My Garage PC (v3.0)

[Bungo Pony]

I don't think I've ever posted about my garage PC here before, so I figured I would.

For about 3 years now, I've had a computer in the garage solely dedicated to play MP3s. The original one had one DVD drive and ran Windows 98. The second one had 3 internal DVD drives, and one external DVD drive (modded from an external CD burner). The only problem with this one is the drives would often fail in our harsh Canadian winters.

So, I built a nice solid state machine. This is a Pentium 200MHz machine (which I found in the trash) with 64M RAM running Damn Small Linux. The hard drive is a 2G Compact Flash card:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb256/bponyblog/PICT0216.jpg

I removed the floppy drive and wired in a USB Hub instead. I mounted it using half of a metal floppy shell, and wired up the power by cutting out the connector from a dead CD drive, and solering the plug on. I had to solder the USB cable directly into the hub because the cable stuck out too much.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb256/bponyblog/PICT0218.jpg

I installed a DVD drive 'just in case', but I doubt it will ever get used... well, maybe for the occasional audio CD.

Here's what the thing looks like assembled:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb256/bponyblog/PICT0227.jpg

I stuck three 8G USB flash drives full of MP3s, totalling almost 3000 songs. I wrote a nice Linux script to do all the chores after it boots: it loads the music player, scans all the USB ports and DVD drive for MP3s, adds them to the playlist, and starts playing them.

I've got outdoor speakers mounted on my garage which makes for great parties, or provides music while doing yardwork.

 

[gerrydoire]

You can replace all that with a 120 Gig IPOD that fits in your pocket

So how's Winnipeg?

 

[MikeS]

You can replace all that with a 120 Gig IPOD that fits in your pocket

So how's Winnipeg?

Colder than Toronto I'll bet (and I'll also wager that he ain't doing much yard work today); a balmy 10 degrees C (50 for our American friends) here today.

Yeah, 24GB - what kind of MP3 collection is that; forget all that and get a wireless link to the terabyte system in the house!

 

[Chuck(G)]

I use an HP Vectra ePC (P3 box that runs off of a wall wart) as a mail gateway and router and internet radio transmitter (106.7 on your FM dial).

Instead of a CF, I'm using a 5GB microdrive and running Debian. Mplayer is the music app.

I've taken a few steps to keep the access to the microdrive down (e.g. -noatime in fstab, system logs symlinked to /dev/null, etc.). It's been running about 6 months now since its last reboot.

 

[Bungo Pony]

You can replace all that with a 120 Gig IPOD that fits in your pocket

The problem with the 120G iPod is that I can't modify it the way I want. I can't write scripts for it. I have to use iTunes to transfer music to it. iPods also aren't readily available in the trash for free (at least not yet). I'm also not sure if an iPod will power up in -35 degrees.

Yeah, 24GB - what kind of MP3 collection is that; forget all that and get a wireless link to the terabyte system in the house!

It's an MP3 Collection that consists of songs that I actually like instead of just filling drives with entire albums. There are also no repeated songs which includes covers and live versions - I just pick my favorite version and stick it on there.

I also don't have a terabyte system in the house, nor do I have a Linux-compatible wireless card in the garage computer. Those things cost money, and I really don't need to be putting lots of money into a computer that's living amongst dirt, mice, and extreme temperature changes. I wanted something robust and reliable, and this thing that I built does a very good job. I'm already in disbelief that I put $100 into this thing, but after seeing it boot when we had -40 degree windchills, I'd say it's paid off.

I've taken a few steps to keep the access to the microdrive down

Is that like one of those mini HDs inside a CF enclosure?

 

[Chuck(G)]

Is that like one of those mini HDs inside a CF enclosure?

Yup--and generally much faster than a CF, particularly on writes.