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"Is this possible? PC/Internet Help"

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Sun 02/03/03 at 17:30
Regular
Posts: 787
Rite well basically i have 2 pcs a good 1 and a crap 1. I want to change the crap 1 into a kind of music/data type thing. It only has 1 GB of hardrive and isnt useful for anything else so i figured this may be the only way it would get some use. Wot i basically want is the pc to load up a offline webpage as soon as it boots up. I want this website to all be offline (i can do this) and contain links to the mp3s that i have (they are on cds in there data format). So i basically want to turn my pc into a huge offline website.

What i need to know is it possible to: a) link to cds from webpages, OR once a link to a song is clicked is it possible to make a pop-up saying insert CD "so and so". and b) how can i make this website load automatically as the computer loads up?

Your help will be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, btw sorry if this makes no sense im not too good at explaining things.
Mon 03/03/03 at 18:47
Regular
Posts: 18
ok......

a) because i download all my music to the pc downstairs, and want to listen to it upstairs in my room.

b) sorry bad habit

c) don't worry bout that idea, i aint gonna buy a new hardrive anyway.

Someone posted in this topic sayin that it is possible to do what i wanted with a internal web server with a search engine etc, but said it would take a lot of time. Well i dont mind it taking time and would be happy to do it this way so can someone please explain to me how to do it? Sorry if this is starting to annoy people now, but that is the way i want to do it. I already have the basic design, i just need to know how to get a decent search facility into the offline website and also need to get it to read off discs, i already have an idea as to how i might read off discs though. i just really need to know how to give it a search facility and to allow pop-ups saying "Insert a certain disc".

Anyone?

also ive got to find away to get this to open as the pc boots. like i said sorry if this is getting repetitive and annoying to some people who can't understand why i want to do it in a website format, but thats the way i would enjoy making it the most.

Thanks in advance.
Mon 03/03/03 at 18:45
Regular
"IT'S ALIVE!!"
Posts: 4,741
I don't see why he'd want the MP3s..etc on a website, why not just network the drive or folder the files are in and run them straight off the crap PC?
Setting up an intranet is cool though.
Mon 03/03/03 at 18:38
Regular
"bing bang bong"
Posts: 3,040
makaveli666 wrote:
> the reason i want to use my crap pc for this is because it is in my
> room whereas the other computer is a family computer and is
> downstairs.


a) How does this change anything?

b) It is spelt 'thought'

c) We can't give you any specific 'yes this HD will work' advice without the exact specs of your PC
Mon 03/03/03 at 17:42
Regular
Posts: 18
one thing ive just fort of is that wen i tried updating my old pc ages ago they sed not to coz it wudnt cope. wud it be able to cope with an external 40GB hardrive u reckon? if not ill just use the networking idea!
Mon 03/03/03 at 17:38
Regular
Posts: 18
the reason i want to use my crap pc for this is because it is in my room whereas the other computer is a family computer and is downstairs. Ive looked at your suggestions so hopefully u can come up with something now. im sure i'll fink of something.

The guy who offered me his php code: yes id like it please and see if it helps can you email it to: [email protected] or post in here.

Thanks, also im still accepting any more advice you may have.
Mon 03/03/03 at 03:34
Regular
"bing bang bong"
Posts: 3,040
Okay, what you are trying to do is this:


Have your naff computer as a dedicated webserver - you go to the servers website, click an mp3 link, it either reads it off CD and plays it back to you or tells you which CD to insert. There is also a search facility. All of this is possible.

But why not just do it in ****ing Excel on your main computer, and save yourself a lot of time and effort? Even if you were absolutely adamant that you had to create a webpage, there's still no reason in the world for hosting it on your spare PC. Either install the webserver on your main PC or keep the site as a static list.

Or, just do it in Excel >:O/
Sun 02/03/03 at 23:49
Regular
""
Posts: 303
I did something similar.

I used Winamp3 to create playlists and exported them to XML. I then wrote PHP code to parse the XML and output it as HTML (im sure you can write some javascript for custom prompts). Im currently looking at doing the same using XML and XSL. Next Im going to do it properly and use the .Net framework to (as AMD_MAN says) write a nice little frontend for it and have a home jukebox that i can play through my stereo.

MS have an article that i was looking at the other day...

http://go.microsoft.com/?link=83243

Or you can have my PHP code if you want.
Sun 02/03/03 at 21:45
Regular
Posts: 1,033
It doesnt seem pointless mate, i have an old P3 550 system in my lounge with a 40gb hard drive which i have networked up with this one which has 100GB hard drive, i have used my tv out on the video card and used the audio out on the soundblaster card into my stereo, this means i can watch dvd's or other video files and also listen to my massive range of mp3's, although i still boot into windows xp, it works great, basically what i am saying is why not use both your pc's the old one for booting onto and network that to your other one (assuming you have a newer one) use this other one to store your mp3's (or wma tracks as they take up less space with same\better quality) and there are tones of programs out there that will index your mp3's and have search capabilitys, you could even use windows media player and get it to start full screen on startup, this will also mean you can use internet connection sharing through the network, you are going to have to boot into an OS (operating system) though otherwise you will have to write yourself a gui (graphical User Interface) using C+ and other languages, You could learn Visual basic at begginers level this will help you create a GUI fo this project.

A few things to think about.

c.b.
Sun 02/03/03 at 21:04
Regular
"aka memo aaka gayby"
Posts: 11,948
Or you could buy a bigger hard drive and use Winamp.
Sun 02/03/03 at 20:46
Regular
Posts: 18
thanks for all your help so far guys, most of it has been really helpful. i myslef am also thinkin of other ways this can be done.

Ill go into a bit more detail of what i want and why i want it.

I buy a hell of a lot of cds and also have loads of mp3s that i have downloaded. When people come round they always say, wow uve got loads of cds have u got "this song" or "that song". This got me thinking that i could make a kind of music database on my old pc. However i simple dont just want a list of songs i want it to be more interactive. Ive got quite good at making websites so fort i could do it in html format as this way it will look good aswell. I want this "thing" (or woteva it turns out to be) to provide me with something nice to look at, that has a search facility so i can search for paticular artists and songs, aswell as the ability to link to the songs either on a hard-drive or cd, it will also require a pop up telling me what cd to insert. Well thats basically what im looking to complete. Heres the ideas i have so far (from myself and you guys).

*I refer to it as the "music database" as thats wot its going to kinda be in the end*

-The music database to be done in html, i have already made a design.
-I really would like to get it to link to the disc drive because then i can use all the cds i have bought through the system. Also i haven't really got enough money to buy a new hardrive at the moment.
-For the pop-ups im thinking of using a simple javascript pop up to inform me what cd to input, of course i will have to input what it has to tell me while making the music database.
-As the database will be in HTML i havent really had any ideas as to how the search facility will work. Any ideas?

thats bout all i can think of at the moment. n e ideas how i can put this idea together and make it work??? at the moment it may seem pretty pointless and just a snazzy complicated way to organise and play cds. but i really want to do this because it will be interesting setting it all up and also i want a use for my old pc.

Thanks in advance.

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