Building an MP3/DVD Box for the Home Audio System? 22
" There's a few problems I need to solve to be able to do this.
First is the case to put the harware on. I've been looking for a case that's roughly the height and width of a 1U or 2U rackmount case but just 13'' or 14'' deep. It should have room for a standard motherboard, a hard drive, a DVD-ROM, and a front-mounted LCD.
To put inside this case I'd need a motherboard with Ethernet 10/100 and video-out included (to have less boards hanging around), and a reasonably good soundcard. As for CPU and memory, anything should do if it doesn't generate too much heat. This setup shouldn't need a fan, to avoid noise in the room.To interface to the thing I'd like to have a wireless keyboard of some kind with a trackball and a IR remote interface. For the IR remote I think I can use lirc's plans to build a small IR receiver but I would still need to find a way to mount such receiver on the front of the case.
To drive all this I'd need proper software. Linux and X are the base options I'm most confortable with, but I still need the software to browse and play my MP3 collection and playback my dvd's (OMS?). Doing some Web browsing would be nice too but that seams easy enough to do with any regular linux browser.
Finaly I would like it to be cheap to build. Any help will be appreciated."
Why kludge it together when you can buy it? (Score:1)
- A.P.
--
Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?
Ground Loop (Score:1)
a link or two.. (Score:1)
http://www.egtechnology.com/bookpc/bookpc.html [egtechnology.com]
Re:a link or two.. (Score:1)
Media Box (Score:1)
the dude there is working on software that does similar things...
have a look at this... (Score:1)
It does the Tivo thing too...
I'm currently trying to scrape together a box to do the same - but I'm trying to find an off the shelf case that's small enough. Looks like I might have to make my own though.
This is what I'm looking at.. (Score:1)
Anyone had any experience with this particular box? the $300 bare price is a bit offputting, but it's so nice and tiny.
I have just such a box. (Score:1)
Re:Look this up (Score:1)
Re:Ground Loop (Score:1)
If you can't do this with your setup, get a ground loop isolator or audio suppressor at any home audio/electronics store (I think even Radio Shack carries them).
Make your own case! (Score:1)
Just customize the cabling, perhaps use a dremel to poke a few holes for a network jack and video outport, then rig up a motherboard with a square-angle PCI riser and your favorite sound/tv-out cards. Add a hard drive and fit the cd player's tray into the existing door slot, and POOF! near-instant stereo component PC.
(note to self : stop answering trivial ask-slashdot questions)
Use a Mac (Score:1)
If you didn't want to use the Mac itself, the case would still be pretty useful if you could find a PC motherboard that included all the components you needed onboard.
Suggestions. (Score:1)
I would say, build it your self or have it built. Easy to say I know, but the options are limited and building/having a housing unit built to custom specs can be an advantedge. Go visit your local machine shop, or some place that deals with metal sheeting etc. I'm sure between the two of you, you can plan something out. A while back slashdot mentioned an Athlon system built to fit in a backpack, the Athlon part wasn't to fascinating, but he custom built the casing and found some interesting components, mainly the PSU.
Go check out plycon.com, in there Keyboard section they have a mini-86 key keyboard that includes 2 button trackball, It's also IR based. Perfect eh? Tell Tony Night0wl sent ya, I need more brownie points with the guy.
Components are up to you however. Only thing I would really mention is to be sure your HD is quiet. I can deal with the consistant hum of a fan, but the grinding of a bad harddrive can get on your nerves.
I wouldn't eliminate a fan my self, there are fans out there with excellent CFM / dB ratios out there. Panaflo's come to mind, available at Plycon.com, caseetc.com, and I do believe pcmods.com
Interface I'm not certain of, someone else will need to supply ideas there.
allwell iDVD3036 (Score:2)
http://www.gctglobal.com/Products/iDVD_set_top_bo
This is the box you want! Its only anounced on /. every other week.
Specs:
Main Board Processor
x86 Pentium Media GXM 233MHz
Memory
64 MB SDRAM
TV-Out On Board
Direct NTSC/PAL output
Audio
16 bit 3D surround Sound Onboard
LAN
Realtek 8139 10/100 Base T Wake-On-LAN
IR Interface
Yes (Optional)
Flash Disk
Support DOC 4MB to 144MB or Disk on Module
Expansion Slot
2 PCI (1 x PCI/ISA shared) and PC104(ISA) socket
OnBoard IDE
2 x Ultra DMA33
Floppy Disk Connector
Yes (Desktop type)
I/O Connectors
2S, 1P, 2 x USB, PS/2 Mouse, PS/2 Keyboard
BIOS
Award BIOS, DMI, PnP Green
Power Supply
65W, 5V, 12V ATX
Software Support
Microsoft Win95, 98, NT, WinCE, RTOS QNX, Linux
Modem
V.90 PCI Topic 56K Modem
DVD ROM
DVD ROM
DiskOnModule/DiskOnChip
16MB
MPEG-2 Decoder
Sigma Design EM8400
Re:a link or two.. (Score:2)
But, they do run linux (not sure if the video out works. Never got that far.) Heck, there are even drivers on the install CD that came with it (although, if memory serves, they merely duplicate some drivers in the kernel sources).
Another solution... (Score:2)
One thing that popped up in our discussions about how we could play MP3s, and still have power to do other things (or at least play MP3s at a higher quality) was the concept of using the NT-150 as a client, and streaming the MP3s off a server, over the network interface, then piping the resulting audio to the sound card.
None of us have done this yet, but we did manage to find a few GPL'd bits of code that supposedly do it (links are on the site). Basically, you have a back room server doing all the decoding, and the client merely handles the redirect to the audio device, which uses very little processing power. I would imagine that a similar method could be used for other streams as well (though it would probably require a much better CPU than what is in the NT-150).
You might also look into this company [thinknic.com]...
They make a machine that has OK specs, and can probably do what you need it to do, is pretty cheap, and looks to be PC standard based. Not sure if the low price ($199) will get you a machine with normal video out, or only VGA, and I don't know whether you have to have the internet service they provide or not to get the deal - but might be worth looking into.
One other thing - a few months back
Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!
I'm planning on the same thing... (Score:2)
BeOS... (Score:2)
Use CL-Amp [tripnet.se] for the tunes, go and grab an IRMan [evation.com] and BeInControl [tripnet.se] for the remote control, and you're set. CL-Amp also has a bunch of plug-ins that support LCD displays, monitors, etc... check BeBits [bebits.com]
The only downsides are that BeOS can be a little fussy about hardware (/me = Asus P2B-S, SB-Live Value), and that Samba support is, erm... well, it's there, but it didn't work for me; but BeOS can happily mount your CIFS shares (or ftp in/out, or telnet in/out, ...)
FWIW, I just used a standard Abit desktop case (hidden, quiet fan), with only the IRMan exposed...
What about adding a Tivo/ AVI playing support. (Score:2)
I'm looking at the same thing. (Score:3)
Here's what I'm looking at:
Add a small hard disk, a read-only linux image, and you are good to go. The hardest part will probably be getting the video out to work under linux. I haven't been able to find any references online. :)
They even make a small case [advantech.com] and power supply [advantech.com], here, but the case is a little ugly. The power supply doesn't appear to have a fan though.
I'm using an earlier version of the board as the basis for my car-based mp3 system. Works really well. Can't say anything about the PSU, it became available after I started with my system.
Jason PollockLook this up (Score:3)
Heat - Get an old Celeron and underclock it to about 100Mhz. That should give you more processing power than you need for mp3s (I don't know about DVD, though) and consume less power than a 486 - don't need a CPU fan.
Form factor - you can try to find used NLX form factor boards and cases. Some NLX mobos come with Ethernet and TV output built in which is ideal. Sometimes they come with sound but you are probably better off getting a better sound card. The only problem with NLX is that you might have trouble finding a board that will let you underclock. Don't know.
A few links (Score:4)
Here are some useful links I found while doing my research: