This tutorial will show you how to stream your iTunes music library to your Wii through the Opera browser. The Opera browser can be download to your Wii for free from the "Wii Shop Channel." This tutorial will work with both a Mac and a PC.
Things you'll need:
*Nintendo Wii with Opera Browser Installed (free from the shop channel)
*iTunes
*MyTunesRss (once free, but now they are charging $22).
Let's get started:
- Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer.
- Make sure you have the latest version of the Opera browser installed on your Wii.
- Download and install MyTunesRss (select your operating system on the right hand side of the page and the download will begin).
- When you start MyTunesRSS for the first time, it automatically starts searching a file named "iTunes Music Library.xml" in all directories inside your user home. You can cancel this process in case you want to select the file manually or you don't use iTunes at all.
- To get started you need to configure at least one data source, i.e. either the "iTunes Music Library.xml" or at least one watch folder. The previously found "iTunes Music Library.xml" (if any was found) is already configured. To select your own music library source click the "Directories" tab and under the iTunes box click the "..." button. From here browse to where ever your Library.xml is stored on your computer. I also configured a watch folder. To do so click the "+" button next "Watch Folders" box. Point that window to look at your iTunes music folder.
- Then you need to do at least one initial database update. Under the "Database" tab you can trigger this update manually or you will have to check the option for doing this automatically when the server starts. You can also configure automatic updates at fixed intervals while the server is running.
- Now you need at least one user. Go to the user management tab and create a new user. Enter a username and password and check the permissions for the user. You should start with a user with all permissions and no download and zip archive limit. (You will not be able to download music or videos to your Wii...I already tried)
- After creating the user you can start the server. The server is started and MyTunesRSS checks if it is reachable and if there are any tracks in the database. If your server is up and running, you can test the web interface.
- Open a web browser on the same computer that is running MyTunesRSS and enter "http://127.0.0.1:8080" in the address line. After a few seconds you should see the login page. Enter the username and password for the user you just created and click the login button. You should see the portal page. MyTunesRSS is working correctly now.
- Before you leave MyTunesRss click the "Server" tab once more. Next click on the "Server Info" button. When the pop window appears look in the "Internal Addresses" window. Write one of them down (in my case it will be "http://192.168.10.147:8080" - see picture below).
Configuring the Wii:
- Load the "Internet Channel"
- Click on the "WWW" icon
- Enter in the IP address you wrote down in step 8 of "Configuring MyTunes RSS " into the address bar. In my case it was "http://192.168.10.147:8080"
- Enter the username and password for the user you created earlier and click the log in button (I also clicked "Remember Me"). You should see a portal page. Congratulations you can now stream your iTunes music to your Wii!!!
UPDATE: Making MyTunesRSS more Wii Friendly
65 comments:
It looks like I can't play iTunes purchases on the Wii. Is that accurate? It seems to load them, but not actually make any sounds.
I don't have any music that I purchased from iTunes (all ripped cds). I think it might have something to do with the file type because certain songs don't work for me either.
My internal address says "could not be determined".
How can i change that.
I'm not sure about that one. You might want to check their forums:
http://board.codewave.de/
or send them an email:
http://www.codewave.de/support/
thanx i'll do some research
Sounds great, but i don't use itunes so I need to install it in order to try it. Anyway, i've been using another program called Orb, that allows you to stream photos, music, video, tv signal and even a webcam's video to any web browsing enabled device. That includes cellphones, computers, palms, XBOX360, PS3 and Wii. I've used it with the wii, streaming my webcams signal, videos and music. It works good, but i have to set up my firewall so it allow incoming connections, but it works quite well.
If you wanna try it, look at www.orb.com. Once the app is installed and your account has been set up, just point your wii browser (or any other system) to mycast.orb.com
At least, Orb works great for me and has a lot more features than iTunesRSS
Thanks for the great tip letsan. I also saw Orb, but doesn't it cost money? I'm a college student who doesn't have that...haha
Brilliant.
I'm glad to see this works, but is there a way to get it to be readable on the Wii? It's pretty impressive, but I can't read the songs on my TV.
Onemhz, that would have been 100% accurate a couple of weeks ago. Now, it's mostly accurate, but more complicated. Apple is now offering (from the few labels willing) DRM-free music (which you can play just fine on a Wii - or any device for that matter). However, the greater part of there catalogue (due to stupidity on the part of the record industry) is still very DRM-full. If the music you have purchased happens to be among the songs now offered without DRM, Apple will let you upgrade to twice the bit-rate (and no DRM) for $.30.
Is there any way to stream video to my Wii using this software?
don't think video is possible. sorry
Orb is 100% free, and it streams video as well. They even made their site Wii friendly!
hii,
thanks for sharing this tip. now i can listen my playlist all the time...
Best Regards,
Eliena Andrews
http://visitformoney.blogspot.com
as far as I can tell Orb only runs on windows - mytunesrss is a mac application. You could try the redkawa media centre:
http://www.redkawa.com/mediacenters/wiimediacenterx/
Wait, but when I configure orb it only checks top level directories, it doesn't look in the subdirectories of the my music and my videos
mytunesrss runes on mac, windows, and linux
Thanks for the great info, all worked fine til i tried playing the songs on the WII, and it gave me a memory error, guess I need to invest in a sandisk card...
Very nice! I guess I will try this on my wii (once I actually get it).
I guess this would work on the ps3 too, so I definitely need to try it.
has anyone gotten the "server cannot start" error? How do i fix this?
I got the same response... not really sure what to do. Hopefully I can find out why its not working.
Ah tis me again and I fixed the could not start error. It seemed to be something to do with my firewall not being turned on? Strange.. but it works. Hope you can find out your problem too.
1) Orb works on the Mac
2) Mytunes RSS is streaming the music directly over your network as opposed to Orb which is over the Net. Big difference.
thanks for the firewall tip, you'd think that turning it on would cause the headache
The MyTunes interface loads perfectly on my Wii, but no songs will play in the flash player. Looks like they load, but then there's no audio. My library is all encoded as AAC, as opposed to MP3. Could that be the problem?
yeah i think they have to be mp3's. i've had that problem with some of my songs as well. sorry man
you have a great blog. i am glad i came here! keep up the good work
This is FANTASTIC! The only problem I have is with playing larger mp3 files (like Howard Stern show). I get a memory error. Why is that and is there a fix? The files are only 24k, so they aren't that big, but bigger than a normal song. Everything else works GREAT, though.
For whatever reason I can't get my Wii to load the address. It just gives me a blank screen and tries for 10 minutes before failing. I've got all the latest versions (on a mac) of everything so I'm not sure whats up. Anyone got some thoughts?
are you trying to use the ip:
http://127.0.0.1:8080
if you are don't. you need to use one of the internal ips from the "server" tab
No, i'm using the IP listed under the server tab, in the "internal address" box, I already tested it out in my browser on my laptop and it works just fine
I just steal my music! lol
hey thanks for that, worked for me on windows with itunes and 320kb mp3s
bengigli, try opening up port 8080 in your firewall (System Preferences: Sharing: Firewall: New...that's what I had to do to get my Mac to allow other users on my network to login to MyTunesRSS.
when ever i try to load my whole library it says there's a flash memory problem. is the wii just not capable of letting me browse all my songs?
Eric I get the same thing.
MyTunerRSS works on my Wii!!!
A few things I've noticed while using it on my Wii:
- Opera browser has a bug that happens if you try to zoom in much, that makes it hard to see the playlist while playing.
- I've got an error about my Wii's memory while trying to play a few long playlists.
It also works great on my laptop, it plays the track with JetAudio perfectly!
Thanks for the tip!
Jake & Jenny, thanks for all the help so far. Still can't make a damn thing happen on my Wii. I tested it out on a couple of other computers (roommates laptops) through IE and Firefox and it works just fine. I've got the latest version of the Opera browser on the Wii, so I'm totally stumped.
I've just tried this (great tuorial), but all i get is a white screen with line of text for each song/playlist that i select?!
When i try to start the server I get a "the server couuld not be started. please try again or send a support request" error. im a mac user, and i followed the steps perfectly. anyone know whats going on?>
I'm getting the same problem as bengigli... I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with my router or port settings.. Sadly, I don't have the necessary information to get into my router (username/password), so i guess i probably won't be able to use it? =[
works for me. brilliant. thanks! too bad the flash player is black on white. white on black would be better for my tv.
It will work with non-DRM files, but if you wanna play your iTunes purchases, you're SOL unless you own an iTV
If you have a Wii, could you please send a photo or two of the TV screen to "info@codewave.de", so I can see myself what it looks like (since some people say the interface should be larger on Wii/TV).
Michael
can someone with a wii please send some screenshots to the codewave software people at:
info@codewave.de
it seems like they are making a software update to make the interface more wii friendly.
thanks
now i can hear the music from ares in my wii its easy im mexican n i dnt now too much english n i can do it
Hi everyone with a Wii. I just created a quick hack to check if this is what you expect. If you have a Wii and use MyTunesRSS, please download "http://file-store.codewave.de/mytunesrss_wii.zip" and unzip it. It contains a single file called "mytunesrss.css". Go to your MyTunesRSS install directory and then (on Windows or Linux) open "data/webapps/ROOT/styles" and replace the original "mytunesrss.css" with the new one you just downloaded. On OSX you need to display the package contents of the MyTunesRSS application and then please simply search for the file in this folder. Please make a backup copy of the original one first. Then restart MyTunesRSS and access it from the Wii. I know it looks rather broken now, but what I need to know is if the font size would be what you expect. If it look the same as before you might have to clear the browser cache on the Wii. Please post your experiences here or mail them to "info@codewave.de". Thanks for your help!
So how about us Linux users eh?
What do you mean? The above hack works for all versions of MyTunesRSS and optimizes the output for TV in general. But please note that it is just a test, it increases font sizes but nothing else, so it makes the interface look broken.
Thanks to the people who sent photos or even videos of MyTunesRSS in action on the Wii. Now I know what to do to improve it on TV displays in general, but this won't make it into the 3.0 final release. Version 3.1 will definitely have multiple profiles for the web interface display.
This is kind of pointless, as you could just use your pc to play music instead.
If you can hear audio from your PC loud and clear in every part of your house, then this hack isn't for you.
For people like myself, and most others posting here, this is an awesome idea that takes advantage of hardware we already own for OTHER purposes (see also: gaming) and adapts it to perform as a streaming audio center.
My PC is in a room on the other end of the house from my Wii, and this hack is brilliant. Hardly pointless.
after i loged in on the web i tried to click on "browse library but safari said it couldnt connect to the server. is this normal? i have a mac with mac os x version 10.4.9
I have the same problem as Andy "I've just tried this (great tutorial), but all i get is a white screen with line of text for each song/playlist that i select?!" Did anybody find a solution. I can see all the tracks on the Wii but can't hear anything is a problem with MP3's?
Grateful for any info,
Mac
Well I finally got it to work with the update, not sure why it works now, but I'm finding the exact same issue as Mac, with the ability only to get long lists of all the songs in black text running endlessly on the screen but no music. Unfortunate, it sounds like everyone who's gotten it working are really digging it.
I entered the only address that shows up on the internal addresses on the browser on the Wii and nothing happens....RSS worked great from this computer but nothing on the wii, can I get some help from a brotha?? lol
Having the same issue with it showing a lot of text on the screen after hitting play but no player coming up. Has anyone found a solution to this? Brings up playlists etc.
This should be at the top of the tutorial: THIS WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT A LICENSE FILE ($22 USD). The license file is required for the Flash player to work; without the flash player, there is no streaming.
Well, you are right that the tutorial should be updated. The reason for the initial statement is that the beta releases have been completely free as MyTunesRSS has been for about a year. It has become Shareware with the final release of v3.0 on July 1st.
How do i play my songs on my wii???
I've got Mytunes installed correctly and i can view my songs but what do i click to play them?? plz help me out here!
You are probably using the free version. You need a license to use the Flash player. Just download a trial license from the Codewave website and check that your MyTunesRSS user has the Flash player and the playlist permission.
Michael
You guys want Miimusic. It's free, works like a champ, has a hot, shadowy dancing chick as a background...and it's free.
Did I mention that it's free?
www.miimusic.com
ORB DOES NOT WORK FOR MAC!! THERE'S NOT EVEN A MAC DOWNLOAD ON THEIR HOMEPAGE. MAYBE IT WORKS IF YOU'RE ON AN INTEL BASED MAC AND YOU'RE RUNNING WINDOWS. BUT THERE IS NO OS X DOWNLOAD ON THE PAGE AND IN THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT OS X ANYWHERE. ALL WINDOWS.
If you are interested in new features, please visit http://board.codewave.de and have a look at the EAP (early access program) section for MyTunesRSS 3.1!
Great new for all Wii owners. Please visit http://board.codewave.de and download the latest EAP version for MyTunesRSS 3.1 and help us testing it. The latest versions includes AAC to MP3 transcoding, so you can not only play your MP3 files but also all your AAC files in the Flash player.
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