Using your VortexBox with a Macintosh, (OS X), computer - Basic Tutorial

Index

Part 1 Copying Your Existing Music to Your VortexBox
Part 2 Playing Back Your Music
Part 3 Using the VortexBox web interface
ipaddress Determining the IP (Network) address of your VortexBox on your network

This tutorial assumes the following;
  1. That your VortexBox appliance is plugged in & turned on
  2. It is connected to the same network as your computer/s
  3. That you have basic computer literacy
  4. That there is a device, (probably your ADSL or cable  modem/router acting as a DHCP server for your network.
If this is not the case, please consult with your computer support person & see http://vortexbox.org/documentation/setting-a-static-ip-address-for-your-vortexbox/ for details on how to give your VortexBox appliance a static IP address if your network doesn't use a DHCP server.

This tutorial is by no means complete or necessarily up to date, so we strongly suggest that you check the online documentation available online at  http://vortexbox.org/documentation/

There are 3 ways to play back music stored on the VortexBox appliance, they are;
1. Using a player that can play streamed music, ie Squeezebox Duet, Sonos player etc or some software on a computer, ie VLC, Winamp etc
2. Using the built in VortexBox player
3. Using iTunes on your computer

A decision needs to be made which way you intend to use as your mail method of playing back music, as this will affect where you copy your existing music to on the VortexBox appliance. All 3 methods can be used in simultaneously, but that requires a little more work.

Part 1. Copying Your Existing Music  to your Vortexbox appliance

1.



 Click on Go > Connect To Server. In the dialog box that opens up, (see above picture), enter smb://vortexbox & click on Connect

2.



In the dialog box that opens up, (see above picture), make sure files is selected & click on OK

3.



In the Authentication dialog box that opens up, (see above picture), don't enter anything, (leave both the user name & password blank), just click on OK. If this doesn't work, select the guest user when prompted.

4.



The double click on the music folder in the window that opens up, (see above picture), & another window will open up. There will be a number of folders which should include one called flac & another called mp3. You can now drag & drop your music from your computer into the appropriate folder, depending on what choice you've made about playing your music back.

Alternatively, if you trust your typing, :) , you can connect directly to to smb://vortexbox/files/music/flac or smb://ipadressof yourvortexbox/files/music/flac.

If you plan on using Options 1 or 2, copy all your music into the flac folder, (even .mp3 files). If you chose  Option 3, (iTunes), copy your music into the mp3 folder. Please note that iTunes can only play back .mp3 or apple lossless codec music.


Part 2. Playing Back Your Music


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Copyright 2010 VortexBox (Australia)
Last updated 12/9/2010
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