Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 1.10, a Fedora-based distribution that turns an (old) PC into a network connected music server:

It has been a while since we released a new version of VortexBox and there are a lot of small fixes and tweaks in this new version. There are the usual updates such as a new Linux kernel and SqueezeBox server 7.6.1. There are also a lot of small updates such as increased UPnP player support. VortexBox now supports the latest Samsung TVs and the BeoSound 5 from Bang & Olufsen. We added a lot of user-requested features such as a one click restore button in the USB backup manager. We also added faster MP3 mirroring at the request of VortexBox users. This version has been tested with new products from Sonos and Logitech, including the new Play:3, to ensure these devices are fully supported. VortexBox 1.10 supports the new VortexBox Orbiter, a fanless player that automatically finds your VortexBox.

Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 1.2, a Fedora-based Linux distribution with the goal of turning an unused computer into an easy-to-use music server or jukebox:

“VortexBox 1.2 released. The VortexBox community has been working hard on this release. We have added a lot of new features to make VortexBox the best NAS for SqueezeBox. These include adding the new SqueezeBox Server 7.4.2 and fixing some critical bugs in VortexBox Player. VortexBox Player is now the highest resolutions (192/24) player available that is compatible with SqueezeBox Server (SBS). The new package manager allows new software packages to be installed from the GUI. The Sonos web GUI can now be installed from the GUI making VortexBox the best NAS for Sonos players. We have fixed the MP3 encoding with better support for genre and cover art that works well in all applications.”

Release announcement |  Download | Website

Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 1.0, a Fedora-based server distribution that turns an unused computer into a music server or jukebox:

“VortexBox 1.0 released. After several months of hard work we have released VortexBox 1.0. It has many of the features requested by the community including: FLAC to Apple Lossless (m4a) mirroring through the web GUI; MusicBrainz and CDDB used for ID3 tags; tool tips for each section in the GUI; Logitech SqueezeCenter 7.4.1 pre-installed and configured; software upgrade through the web GUI. VortexBox 1.0 also has a lot of bug fixes including better handling of existing cover art. You can update to this version from the command line.”

Read the release announcement and visit the project’s home page to learn more about this distribution.

VortexBox is a free, open source, quick install Linux distribution that turns your unused computer into an easy to use music server/jukebox.

Based on Fedora 10, VortexBox is capable of streaming in multiple formats allowing you to hear your music on your other computers, iTunes, media centers, slim devices like squeezeboxes and other network media devices (such as Logitech Squeezebox).

Once VortexBox has been loaded on an unused PC it will automatically rip CDs to FLAC and MP3 files, ID3 tag the files and download the cover art.

Features

• Convert an old PC to a CD ripper / jukebox / NAS in 15 minutes
• Based on Fedora
• Automatically tags all files from freedb.org
• Automatically downloads the cover art
• Automatic sharing of file to SMB (Microsoft) file shares
• Automatic reindexing SqueezeCenter after every CD is ripped
• AppleTalk – for OSX or bonjour for Windows
• DAAP – Automatically shares all MP3s for streaming to iTunes and Roku Soundbridge
• NFS – For Linux Boxes and almost anything else, Solaris etc
• DLNA – ushare pre installed to support DLNA players, xbox 360, etc
• Reads DHCP IP address to sound card using TTS for headless operation
• Easy installation of mplayer for AlianBBC support
• Works well as a backend server for XBMC (XBOX media Center) running on XBOX, widnows, OSX, AppleTV, and Linux