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DIY linux-based MP3 player Appliance
An anonymous reader submitted "LinuxDevices.com has just published an interesting how-to article about converting a GCT-Allwell set-top box into a linux-based TV set-top MP3 player. As a helpful aside it does useful things like email and web browsing through your TV. Looks like a fun project. A related article shows how to turn the same set top box into a router."
The Allwell 1030n is a National Semiconductor Geode based machine, not the Celeron that he claimed he bought.
Go to the Allwell website and look up the STB1030N from the products pulldown. Right now, they're selling these things for "router appliances" and really cheapo set-top boxes. In the router appliance arena, they're not too bad; in the set top box arena, they're weak (though usable for many things.).
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
The Apple player is nothing more than a Nomad or the like (No real big deal, and it was LAME of Apple to make one of it.).
This article is about an overview of a hacking project for people to do- big difference.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I have been "running" a group for a while now (almost a year old) dedicated to the task of hacking the Acer NT-150 set-top box - this box was intended for an actual service that never made it during the .com era - a lot of people have put a lot of work into getting this box to do things it wasn't meant to do.
Go to my site, follow the links, and see what has been happenning (actually, the mailing list archive is the most useful and up-to-date - I haven't had a lot of time to update the site for a while, but the majority of stuff is there as well).
While not an "MP3" playing powerhouse, there has been a ton of hack value...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Why, if you want a set-top mp3 player (why I have no idea) don't you just buy an Apex DVD player and burn mp3's on CDs? It works quite well. And why, if you need a router, don't you just BUY one? There's plenty out there that are actually DESIGNED to be routers, and some are very good deals.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."
AC's cheerfully ignored
Uh, did you even read the article closely?
1) It's not as simple as plugging a HD in, despite the availability of an IDE header- the box can only accomodate a laptop HD at best. It also needs a special cable to adapt the 40 pin to the 44 pin on the HD (and you DON'T have a standard power header for the standard interface either...)
2) He used a Disk-On-Chip instead of an HD.
3) $299 gets you a box with a Fansink and a nifty space heater with a moving HD and NO TV interface- or you spend $299 on an embedded system with no moving parts whatsoever and a TV interface built into the box.
4) It could be argued that this could be a hack as there's at least a few of these boxes floating about that were shipped as set-top boxes (I know, my employer used to sell the boxes, rebranding them for people like NetFrontier, etc.)
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Many many of us did this and have been using our GCT allwell mp3 players (and Divix players) for over 1 year now. but we weren't robbed by GCT allwell for the tune of $500.00 for the box, we paid $59.95 for the exact same hardware (sans the ethernet) from compusa called the websurfer pro.
:-)
Dont do the Disk on chip route, stuff a 20 gig laptop hard drive in there and store the mp3's on that. (Or 2 of them for 40 Gig of storage.)
Me? I added a hollywood+ mpeg card and use my box as a movie on demand system... now to get a server with a couple of tv tuner cards to record tv shows and pipe them to the allwell box for later playback
Oh and the article is no-where near a step-by-step to getting an mp3 player running, it only covers really basic steps to getting linux on the Disk on chip.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
About a year and a half ago, a company tried selling these rebadged thru Comp USA as "Websurfer Pros". At first, they didn't make you sign an activation contract, so you could get them for $50 out the door, for a 233 with 32 and and Disk on chip.
See: http://www.linux-hacker.net/websurfer/ws.html
A friend of mine had one of these- it's an OK piece of hardware, but not anything to write home about, when you can pick up complete PPro systems for under $100, which have none of the space and configuration limitations of that slimline formfactor (limited expansion slots, small case, etc). As a set-top, it's underpowered, for my taste. The IR keyboard (at least the one that came with the WSP) is nice, tho. TVout is decent, also. The WSP also did not have the built-in ethernet.
Note that you also can't swap out the CPUs on these beyond the Cyrix MediaGX processor (it has on cpu video and sound).
--I hate people when they're not polite -"Psycho Killer", Talking Heads
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Nice product. All you need to do is add a two port 10/100 NIC in the PCI slot, like this one (for a mere $275) and you can even have it manage a DMZ.
::grin::)
(we'll refrain from mentioning the Quad port NIC for $600
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
Perhaps it would make more sense to use an industry standard OS such as WinCE
Thank you, thank you, thank you. After beating a shitty VB app around for three days for nought I needed a good laugh!
The clue is the MB1030 Ver 2.0A on the motherboard. (BTW, My current employer is responsible for the design and software that was on those- it's QNX based for that model, subsequent models used our own homegrown Linux distribution...)
I've got 5 of these things sitting on the floor of my office right now. There's more elsewhere in the space- it's my understanding we're planning a fire sale on these and a few other things on EBay shortly.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Go away. Geeks appreciate the value of a coherent sentence expressed economically and grammatically using precise language.
The DMCA absolutely does not prevent this. It's your hardware. You own it. You aren't stealing their code, or breaking anyones copyright protection system.
Just for fun and geek value, I'm working on an old 486 to play mp3's, by sticking it into my stereo cabinet and plugging it into my home network.
The challenge? I don't want a keyboard or display plugged in. Sure, I could work something out with a wireless keyboard, but here's what I'm doing instead:
I'm taking an LRP distribution, stripping out much of the networking stuff and adding mpg123. By streaming mp3's to specific ports on my server, I can have mpg123 play whatever is streamed to it. And no moving parts after it boots.
The only user interface, then, is the floppy itself. I can stream drum 'n' bass to one port, house to another, techno to another, etc. By choosing the right floppy, I select which stream I listen to.
I haven't gotten very far (this isn't a top priority for me right now), but I'm convinced it'll work. I just gotta get around to running more Cat5 through the house...
It now reads like it's supposed to.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
What's the difference? It would just get converted all to analog before it hits the speaker wire anyways...
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
This is to be a component. It should function as reliably as your cd changer. 'May not be hugely reliable' pretty much rules out an OS that is to be used for a consumer electronics style interface. Particularly since there was to be a car version. What will you say when you crash your car because you were trying to play an mp3 when your os hung?
This is a box that you might stick on top of your 5x100 watt receiver in an enclosed space - do you want the os to be unreliable?
Yes, the DMCA clearly states that you cannot wipe your ass without having microsoft's permission in triplicate.
Did you happen to notice this was not a cable box? Does your cable box have a 10/100 Base T Ethernet connection? RCA stereo out? 256 MB Ram?Keyboard and a mouse? Does it run Microsoft Win95, 98, NT, WinCE, RTOS QNX, Citrix, and Linux?
And let me guess.... you own a cable ready tv or vcr and you've never realized you don't need a set-top cable box (unless you have A/B channels).
You would want a 24 bit soundcard.... why? Because 24 is higher than 16? To play what? What mp3s are you going to find where that would matter? What level of encoding are you going to use where you'll be able to hear the difference between playback on a 16-bit versus 24-bit soundcard? MP3 is a lossy format, the bottleneck in quality will be in the mp3 files, not the sound card. Even the software you use to play back the mp3s will probably make a much bigger difference in the perceived sound quality than the 16/24 bit difference. Not all mp3 playing software is equal.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Go ahead and mod me down; why did I earn that Karma if I can't blow some once in a while?
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Reading about set-top boxes got me thinking...
Seems like a while back there was a post about building your own really small rack-mounted servers. I was wondering about resources for building things like your own cases, perhaps resources on packing components into smaller spaces. I'd love to build a small PC-in-a-shoebox for set-top general use.
My sigs always suck.
Well hers something that might catch your interest. I live in NY (outside Manhattan) and get digital cable along with my broadband from Time Warner. The digital cable comes with these new boxes with serial USB, firewire and some other goodies as well. The model is a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000, and I have been having much difficulty finding any of the real specs on this thing.
Jeremy
Because It is insanely overpriced.
Trying to get a group of people to hack and design the software for a device is not achieved by raping them hard on price.. Developers cant afford to spend more money than a nice SMP server costs just for hacking on something that may dissappear next week. Sell them to developers at cost or a loss, then you'll get a large group working on them... Oh and if your cost is that high? close the doors and start business elsewhere.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
this guy purchased the box (for $500) you can buy an audiotron for $275, which is database driven... but has no display
This is an MP3 player. NOT a ripper.
.shn shorten file format which is lossless and does make files smaller, don't know much about it.
You would load mp3s onto an mp3 player, from the net, your harddrive, whatever. But they would have to be already in MP3 format. You would NOT rip them from a cd, not in the player at least. You could do that on your computer, where you might want to have a 24 bit soundcard. You'd then load them in thru the ethernet connection. MP3 DOES have to be a lossy format. It is by definition. It doesn't have to be an AUDIBLE difference, but data IS lost - that's how it makes files smaller than wavs. Lossy isn't a dig, or a synonym for lousy, it's a technical description. There are lossless formats, MP3 is not one of them. If you convert a wav to an MP3 and then back into a wav, the second wav is not the same as the first, data has been lost. If they were the same, it would be lossless. What software are you using for ripping? What size are your files? 24 bit soundcards and mp3 are an unnecessary combination... if you need professional sound quality you need uncompressed audio, if you don't then the 24 bit quality will be totally lost in the resulting mp3.
For the most in-depth coverage of the MP3 format, including comparisons of encoders, file size, actual audio tests, etc. go to r3mix.net By the way, if all you care about is quality and not size, just don't convert to MP3. Seriously, 320 bit MP3's don't offer enough size savings to make the conversion worthwhile. There is a