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More Cringley on Linux Embedded Hardware Hacking
enrico_suave writes "I , Cringley on Linux hardware hacking (the good kind). Some neat points on what enterprising individuals are doing with Hauppauge MediaMVP streaming content settop box/client thingie." The story is mostly about Micro ISPs, including a few choice digs on Slashdot readers.
The famed router seems to be (unless I'm missing something) on sale for $66.49 at Amazon.com, and a $10 rebate is available as well, taking it down to about $56.49. Free shipping.
Pretty cool price considering most of your other options.
In the Cringely article, he mentions:
For one thing, it has hardware MPEG video encoding and decoding
I don't think this is correct. According the the Happauge site, the MediaMVP has hardware decoding, but does no encoding (it doesn't even have audio/video inputs, only outputs). They only talk about acquiring video in the context of their WinTV products, some of which have hardware MPEG2 encoders.
It still looks like a cool device for SDTV use. But, I am waiting for one that supports at least component 480P output (preferably 720P or 1080i) and digital audio output for DD5.1 support.
The link sets p=the+query and q=some other site. Clever but not enough.
and the Hauppauge MVP is among those on the list
"On Why You Should Pay Any Attention to Him
When it comes to information technology, I know what I am talking about. Twenty years in and around the PC business have earned me wisdom, if not wealth. It's not that I am so smart, but that my friends are smart. The best and brightest in Silicon Valley talk to me all the time. It's my job to sift through their thoughts for valuable bits to share with you. But wait, if I am so great, why is this service free? Good question! Maybe it's time to renegotiate my contract with PBS."
He's a sort of consultant/analyst person who appears on TV shows, writes books and more.
The web knows everything.
Looks like it just has tftp/bootp in ROM, so it can't run standalone. But at least that also means it's real easy to recover if you screw up!
It would be insanely great to get GDB set up to attach remote processes running on the MVP.
The forum below might have more of the information your looking for:
http://www.shspvr.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=38
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
But his name is wrong in the headline... :)
I have an MVP, and I wouldn't reccomend them. If Hauppage had used a CPU one model farther up the product line, they'd have AC3 decode.
The evening I figured out that all my MPEGs with AC3 audio weren't going to produce audio, I was very unhappy.
The video looked great, and people have even put together software to allow serving files from Linux, but without audio, its a waste.
Pinback
AFAIK, Hauppauge are now complying correctly, they've got the relevant Busybox sources, and also the kernel sources online.
What's not available are the sources to the IBM proprietary kernel modules for the STB25xx processor's hardware features, nor the client program that runs on the MVP once it's booted.
However some enterprising individuals have managed to figure out most all of the ioctl(2) interfaces to those modules, and also developed native player software that doesn't depend on the HCW supplied windows server software.
Personally, I've got a couple of these now, using the mediamvp plugin for VDR (the Linux DVB PVR system) to get both live and recorded digital TV distributed around the house.
The best link I know of for discussions on using Linux on the MediaMVP are the forums at http://www.shspvr.com/forum/
Cringely has been a long long long-time column writer for PBS. Back in the day, he was a nobody.
Then he did this movie, called Triumph of the Nerds, about Microsoft and Apple's foundings. You see, back then, he was still a tech writer, and he met with Apple in their garage, and knew Bill Gates when he wasn't worth much. He tracks them and personal computer's rise.
He is quite interested to technophiles, and that is a columnist's job. He gets people interested, reading, and writing about his ideas. He's probably the best technical writer around (I certainly think so - I started reading him around when the nerds movie came out).
If you haven't seen the movie, you may find it interesting, and free on PBS.