This tutorial will show you how to remotely control Grooveshark (running on your PC) from your Android phone.  It may not be the “prettiest” of solutions, but it does the job until a more elegant Remote Control app is created.

What we are doing here is basically setting up an SSH server that your Android phone will connect to in order to control Grooveshark. A similar solution should be possible for other Operating Systems and Mobile Devices, you will just have to find an equivalent SSH Server for your computer, and an SSH client for your mobile phone.  It is also possible to control Grooveshark anywhere in the world (using your cell carrier instead of WiFi), you just have to correctly forward the ports on your router (and probably sign up for Dynamic DNS).  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry… keep reading.

Difficulty:  Intermediate

Requirements:

1. An Android phone with WiFi
2. A Windows-based PC
3. Grooveshark VIP Service ($3/month)

Steps on PC:

1. Download and install Grooveshark Desktop (https://vip.grooveshark.com)




2. Download and install the Grooveshark Desktop Helper application (http://preview.grooveshark.com/GSDesktopHelper_Win.exe).  This application should also allow you to use your media buttons on your keyboard to control Grooveshark Desktop.




3. Go into the Grooveshark Desktop Options inside of GS Desktop (click on your username on the top right corner, and click on “Desktop Options”).  Make sure that “Enable Global Keyboard Shortcuts” is CHECKED.




4. Download WinSSHD (Free for personal use:  http://dl.bitvise.com/WinSSHD5-Inst.exe).  This is the server that your phone will connect to in order to control Grooveshark.




5. Run the Installer with the following settings:







6. When the installer finishes, find this screen, and click on “Start WinSSHD”.  You can now close out of the WinSSHD windows then (but make sure it is still running in your system tray).



7. Create a new .txt file by running Wordpad, saving it as a “Text Document” called “GS playpause.txt”




8. Put the following text in the file, using your Windows Username, Password, and Computer Name (do not put the parenthesis in the file):

##title = GS playpause

#set ssh_password (PASSWORD)

spawn ssh (USERNAME):(PASSWORD)@(PCNAME):22

#spawn ssh (USERNAME):(PASSWORD)@(PCNAME):22

send “echo playpause >> c:\users\(USERNAME)\appdata\Roaming\GroovesharkDesktop.7F9BF17D6D9CB2159C78A6A6AB076EA0B1E0497C.1\locals~1\shortcutAction.txt”

exit 0

If you need help with filling out the Username, Password, or PC Name, see below.  Remember to take out the parenthesis from the example above.  The path used is also only for Windows Vista/7.  If you have Windows XP, see Troubleshooting.




9. Create other files, replacing “playpause” in 3 places:
   1. The filename
   2. ##title = GS playpause (1^st line of file)
   3. echo playpause (right after “send”)

Other commands you can use:  next, previous, stop, mute, volumeup, volumedown, shuffle.  You can find all of the commands available here:  http://grooveshark.wikia.com/wiki/External_Player_Control_API_Docs

You can create as many files as you need to control what you would like to do.

Steps on Android phone:

1. Download the app “Lazy Geek” from the Android Market (Free… more info here:  http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-elegion-gui-qBBm.aspx).  This app is the client to the SSH server that was just installed on your PC.




2. Copy all the .txt files we created on your PC to the “Lazy Geek” directory on the SD Card of your Android phone.  This tutorial shows you how to copy files to your Android phone:  http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/07/29/how-to-copy-music-to-your-android-phone-from-windows.  You just have to copy into the “Lazy Geek” directory instead of the “Music” directory like they say there.




3. Turn on WiFi on the phone, then run Lazy Geek.  You should see something like this:






4. Click on any of the commands, and you will see the code running, and the action should be performed by Grooveshark!  Once the code has completed running, simply press your “Back” button to go back to the list of commands.

That’s it!  Please comment here if you are having any issues…

Troubleshooting:

If you are having trouble with the username/password part, you may need to create a new user on your Windows machine (as an Administrator with a password).  This tutorial can show you how to do that:  http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial153.html

If you don’t know the name of your PC, you can find out by going to Start -> Run, and typing “cmd”.  When the prompt appears, type in “ipconfig /all” and press Enter.  Your PC Name should be listed as the “Host Name”.

The path that you should use on Windows XP is this:  “c:\docume~1\(USERNAME)\applic~1\GroovesharkDesktop.7F9BF17D6D9CB2159C78A6A6AB076EA0B1E0497C.1\locals~1\shortcutAction.txt“