Play media off of a file server?

[IronGeek]

Hi all, what is the best way Play media off of a file server without having to copy it to your pda first? I want to be able access my MP3s and AVIs on one of my boxes. Thanks.

[dean_shan]

You could use Resco File Explorer and play the file that way. But then you can only play one file at a time.]

You can also make a shortcut to your media file via file explorer. Then once you have connected to the computer it is stored on WMP thinks that the shortcut is a file on your PPC. This is great for making playlists. The downside is you're gonna have a bunch of shortcuts in your My Documents folder.

[67stang]

as mentioned, you need Resco file explorer to view AND open/play files on a network. For whatever stupid reason, the file explorer in Windows CE just lets you view the directory listing, cannot actually open a document or play a file without copying locally.

I belive the new PocketMusic (check the news on this site, its a winamp looking player) will automaticlaly browse and show network media files, and play them.

Also, once you get all that resolved, like i did, then you will find that the wireless capability on the ppc's is pretty shotty and your media will buffer every 6-7 seconds, making listening to a song very annoying. next step... investigate streaming!

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Via WiFi, it works great!! Resco File Explorer is a great program, but it's not necessary. You can navigate to your servers using the out-of-box explorer as well... assuming you're using PPC2002.

[IronGeek]

I know you can use PPC2002 to get to the file, but you then have to copy it to the local space. Everyone else, thanks for the Resco File Explorer suggestion.

[dean_shan]

I know you can use PPC2002 to get to the file, but you then have to copy it to the local space.

You don't have to. You can use file explorer and make a shortcut(s) of the file(s) you want to listen to an MP3. Then you can either open the shortcut with File Explorer or open Windows Media Player and the shortcuts will be shown as Local Media on you PPC even though they are on a network drive.

[gwinter]

I shared the folder on my desktop, then use Netrunner (Resco File Explorer should do the same thing) to enable the "Network" folder and map the shared desktop folder into a folder inside the said "Network" folder. So now the shared folder appears just like a storage card, which means when i run WMP, it is able to find all the media files in the shared folder. I don't have to create other shortcuts. Isn't this the way it's supposed to work? :?

[IronGeek]

Thanks for telling me about Netrunner. Theres a lot of great free software out there for PPC, but alot of it is hard to find if you don't know what to look for.