightVNC | | | | Enabling the web interface allows any device on the |
| (During the installation, you will be asked to 'Select | | | | network to go to and remotely control the music |
| Additional Tasks'. When asked, make sure to select | | | | from there |
| both boxes. This will register TightVNC server as a | | | | Of course, I could have just used the VNC viewer to |
| system service, and start it whenever windows | | | | remotely control VLC media player, but enabling the |
| starts) | | | | web interface allows any device with wi-fi and a web |
| 9) I set a password for the VNC server | | | | browser to control the player. Therefore, even if a |
| 10) I went to Control Panel -> Power Options, | | | | cell phone with wi-fi does not have a VNC viewer, it |
| disabled hibernate and standby, and set 'When I | | | | can use its browser to access the controls of VLC |
| press the power button on my computer' to | | | | media player, and remotely control the music being |
| shutdown | | | | played on the server. |
| 11) I went to the properties of the network | | | | Now you can use your handheld devices to control |
| connection, opened up TCP/IP, and set a static IP | | | | the music being played on your stereo system! |
| address. The IP I set was 10.0.0.5. The range for IP | | | | I hope this guide was helpful. If you run into any |
| addresses differs from router to router. Consult your | | | | problems while setting this up, feel free to email me |
| router's manual, or the internet if you need to find | | | | at , with the subject "Wireless Stereo Help". |