This may seem odd.

I usually attach my external mp3 player (phillips hdd120 - 20GB) to my laptop through the line port ( i'm guessing line in...) to listen to the music and I was wondering if there was software in Linux that would allow me to control the playing of it?

I have an extension to my headphones that allows me to control the MP3 player when on the move, I thought that maybe this is also possible with software acting through the line port (guessing that it is simply a command that is sent to change track, play, stop etc...).

Does anyone have any suggestions to software which may exist?

I could use the hardware attachment, but controlling it from within Linux would be easier and more convenient (plus a lot cooler!) .

A quick web search did not find any usefull information on the inline remote control. I've never looked at the the player, so can you describe the number of pins that are on the plug that connects to the player?

AFAIK the audio line in port to a PC is just for audio in. You can not send commands the other way. I can think of several ways to accomplish the task but it would require some reverse engineering and a schematic of the remote.

Other inline remotes like the Dell player the size of the connector suggests that there are several wires. The headset connects to the remote but the audio is just passing through in addition to any control wiring.

if you are talking about the little controller things that are halfway down the headphone cable on walkmans, its not possible without some serious hardware modification to your line ports. The ones on the walkmans either have 4 conductors or they have seperate connectors, neither of which the line port on your laptop has.

Okay - thanks for the replies. I wasn't sure if it was software or hardware which controlled the MP3 player (yes I was talking about the thing half way down the headphones for want of a better description!). Sounds like hardware, so it's pretty pointless...

Thanks again.

If your mp3 player appears as a usb flash drive when you're putting tracks on it, could you not just plug it in via USB and use your media player to play the tracks directly from it. That would give you software control.

I could your right. The only problem is associated with the overheads required to do this in terms of CPU usage, memory and performance. I regularly do java coding on my laptop, and when paying mp3's sometimes I get poor playback performance simpy because the laptop is running out of resources (it's just annoying when tracks stutter).

I figured I could eliminate that problem by connecting the mp3 player into the line in port, whcih works, it's just being able to control the tracks. Thanks for all the replies though.