configure NAS as music player

[bcrowell2]

Hi, all --

First-time poster here. I just got done installing arch linux on my new pogoplug NAS, and the process was basically pretty smooth. My goal is to set up this machine as a music player, and I wonder if anyone can give any advice about how to handle the software side. Basically I want to be able to hit a web interface on the pogoplug from any machine on my home network, select what to play through the stereo in the family room, and be able to play, stop, and pause. I currently have apache up and running on the pogoplug, I have my music collection on it as mp3 files, I have a usb DAC hooked up to my stereo amp, and I am able to ssh in and play music from the command line. What's missing is a nicer web interface.

I actually used to have a similar setup on an nslu2 ("slug") NAS, which died recently. The way I had that set up was that I wrote a very simple perl CGI that would shell out to play the selected song, and if I wanted to stop playing, the CGI knew how to kill the process. It worked, but it was pretty primitive, and I couldn't pause and restart. Being able to control the volume through the web interface would also be handy, but is not totally crucial to me.

I would prefer something simple, lightweight, and open-source that I can recompile and modify for my own needs.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Ben

[WarheadsSE]

MPD?

[bcrowell2]

Thanks, WarheadsSE, for suggesting mpd. It seems heavy, and I'm having trouble getting it to work, but I'll plug away at it some more.

[grayman4hire]

If you think MPD is heavy then you won't like my recommendation on using Logitech Media Server (aka SqueezeBox Server). You can run both the server and player (squeezelite) on the Pogoplug, but LMS is a little sluggish for me personally on the Pogoplug (with a big mp3 lib). If you have a regular server (x86), you can run LMS on the that instead though.