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Car mp3 Player

Started by Michael Kennedy, 2002-09-08T03:02:20-05:00 (Sunday)

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Michael Kennedy

Hello, I'm starting a project that I'm going to wind up needing some help with.  The plan is this: install an mp3 player in my car.  The goal is to get my mp3 collection pumping through my car's speakers as cheaply as possibly while keeping the coolness factor as high as possible.

The equipment I have to start with centers around an old laptop with a 12" LCD screen.  I'd like to make this different than some projects I've looked at online by actually using the screen and not using a smaller LCD that I'd have to actually purchase.  I'm even considering using the touchpad and buttons assuming that I'm not going to wind up killing myself while switching songs.  So that's going to be a major thing for me to consider.  Plus, the screen has to sit in a good spot that's easy to see.

All that will be figured out in the future and isn't really where I need help.  Obviously, it's going to run Linux and that's where my questions are going to lie around.

First, has anyone had any issues playing mp3's on a 100-200mhz Pentium with Linux?  I've played mp3s on a Pentium 166 with Windows 98se, so I'm sure Linux will do as good or better, but it'll be good to know if this is going to be a problem beofre I even start.  :)

Second, what distro do you suggest?  Obviously, I'm just going to need sound, an mp3 player, the software necessary for me to display the list and easily select the song, and whatever is going to be necessary to transfer the files (FTP daemon, for example).  So, the smallness and speed is going to be a major factor in determining the distro to use.  Mandake is what I'm most familiar with, so I might just go with that.

Third, how would you select/play the song?  I'm actually thinking of loading a small, fast window manager via X and actually using Apache/PHP/mySQL to display, select, and play songs.  Any other suggestions are welcome, but typing out anything can be ruled out.  Also, I don't want to rely on the passenger to select the music because my girlfriend has crappy taste in music.  ;)

Fourth, transferring the music might become another issue.  Right now I'm limited to the following interfaces: serial, parallel, and CD-ROM.  There's a port replicator for this at work that I hope will have a LAN connector, but I'm not sure of that.  CD-ROM isn't idea due to the fact that adding a few songs would be a pain and I'd wind up forcing myself to wait until I could fill a CD before transferring the songs.  I wish I could come up with a way to do WiFi since I

have a few cards at home I could use.  Running some form of serial/CAT 5 cable to the car isn't a wonderful prospect, but since I do have another laptop I could live with it for the transferring and arranging of titles.

Any suggestions are more than welcome.  This is going to be a big project for me since it encompassed tons of different areas: OS config, play system design/setup, and the electrical required to get it to run off my battery properly, but hopefully the outcome will wind up being pretty cool.  Thanks in adavnce.
"If it ain't busted, don't fix it" is a very sound principal and remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it all my life. --Douglas Adams, "Salmon of Doubt"

William Grim

Hey, that's pretty interesting stuff you're doing.

For a distro selection, go with Debian; it's extraordinarily compact.

As for mp3 processing power; you will have no problems.  Without X running, you will be perfectly alright (you mentioned using X, I'll give you suggestions for other stuff if you keep reading).

Get mp3blaster installed.  It will be console based, but it has shortcut keys to everything.  It's like console winamp.  Also, it would get rid of the bulky apache/php/mysql solution, and you wouldn't have to have a GUI tying up RAM/CPU.

For transferring files, serial ports will work fine if you know how to hook them up between computers.

I don't remember what you said for connecting your system to the car, but splicing audio wires would be good.  You could splice wires that hook onto your sound card; just splice them at the point where they will connect to the car.  Then, hook them up and there you go.

I haven't actually made a car mp3 player, but I've thought about it much; so, I hope these suggestions help you out somewhat.

Good luck!
William Grim
IT Associate, Morgan Stanley

Michael Kennedy

Thanks, I'll give this stuff a look.  The install will go fine as long as I can find a decent spot to actually put a 12" LCD.  After I checkout mp3blaster I'll let you know how I think it'll work out.

Also, other things I forgot to mention:
How quick is Debian able to boot/shutdown?  That's going to be a factor, too.  I hope I don't have to simply kill the laptop to turn it off.

I also have a 2.5" to 3.5" hard drive adapter coming so I can put a nice, standard 10gb drive in there instead of sticking with the measely 1.3gb that came in the laptop.  :)

Thanks.
"If it ain't busted, don't fix it" is a very sound principal and remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it all my life. --Douglas Adams, "Salmon of Doubt"

Chris Swingler

I'd like to put my 2ÂÃ,¢ in here, too.  I've had a lot of experience with DOS, and that would actually be my first choice.  Think about it--a P133 laptop (which is what I have) can boot DOS from a hard drive in about 3 seconds flat.  (Tacking on a mouse or CD-ROM driver adds to the time).  Most laptops have 100+ SB-compatible sound cards onboard, so you won't need a driver for that.  Then, all you'd have to do is just put a link to a good DOS MP3 player in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and be on your way!

I always used a program called DSS for playing MP3s in DOS.  (Good luck trying to test it on a XP or 2K machine)  This one had cool visuilazations and other stuff, including a Graphic Equalizer and Automatic Bass Boost.  (Just don't get mezmorized by the pretty colors as you drive down the road.)  I unfortunately couldn't find it online, but I'll be sure to post the link here when I do.

Plus, you'd only have to dedicate about 1MB to system and MP3-playing stuff, so you'd have room for more music.

But then again, I may just be old-fashioned trying to run it this way.

But there's nothing wrong with taking the easy way out.  I prefer to call it 'simple'
Christopher Swingler
CAOS Web Administrator

William Grim

QuoteBut there's nothing wrong with taking the easy way out. I prefer to call it 'simple'

Remember:

QuoteIf you can get 90 percent of the desired effect for 10 percent of the work, use the simpler solution. --quoted in the FreeBSD Developer's Handbook .. From Scheifler & Gettys: "X Window System"
William Grim
IT Associate, Morgan Stanley

Peter Motyka

One of SIUE's own students implemented a really neat car mp3 project.  I didnt ever get to see it installed, but I did see it in full operation under his bed.  I was pretty homemade and ran linux.  Here is the website containing the details of the project.

http://www.lobstein.org/~mike/cajun/
SIUE CS Alumni 2002
Grad Student, Regis University
Senior Engineer, Ping Identity
http://motyka.org

Stiffler

Mike lived in the Tech wing, so I do know him pretty well. I remember when he was putting the project together. I also had a chance to see the Plexiglass case he made. He called it "The MP3er". 20 some odd gigs of MP3s. The good ol' days.

Jon
Retired webmaster of CAOS.

Michael Kennedy

Hmm...

I do have PC DOS 7 here somewhere, too.  It'll be odd to open a box that still has 5.25" floppy drives in it.  :-)  If you do run accross that link let me know.  I'm modding a motherboard for my brother (so it fits in a nice, old Compaq case) so this project is on hold until I can find the voltimeter and finish mapping the buttons and lights on the top of the computer with the motherboard.  :P  So, I'm going to take a bit before getting to the car mp3 player.  

The biggest issue is going to be the screen.  I need to decide if it's actually feasible to put it in the car or if I should purchase a smaller LCD or LED display.  Choices, choices, choices...   :-D
"If it ain't busted, don't fix it" is a very sound principal and remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it all my life. --Douglas Adams, "Salmon of Doubt"

Chris Swingler

I'm still looking for DSS.  I can't seem to find it.  I belive Nullsoft released DOSAmp, I'd suggest that, unless I do come accross a copy of DSS.

--Beanie
Christopher Swingler
CAOS Web Administrator

William Grim

Just use FreeBSD.  Just add the proper sound option to the kernel, recompile, make the devices, and you're nearly good to go.

Then, edit /etc/rc and just before "exit 0", add the line "login -f username" to make your system login automatically with no password for some .  After this, edit $HOME/.profile and have it start up mp3blaster for you (a great winamp-like console mp3 player), passing the proper arguments.

You'll also need to build a perl script or something to make sure your playlist is up-to-date for you.

Then pop that badboy of an mp3 player into your car; btw, how do you handle power in the car?
William Grim
IT Associate, Morgan Stanley

Michael Kennedy

I have a nice, standard 2.5" HDD to 3.5" HDD adapter (and vice-versa), so I'm hoping to try out everyone's ideas.  I'll do a DOS (probably PCDOS since I have it and seem to remember it having better performance than MS-DOS) and most likely a Debian install.  BSD is way outside my realm of experiences, but I still would like to try it in the future.

The power is going to be done in part by my friend.  We'll run off the main batter (I don't want to add another in my trunk  ;-)) and i belive I just need to convert from AC to DC or whatever (I'm OK at electronics, but still need to learn).  The sound will go through my speakers (which I'll replace when the player if done.

I'm exploring the screen location right now.  I'm actually thinking of cracking off the dash and adding it where my radio/tape deck is re-routing the fan vents.  That would be wicked cool is it works.  I'm hesitant about doing that cause I'm not sure if moving the blowers will cause me to melt/freeze in the car and if I'll screw up my dash.  :)

I'll keep you posted on what I do.  I'm going to hit Radio Shack this weekend and get some cabling, etc that I'm going to need.

(Cue "Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie" with their rendition of "The Privacy Song!")
"If it ain't busted, don't fix it" is a very sound principal and remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it all my life. --Douglas Adams, "Salmon of Doubt"

William Grim

For playing the audio, play it through your radio.  For this, you will need to purchase an FM Modulator that you can connect the computer too.  Then, you will need to add an area on your dash for an on/off switch for the modulator.

What this modulator will allow you to do is turn your radio to some frequency and listen to songs played through the FM Modulator.  It's just like your own radio station.

I think this would cause the least amount of pain and the most amount of pleasure, because then you could just play your normal radio whenever you want, while your mp3 player keeps going.  It's pretty much autonomous from this point on. :)

Can you tell that I've looked into this?  Ha ha.
William Grim
IT Associate, Morgan Stanley

Michael Kennedy

Any clue what the FM modulator costs?  Also, another option I'm looking at is using one of those tape adapter things.  One end is a tape and the other is an 1/8" stereo plug (better be stereo, at least).  How do those compare to your knowledge?

Also, I might wind up removing the radio (it'd be cool if I could get a PC-controlled radio) simply to allow it to fit in my dash nice and neat.

Still in the early planning stages, of course.  I'm open to any idea- even if it's as silly as my in-dash screen idea.   :-D
"If it ain't busted, don't fix it" is a very sound principal and remains so despite the fact that I have slavishly ignored it all my life. --Douglas Adams, "Salmon of Doubt"

William Grim

It was 30 bucks for the FM Modulator that I saw.  I thought about a tape thing for when I build mine as well, but I don't have a tape deck.

I think the FM Modulator is the most elegant solutions I've seen so far.

I'll get the FM Modulator link for you later, but I"m going to bed now; I'm extremely tired.
William Grim
IT Associate, Morgan Stanley

Guest

Isn't Mike also the same guy who built the tray system?  I heard something about him building a machine on an SIUE lunch tray and jokingly calling it the "tray system"