Tutorial
Home theatre using NMT, Windows Home Server, YAMJ and a choice of home theatre hardware
Version 1
2010-03-04

This is a writeup I feel I had to do, since I have been scouring the internet, the earth, and ultimately my sanity, to find the info contained within this tome. OK, my sanity was long gone before I even started, but you dont know that. Or didnt.

As you know there are a myriad of different solutions to getting your movies and tv-shows from your computer to your choice of screen. I have tried a few of them, like hacking an NSLU2 to fuction as a server, connecting a wireless transmitter to the computer, and burning CDs/DVDs and so on. However, in this day and age you should not have to walk anywhere, or configure anything, or even have to swear even
a tad to get all things digital working. With this guide, the walking (ok, ok, I was sitting in a chair. Not very comfy though) and swearing will be greately reduced for you, beloved reader.Getting all your hard earned digital content to the screeninvolves getting hardware, software, and knowledge. I will supply shards of the last part of this wonderful trinity.

WHAT YOU NEED



1.Hardware

1.1 Server
The requirements for a server to stream audio and video are not too harsh. Since my way to heaven includes a frontend to actually play the content, you only need a server that can serve a large file over an ethernet connection without dropping packets or hampering the speed. NOTE: explain why ethernet and not wireless
To give you an idea on the very low requirments, check this out: NSLU2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This little gem can be hacked to run Linux and a plethora of software that turns this ordinary NAS server into a fully functioning media server. With 1080p and above entering the picture, however, it is a bit weak to be of any use. A BIT weak: I could actually play HD content from this thing, but with some stuttering and framedrops. But this guide does not tolerate framedrops!
To illustrate the low requirements that you will actually need, check this out:

  • Ace Battle 4 Midi Tower Black 500W PSU, mATX, ATX, 2x USB, I/O: AC97 HD Audio
  • Gigabyte GA-GC330D, Intel® Atom™1.6GHz, Mini-ITX, I945GC, DDR2, LAN, PCI, SATA
  • Corsair Value S. PC5300 DDR2 1GB, 128Meg x 64, CL5, 667MHz, 240-pin
  • 160GB 3,5" sata-harddrive

This setup is about $255 in Sweden (where I live), and it will keep you happyhappy joyjoyful for a long time if the only use you put it through is being a server.

1.2 Frontend
The word frontend, however correct, is a bit big to use for this guide. Lets call it the media player from now on, since that is what its role will be. For the purposes of this guide you should be able to use whatever player that can do the following things:

  • Connect to Samba shares (SMB)
  • Read .htm/.html pages

Personally, I use the astonishing NMT (networked media tank) Popcorn Hour A-110... almost; Im using the clone iStar H5, same same but different. You can probably use a bunch of players like PS3, Xbox, and others, but I will write this guide from an NMT standpoint since I have no experience with the other types of players.


2. Software
This is a total jungle. There are tons of streaming sofware, standards, plugins, players, and whatnot. I will show you how I set up my system (which rocks btw) and what you need to do it.

2.1 Windows Home Server
Why WHS? For me, the reason is simple: it is very, very easy to use. Backups, storage, users... everything is pretty much made to be idiot-proof. Also, the disk features makes it extremely easy to add more storage without having to set up new shares and folders. Last but not least: WHS can do so much more than what is described here, and its versatility vs ease of use is hard to match.

2.2 Yet Another Movie Jukebox (YAMJ)
This little piece of software is, for lack of better expressions, totally awesome! It is not a server, or streamer; it is just a small tool that outputs a set of files that, when used with your frontend, makes your movie collection look insanely cool. AND: once set up, it is pretty much self sustaining: your job will be
downloading stuff, and maybe renaming a file or two. The rest is taken care of!
Get YAMJ here: http://mediaplayersite.com/YAMJ_Latest

2.3 (OPTIONAL) Aeon Movie Wall
This is a skin for YAMJ, and not needed to make it work. I would advice you to get it though: it makes YAMJ look crazy delicious!
Get AEON here: http://mediaplayersite.com/Aeon_Movie_Wall



WHAT TO DO

3. Setup
I will not go through how to set up the hardware, since there are manuals for such things. For this guide, I will assume the following:
- You have connected all your hardware according to the manuals that came with the hardware. If you can not do this, stop reading here: this is, in fact, a manual as well. Maybe not as professional, or well written, or illustrated, but you get the point.

3.1 Windows Home Server installation.
How To Install and Setup Windows Home Server - the How-To Geek has an excellent guide for setting up WHS. There is also a link to a 30 day free evaluation copy of the server on the bottom of the article. Some of you might even find ways to evaluate this copy for more than 30 days, but that is another story for another day.

3.2 Set basic permissions
Once you are set up and have WHS running, you should do the following:

  • Click the windows start button, and go to Windows Home Server Console
  • Click the User Accounts button
  • Make sure you have a guest account, and that the status column says "enabled"
  • Select the guest account and click properties
  • Click the Shared Folder Access tab
  • Set the access settings for each folder. I would recommend not using "full" since that will make it possible to accidentally delete files with your remote. Set at least "Videos" to "read" (since thats where you will probably store your movie files? :))

3.2 Setting up a network share on your media player
I recommend you to read the manual for your player on how to do this, but for people with NMTs based on the last 2 generations of Syabas hardware, do this:

  • On the player, go to setup, network shares
  • Click browse and browse to the networked Videos share that resides on your WHS
  • Name the share something, leave login and password blank
  • Press "add"
  • Click "home" and "media source" and your newly created share should be listed. Click it to see that it works.

4. Set up YAMJ + Aeon Skin
Now comes the trickiest part of the software setup: YAMJ and the AEON skin. I will leave this part to this excellent guide since it is well written, easy to follow, and works!
Guide: Setting up YAMJ (Yet Another Movie Jukebox) + Aeon in WHS ? MediaSmartServer.net

4.1 Minor fixes

4.1.1
After having run the YAMJ GUI tool, do this: Check the My_Library.xml file in the YAMJ installation folder (open it in wordpad): there is a line that looks something like this (THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD LOOK!) <playerpath>file:///opt/sybhttpd/localhost.drives/NETWORK_SHARE/Videos/</playerpath> The GUI has had a small bug that produced a line that looked like this <playerpath>file:///opt/sybhttpd/localhost.drives/NETWORK_SHARE/Videos/shares/Videos</playerpath> Make sure this line is correct, or the movies will not play when you press start.

4.1.2
When using the YAMJ GUI tool, make the shared "Videos" folder on the WHS the home for the jukebox. This is mentioned in the guide, but I want to stress it since it makes using the media player easier (ok, ok, its just one less press of a button, call me lazy, I dont care!)

4.1.3
Check the My_YAMJ.cmd (right click and select "edit", or open in wordpad) in the YAMJ installation folder for this line "CALL moviejukebox My_Library.xml -o \\[WHS server name]\Videos" This is where the jukebox output files will be stored, and like I mentioned earlier also where the media player will look for the network share that contains the media you want to play

4.1.4 (OPTIONAL)
Under "Miscellanious" on the YAMJ + Aeon guide, check for the Sabish Low List and TV Mod v2. Both are excellent addons, and adds a more professional look to Aeon


5. Run it!
Now that the setup is done, doubleclick the My_YAMJ.cmd in the YAMJ folder and watch the script work through your movies. When it is done, start up your media player, screen, speakers and whatnot, and navigate to the Videos network share that you set up on your media player. If all has gone well, you will be greated by some outstanding uberness!



MORE STUFF

6.1.1 Links and info used in this guide
http://mediaplayersite.com/YAMJ_Latest YAMJ Jukebox
http://mediaplayersite.com/Aeon_Movie_Wall AEON Skin for YAMJ
http://mediaplayersite.com/YAMJ_GUI_Config YAMJ GUI Config
How To Install and Setup Windows Home Server - the How-To Geek How to set up Windows Home Server
Order Windows Home Server Evaluation Edition Get an evaluation copy of Windows Home Server
Guide: Setting up YAMJ (Yet Another Movie Jukebox) + Aeon in WHS ? MediaSmartServer.net Setting up YAMJ and Aeon

6.1.2 Links for additional reading
Networked Media Tank
Networked Media Tank - 100 Series - YAMJ - Yet another Movie Jukebox The main YAMJ forum
[YAMJ] ÆON Movie Wall YAMJ *UPDATE* February 27, 2010 - Clean Up #3 Main Aeon skin thread
Wiki Pages - moviejukebox - Project Hosting on Google Code YAMJ Wiki
Real Dummies Guide for AEON - lowlist, roundcovers and Gonzalu's Box mod More YAMJ and Aeon info
WHAT NOW?: A post install guide. Hints and tips for customizing and speeding up YAMJ


7. Why is this tutorial messy, incoherent, and generally noobish?
7.1 This is my first tutorial
7.2 I suffer from ADHD
7.3 Global warming makes my bones itch

Yours truly, Redbeard