Transporter users - Squeezeplug

[gavinbirss]

For those who do not want to keep their >175W PC on or are lucky enough to have a NAS that runs a Squeezebox server a SheevaPlug may be the answer.

The SheevaPlug [2.3W - 7W power] : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheevaPlug and newer Guruplug : http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-guruplugdetails.aspx is a 1.2Ghz Marvell ARM based computer and has enough CPU power run SqueezeBoxServer from : http://squeezeplug.de/ (A prebuild image is available or you can choose distro and do it manually)

There will also be a video version of the GuruPlug Display with HDMI output : http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/c-4-guruplugs.aspx

It costs around R 1700 for the EU (power plug) version with shipping+import duties and a 4Gb Class 6 SD card with Ubuntu 9.04 (ARM) loaded.
The image from http://squeezeplug.de]]http://squeezeplug.de, however uses a Debian port. (Ubuntu is based on Debian)

I currently use it wired to a NAS and Telkom router with Transporter wirelessly connected. There is enough bandwidth/cpu power to do 96Khz/24bit. Low bitrate lossy files will actually consume more CPU power to decode.

Installing squeezebox server is somewhat time consuming as it is not preinstalled due to copyright laws. The scan of your music library (depending on size) will also take some time. The speed of transporter navigation is a little sluggish when the Sheevaplug's CPU is busy. (for example when you run a apt-get update/upgrade).

Webmin is installed on the squeezeplug.de image to help with administration. A USB cable is provider that needs a FTDI driver installed to access the serial console via the SheevaPlug JTAG interface.

There are some tweaks for the MySQL database instance and future versions of Squeezebox server already have support for low power CPU's. 

A fair amount of linux knowledge may be required to get it up and running or for some troubleshooting, but the rewards are great considering it's inconspicuous appearance and functionality (SheevaPlug/SqueezePlug).

A word of caution regarding the setenv variables. Take note of the default values, especially if you want to alternate between internal NAND and SD card booting after making changes.

See SqueezePlug wiki : http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/SqueezePlug

[Rodney_gold]

That sounds real complicated and slightly expensive - what exactly are the benefits?
I got an old puter I stick in a cupboard to run my xporter and 2 SB's , a 1 tb external drive has all the music.

[gavinbirss]

It uses much less power, it is quite versatile, looks quite inconspicuous and it runs Open Source Software. Some will think it is only a wall-wart power adapter.

Ideally is should cost less as it is a $100 odd device.

The GuruPlug Plus offers 2X1Gb Ethernet ports + Wifi + Bluetooth and could be a automation installers dream as to its connectivity options. There are currently however problems with the standard heatsink solution when one uses both ethernet ports at 1000Mbps. The CPU is strained and more heat is produced. A larger heatsink is the fix. Running ports at 100Mbs also solves problem.

There are some interesting commercial offerings. The PogoPlug : http://www.pogoplug.com/ is an example. One can now easily share ones files over the internet. And Yes the word Cloud is even thrown in to make it sound extra geeky.