PC Integration WD044-1-2 3/23/2010 PC Integration A Guide to Using FireBall with Windows XP 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Table of Contents FireBall to PC Networking Basics .......................................................................................... 3 Overview ................................................................................................................................ 3 Requirements......................................................................................................................... 3 Connecting to Your FireBall ............................
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 FireBall to PC Networking Basics Overview With the Network File Sharing feature built into FireBall, you can access your FireBall from your PC using your home network. Having access to your FireBall allows you to do things like backup your music files, import music files from your PC to your FireBall, remotely control your FireBall from your PC, and share your FireBall based music with iTunes and the Apple iPod.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Connecting to Your FireBall FireBall uses a type of file server commonly called “Windows Networking” or “CIFS/SMB”. CIFS/SMB networking found in most Microsoft operating systems and allows PCs to connect and share files over a network. Setting up the FireBall Server Before you can connect to your FireBall you must configure FireBall’s server settings. Follow these steps to configure your FireBall server: 1.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Accessing the CONTENT Volume from your PC To access your FireBall’s CONTENT volume which contains all of your music files, click Start>Run, type \\ and the Fireball’s IP address or server name, and click OK. You may use the Fireball’s IP address and server name interchangeably in most cases. Example: suppose you named your FireBall “MyFireBall” in the Server Settings screen, you would then enter \\MyFireBall in the Run prompt, and click OK.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Backing Up Your FireBall Once you have successfully created a shortcut to the FireBall’s Content volume on your desktop, you now have access to the music content contained within the FireBall’s internal hard drive. Having access to this affords you the opportunity to backup your FireBall’s music collection.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 4. Go to your Backup drive and select Edit>Paste. 5. All of the items in the current selection will now be copied to the backup drive. Depending on the size of your music collection, this may take a while to complete. The FireBall will transfer about 5GB of data per hour (120GB a day). At this rate, it will take approximately 2 and a half days to backup an entire 300 GB drive over an Ethernet connection. 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Automated Backups If you are going to add new music or edit the contents of your FireBall frequently, it is recommended to setup an automated backup system. Based on an assigned schedule the contents of your FireBall that have been added, deleted, or edited will be copied to the backup folder on your computer.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Profile Setup: Configuring the backup profile consists of assigning a source (Fireball) containing the Fireball’s music library and a destination (i.e. external hard drive) where to backup the music library to. Source: The source location can either be address by the Fireball’s server name or IP address. Within the Escient user interface you can locate and assign the Fireball’s server name within Setup>Network>Server Settings.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Simulated Run Confirmation: Once the backup profile has been created you will be prompted to perform a simulated run. This is not required at this time; select “No”: Skip Differences Window: Check “Skip Differences Window” within the preferences menu otherwise you will be prompted for confirmation before each backup. Automating the Backup: You may now choose to schedule the backup process to be performed on a set schedule.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Windows XP - Blank/Empty Password Restriction: You may be prompted to remove the following restriction; select “No”: Set Password: Click “Set password” and enter the password that corresponds to your windows login to allow the backup process to run when the PC is on but a user is not currently logged in: Defining Backup Schedule: The backup process can be schedule to run on a daily, weekly, and/or monthly basis.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Schedule Settings: By default “Stop the task if run for…” is selected within SETTINGS tab when defining the backup schedule. It is advised that this be unchecked in order to avoid any interruption in the backup process. Schedule Confirmation: Once an appropriate schedule has been defined click “OK” to apply the schedule. You will be prompted with a confirmation which outlines the assigned schedule. If everything looks correct; select “OK”.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Integrating with iTunes and iPod FireBall supports iTunes and iPod integration through the FireBall Network File Sharing feature described above. Once your PC is connected to your FireBall over the network, you can access FireBall’s music and use it from iTunes and sync it with your iPod. Please read the section Connecting to your FireBall before proceeding to make sure that you can access the FireBall’s CONTENT volume from your PC.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Follow these steps to import your FireBall music content into iTunes: 1. After creating a link to the Fireball’s CONTENT volume on your desktop, open iTunes on your PC. 2. Select Preferences… from the iTunes menu 3. Click the Advanced icon in the toolbar to display the Advanced Preferences panel. 4. Make sure that Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library is NOT checked.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 5. Now double-click on the Content shortcut we created on your desktop earlier. You may choose to select/highlight your entire Fireball music library (Edit>Select All) or just select individual artists, albums, or tracks to be accessed within iTunes. Drag and drop the selected music files/folders from the Fireball’s CONTENT folder to the iTunes browser window. 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 6. Wait while iTunes scans the selected music tracks and adds them to the iTunes Library. Note: This may take an extended period of time to complete depending on the size of the music library. 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 7. When all your music tracks have been imported, the iTunes browser window will display the music content from your FireBall, including cover art! You can now access your FireBall music from iTunes just as if it were located on your PC. Creating iTunes Playlists Now that your FireBall music has been added to the iTunes Library, you can create iTunes Playlists.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Burn CDs from iTunes Again, since your FireBall music has been added to the iTunes Library, you can burn CDs directly from iTunes Playlists on your PC. Playlists can contain any combination of music available in the iTunes browser, no matter where it actually resides. In iTunes, you burn a CD from a Playlist. Create a Playlist in iTunes with the songs you want on your CD, then click the Burn icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Music Tagging and the PC What is a Tag? Most digitally encoded file formats allow information particular to each file to be embedded within the file itself. This information is referred to as metadata and is included within what is known as a tag. A tag can include a multitude of information of which can contain but is not limited to artist, album, track, year, genre, and cover art.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 3. Select Convert ID3 Tags… from the Advanced menu. 4. When the Convert ID3 Tags dialog is displayed, select v2.3 from the drop down menu, then select OK. 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 5. The ID3 tags within all of the selected songs will be converted to v2.3 and thus compatible with the FireBall. Note: Because the CONTENT volume is a read-only volume, you cannot edit anything. You must first copy any files you want to edit onto your PC and then import them back into your FireBall, replacing the originals. Please see the section Importing Music Into FireBall for instructions on how to get your music files into your FireBall using the IMPORT volume.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Importing Music Into FireBall FireBall’s CONTENT volume is read-only, which means you can’t write to it or use it for importing music files from your PC to your FireBall. There is a way! FireBall actually provides two server volumes, one for reading your music collection and one for importing your music collection. The difference is that the IMPORT volume is a writeable volume while the CONTENT volume is read only.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 (unprotected) content “iTunes Plus”. If you’ve previously purchased content in a protected format, Apple will allow you re-purchase this content in iTunes Plus format for a few additional cents per track. Each track’s file extension will end in .m4a if it’s in a compatible, unprotected AAC format. However, if the track ends in a .m4p extension (protected) or is in AAC lossless format then it is not compatible.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Importing your Music Files Once you have access to the IMPORT volume, simply double-click on the IMPORT shortcut and drag-and-drop any Fireball-compatible music files into the empty IMPORT window. The files will be copied to FireBall and added to the FireBall Music Library. You can drag and drop whole collections, a folder of songs, or just a single song.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 6640 Intech Blvd. Suite 250 Indianapolis, IN 46278 317.616.6789 phone 317.616.6790 fax www.escient.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Note: The IMPORT directory may contain special “cache files” in it if you have previously imported music into your FireBall. These files are just temporary cache files that appear to be the original music files, however they are not. They are just temporary “stub” files that indicate what you previously imported into your FireBall. You can delete these files without actually deleting the originals which physically reside on the CONTENT volume.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Controlling FireBall through your Web Browser FireBall contains a built-in web server capable of serving web pages specifically designed to control almost every aspect of the FireBall from a standard web browser.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Controlling Your FireBall The FireBall Web Client Interface is the graphics and control system web pages that appear in within your web browser. From this web page, you can control almost every aspect of your FireBall, just as you would from the original IR remote and TV. You will notice that unlike the TV user interface, there are buttons along the left and right edges of the web browser. These buttons duplicate the features found on your remote control.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Using Custom Backgrounds In addition to the Escient Classic user interface theme, the FireBall allows you to select preloaded custom themes or even select your own background images for each Guide, Player, Options, Setup, and Message screens. You can import your own background images into the Backgrounds shared directory using the Fireball’s file sharing interface. Background Image Requirements The image requirements are the same for 4x3 or 16x9 backgrounds.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Click “Yes” to place a shortcut to the Fireball’s Backgrounds volume on your desktop. Double-click on the Background shortcut we placed on your desktop and drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste your images into the Backgrounds volume. Assigning Imported Background Images After importing your custom background images, using the handheld remote press SETUP, select GENERAL, and select USER INTERFACE SKINS. Select and place a check mark next to CUSTOM and SAVE.
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Using the Photo Screen Saver FireBall Media Manager products with built-in hard drives provide a Photo Screen Saver feature, which allows custom photos or images to be displayed whenever the screen saver is activated. Photo Image Requirements Photos are authoatically scaled horizontally and vertically depending on the current video format (4x3 or 16x9) to reach the top/bottom or sides of the screen. FireBall automatically reserves .
PC Integration WD044-1-1 3/23/2010 Click “Yes” to place a shortcut to the Fireball’s Photos volume on your desktop. Enabling the Photo Screensaver In order to enable the photo screensaver to display your imported photos/images press SETUP on the handheld remote, select GENERAL, and select SCREENSAVER. Select PHOTOS as the desired type of screen saver.
