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Build Your Own Set Top Box

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-want-my-hdtv dept.

Kon writes "There is a lot of talk lately about how Divx and other type codecs will spawn a new industry upsurge in the manufacturing of player hardware. But what is the purpose of buying hardware when you can build your own? The only limitation is the software, but projects like Media-BOX and the Divx Project will hopefully change this ;-). And why stop with Divx, when you could potentially use this cheap home-made box to handle everything from games to HDTV (via HD tuner board) to Mp3s? Food for thought." Media-Box is Windows only, but its a long ways along. And that divx site, well, I can't read it. But this stuff is looking really excellent. I'm still itching for the Linux equivelant. I wrote a decent MP3 wrapper, but still want the online browser/tivo/mp3/dvd box. Its inevitable, but it won't happen soon enough.

2 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. How to build your own set top box. by Shoeboy · · Score: 5

    Ok, first off you're going to need some sand. Lots of sand.
    Next get some bauxite ore and some copper ore. We're going to use aluminum interconnects, so the copper will only be used for the motherboard.
    First off, take the sand and use it to form a silicon wafer 12 inches in diameter. (Note, previous versions of this howto specified 8 inch wafers - these will work, but your cost/chip will be much higher.
    Next, purify the bauxite ore to create an ingot of pure alluminum.
    Ok, now we're ready to create the general purpose microprocessor at the heart of our set top box. Using the alluminum, the wafer, a magnifying glass and a laser pointer, create a 6 issue wide superscalar 64 bit microprocessor with at least 256 KB of l2 cache. For best results, try to keep the feature size at .18 microns or below. You may have to try a few times to get this right.
    Be sure to have a very clean environment for this as microprocessor cores are very succeptible to dust. Your garage is not suitable unless you give it a thorough cleaning first.
    Now that you have the microprocessor, the next step is to package it. It is important to use a pin grid array rather than a ball grid array as you may wish to upgrade the processor later.

    *rest of guide clipped for space reasons, but you can get the latest version from the linux documentation project.*

    --Shoeboy

  2. One question by Flarg! · · Score: 5
    If the average joe builds his own set-top box, will it still have a flashing "12:00"?

    You want corn? I give you corn.

    --

    I may be wrong, but I'm never uncertain.