Speaking of jemplode, why can't I play songs like on emplode. The buttons are there but greyed out???
Make sure you are using the latest bleeding-edge .JAR file from the Jemplode site. Old versions of Jemplode didn't have those buttons working. They are now working in the latest versions.
but yet I can't tell what song is next from emplode.
There is no method that I know of which can report the raw current-running-playlist data back to the PC. There is a way to do it with the serial port, but that only gives you the current song information, not what's coming next.
Right now, the "next" song can only be seen on the player's "Now and Next" information screen. And this is where it might help you: If you install Hijack, then install CharcoalGray99's latest XML style sheet, you can then see the player's screen echoed in a web browser and remote control it from there. That will allow you to see what's coming up next if you set the player to the "Now and Next" info screen.