Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

ESound Client Implementation for MS Windows?

Posted by Cliff on from the multiple-inputs-one-output dept.

SplasPood asks: "I've been searching for the last couple years for a way to pipe the sound output from my windows laptop to my Linux mp3/sound box. Currently, I use esound to pipe the sound output from all my *nix boxen over the network to this mp3/sound box which is connected to my stereo. I'd love to be able to do the same for the windows laptop. I use the windows laptop to watch DVDs and movies, and it would be great if I could hear the sound via my stereo. Does anyone have any suggestions? And no, plugging the output of the windows box into the input on the sound card of the linux box is not an option."

23 comments

  1. Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    What have you tried already?
    I could post a list of links from google
    e.g. jesd but you've already tried that, right?

    1. Re:Google by SplasPood · · Score: 1

      If I'm not mistaken jesd is a java implementation of the ESD *server*. What I need is a client implementation for windows.

    2. Re:Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you followed the above link, you would have noted that jesd includes both server as well as client code (though they have never tested it against Esd, just jEsd server since they couldnt get their soundcard working under linux).

    3. Re:Google by SplasPood · · Score: 2, Insightful

      explain to me how this:

      JEsd includes an audio server, which corresponds to 'esd' and classes for communicating with 'esd', which corresponds to 'libesd'.
      This client side code will enable us to hack audio apps in pure Java.
      The audio server depends on Java Sound API.
      Of course, this audio server supports playing audio streams.
      So we can accept outputs from x11amp, xmms, etc,. in pure Java apps via network streams.
      Of course, this audio server supports caching, playing, looping samples.
      The audio server accepts Ogg Vorbis bit-streams via EsounD protocol and works as the Ogg Vorbis player.
      Tons of functionalities of EsounD are left to be implemented.
      JEsd is distributed under GNU LGPL.

      Solves the problem indicated in the top of the article? It doesn't. I want all audio output from my windows box to use esd and talk to my linux box. This doesn't really solve the problem.

  2. Waste everyone's time by billcopc · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Dude, just buy a friggin' TV set and cheapo DVD player. If you've got zillions of PC's networked together into a decent sound system, but are watching DVDs on a squinty laptop lcd, you're just missing the whole point of "Home Entertainment"

    --
    -Billco, Fnarg.com
  3. What tha'? by zangdesign · · Score: 2

    Actually, I'd recommend a good set of earphones. That way the sound comes from the same direction as the screen and you can carry it around with you conveniently.

    I gotta go with a previous poster, though. Get a TV and a decent DVD player. The DVD thing on laptops was devised for bored businessmen on long flights and stuck in hotels.

    --
    To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    1. Re:What tha'? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

      The DVD thing on laptops was devised for bored businessmen on long flights and stuck in hotels.

      Flash of brilliance: pliable plastic covers for laptop keyboards.

      --
      I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  4. Did you google? by GiMP · · Score: 3, Informative

    Checkout the Cygwin network audio project:
    http://www.sitecity.net/cygwin-audio/

    I cannot find any binaries, although.. the site reports of some software called "WinESD" which will setup a virtual audio-device that will output to ESD.

    It appears that there should be no problem compling esdplay nor the libraries under Cygwin.. I do not know if Cygwin can do artificial dsp support, if it can.. it wouldn't be too unlikely for the official esound tree to compile cleanly.

    1. Re:Did you google? by SplasPood · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I hadn't come across that specific page, but I checked it out. This WinESD sounded promising, but the link wasn't on the Esound page anymore. I did a google for that, and come up with a single hit for a page in some asian character set. Found a link in there for WinESD but the site appears to be down or gone.

      I believe the cygwin port of esound will only work for cygwin based applications. IE, not everything. The ideal thing (I think) is some sort of shim into DirectSound (I believe, I don't do any windows programming) that pipes to esd. However, I don't think this could be done without violating some sort of OSS law and thus having bad mojo... Or something to that effect.

    2. Re:Did you google? by vipw · · Score: 1

      what you need is a windows sound device driver that can stream to an esd server, but that is hard. i wouldn't expect anyone to write one of those for you anytime soon.

      one good solution would be to have a dvd player that outputs sound as dts (i don't think that's available in any laptop) to the same reciever your esd server computer is plugged into.

    3. Re:Did you google? by ecrips · · Score: 1

      Google turned up WinESD here which looks like it might do what you want - although on my computer the driver seems not to work ("Driver is enabled but inactive due to an unknown problem"). But if you can get it to work - it seems to be what you're after.

  5. Best solution: by Ogerman · · Score: 1, Troll

    Do you really need Windows on that laptop? You don't need Windows to play your DVD's and other movies. If that's your only reason for having it, install Linux and your problem is solved. (-:

    1. Re:Best solution: by SplasPood · · Score: 2, Funny

      I have 6 machines here *at home*, 5 of which are one form of unix or another, and 1 that is winxp. Damn, am I commiting such a crime here? ;)

    2. Re:Best solution: by borgboy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Someone mod this silly windows user down!

      --
      meh.
    3. Re:Best solution: by Ogerman · · Score: 2

      Nah, but if DVD playing is your only use for windoze, you don't need it and that'll solve the problem at the same time. Or you could dual-boot perhaps for when doing multimedia streams over the net with Linux.

  6. Don't forget the Myopic! by zenyu · · Score: 2

    I prefer the laptop when watching a DVD by myself or with one other. I can take of my contacts and give my eyes some rest. I hook up the sound to my mini-amplifer and speakers, or even the TV if in a hurry for decent sound.

    Then there is the whole region thing, cheap DVD players don't play the imports at the local video store (as per their signage, no refunds if you've got a region 1 only DVD player.)

  7. i dont understand the problem... by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Informative

    if the mp3's are on your nix box
    you want them to play in windows
    why not use Apache and winamp

    works great for me

    here's my playlist generator (not 100% on the MIME type now I see it here but it works in Winamp 3 Beta)

    #!/usr/local/bin/rc
    # rc is the unix port of plan9's shell

    echo Content-Type: audio/m3u
    echo
    echo [playlist]
    find /home/media/mp3/* -regex '.*3$' | sed 's/\/home\/media\/mp3\///' | awk 'BEGIN{i=0} {i=i+1; printf "File%d=http://devil.lucid/mp3/%s\nTitle%d=%s\nLen gth%d=-1\n", i,gensub(" ", "%20", "g"), i, $0, i} END { printf "NumberOfEntries=%d\nVersion=2", i}'

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:i dont understand the problem... by cyberkreiger · · Score: 1

      My /etc/apache/mime.types has "audio/x-mpegurl" for m3u-files.

      The "x-" part correctly identifies it as a non-registered mime-type.

      You'd probably be much better off making the script a daily (hourly?) cronjob that writes the .m3u-file, and have apache serve it like any other file. That would automatically give you the correct mime-type.

      And also, a question: Why use rc for that script when /bin/sh would work just as well?
      (I haven't used rc.)

      But the real problem in this "Ask Slashdot" is how to get the sound from the laptop over the network to the stereo which is connected to the linux-box.

      --
      Stumbling in the dark
      I hear slavering of jaws
      Eaten by a grue.
    2. Re:i dont understand the problem... by DrSkwid · · Score: 2

      You'd probably be much better off making the script a daily (hourly?) cronjob

      y, I had it like that before. I was fiddling with the Winamp3 beta and noticed that it had a playlist format I'd not tried. (.pls)

      the mime type is probably audio/pls for the sake of winamp. but like i said, it worked with m3u so no matter for now.

      rc - again, not really any big reason other than it's the one I used. I didn't want to paste in some /bin/sh script and it be wrong. It worked in rc so I knew it would be correct (and maybe pique some interest in rc :)

      Ah, the penny drop wrt to the ask slashdot.
      I'd do the same solution. Install Apache. More flexible than esound, esp. if you want to remain platform neutral. Maybe one day you'll have a wireless pda walkman or something. HTTP is almost ubiquitous.

      By using Apache here I have flexibility. I can request a streamed specific track, a playlist or a random stream. I even have one that can specifiy the bitrate for downsampling to save space on my mp3 walkman.

      I have clients that use Window95, 98, CE!, FreeBSD and plan9. All can get the mp3s and maybe play them (that darned CE).

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    3. Re:i dont understand the problem... by stevey · · Score: 1

      No he wants to send the sound from the windows box - not to it.

      (Besides if he wanted to stream MP3's he would be using my MP3 streamer, right? ;)

  8. JEsd by asincero · · Score: 1

    Try JEsd. It's a Java implementation of EsounD and actually works pretty well.

    -Arcadio

  9. Re:Cygwin ESD by EMR · · Score: 1

    The Cygwin ESD does work..
    but it only plays sounds from programs that support ESD... and if you enable the -tcp and -public args when you start it on the cygwin box.. you can have other computers (unix or cygwin) play sounds on the box runing esd..
    Though this doesn't really help if you want to redirect sound from NORMAL windows programs..

  10. Try Netcat by singelet · · Score: 2, Informative

    In our University we stream mp3's to each other using netcat. There is an implementation of it for windows which can be found at Pintday.org. Just set the computer connected to the stereo to listen on some port and then pipe the output of that to your favourite mp3 player. A command like : nc -l -p 5000 | mpg123 would make it listen on port 5000. Then on the windows box just set netcat up to stream the mp3 file to the listening box's port 5000. If some of this dosen't make sense drop me a message I will be happy to elaborate.

    --
    .tHE pRODUCT