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MyHomeServer Tutorials - Streaming your ITunes Music Library over the Internet from your HP MediaSmart Server

Ever want to listen to your music collection while you are at work without having to carry it around with you? Our latest tutorial shows you how to use the HP MediaSmart along with the included Firefly media server to stream your Itunes music collection over the Internet! It requires a small zipped download of 3 files and a few configuration steps and you are ready to roll. Stream your music from anywhere with Internet access and a browser.

Please Note: This tutorial assumes you have copied your music collection to the MUSIC share on the mediasmart server. See your HP MediaSmart manual on moving your music over to the MediaSmart. You should also know your router password and understand port forwarding, etc. If you are having trouble grasping the port forwarding techniques, check out some of the tutorials at TZO.COM or you can review info at PortForward.com.

STEP 1 - Download the latest Fireplay files - Download the FirePlay files here and save on a local PC or desktop PC on the same network as the MediaSmart.

STEP 2 - Open the Fireplay.zip and Copy the 3 files to the clipboard - Double click on the Fireplay.Zip file as shown below and extract the 3 files from the compressed file. You should then highlight the 3 files you extracted with your mouse, right-click and hit COPY to copy these files to the clipboard

STEP 3 - Start a remote desktop session - Start a remote desktop session using a laptop/desktop that resides on the same network as the MediaSmart server. Click Start, Program files, Accessories, Communications and select REMOTE DESKTOP CONNECTION and you will see a screenshot similar to the ones shown in step 4.

STEP 4 - Connecting to the MediaSmart server using Remote Desktop - Connect to the internal LAN IP address of the MediaSmart server, or the server name such as HPServer, or in our case, we called it MyMediaSmart. Using either the LAN IP or the server name, enter that into the remote desktop connection dialog as shown in one of the two screenshots below:

Using the internal IP to connect to the MediaSmart with Remote Desktop

Using the server name to connect to the MediaSmart with Remote Desktop

STEP 5 - Logging into the Server using Remote Desktop - You should be see the login for the MediaSmart server using remote desktop as shown in the screenshot below. Use the administrator account and password for the MediaSmart server and it will log you into the desktop of the MediaSmart

Logging into the HP MediaSmart server with Remote Desktop using the administrator account

STEP 6 - Copying the files into the Firefly folder - Click on the Start menu, then Run, In the “Run” window, next to Open: type in the backslash \ (as shown in the example below) and hit ENTER or the OK button


Opening My Computer via the Run dialog box

STEP 7 - Open C:\Program Files\Firefly Media Server\admin-root - Now you should see the contents of the admin-root directory in the Firefly Media Server. Right click your mouse over the directory window and select PASTE and you’ll see the 3 files appear in the window as shown below.

Pasting the Fireplay files into the admin-root folder of FireFly

Step 8 - Changing the Windows Firewall - You now want to use the Control Panel to get to the Windows Firewall settings. Click Start, Control Panel, Windows Firewall and you will see the main Windows Firewall screen as shown below. Click the EXCEPTIONS tab as shown.

Accessing the Windows Firewall on the MediaSmart server to add port 9999

Step 9 - Adding a Port to Windows Firewall - You now want to click the ADD PORT and then enter in the information as shown in the screenshot below. We call the new port firefly “firefly” and enter in 9999 under the port number. Click OK to save.

Accessing the Windows Firewall on the MediaSmart server to add port 9999

Step 10 - Checking the port was added to Windows Firewall - Check that you have added the port properly in the Windows firewall. You will see the port listed as shown in the screenshot below. Once you confirm that the port was added properly, click OK to save and close the Windows Firewall settings to get back to the desktop. You can now shut down the remote desktop session to the MediaSmart server.

Checking that we added the port 9999 properly to the Windows Firewall

Step 11 - Internal Testing - You now want test the server itself to make sure that the port was properly added to the MediaSmart firewall. Using the laptop or desktop you were using in the prior steps, open up a web browser and try to get to the INTERNAL IP ADDRESS of the MediaSmart. In the example below, our MediaSmart is at 192.168.1.103. Keep in mind that your MediaSmart internal IP may be different. Try your Internal IP:9999 in your browser like our example, we used http://192.168.1.103:9999

http://INTERNALIP:9999/index.html
(Admin interface used to change the Password and other config)

and try

http://INTERNALIP:9999/fireplay.html
(Play interface used to stream audio, select playlists, etc)

This should bring up a password dialog asking for a username and password. Once you enter the username and password as shown below, the Firefly Admin or Play interface will pop up depending on the URL you choose. The default username and password are below. When prompted, enter the username and password. We suggest you change the password under the CONFIGURATION TAB. Please see the Firefly documentation for Client passwords and configuration.

Username: admin
Password: firefly

If your browser did NOT show the interfaces described above, please re-check your setting. Once everything works properly and you have changed the admin password, you are ready to wrap up the installation.

Step 12 - Configure your router to open port 9999 - Log into your router using your browser and forward port 9999 TCP to the HP MediaSmart Server IP. This is the same IP you used to connect via remote desktop in step 3/4. f you have trouble with your router, please see some of the tutorials on port forwarding at PortForward.com or you can review info at TZO.COM

Step 13 - Remote Testing - You now want test that everything is setup properly, but this requires you to leave the location/network where the MediaSmart server is and try the connection from a different ISP or Network. This means that is your MediaSmart server is at home, try to access the server from work, or ask a friend to try it from their browser. It’s best not to ask your neighbor since they may have the same ISP, and doesn’t prove that the ISP is blocking it. You can also use a cellular modem to test.

You now want to use your domain name that you setup with the MediaSmart, in this example we use an HP Personal Domain Name by TZO. Our example domain name is YourName.HPShare.net, and we use the WWW subdomain since this is the only subdomain that bypasses the TZO Relay setup to forward to HTTPS.

http://www.YourName.HPShare.net:9999/fireplay.html
(Play interface used to stream audio, select playlists, etc)

Enter the username and password and the FirePlay interface will pop up as shown below. You can select your LIBRARY playlist on the far left and start browsing. Depending on how well you have tagged your music depends on your sorting and browsing experience. Below we have Jack Johnson streaming over the web to our laptop in our hotel room over a wireless Verizon EVDO network. Ahhhh, the Joys of a home server. Happy Streaming!

Thanks to the thread on the http://MediaSmartServer.net for tipping me off on this and to the Firefly and Fireplay guys for putting this together.