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MP3 Player Made From a Router 76

Posted by Roblimo from the fun-with-breadboards dept.
gergoid writes "Check out this mp3 player hacked onto a small router. The router runs uClinux/ColdFire, a port of Micro-controller Linux on a ColdFire processor. Very neat toy!"
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MP3 Player Made From a Router More

MP3 Player Made From a Router

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  • I thought that Cisco was working on or using an embedded Linux kernel for some of their products, maybe not uClinux but something.

    The heck with putting a Linux boot floppy in that beast, for a real kick put in a Win95/NT floppy!!?!! Now that would be truly wierd.
  • When I first read it, it made perfect sense to me. I have a video card that is pretty noisy electrically, and if I put it anywhere near the soundcard, I get a terrible hum on the output.

    The moral of this story is: always put your sound card as far away from everything else as possible. or get a card with SPDIF out, and use it.
  • I'm quite amazed at how basement embedded systems projects are finally taking center stage. A couple of months ago it was the tiny webserver which I thought was phenomenal but to utilize a router as a mp3 player is quite interesting. I guess I should dust off the EE degree and put it to use. This project just proves that with a little creativity any hardware is useful when it comes to linux, embedded linux. Good stuff.
  • I was about ready to bow down to a great master who understood the inner workings of nature and the universe. I was ready for you to teach me that video and audio signals are really the same thing just interpretted in different ways. In a word I wanted to learn about context... but then I realized you had made a typo.
  • a 486 100 or better with *nix & mpg123 or amp will play mp3s just fine. i expect dos & dosamp would work equally well.
  • Be kind, rewind.
    Stan "Myconid" Brinkerhoff
  • neat hack, but why bother for 8 bit mono sound?
    Other then pointing at it and going 'neat' it's useless.. I'll listen to tapes before I go back to the Soundblaster8 days..
  • 90 Mhz should be enough to run it, since its probably got a lot less overhead, since its not running a GUI or fullblown operating system.

    My 83 Mhz motley former compaq box ran winamp playing mp3s at full 128Khz just fine. You couldn't do anything else though.


    kaniff -- Ralph Hart Jr
  • It's not really that impressive considering the PUMP (Parallel Universal MP3 Player [mp3pump.de]) project has been out for some time. With it you can even play MP3s using an old crappy XT. (Their recommendation is a 286 at 10Mhz!)

    Fact is that MP3s can be decoded easily by special integrated circuits. The reason why MP3 playing eats so much performance on Intels is that they do not have the appropriate functions. (Apparently you have to use X commands and complicated calculations to decode the stream)

    PUMP however, you plug it onto the parallel port and off you go!

  • But OOH, that ROUTER! (Score:4)

    by OmniGeek ( 72743 ) on Thursday October 28, 1999 @04:56AM (#1581948)
    I find the router itself WAY more interesting than the router-as-MP3-player.

    I've long been looking for a low-cost dedicated router/firewall suitable for a cable Internet connection, and this box looks VERY nice (assuming it doesn't cost five times as much as a cheap desktop PC); the Moreton Bay people appear to have done a Neat Thing, even without the optional MP3 output.

    To those who question the article's relevance, I say that the router is a worthy story in itself. Consider the following:

    1) NO ONE with a cable connection and a Windoze PC is safe from script kiddies; the OS just isn't safe. If you have a cable 'Net connection, you need a firewall.

    2) Configuring a firewall isn't for the typical PC user, or even for many Linux newcomers. Proper security is tricky. Botched security is worse.

    3) Here's a widely useful Open Source based device that does tricky tasks a less-than-expert probably can't do. And oh, by the way, Mr. User, that's Linux running your router and keeping the barbarians out. The Penguin Army marches on!
  • For the IR remote control, check out LIRC [uni-sb.de]

    I've got the box in my stereo stack, and I'm planning on getting the remote working. Then check out the LCD displays at Linux Central [linuxcentral.com]. What more could you want?

    GRH
  • I pride myself on being able to write almost any kind of software in almost any language on almost any platform, but sometimes I come across an article like that and I realize that there's people out there, who make me feel like a bloody newbie. Very nice. The coolest MP3 player yet.
  • Those who are interested in building an MP3 player running Linux should take a look at http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/bchafy/mp3.html [neu.edu], which has lots of similar projects.
  • So when will I be able to get an mp3 player in my electric toothbrush?
  • wow, this could be a very cool way to deliver sydicated content to radio stations.

  • This is pretty impressive for such a low power CPU - a Motorola Coldfire @ 90MHz. My old 586-120 wouldn't play MP3s with that low CPU usage (62%)

    I bet everyone will want a kit one to make a MP3 player out of. What I want to know is:

    How can I telnet into a Nomad MP3 player? That would be cool! *S* ~joke~

  • you may not beleive me now.... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    or maybe you will, but anyway, im working on an mp3 player VHS tape heh, basically its an mp3 player inside of an empty VHS tape cassette, that you put in your vcr and hit play and it sends blank video data (black screen) and then plays the mp3 on the audio part... sofar it just makes weird noises, but ill get it sooner or later! im also gonna try to make it have some visual thing to it, maybe it will display the current song, or do some FX , i dunno yet, but when its finished, or good enough for people to see, ill set up a webpage for it

    - MP3 d00d
  • Forgive my lack of humour, but what was the point of converting a router of all things to a MP3 player?

    Building one from the ground up, reassembling one from odds and ends lying around or adding functionality to an existing product is only really "news" if it achieves something new, whether it be in terms of quality, quantity or uniqueness. I found the previous article [slashdot.org] about a player with 80 hrs of storage more newsworthy.

    So /. isn't only about "news"... but where do we draw the line between something like this being interesting or lame?

    cheers
    marty

  • When's the stereo componant out? (Score:3)

    by Skyshadow ( 508 ) on Thursday October 28, 1999 @02:41AM (#1581962) Homepage
    Why, oh why can't I just get my mits on a componant for my stereo stack that will play MP3s? I'd be happy with a normal CD Player that would also play MP3s burned onto a CD. I'm on the verge of just flat-out building an extra box to do this, but I don't know how I'd set up the remote control.

    Actually, maybe a DVD Player with the CD and MP3 capability built in would be best; I could add it without having to buy a new cabinet to fit it all in, plus one could build in cool stuff like on-screen programming or song selection. There are a lot of PCs selling these days with CD burners for an extra $50, and you can get a new HP CD Burner for under $100 these days if you know where to look. I'd think that anyone with the know-how to find and use WinAmp and MP3s in general would have the technical level needed to burn CDs, so why is nobody swinging at this one? The DVD players already out must have some substantial processor power under the hood -- I'd be willing to pay $50-$75 more for one that could play MP3s over my stereo.

    The things I do to avoid moving my computer closer to my TV... Actually, if anyone has used that X10 device that broadcasts MP3s on a 2.4 gigahertz channel, I'd love to hear if you're happy with it (or if it's fuzzy).

    ----

  • Neat :) I guess if the method of outputting the data for the VHS reader head isn't patented by yourself, it is by someone else? Or are you just using a tape loop and a secondary head for writing inside the cassette
  • Why does there need to be a point to anything? It was an interesting hack as well as an interesting abuse of hardware. At a point in time when every script kiddie is referred to as a 'hacker' I think its refreshing to have brief articles on real hackers.

    As always you're free to not read anything you don't feel is fit.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Including me. If this bad boy was stereo, I'd buy one. Then run some CAT-5 from my hub to my stereo and have my 700+ songs ready to keep the party jumping all week long (About 2.5 days before you get a repeat on random play).
    I was gonna buy an old 486/586 and set it up to do just that, but if we can get this box setero and hook in a remote; we're one step closer to a stereo component every alpha-geek will have to have.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Re:Impressive. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Don't forget - intel x86 MHz do not equate with 68k/Coldfire MHz - the intel x86 architecture is about the worst designed available, it's made of layer upon layer of things that have been tacked on since the 70s. Processing power per megahertz is lowest on x86 (For example, between a PPC and intel x86 rated at the same clock speed, the PPC is more than twice as fast computationally - the Athlon lowers the floating point performance gap somewhat, but the PPC is still faster at the same clock speed) I have a 50MHz 68060 based Amiga which plays mp3s perfectly well at full rate.
  • (sorry if this is flame)
    they posted this because it's interesting that someone could, would, and did do it. I, for one, am glad to hear it.. I think it's neat, and the next time someone wants to spontaneously try doin something new like that, let me know... I'll take it. *grin*

    Kudos to the creator.
  • www.lik-sang.com sells a DVD/CD/MP3 player for 319$us. Go have a look.
  • You can. $300 buys you one from csc. [corpsys.com]

    Cheers, Dan


  • What would be the load for that box as a router on, say, a 10Mbit connection? Would it be even remotely possible to use it for both purposes at the same time?

    I'm planning to build an appliance for logging in home at door, to hear the mail headers, start MP3's, whatever's in your .homerc. What the heck, it has to boot up a real PC anyway for the speech synthesis / storage. Just forget the combination.
  • I remember when we were building mp3 players out of old computer parts and an unregisterd version of windows 95 and an old num pad. Oh those were the days
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Forgive my lack of humour, but what was the point of converting a router of all things to a MP3 player?

    Why convert a digital camera into a video-game player [slashdot.org]? Why get an Apple II to play WAVs (which is something I did a few years back)? Because you can. It may not be the most useful hack in the world, but it's definitely a clever hack.

  • Actually the Moretonbay router is based on the Arnewsh Coldfire eval board (of which I have two) -- Greg (I believe that's his name) has added to the uCLinux project by making the kernel boot properly on these boards. I know, I found a bug in the code which prevented software interrupt vector changes from happenning -- From there, he went to the next level and designed a board with a pair of ethernet ports, a serial port or two and a PCI slot and packaged it all.

    This is what open-source is all about!

    Take something, get it to work (better) on what you have, contribute your changes back to the collective. But don't stop there! Do something useful with your knowledge! Make money! It's not bad!

    As far as the X10 A/V wireless set -- I've got one. Haven't done very sophisticated listening tests on them, but I've had no trouble with the quality of either the A or the V. The video is very clear so I'd imagine throwing a pair of headphones on the output would result in clear audio as well. I'm going through two floors of house to get from one site to the other, so I'd imagine I'm giving the wireless end a bit of a challenge too.

    I'm really really glad that he thought of dumping mp3 out of these piggies... I can do the 16 bit stereo part on my lonesome, and these chips are relatively cheap and easy to design with. IDE interfaces aren't difficult to create. Now I've got a stereo component MP3 player which takes either MP3 CDs, a hard drive, or does it over NFS/Samba/whatever.

    now if I can only get those Pericom samples soon enough so I can fix my one Arnewsh board... They don't like it when you tell them you're gonna hook 5V up and instead use the 12V line from the PS... :-(
  • Does there need to be a point to anything? I like to think so. There certainly is here. Superficially no, but now i think about it the guy got to have a great time bashing on some hardware and software that weren't meant for the job he had in mind and came up with a cheap and beautiful solution. At first read (on the superficial level) it seemed like doing something for the sake of doing it. But, as you point out (to a tired me - i think karma needs to take into consideration fatigue and blood caffiene levels - Rob you listening? :*), that is what hacking is about.

    As always you're free to not read anything you don't feel is fit.

    I know... but i still like to think that /. acts as a filter, isolating things that are worth reading, sometimes i just don't get the feeling it is working so well these days. Then again, it could just be a lack of sleep.

    cheers
    marty

  • Building one from the ground up, reassembling one from odds and ends lying around or adding functionality to an existing product is only really "news" if it achieves something new, whether it be in terms of quality, quantity or uniqueness. I found the previous article about a player with 80 hrs of storage more newsworthy.

    uh, dude... these guys *did* build it ground-up. The boys at moretonbay designed the router, added to the uCLinux software collective, and showed the world that you don't need a high-end DSP to do it on an embedded system.

    VERY newsworthy, if you ask me.

  • Not. I could just imagine running into the machine room some morning. "Hey! Why is the network completely down! We have to ship today... and where's that music coming from?"

    Of course, it might be neat to tie a router doing it's real job to an MP3 player, so it could play music in keeping with the state of the network... When you have low load, maybe some slow, quiet classical music. When the load is high, play some thrash or heavy metal :)

    Do do the whole DOOM UI thing. When someone is pingbombing you, you get shot. Shoot back, and you ping bomb him... fun fun fun till the network dies.
  • OK, I've been thinking for some time about how I could get into hardware hacking. I haven't touched a soldering iron for over 15 years though, since I built a crystal radio at school.

    Question is, where can I find some good starters material to wet my toes in hardware construction?

    I look at the circuit that guy designed and it doesn't look so difficult to put together, but I wouldn't know where to begin.

    Any tips at all appreciated.

  • Because he wanted to. Why do college students build cars that can average 60mph, carry one person and run strictly on solar power and a small battery for several days? Because they learn from it. Just because it's unpractical or even useless doesn't mean it's without benefit. I'm sure the gúy that made it has learned _alot_ and if not, it at least kept him busy for a while. It's these kinds of creative minds that makes technology happen.

    -----
  • This is the latest in total madness!!!
    Historically, we've had Linux ported to small embedded devices - fine. This week on /. we had the MAME engine ported to a digital camera, and now this!!!
    Here's my predictions for the next devices running stuff you'd never think they would:

    PNG viewer on a toaster (this is what your toast should have looked like... But it's mostly carbon now instead)

    Flame simulator on a Cisco PIX firewall

    MAME on one of those Japanese supertoilets (I like this idea!)

    GIMP on your videophone. (Hmm, just add some horns to your PHB's head, a pitchfork, get the firewall to do the background....)

    Windoze NT running stably on a PC (naaah - I'm kidding :)

  • Probably not the best or most feasible solution, but you could use the spinning of the (the name escapes me right now, that thing that turns the tape while it's playing) to generate a little power. Not too much though, because if you put too much stress on it the player would stop, thinking the 'tape' is at the end.

    -----
  • Because he wanted to.
    Not only did he do it becuase he felt like it.. but also because it hadn't been done yet.
    I'm sure the gúy that made it has learned _alot_ and if not, it at least kept him busy for a while. It's these kinds of creative minds that makes technology happen.
    I'm willing to bet this guy would have never knew his router so well had he not strived to make it into an mp3 player. I, like some other people here, wonder what it would take to get this thing performing dual tasks though. I'd like to see it not only playing mp3s but streaming them too. Sure it might take a little more hardware than this thing has but it'd be nice anyway.
    ----
  • 16bit Mono baybe.. yeah! Of course that was after you'd disconnect from the bbs.. but.. anyway I'd like to see somebody get linux to run on my Echostar satillite system... so I could play mp3s. Oh yeah.. have a nice penquin screen saver.. WOO
    ----
  • I don't think you posted twice on purpose.

    The fact is that MP3's and 486's don't mix. I'm using a 486/66 as my Internet gateway, and it's slow at that simple task. I have a PIII/450 desktop, and if I start doing other stuff while I'm playing an mp3, the audio skips like mad. Sure, it depends on what else you might be doing at the time, but with a 486, just about anything could mess it up -- like, say, output to the sound card :-(. Basically, a single 486 is out of the question if you want to play mp3s at any decent quality (note that you can use downsampling or play it mono and it won't skip quite so much).

    That's not to say a 486-based architecture is completely out of the question... Get 2 486's and either an SMP board for it (good luck finding that... I don't think that they made such a thing) or put them on two boards, make a tiny Beowulf cluster on them, which might increase the speed enough if you find a way to do it without too much overhead, and hack your mp3 player to take advantage of the speed by doing at least 2 work threads (or get somebody else's hack :-).

    What I'd do if I had a spare 486 and ethernet card would be to use my desktop computer to decompress the mp3 I want and then stream it or otherwise transfer it to the computer that's a little closer to the stereo system. But that would be really bad in terms of wiring because I have no ethernet cables running anywhere near my stereo :-(.

    Forget all that crap above... I would either do one of two things: use my computer to play it and redirect my sound card's output through my house speaker wiring (but you probably don't have any speaker wire going anywhere near your main computer) or (my best suggestion) say "Heck with it!" and play mp3s on your desktop computer. Who cares if it isn't through your $1000 stereo system... a good set of computer speakers can do the trick without noticible difference for 99% of us without all the hastle and at a greatly reduced risk of having a "significant other" in the household tell you to shut it off.

    That was probably a lot more than anyone expected. What the heck...

    Some sort of closing remark besides Sincerely, (who really is when they say that?)br>
    Kenenth

  • Okay, who has a router like this and doesn't have enough money to go get himself a real mp3 player?

    Okay, so it's fun. I agree that making something do what it wasn't designed to do is fun and cool. Practical purpose is a topic of debate when it comes to this particular instance. But still...

    I guess the router still works as a router, which makes it neat. And hey, what in the world is really, truely useful anyway? Most people will admit that it's a very limited subset. How many sites on the Internet give useful information compared to the number put there mostly for entertainment? And, by the way, why were mp3's invented in the first place? What was the ground principle? To listen to music. Is that useful? I'll let you decide. And what are computer games?

    From the very beginning of computing, there was a coolness factor. Nowadays that has become more diluted because, for the most part, people don't build their own computers from transistors, hack code out in assembly language, and jump up so high that you hit your head on the ceiling when you get a video driver to work. Okay, so I've never done such a thing, so that may be wrong. You should know what I mean. Anyway, these sorts of projects bring that coolness factor back, especially when your contraption gives you entertainment as its main purpose. I sometimes program in assembly language for the TI-83 (a Z80 processor), and it normally doesn't do anything really useful, but still it's fun.

    I don't know if everyone out here knows how to modify the code for an embedded system's general-purpose timer or connect a DMA line to an input port or whatever it was, but I'm sure a good number of people reading this appreciate what comes out of the whole thing! (Pick a song, any song!) Now get the router to download the mp3 in real-time over the Internet, and it would be really useful as an entertainment device.

    I bet he's the only guy on his block who has a pile of wires that plays mp3's! Who cares if it's only 8-bit!

    Senselessly,

    Kenneth Arnold

    Rock on, dudes!

  • Actually the PIX firewall would be the easiest:


    pixfirewall> show version

    PIX Version 4.3(2)
    Compiled on Mon 01-Feb-99 18:34 by pixbuild
    Finesse Bios V3.3

    pixfirewall up 16 days 22 hours

    Hardware: AL440LX, 32 MB RAM, CPU Pentium II 233 MHz
    Flash atmel @ base 0x300
    0: ethernet0: address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 9
    1: ethernet1: address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 10
    Serial Number: xxxxxxxx


    PII MMX? 32Mb RAM, Intel LX Motherboard!

    So much for hardware firewalls...

    Damn thing has a floppy drive, so - what happens if I put my Linux boot floppy in the drive and power it up???
  • Raite makes a DVD player that also plays VCDs, MP3 CDs, audio CDs and more, it's
    model AV715. It can read CD-R and CD-RW
    media too.

    When playing MP3's, it can show
    the lyrics on the TV set(if you burned a
    lyrics file onto the CD)

    The www site for them is:
    http://www.raite.com.tw/
  • >MAME on one of those Japanese supertoilets

    When I play Ms Pac Man, that's not the
    joystick I want to use. :-)
  • Oh well. I guess there goes my idea for a neat ColdFire technology demo. I was going to use RTEMS rather than uC/Linux and an eval board rather than a NetTel router board.

    What's so special about using a ColdFire? They are very cheap, very powerful and very flexible embedded micro-controllers. There is excellent Open Source tool support with TWO operating systems (RTEMS & uC/Linux) and of course a bug free, high performance gcc implementation. Visit the link above for details...

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