mpfree player project

CREDO · 29th May 2005, 6:50 PM

This was my test comp out in my shed. I just use it for backing up peoples computers before i fix them etc.
I have recently got a newer second hand one to play with so my father in law wanted me to build the old one into an mp3 player for him.

So far this project has cost bugger all, the whole thing is made up from cobbled parts, so far all for free.

500mhz celeron (from dead ibm MB)
Motherboard (from a buggered gateway pc)
128mb of ram (god knows where that came from)
20gig hdd (donated from someones upgrade)
PSU (from the netvista)
Network card (no idea where i got that)
The dvd player case i got for free asking around at repair shops for anything they were going to throw out.

I still have yet to mount a slim line cd rom in-place of the dvd player drive (free cd rom from dead ibm netvista)
I plan to cut a window of some sort and light the inside.

I am retaining all the play/skip/pause buttons from the dvd player on the front to work through a usb keypad using winamp. The power button on the front is the only thing done so far.

I am replacing the screen with a simple 16X2 green backlit LCD, still have to finish hooking that up yet.

I grabbed a heap of green LED's from http://oatleyelectronics.com/leds.htm and ran five arcoss the front and a couple down the sides for the under case lighting. also going to be used inside. I hate cathodes. they piss me off. Its LED's all the way from now on.

I have shortend the ATX cable down to about 3 inches long and then sleaved everything.

Its going to be able to run without a keyboard/mouse or monitor. just power up and walk away, playlists and mp3's can be edited across the network.

Click to view full-sized image

Click to view full-sized image

Thats it so far, still a fair bit to do yet even though it doesnt look like it.

xinzhitan14 · 29th May 2005, 7:04 PM

love the Green lights , good work mate

anything else you going to do to it?

CREDO · 29th May 2005, 7:08 PM

I got interupted and hit submit before typing anything.. hehe.. editing now.

xinzhitan14 · 29th May 2005, 7:31 PM

lol, does your psu have SATA connectors? (if so then did you sleeve them?)

yeah what are you going to display on the green backlit LCD on the front? would be cool if it showed the name of the song paying in winamp LOL.

cant wait to see the finished product, keep on going.

stroggos2k · 29th May 2005, 7:33 PM

I love the sleeving, nice work.

SteakTheMooCow · 29th May 2005, 7:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinzhitan14

lol, does your psu have SATA connectors? (if so then did you sleeve them?)

yeah what are you going to display on the green backlit LCD on the front? would be cool if it showed the name of the song paying in winamp LOL.

cant wait to see the finished product, keep on going.

mmmm, that could be done with a cheap screen maybe? 16x2 LCD?

keep up the good work though

CREDO · 29th May 2005, 8:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinzhitan14

lol, does your psu have SATA connectors? (if so then did you sleeve them?)

Naa it doesnt have any fancy stuff like that

Quote:

Originally Posted by xinzhitan14

yeah what are you going to display on the green backlit LCD on the front? would be cool if it showed the name of the song paying in winamp LOL

Yeah thats the idea. and hopefully a graphic equaliser of some sort.

xinzhitan14 · 30th May 2005, 8:24 PM

yeah that would look REALLY cool and make it REALLY loook like a mp3 player lol, but the lcd would be hard to hook up to show winamp titles or stuff like that , right?

CREDO · 30th May 2005, 8:31 PM

No not really, there are a few guides around that detail how to hook a simple lcd display to your printer port and then just run a winamp plugin to display the song titles etc.

classic_ben · 30th May 2005, 9:46 PM

Great Idea on finding the case, was interested in a similar mod bit was not able to get something that would look at home in a Hifi setup.

When you do the buttons on the DVD player would you be able to put up a guide for the others here who are interested? Thanks

CREDO · 31st May 2005, 12:02 PM

Well im hoping to butcher a usb keypad because the motherboard is usb only. i havent tried it yet, still have to buy a keypad yet. but ill see how we go.

SteakTheMooCow · 31st May 2005, 1:38 PM

what brightness are the LEDs? are they the 10,000 mcd ones?

CREDO · 2nd June 2005, 3:20 AM

yup, the camera makes them look a bit brighter than they really are, but they are very bright and give off a good glow under it.

CREDO · 13th June 2005, 5:59 PM

Managed to get a bit of work done today.

The slim cdrom/floppy combo drive ripped from an old netvista needed a bit of work, The floppy was dead so that got discarded.
The plugs were set up to go straight up, which would prevent the top of the case from closing (its still a tight fit anyway), so i cut off the IDE plug and re aligned it. I broke a pin or two and had to re-solder them back on.

Click to view full-sized image

Tested and working.. thank god.

Click to view full-sized image
I just have to make up a bracket to mount it on, and its good to go.

I also cut the window and side grills. still have to clean it up a bit and repaint yet.

Click to view full-sized image

Thats it for today, should get a bit more done tomorrow.

xinzhitan14 · 13th June 2005, 6:08 PM

ohhhh i cant wait to see this . lol. will look freaken sweet. good work so far mate.

29th May 2005, 6:50 PM	#1
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	mpfree player project (finished) This was my test comp out in my shed. I just use it for backing up peoples computers before i fix them etc. I have recently got a newer second hand one to play with so my father in law wanted me to build the old one into an mp3 player for him. So far this project has cost bugger all, the whole thing is made up from cobbled parts, so far all for free. 500mhz celeron (from dead ibm MB) Motherboard (from a buggered gateway pc) 128mb of ram (god knows where that came from) 20gig hdd (donated from someones upgrade) PSU (from the netvista) Network card (no idea where i got that) The dvd player case i got for free asking around at repair shops for anything they were going to throw out. I still have yet to mount a slim line cd rom in-place of the dvd player drive (free cd rom from dead ibm netvista) I plan to cut a window of some sort and light the inside. I am retaining all the play/skip/pause buttons from the dvd player on the front to work through a usb keypad using winamp. The power button on the front is the only thing done so far. I am replacing the screen with a simple 16X2 green backlit LCD, still have to finish hooking that up yet. I grabbed a heap of green LED's from http://oatleyelectronics.com/leds.htm and ran five arcoss the front and a couple down the sides for the under case lighting. also going to be used inside. I hate cathodes. they piss me off. Its LED's all the way from now on. I have shortend the ATX cable down to about 3 inches long and then sleaved everything. Its going to be able to run without a keyboard/mouse or monitor. just power up and walk away, playlists and mp3's can be edited across the network. Click to view full-sized image Click to view full-sized image Click to view full-sized image Thats it so far, still a fair bit to do yet even though it doesnt look like it. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project Last edited by CREDO; 26th December 2011 at 5:07 PM.

29th May 2005, 7:04 PM	#2
xinzhitan14 Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: +9:30GMT Posts: 2,361	love the Green lights , good work mate anything else you going to do to it? __________________ Digital Art by xinzhitan14

29th May 2005, 7:08 PM	#3
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	I got interupted and hit submit before typing anything.. hehe.. editing now. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project

29th May 2005, 7:31 PM	#4
xinzhitan14 Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: +9:30GMT Posts: 2,361	lol, does your psu have SATA connectors? (if so then did you sleeve them?) yeah what are you going to display on the green backlit LCD on the front? would be cool if it showed the name of the song paying in winamp LOL. cant wait to see the finished product, keep on going. __________________ Digital Art by xinzhitan14

30th May 2005, 8:24 PM	#8
xinzhitan14 Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: +9:30GMT Posts: 2,361	yeah that would look REALLY cool and make it REALLY loook like a mp3 player lol, but the lcd would be hard to hook up to show winamp titles or stuff like that , right? __________________ Digital Art by xinzhitan14

29th May 2005, 7:33 PM	#5
stroggos2k Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Rozelle, Sydney NSW Posts: 6,308	I love the sleeving, nice work.

30th May 2005, 8:31 PM	#9
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	No not really, there are a few guides around that detail how to hook a simple lcd display to your printer port and then just run a winamp plugin to display the song titles etc. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project

31st May 2005, 12:02 PM	#11
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	Well im hoping to butcher a usb keypad because the motherboard is usb only. i havent tried it yet, still have to buy a keypad yet. but ill see how we go. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project

31st May 2005, 1:38 PM	#12
SteakTheMooCow (Taking a Break) Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,070	what brightness are the LEDs? are they the 10,000 mcd ones?

2nd June 2005, 3:20 AM	#13
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	yup, the camera makes them look a bit brighter than they really are, but they are very bright and give off a good glow under it. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project

13th June 2005, 5:59 PM	#14
CREDO Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Perth, 6027 Posts: 728	Managed to get a bit of work done today. The slim cdrom/floppy combo drive ripped from an old netvista needed a bit of work, The floppy was dead so that got discarded. The plugs were set up to go straight up, which would prevent the top of the case from closing (its still a tight fit anyway), so i cut off the IDE plug and re aligned it. I broke a pin or two and had to re-solder them back on. Click to view full-sized image Tested and working.. thank god. Click to view full-sized image I just have to make up a bracket to mount it on, and its good to go. I also cut the window and side grills. still have to clean it up a bit and repaint yet. Click to view full-sized image Thats it for today, should get a bit more done tomorrow. __________________ Everything I know about cars, I learned from Top Gear The Phantom project - Mpfree player project - Mame Project Last edited by CREDO; 26th December 2011 at 5:08 PM.

13th June 2005, 6:08 PM	#15
xinzhitan14 Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: +9:30GMT Posts: 2,361	ohhhh i cant wait to see this . lol. will look freaken sweet. good work so far mate. __________________ Digital Art by xinzhitan14