D-Link DSM-320, Linksys NSLU2 and TwonkyMedia

For the last few years I have been running a combination of tools that allow all my digital media (.mp3’s, .jpg’s, .avi’s, etc.) to be easily served up on my home theater.

Until very recently, the toolset required a fair bit of knowledge to keep up and running with the latest versions of the various pieces. There were some growing pains, however recent updates have made things much easier to setup, to the point where others may be looking to do that same sort of thing.

The basic components are

- D-Link DSM 320 Media Player (Use the 520 for HD sets)

- Twonky Media Server running under Debian on a NSLU2

With the NSLU2 now supported by Debian Etch, and both Twonkmedia releasing updates to the server, and D-Link releasing updates to the hardware decoder, everything seems to be working just great. Previously, I had started with the ARM-BE version of Debian, only to eventually switch to the ARM-LE version. Both D-Link and TwonkyMedia also released versions of their firmware and software that solved various playback jitter and codec issues. All of this has amounted to what appears to be a great media system that automatically indexes whatever we happen to drop in the media directory (via Windows or Linux). The other large benefits are

- Debian based (Stable/Secure, Access to other packages)

- Low power (14W, no moving parts + USB Hard Disk)

- Small profile (Fits in the small space next to DVD player)

Both the NSLU2 and D-Link are tied in through a wireless hub to the rest of my home network, allowing for the file sharing with other computers (NSLU2) and automatic firmware updates (D-Link).