- Download the trial edition of Touchpad Media Server and run it.
- If your computer doesn't recognize .msi files, follow these steps.
- If you get a message saying that you need to install the .NET framework, download and install this first, and then go back to step 1.
- If your computer doesn't recognize .msi files, follow these steps.
- Once you've got everything installed, go to the Start Menu, then click on Programs > Touchpad Pro > Touchpad Media Server Trial. You should now see this (although you'll currently be running the trial version):
- There's one final option you'll need to set -- choose the player your want to control: iTunes, Winamp, Generic and Windows Media Player.
- iTunes or Winamp: These will give you the best user experience for the time being. These players support all the 9 buttons on the media remote, as well as graphical updates of the currently playing song, and you can even drag the knob to skip around in a song. Even if the player isn't currently open, it will automatically be launched -- and even if it isn't the currently highlighted window, it will still respond to the media remote.
- Generic: Use this setting to control ANY media player (such as Media Center, Windows Media Player, etc.). This will make the media remote buttons act like the media buttons on your regular keyboard / laptop. Play/pause, next track, previous track, stop, and the volume buttons will all control whatever media player is currently in focus. Fast forward and rewind will trigger the left and right arrow keys, while the rest of the buttons act as regular media buttons. There is no visual feedback on your device's screen, which makes the media remote act purely as an input device (unless you activate ScreenView). Depending on your media player, the volume buttons will either control the global volume on your computer or the volume of the media player.
- Windows Media Player: With this option selected, your media remote will control Windows Media Player -- if it hasn't currently started, it will be automatically launched, and if it's not the currently focused window, it will still respond to the media remote. However, I haven't gotten it working to the point where you can seek around in a song, or even get the current track name or volume setting. Because of this, there is no visual feedback on your screen -- the media remote will act purely as an input device (unless you activate ScreenView). You can use the Play/Pause, Stop, Next/Previous Track buttons as well as the volume buttons -- note that the volume will only be set in Windows Media Player.
- iTunes or Winamp: These will give you the best user experience for the time being. These players support all the 9 buttons on the media remote, as well as graphical updates of the currently playing song, and you can even drag the knob to skip around in a song. Even if the player isn't currently open, it will automatically be launched -- and even if it isn't the currently highlighted window, it will still respond to the media remote.
- You now have two options to connect: you can either use Touchpad Pro, or you can use any web browser.
- Using Touchpad Pro
To connect with Touchpad Pro, follow these instructions. If you've already set up a server, go to the server settings page by clicking on the blue arrow next to your computer name (e.g., mediapc), and enable Media Server (this is the default value). When you connect, you'll have the extra media functionality enabled. Tap the remote button to get access to the media controls. - Using a Web Browser
This is useful if you don't want to jailbreak your device, or if you have a different smartphone with a web browser. The web location is indicated by "Touchpad Web Access" on the screen. In the example shown above, you would point your device's (iPhone / iTouch / Windows Mobile) browser to http://192.168.3.33:6000
If you have connection issues, go through the steps in the Windows Troubleshooting Guide.
Once you are sure that Touchpad Media Server works on your computer, and if you want to remove the one minute limit on server connections, you can buy the full version.
