Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 15:08:58

Hello, i could use some advice here, i'm trying to share files (mostly music) from pc A to pc B (both in my room) and they both have Arch installed exclusively. The only method i've been able to get working is samba, i've tried nfs and sshfs but i failed miserably trying to follow their wiki's.

At the moment i have samba running and i'm listening to music across the network, but i'm getting really frustrated for two reasons:

1. The music tends to cut out and skip-around mildly to severly at times, and my whole desktop lags aswell (gnome).

2. I'm having trouble getting media players to recognize the smb:// directory. Right now i'm pretty much stuck playing one song at a time in vlc or mplayer. I can't get exaile to see the files at all.

If you have any suggestions i'm willing to try anything at this point, thanks.

Last edited by DrTankMC (2009-10-24 21:32:39)

.:B:. · 2009-10-24 15:53:50

I don't really see what how this topic is different from your old one - you're still trying to do the same thing. Basically it's a clumsy solution you're using now. It's fine for just sharing files, but media playback is something different.

I think you're better of putting your music on one box and using a client/server structure for playing music. MPD is the most obvious example, but XMMS2 (and I think BMPx too) should be able to function in a similar way.

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 16:19:35

Yes, but i am having trouble setting up a "server/client" structure, mostly because i have no clue where to start. I guess i could try MPD, front ends exist i'm sure. My problem right now is getting pc A to connect to pc B without using samba.
thanks

.:B:. · 2009-10-24 16:34:38

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/MPD

Does that help any?

Ashren · 2009-10-24 16:49:59

Try mediatomb and mount the upnp database with djmount. Works great and it is very easy. I use this setup in combination with goggles music manager and there is absolutely no lag or skipping.

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=10199
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=13817

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 17:09:33

Ashren wrote:

Try mediatomb and mount the upnp database with djmount. Works great and it is very easy. I use this setup in combination with goggles music manager and there is absolutely no lag or skipping.
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=10199
http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=13817

that looks like a good option, now just so i don't mess anything up, do i have to install these packages on both pc's or just one?

thanks

.:B:. · 2009-10-24 17:16:40

Mediatomb is the server, it goes on the box that acts as a server. Djmount goes on the client pc.

Ashren · 2009-10-24 17:22:53

You have install the mediatomb server on the machine where the music files reside and djmount on the machine where you wish to listen to the files.

Add files to the mediatomb server using the "-a" switch. I.e. "mediatomb -a /path/to/mediafiles" and restart the mediatomb daemon.

I use djmount because I haven't found any upnp players for linux that worked in any acceptable way.

You need to load the fuse module to use djmount. Here is a script I use to do it:

#!/bin/bash
sudo modprobe fuse
sudo djmount -o allow_other /media/upnp/

parintachin · 2009-10-24 17:27:09

or you could use mt-daapd as server app and you can use rhythmbox , banshee or amarok under linux or itunes under windows /mac as client .
i use it for several years now and am very happy with it
the server btw is a nslu2 ( arm procesor 266mhz and no stutter)

Zeist · 2009-10-24 17:36:04

I've done samba sharing over a VPN to listen to my lossless music on a Windows computer at work without any stutter... Makes me wonder how your network setup looks.

userlander · 2009-10-24 18:15:56

NFS is actually great for a local network and is very easy to set up, imho. You can then use mpd locally or whatever other client you want. I like that setup because my music directories are relatively dynamic so it's helpful to have direct access to them in the fs.

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 18:33:33

Ok, the mediatomb/djmount is working right now. i did "mediatomb -a /path" and it seems to be indexing my music or something, analyzing playlists, it seems like it will take a long time, hopefully this only happens once? its also spitting out some errors, "ERROR: failed to stat foobar.mp3"

Also while browsing on the client pc i've noticed that rather than showing my home folder like samba it has its own scheme, "artists, albums, video, etc... how do i know it is accepting every file?

thanks so much

EDIT: nevermind the home directory question i see that i can access it that way.

Last edited by DrTankMC (2009-10-24 18:34:53)

.:B:. · 2009-10-24 18:45:48

It will only index media files, you can change the config to pick up certain files. Mediatomb also offers a regular filetree view. I don't know if djmount can do it, but my networked media tank can use both the file tree layout and the sorted audio/video. The web interface also shows both.

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 18:55:25

This is a great solution, thanks Ashren and everyone else who helped, very nice wa-wa-wee-wa.

I have one final question before i mark this solved: does filesharing over my network in this manner effect normal inernet/upload/download speeds? If i have a cap on my monthly GB limit does this effect that? And my ISP can't "see" that i'm doing this since it is local, correct? i doubt it but just checking.

thanks

.:B:. · 2009-10-24 19:03:50

It's all local traffic, it's never supposed to leave your LAN. It will of course affect your local network's performance, depending on the size of the stuff to be streamed. E.g. streaming HD video will eat up quite a bit of your bandwidth, but XviD/FLAC/MP3/... shouldn't, even on a 100 Mbit LAN.

K-radical · 2009-10-24 19:13:40

DrTankMC wrote:

This is a great solution, thanks Ashren and everyone else who helped, very nice wa-wa-wee-wa.
I have one final question before i mark this solved: does filesharing over my network in this manner effect normal inernet/upload/download speeds? If i have a cap on my monthly GB limit does this effect that? And my ISP can't "see" that i'm doing this since it is local, correct? i doubt it but just checking.
thanks

Will it effect the speeds of your downloads from the net? Yes, packets destend to your box from the outside world will have to stand in line and wait for the ones being sent to your from your media server

Will it use your ISP provided bandwidth. No

DrTankMC · 2009-10-24 21:38:34

I hate to un-solve this thread but i would like to take any suggestions as to why this mediatomb/djmount method is lagging much the same as samba was previously. The music files will play fine but randomly they will "cut out" and i'll hear silence for 2-5 seconds followed by about a 30 second forward jump in the song.

Could this be a mediatomb/djmount settings issue? i haven't edited any of the conf files, everything is default as far as i know.

There are 7 pcs/video game consoles that connect to my router, but strangely none of them are on right now besides mine.

Really any suggestions would help at this point thanks.

EDIT: Also, programs that don't even access the internet are lagging too while music is playing, something must be really wrong here.

Last edited by DrTankMC (2009-10-24 21:41:14)

silentskillz · 2009-10-25 06:54:07

DrTankMC wrote:

I hate to un-solve this thread but i would like to take any suggestions as to why this mediatomb/djmount method is lagging much the same as samba was previously. The music files will play fine but randomly they will "cut out" and i'll hear silence for 2-5 seconds followed by about a 30 second forward jump in the song.
Could this be a mediatomb/djmount settings issue? i haven't edited any of the conf files, everything is default as far as i know.
There are 7 pcs/video game consoles that connect to my router, but strangely none of them are on right now besides mine.
Really any suggestions would help at this point thanks.
EDIT: Also, programs that don't even access the internet are lagging too while music is playing, something must be really wrong here.

If it is happening at set intervals (like every 5 mins for 30 secs at a time) then check to see if it's a process that's firing up every so often. I have the same setup and have not experienced any "lag".

DrTankMC · 2009-10-25 14:13:07

I noticed that It was happening while i was playing a game in wine (peggle) and the game was spiking my cpu to 95-100%. I have a P4 2.8ghz with 1.5GB ram, but it looks like the cpu spike is causing the lag. maybe compiz doesn't mix well with 3d games, i'll test it out.

choogi · 2009-10-30 19:49:41

This might be a little late, but I just found this thread. I just tried out sshfs and it seems to work just fine for all of my music. I haven't experienced any lag issues so you might wanna give that solution another try. It's probably the easiest solution to set up...as in all you have to do install sshfs, load the fuse module, and mount using sshfs.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-10-24 15:08:58

Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#2 2009-10-24 15:53:50

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#3 2009-10-24 16:19:35

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#4 2009-10-24 16:34:38

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#5 2009-10-24 16:49:59

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#6 2009-10-24 17:09:33

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#7 2009-10-24 17:16:40

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#8 2009-10-24 17:22:53

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#9 2009-10-24 17:27:09

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#10 2009-10-24 17:36:04

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#11 2009-10-24 18:15:56

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#12 2009-10-24 18:33:33

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#13 2009-10-24 18:45:48

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#14 2009-10-24 18:55:25

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#15 2009-10-24 19:03:50

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#16 2009-10-24 19:13:40

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#17 2009-10-24 21:38:34

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#18 2009-10-25 06:54:07

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#19 2009-10-25 14:13:07

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

#20 2009-10-30 19:49:41

Re: Sharing music on local network - whats the best method?

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