Computer manufacturers are coming out with expensive home media servers which work just as well as an old, dusty computer with some FREE software. In this article we will cover how to build your own home media server with the capabilities of streaming to most devices on your network such as PS3, Xbox 360 and other computers.
Installing Ubuntu
If you are using an old computer chances are it will already have Windows Xp installed. Although Windows XP can be used to create a media server, it’s quite slow and leaving Windows XP logged on for a long period of time makes it very unstable. The obviously alternative is Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a free operating system and is based on linux. Most people freak out when they hear linux but Ubuntu is very simple to use.
Head of to www.ubuntu.com and download the Desktop Edition ISO file. Burn the ISO file to a CD/DVD (If you have never mounted an ISO, check out this guide) Now that you have your Ubuntu CD/DVD it’s time to install Ubuntu on your target computer. Boot Ubuntu off the CD and install using the wizard.
Note: If you are having trouble installing ubuntu,check out this guide
Installing MediaTomb
For our media server we will be using MediaTomb, which is a free UPnP server for linux. It allows you to share media with any compatible device on your network such as PS3, Xbox 360, Windows PC’s and Macs. We will install it by opening terminal(Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and typing:
sudo apt-get install mediatomb
It will ask for you password you created in the Ubuntu setup and then ask if you wish to continue. Type Y and press enter. We have now installed MediaTomb.
Configure MediaTomb
It’s now time to configure MediaTomb. Type into terminal:
sudo gedit /etc/mediatomb/config.xml
There are a few lines that you may want to change depending on your needs. If there is a PS3 on the network change the line ‘<protocollinfo extend=”no”>’ to ‘<protocollinfo extend=”yes”>’. If you would like to protect your content from someone on the network, it would be wise to setup a user accounts.
Settings up user accounts(Optional)
In the configuration file on line 9 look for ‘<accounts enabled=”no” session-timeout=”30″>’ and change accounts enabled to yes. Underneath that line there is ’<account user=”mediatomb” password=”mediatomb”/>’. Change the values in here to match the credentials you would like the server to have. If you would like to setup more then one user just copy and paste the right under the first one.
Now run the command “mediatomb” in terminal. After a few seconds a web address should come up. Write this down.
Adding your content
Congratulations for making it this far. We now need to put our files on the server. There are 2 ways of doing this. The first is to copy your files to a flash drive or external hard drive and the second is to create network shares. I would recommend the second because we can keep out files up to date from a remote computer. I don’t have time in the article to go over setting up network shares although if you are interested check out this article.
The folders we will be using are Music, Pictures and Videos in the home directory. To view these directory’s click Places(top menu) -> Home Folder and they are in there. Copy all of your media files into these folders depending on the type.
We now need to configure which folders the server is going to get it’s content from. Type in the web address you wrote down early (This can be done on another computer). A nice interface will come up. In the left menu click Filesystem and you will see the file structure of the server. We will be using the Video, Music and Pictures directories that we previously put our files in.
From here expand home and then yourusername. Then click on the folder Music followed by the plus symbol with the arrows circling it(right corner). Copy my configuration as shown in the image bellow:
Rinse and repeat for the folders Pictures and Videos. We have finished setting up the server. it is time to play it on our devices.
Playing Your Media
Windows
In windows click start and then network. It will take a while but you should soon see a media server called “mediatomb.” Double click and Windows Media Player will open. That’s it.
PS3
Turn on your PS3 and highlight over Music. Scroll up/down until you see Search for Media Server and click on that. It will search and find our media server. That’s it.
Xbox 360
Turn on your Xbox and connect to the network. Click Video and then you should see “mediatomb.” Click this and select the video. You are now watching a video via your media server.
I hope you enjoyed, any questions and comments would greatly be appreciated and enjoy you cheap media server.
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