Trying to set up a remote media player system
 

If this posting is in the worng forum, moderator(s), please move it. I need guidance!

Here is the situation. Machine A is set up as a media player - the sound output from the machine goes directly into a sound system. Machine A has no monitor or keyboard - just the box. It is running CentOS 5.3

I need to access machine A from machine B, which is a "typical" machine running Fedora 10. I need to log onto A from B and tell it to play music through the output of machine A, not B. Because not everyone who needs to log on to A from B likes the command line, the connection needs to offer a GUI - currently Gnome.

I have been trying to do this with VNC. What appears to be happening is that the vnc server on machine A is blocking access to machine A's hardware, thus making it impossible to play the music on machine A's hard drive through A's sound system or play a CD inserted in A's drive. Currently I'm trying to run RythymBox on A remotely, but any other player that will work with a GUI will do.

Any help is appreciated!

FYI - I've looked at some of the media center software like MythTV - it's way too much overkill for what I need.

Thanks for any ideas!

Have you considered Media Player Daemon (mpd)? - http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Player_Daemon_Wiki - I think it's exactly what you need

R.

From what I can tell with a quick look, it looks promising. I will check it out more later today. Thanks for the info.

FWIW, I can't even begin to count the number of terms and variations I searched on in many different places, and this never came up!

Bill

I'm doing *exactly* what you're seeking to do, wrt music centre (although my machine A also does movies, etc), using Mpd. There are quite a few graphical clients available which will allow you to access A from B - check out gmpc and Sonata. There are also curses clients, ncmpc and ncmppc, plus there's an add-on for Firefox (Minion) which will allow you to access mpd through your browser, with a stand-alone option, as well.

cheers,

I figured that someone else had to be doing this. I haven't had a change to look at this program very deeply, but it looks like what I want. Maybe tonight...

Thanks for your help!

Bill