Ultimate remote control for Slimserver!

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#3
Slimserver is controlled via a web interface. There are multiple "skins" for that interface including touch-screen for things like PDAs and larger units like tablet PCs. You access the control page via the IP address of the server, typically something like http://192.168.1.xxx/localhost:9000. The skins are all included in the FREE, open-source software, and people are writing new plug-ins all the time.

I tried my wife's Palm TX to control the system for a while and it works OK, but the web browser that comes with the TX does not cache web pages so it has to reload each page each time you access it. That makes it annoyingly slow. Using the IR remote and selecting music from the display on the squeezebox was a better experience.

The plan is to use a web browser on the ST3500 to access the slimserver web interface and use it to select music. I have never used it but it can display disc/album cover art. I'll have to add the images for my CD collection now that I will have a remote capable of viewing them. I can run firefox or opera or any other web browser on the ST3500 and it will be quick at page changes because those browsers cache the pages.

If I can figure out how to get the touch-screen to work I will load linux on the thing. It only has a 6GB HDD and I'd rather not have to load it with antivirus and antispyware stuff that. There are some small-footprint linux distros that aren't full of multimedia junk that I won't be using.

I_F
 
#4
I think even with Windows running on it, you should be okay if you setup your network so that the tablet can only access the slimserver, and vice versa. I'm assuming also all the personalizaton data is going to be on the slimserver, and the tablet is just a dumb client, so you don't have a lot to use even if it gets infected. You may just want to image the harddrive using Norton Ghost or something, so worst case is to restore 6G image.

As for Linux, I wonder whether you'll have a hard time finding drivers for this thing. But you never know. Good luck, and post some pictures when you finish!
 
#5
I can image the HDD to a single DVDROM disc, so maybe I'll do that ASAP.

I won't load any M$ Office stuff, but it would be nice to be able to do some web browsing (like for song lyrics, etc.) from the tablet. I may have to keep antivirus and antispyware on it just for that.

I plan to do a lot of e-book reading on it, too. Since the HDD is small I will probably use a 1GB thumb drive for book storage.

The only bad thing about the tablet is that if the HDD gets trashed it will be a PITA to reload an OS because it doesn't have any CDROM drive or ports. It has only USB (non-bootable), serial, PCMCIA, and network ports. I could spring another $80 or so for a docking station but I'm too cheap. That means I have to do a partial install (DOS) of the OS to the HDD in another computer and complete the install inside the tablet. Not rocket science, but troublesome. I located and DL'd the touchscreen software for just-in-case, so even if I have to reload the OS, once it is working the touchscreen will be a snap to restart.

I have the tech manual on the 3500, so I might be able to make a cable to connect a CDROM drive directly to the tablet for OS install (assuming I can get the BIOS to boot from the CDROM). THAT would be nice!

This is what the touchscreen interface to Slimserver looks like:
Slimserver Touch-screen Interface

I_F
 
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