Last progress made: August 2 2003 04:50PM
Jan 13 2003
New source for the C serial contoller.
Jan 5 2003
The perl scripts to control the MP3 player are done, and available here
for download. The BETA of the rabbit 2000 (actually jackrabbit) control software
is available here.
You will also require MP3 and
the files here, and the
LCD Kernel Module in order to run the optrex display.
I would also suggest that you get yourself a copy of mpg123.
I am happy to announce that the MP3 player is making huge leaps progress-wise, and is nearly ready to deploy. I have almost finished a Perl script that will handle all of the faceplate controls, and control the mpg123 player using a FIFO pipe. I load the mpg123 program as background process, and send commands to load, fast forward, play etc...
I have also built a shuttle deck to hold the whole assembly, since my truck just got busted into AGAIN. Can't risk having the new stereo stolen can I?
Update for: Dec 6 2002.Just purchased a brand new Mini-ITX board and 12V power supply. The MP3 player lives! I have it playing back properly, and the LCD is now functional as well. Helen is going to design the faceplate (and a whole new console for the truck) for it, and I am hoping to have the thing built into the truck by the weekend (in a temporary form at least).
I am also writing a handler for the whole thing in PHP, which I plan to open source. Why PHP you ask? Because I plan to make the thing web controllable for when I bring it into the house, so that I can listen to the tunes I want without loggin in over SSH or something. I will also be making it monitor the serial port to watch for commands from the faceplate. Betcha didn't know that PHP was also a decent shell scripting language. Perl might be a better choice, but I am REAL rusty at Perl, and I want to be finished this weekend (EDITOR UPDATE: PHP chokes and dies for many simple unix related pipe features. Perl it is).
Update for: Oct 11 2002.Stupid fucking parallel port.
Tally:
Rules:
- Linux
- MP3's
- Optrex LCD's
- Me
- Work (The paying kind)
- 10 year old pentium boxen
Goddam am I a slacker! The last update to the MP3 player was mid August. Horrible.
Anyway, the MP3 player is now functional, and playing back songs as I speak. I need to go find a new network card though, since the current one has crapped out (I know what is wrong with it, but am too lazy to desolder the parts on a $20 NIC). There are only a few little perl scripts to complete and this thing will be ready to go!
I am going to put a lockable box in the back of the truck that will hold the thing so that I don't have to give up any cargo space in my already cramped cab. Look for photos on Tuesday when I bring the thing to work.
Update for: Aug 13 2002.
I promised I'd do it, and so I did. The mp3 player is in it's new home, and nearly ready for truck mounting. I have
placed the motherboard on some non-conductive nylon machine screws for mounting, in the hope that they will isolate some
vibration, as well as allowing for some misalignment of my drilling jig (there was some btw). The cards will be tied down
by a metal mounting plate that I will custom bend to fit all of the parts. The power supply will be mounted against the lid
where I have begun making the cuts (as seen in the first picture).
The second part of the modification will be to place the box somewhere in my tiny little truck. Since the system is a
completely self contained computer, I am sure that I will come up with some extra neat uses of it. I am thinking of adding
a 802.11b card to it and streaming audio at all times, as well as being able to upload from inside the house. I may even
stick a GPS card in it and have the system continuously snort for open addresses, and map them as I drive. Since I make
long trips every weekend, I am sure I will run into some interesting systems.
Well, I picked up some parts and pieces for the player today. I am going to be mounting inside of a 20mm rocket ammo case for the mp3 player case. Cool no? Update for: Jul 29 2002.
There is now a basic BOM available here.
The current design is completely bread board and wire-wrap based, so the gerber files are not available yet. I will be generating the gerbers as soon as I have tested for a few hours in the truck. Update for: Mid July 2002.
Forum discussion thread here: MP3 Player Forum.
Tunes in my truck sux0r. I have been listening to the same CD for months now, and Mike Patton is getting a little old now. I used to have MANY CD's, but some jackass stole them whilst I was mountain biking a couple of years ago. The good news is, I had already ripped all of the songs, so I have mp3's of everything. Bad news is, trucks don't play mp3 without serious intervention.
Solution?
1x Poor ass at mobo +
1x Power regulator (homebuilt) +
1x Laptop hard drive +
1x Home built steel case +
==========================
MP3 GOODNESS!