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Section 1. Overview

This section describes the overall structure of the Dudebox product to give you a solid basis for understanding all of its functionality and features. This also includes a discussion of device and operating system compatibility.

The Dudebox package is composed of two main groups of software components: the Dudebox Manager core, and a set of applications that run on top of that core. This set includes the primary Dudebox Explorer interface, Dudebox Xtreamer web access, and TrueStream playback to 3rd party MP3 software. The following sections describe the role of these components.

1.1 Dudebox Manager

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The Manager is the core component of Dudebox that detects, connects, and communicates with your Jukebox device. Dudebox Manager must be running for Dudebox Explorer to work. For that reason, the Manager is started at Windows boot-up and we recommend that you leave it running for easy access to your Jukebox.

Dudebox Manager provides the underlying functionality for all the application-level aspects of the Dudebox package, including the main Dudebox Explorer interface, Dudebox Xtreamer web access, and TrueStream playback to 3rd party software.

When you're not using Dudebox, the Manager consumes very little resources and stays out of your way. In light of Dudebox Explorer's tight integration with Windows, the presence of the Manager, we've found, is the best way to ensure stability and ease-of-use. When you try to exit Dudebox Manager, you will get a warning dialog saying as much. If you wish to disable this warning dialog, enable the "Do not ask to confirm when existing Dudebox Manager" option on the General tab of the Dudebox Manager Options dialog.

Dudebox Manager appears as icon(s) in the "systray", which is the area on the right side of the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of your desktop:

If you right-click the icon, you'll bring up the Dudebox Manager menu:

Right-click an icon for the menu.

The menu will always have at least these items at the bottom:

Dudebox Manager Options... - Opens a dialog where you can set Dudebox Manager's various options.
About Dudebox Manager... - Displays the version of Dudebox Manager you are running.
Exit Dudebox Manager - As mentioned above, you should usually leave the Manager running, but if you really need to close it, this menu item will do it.

When Dudebox Manager is running, it is listed as "dudemgr.exe" in Windows Task Manager.

1.2 Dudebox Explorer

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Dudebox Explorer is the part of Dudebox that is actually integrated into Windows Explorer. Dudebox Explorer communicates with your Jukebox device through the Dudebox Manager and it is the main user interface with which you'll interact.

The screenshot above shows a typical Dudebox Explorer window. Its various functions are described in detail in Section 3.

When Dudebox Explorer is running, it is listed as "explorer.exe" in Windows Task Manager.

1.3 Dudebox Xtreamer

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Dudebox Xtreamer provides web-based access to Jukebox devices. Using Xtreamer, you can browse your Jukebox through a web interface and stream and download contents. Xtreamer supports local and remote access across a LAN or the Internet. The main Xtreamer page looks like this:

Dudebox Xtreamer can be accessed through any standard web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Xtreamer is discussed in detail in Section 8.

1.4 TrueStream

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TrueStream is a feature of Dudebox Explorer that lets you stream music from your Jukebox and play it through your favorite MP3 software such as Winamp. This makes it easy to enjoy your Jukebox music through your computer's sound system without having to hook up extra cables when you dock your Jukebox to your computer. Section 6 describes TrueStream in detail.

1.5 Compatibility

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1.5.1 Devices

Dudebox Explorer currently supports the following Jukebox devices:

Dell DJ 30 (New Second Generation, 30GB)
Dell DJ 20 (New Second Generation, 20GB)
Dell Digital Jukebox (First Generation, 15GB and 20GB)
Dell Pocket DJ
All capacities supported.
Runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP.

1.5.2 Operating Systems

Dudebox Explorer currently runs on:

Windows 98
Windows 98SE
Windows ME
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP Home
Windows XP Professional

Because Dudebox Explorer is integrated with Windows Explorer, your Windows "shell" must be of a certain version to work properly with Dudebox. To check, just look at your Internet Explorer version using the "About Internet Explorer" item in its "Help" menu. As long as IE is 5.0 or higher, your Windows shell will have everything Dudebox needs to run. Note that you don't have to use Internet Explorer as your normal browser, or even to use Dudebox Xtreamer; it just has to be installed.

If you use Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, you'll need to have Windows Media Player (WMP) 7.0 or higher installed for Dudebox to be able to read tag information. If you only use MP3 files, you don't need WMP.

Although Dudebox also runs on the server versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP (aka Windows Server 2003), some users have reported some issues with the Dell drivers (not related to Dudebox) on these platforms. Our guess is that the Dell drivers are only certified for single-user versions of Windows (a reasonable limitation), and so may have some bugs with the server versions. That said, you might not run into any issues at all. But if you have a choice, and all other things are equal, a non-server Windows is a safer bet.

Once in a while someone will ask if Dudebox runs on Windows NT4. Although Dudebox probably runs fine on NT4, the point is moot because without full USB support, NT4 can't even connect to your Jukebox in the first place. It is time to upgrade your OS! :-)