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[-Michael]

Hi,

I am posting a three part question all about home networking for media. I am guessing these questions are sufficiently related to warrant having them in a single thread.

OK, I have my home media system set up as you can see in the attached file below. My questions run as follows:

1) I wish to go from using JRiver on a MacBook Pro to a JRiver on a Mac Mini as I don’t want to be dealing with a screen every time I want to listen to music. Currently I have to a) wake the NAS on LAN and b) delve into a file in Finder before JRiver MC20 can recognize the files (thanks bplexico). If I go headless with a Mac Mini, can iOS software perform these two functions? If so what software do I use?

2) Going headless means I won’t have a screen to set up to Mac Mini. Can my old MacBook Pro screen be used to configure the Mini? If so how and using what software?

3) I view films as well as listen to music. Is a Mini the best solution or is Linux better for these media? I use JRiver MC20 for listening to music; MPlayerX to watch films. I am considering using Plex, and I use iDevices to control my software (JRemote for music so far).

Any help here will give me the confidence to spend extra money on a media-centre machine that is not my regular laptop serving a dual purpose. Thanks.

Michael

[glynor]

Some initial links for you to read.  Running a mini headless:
http://blog.macminicolo.net/post/33839671756/build-a-dummy-dongle-for-a-headless-mac-mini
http://blog.macminicolo.net/post/72706369716/an-hdmi-adapter-for-a-headless-mac-mini

(They'd know since they have 1000s of them. In fact, spend some time just reading their blog.)

Automatically connect to a network drive:
http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/automatically-connect-network-drive/

Hazel is your friend:
http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php

And, MC itself is a great video player as long as you don't need subtitle support (I'm sure subs will be coming eventually, but I don't know when).

[-Michael]

Thanks Glynor this is very useful information that will keep me busy over the coming weeks. Much appreciated.

[glynor]

For remote desktop purposes, I'd consider:

* ARD
* TeamViewer

ARD is probably overkill if you only have one remote machine to control, and it won't handle firewall traversal for you.  But, there are no nag screens and it is well supported by Apple with regular updates as soon as new OS versions come out.  That's what we use at work (we support hundreds of Macs) and it generally works pretty well.  You can push software to machines, run remote terminal commands, and all sorts of nifty stuff.

TeamViewer is free for personal use (though it does leave nag screens open on the machines after you disconnect).  I use TeamViewer a lot at home, and it performs extremely well (often fast enough to play video, actually) and it is fully encrypted (which can't be said of most other solutions).  It also handles firewall traversal for you so you can control your system from outside your LAN (performance is much lower then, of course).

[-Michael]

Glynor, after reading through your links a second time I am seeing that it can be done so I'll go for the Mac Mini this summer when I have time to set it all up. I watch films as well as listen to music hence the Mac Mini rather than building myself a music server. I'll check out the film capability of JRiver MC20 too. Thanks again.

[Wybe]

@2. For remote desktop purposes also VNC Viewer can do the job. On the Mac mini you only need to check the option that allows VNC user to connect and set a password. On your Macbook you have to install the freeware VNC Viewer.

[-Michael]

Most likely I will report back to this thread after the summer when I am done. Thanks Wybe and Glynor.