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Turn a WRT350Nv2 into a Squeezeslave (networked audio)

Brought a WRT350N v2 from the flea markets last week ($20), installed OpenWRT 10.03.1 using the WinXP firmware upgrade utility. After that installed I then installed some additional packages (full list). So at this point I was able to insert a cheap USB sound card in the rear and it would detect it. I was able to change the volume using alsamixer for testing. Now for the frustrating part, cross compiling squeezeslave to execute it on the WRT350Nv2. I tried a few precompiled binaries, but they were no good. The basic steps I took were: Download OpenWRT SDK. Make sure you’ve gotten the required packages installed in your host machine, check here as a reference. Download additional packages for the router using opkg or the web-interface, this will allow the use of the USB port and install alsa for… Read More »Turn a WRT350Nv2 into a Squeezeslave (networked audio)

Been A While

Yeah it’s been a while since the last post, ALOT has been happening, I am hoping to have some good projects coming up, no details yet, still working out the budget $-) I have updated my Linuxmce diagram for those who might be interested.

Network Audio from Thinclient

This is an extension to HP T5000 As a Network Stereo. Rather than use the thin client as a fully qualified MD where boot times are slow, and it has a lot of non-required process’s running on it, etc… I’ve decided to explore the possibility of making a DIY squeezebox. I figured the Logitechs’ squeezebox would have lower specifications as far as CPU, RAM and storage are concerned. First Option: SqueezeOS Followed this tutorial and it created the images for an arm processor… Failed many times while trying to create a qemux86 and BootCDx86 base. I had tried using many different toolchains although it got to about a days worth of time when the idea was scrapped. Second Option: Andriod install with Squeeze Player App. This was a short lived idea as Andriodx86 ports needed… Read More »Network Audio from Thinclient

Cisco 3500XL PSU Fix

This is just a proof of concept/quick hack; I’ve recently been given a dead Cisco 3500XL. Plug the power cable in and I got no action, no fans, no lights, etc.. Removed the lid and looked inside: The power cables appear to be the same colors as a molex connector, so just like the Dell 2600 Series Sata Mod I decided there’s nothing to lose by giving it a go. As normal, the yellow cable is 12V+, blacks are ground, and red is 5V. Short the ATX PSU’s Pin 14 to 15 (PS_ON and COM), then watch the magic happen. Yes it booted fine the first time, but after “cleaning up” the wiring, one of the cables must have come loose, hence the fault pic below. After properly checking the cables again, it booted fine… Read More »Cisco 3500XL PSU Fix

Linuxmce 10.04 Install

The newish beta of Linuxmce 10.04  (Lucid Lynx) has been out since early 2011. It was a forced upgrade because the support for 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) stopped. Yes 10.04 is still a few versions behind the most up-todate version (of Ubuntu), but it it the newest long term support release (LTS), meaning that it will have support for about 3 years, and 5 years on the server version (not used here). The first round of testing was done with VMware server, to answer simple questions like: Does it install well; By that, I mean does it install using the scripts provided (cut and paste), or does it require additional tweaking/conditions? A few attempts later,  over as many weeks and it’s seems to be going well with a small but major problem, the Grub2 boot loader has… Read More »Linuxmce 10.04 Install

N900 Orbiter

After a phone swap, I’ve been able to get my hands on an Nokia N900 *Touchscreen Mobile Computer* * = Nokia’s words not mine First order of busines: Can you put an orbiter on it: Yes – It’s marginaly slower than the XP Orbiter, which makes it a smoother feel, and less click and wait… (like the web/proxy orbiter). Does it come with a SIP client: Yes, and it also connects to Asterisk in Linuxmce to take advantage of the free calls included with my ADSL. Transmission Client available: No – havent tried everything yet, so migh be able to use a Java client or similar. So far it’s looking very good, some minor issues with the Orbiter, eg; when it goes black you have to tap the screen in the right place to get… Read More »N900 Orbiter