Finished wiring my faceplate

**TheLlama** · 10-08-2005, 04:33 PM

I've been working on my second generation mp3 player for some time. I've had to prepare Linux for the system, program a gui toolkit from scratch, and make a box. One of the things I sort of overlooked is the user input. I decided to use 10 buttons, one rotary encoder, and a Grayhill 60A rotary encoder / joystick. Here are pictures of the work in progress. The box is not complete, I plan to even it out and paint it. The gui seen is just a quick demo, the actually player will have a more useful interface.

The pictures demonstrate the mounting of the components. The wiring of the components. And the hardest part: designing and wiring the board that decodes the rotary controls, and decodes the joystick. The second board is a keyboard controller; I just tap into its matrix.

Was it worth all the effort? I think so. I prefer using nice intuitive controls instead of fiddling with a touch screen. Plus, it all fits into my dash and is removable so I can use it at home.

**TheLlama** · 10-08-2005, 05:25 PM

I just got a PM asking about what parts I've used. Well, here we go:

Advantech Half-SBX Mainboard Part# PCM-9373F-M0A1
Diamond Systems 50watt PC/104 PSU Part# JMM-512
Noritake 256x128px VFD Part# GU-256x128c-3900
256MB PNY PC133 SODIMM Part# P56-2438
Seagate 100GB Momentus 5400.2 Notebook HD Part# ST9100823A
Grayhill rotary encoder / Joystick Part# 60A18-4-040S
Grayhill rotary encoder Part# 62A11-02-050S

Thanks for asking.

**Scouse Monkey** · 10-08-2005, 06:08 PM

industrial PC104 system. good job on the porject. So nice and simple and efficient. Good use for the older eden SBCs too.

**mushin** · 10-14-2005, 11:27 PM

Looks very nice. Good job. Love the graphic VFD.

Your photography skillz could use a little work tho

**Mr. Beefhead** · 10-17-2005, 10:42 AM

Just out of curiousity (and by no means am I trying to put your project down - I think you've done a fantastic job), why didn't you just purchase yourself an Empeg? I ask because it seems like your your end product is going to be very similar to one.

**Cris** · 10-17-2005, 10:48 AM

Sweet project!

What about costs?

**TheLlama** · 10-17-2005, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by mushin

Looks very nice. Good job. Love the graphic VFD.

Your photography skillz could use a little work tho

Yeah, I agree. I was really just taking the pictures for my own records. I'm glad you like the project.

Originally Posted by Mr. Beefhead

Just out of curiousity (and by no means am I trying to put your project down - I think you've done a fantastic job), why didn't you just purchase yourself an Empeg? I ask because it seems like your your end product is going to be very similar to one.

Because, I don't like the empeg. I do not like its user interface. I like my project because I have a really nice joystick/encoder. I like my interface because it is exactly how I would like to use it. In addition, My screen is 256x128 pixels and the empegs is 128x32; that is 8 times the pixels (and half the dot-pitch). Plus, my player will eventually feature a radio. To top it all off, the player already features an ethernet adapter and a web interface so it can serve as a music server in my house. It will also feature an infrared port so it can be controlled by remote control.

Also, the system is designed to support two video game controllers. I have it designed so a single port can accept a NES/SNES/Genesis controller. This will allow for an awesome emulation system since the hardware features TV-out. I can't wait until I play some old games with the BG-Music turned off and MP3s cranking instead.

The final reason: I can't build an empeg. I can build this system though, and it is a hell of a lot more fun. My university awarded me with $900 to build the system. Sure, I've written over 7000 lines of code just for the user interface library, but this thing is gonna rock. Thanks for your interest.

Originally Posted by Cris

Sweet project!

What about costs?

Lol. I haven't a clue. Alot of the hardware used on the system is overkill (I could use a cheaper screen, slower and less featured SBC, and I definately don't need 256MB of ram). I could probably use a 25watt PSU instead of 50watt. I'll get a price quote once I've established the hardware needed. As I stated above, my school is financing most of the project, so I might as well take advantage of it.

**Mr. Beefhead** · 10-17-2005, 01:13 PM

Just because I feel a need to defend the Empeg to the world: The Empeg also has ethernet, a web server, an infrared remote, and an (optional) radio.

I think your project is awesome. Do you have any plans on releasing your software to the public?

**TheLlama** · 10-17-2005, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. Beefhead

Just because I feel a need to defend the Empeg to the world: The Empeg also has ethernet, a web server, an infrared remote, and an (optional) radio.

I think your project is awesome. Do you have any plans on releasing your software to the public?

Yes, but the empeg uses them for different things than I would. The empeg is a very nice unit, I'm not arguing about that. But it is really a question of configurability. I can make my system do whatever I want.

Yes. All software will be open source. My graphical toolkit will be open source and the so will the player and vfd kernel driver. Any schematics used will also be open.

However, things will not be opened until the release.