DIY 80GB iPod Touch 110
An anonymous reader writes "Having recently acquired an iPod Touch, DeviceGuru blogger Rick Lehrbaum soon found himself with an 80GB iPod paperweight knocking around and collecting dust. Then it hit him: why not use a Pogoplug as an iPod server, effectively filling his nifty new iPod Touch with 80GB of music whenever he has WiFi access? The how-to article at DeviceGuru.com explains how a Pogoplug and iPod Touch combined with free web services at pogoplug.com combine to form the 'PogoPod System.' It also introduces the Pogoplug's new UPnP support, and briefly reviews a couple of UPnP media-rendering iPhone and iPod Touch apps."
iPod Touch + MPD + WiFi (Score:3, Informative)
Well, the "article" is a bit of disappointment, however I've been in the same situation and here is how I approach the problem (way more music then will fit on my 8GB touch or smartphone): I have a linux server (Dell Studio Hybrid running Gentoo) that I always leave on which has a copy of my music repository. On it I run Music Player Daemon (MPD) with Icecast as one of the outputs. I connect to MPD via a simple web client (there are several: http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Clients [wikia.com]) from my touch, build my playlist, then point Safari to my Icecast server's IP/port which opens the media player and I can listen to MPD anywhere I have WiFi. I'm not sure what the minimum bandwidth required is, but even my smartphones (previously Samsung Saga on WM 6.1, now Droid Eris running 2.1) work with this system. For the record I used TCPMP on WM 6.1 (Windows Media Player mobile worked too, but that app is horrible) and now use I use A Online Radio for the Droid (oddly enough, the built in media player on Android doesn't do streams and it's touch to find an Android streaming client that let's you specify any address/port you want).
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:4, Informative)
Hey there.
Two things:
1st) Can you please not post this as AC? I believe it's important enough as to use a username
2nd) Have you contacted the FSF / gpl-violations.org? You really should.
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:4, Informative)
So give Pogo the finger and get a Sheevaplug. Exact same hardware, different plastic shell.
Or even better: get a Guruplug, the latest revision that comes with wireless, Gigabit ethernet, and eSATA.
Re:Plug (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:4, Informative)
The bastards. Ok, two things:
1st: Don't buy that kind of devices. Get some generic ARM-based box off china. It's what this devices use anyway. You can find some nice 600mhz ARM + 128MB of RAM all-in-one boards that come with an SDK and all of the source plus many example apps for 30 dollars (FOB Shenzhen, China). There are even full embedded systems (with very similar specs) complete with case, power supply, remote, wifi card, etc. Ready to plug and get hacking for under 60 dollars (Again, price is FOB Shenzhen). Lots of fun at a great price. You can find retailers for all of this devices in most places around the world.
Another great hacking tool are the atom-based boards. There are all in one mini-atx mobos with dual core Atom processors (1.6ghz) for 80 dollars. Try the Intel or Foxconn models, they are very powerful and inexpensive.
If you are still mad about the GPL violators, try mailing Richard at rms@gnu.org, he reads and answers every mail, and he'll surely be more than glad to help you out and speak on your behalf, or direct you to the right person.
BTW: The account thing wasn't just to be a smartass. Many people just disregards most ACs posts, and it's impossible to keep in touch or get replies from ACs anyway. Also, this place has some very very elaborate trolls, you never, ever know ;)
Happy Hacking!
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:4, Informative)
You can find some nice 600mhz ARM + 128MB of RAM all-in-one boards that come with an SDK and all of the source plus many example apps for 30 dollars (FOB Shenzhen, China). There are even full embedded systems (with very similar specs) complete with case, power supply, remote, wifi card, etc. Ready to plug and get hacking for under 60 dollars (Again, price is FOB Shenzhen). Lots of fun at a great price. You can find retailers for all of this devices in most places around the world.
Hi, can you post some links to someone who retails these devices? sounds interesting.
Re:So let me get this straight... (Score:5, Informative)
The basic one is still made:
http://www.newit.co.uk/shop/products.php?cat=5 [newit.co.uk] Cheap, USB+Ethernet
Updated version are coming RealSoonNow, including one with HDMI
http://www.newit.co.uk/shop/products.php?cat=11 [newit.co.uk] there's a version with eSATA
http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/p-33-guruplug-display.aspx [globalscal...logies.com]
And Marvell announced a v.3 at CES last Jan, no real product announced yet.
All of those support Debian, Ubuntu is on the way out since the new Ubuntu requires some instruction set extension that are not available on the old plugs.
There's a very active community at http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php [plugcomputer.org]
Re:Pogoplug is not opensource! (Score:3, Informative)
Again, I have no idea. I import them directly from China, and I'm not in the US, so I don't know what retailers you can find there.
But let me tell you, there are dozens of places in Shenzhen that produce this kind of boards. All of those prices are FOB China. Google for it, I'm sure there are importers and retailers of this stuff in the US. Most DVR systems are based on this board, specially the cheapest ones. Some AVTech systems that retail for 200 dollars are based on exactly the same boards I buy for 30. Look around, you'll find them