Gp2x As Media Centre

[charlieb]

I was sitting at home watching some movies from my Gp2x on my TV and it occurred to me that it would make a really nice little, cheap read-only media centre.
I envisage it like this:
Sit it in a cradle (with power),
connect large usb hdd,
connect a usb IR remote,
watch anything you can get on the hdd.

I have some questions about this:
Has anyone done this?
Does the usb hdd need to be fat32?
How would you do the IR remote thing?

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Charlie

 

[abertalia]

I don't know about the remote thing but I'm pretty sure the hdd has to be Fat32 or else it wont recognize any files in it.

 

[sehs33]

AFAIK, you can also use ext2 and ext3 for your hard drive, and I want this remote too, even if it would cost money.
A solution I was thinking of is if GPH compiled a version of the player that supports USB joypads, and use something like this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...8&CatId=141

 

[DBH]

You can use the wiiremote (with quake) apparently so maybe you could track down the author of who did that and see if they could do something general for the gp2x.

 

[gamercorps]

I've considered the same idea...however I'm also looking to build a new media server and decided to go with something that could serve as an external drive to my gp2x, connect to my media server AND play media on its own with its own remote AND let me use my own hard drive.... beleive it or not there was such a product: (I'm not endorsing the enclosure or the vendor and there are other products out there) I'm still waiting to see if eSata matures any more...

Specifically:
http://www.xpcgear.com/mpeg4player.html

Other like media enclosures...
http://www.xpcgear.com/mediaenclosure.html

 

[charlieb]

I was wondering if it would be even vaguely fesable to build lirc. Having looked at the docs it seems like it might be quite hard to do since it's based on a kernel module but now that I think about it there's no reason not to use an ir joypad. Is there a gp2x usb joypad faq anywhere? I'm glad that I could use my usb ext3 hdd, because I already reformatted once from ntfs

Cheers
Charlie

 

[Pickle]

I think it would be a little more work than its worth. I put together a pc with a tv card running mythtv for a little over $300, that included more than i needed to spend on a shuttle case. For a the additional money you can do a lot more. But if you really want to do it then go for it.

 

[mittens]

Well, but GP2Xed media center can go out with me (of course, "The Core" part only)

 

[Pickle]

Well, but GP2Xed media center can go out with me (of course, "The Core" part only)

maybe I can add to the madness, I do use lirc on my pc setup. During my research on getting lirc to work with my pvr150 i came across some web stuff where users have created their own receivers. If i remember correctly the receiver was connected to a serial port, which the gp2x does have. You might be able to even do usb if lirc supports it.

 

[TheMinder]

I used to use one of these : http://www.dvbshop.net/product_info.php/in...Igor-etc--.html with winlirc and girder on a windows box using RitzDVB many moons ago.

Worked a treat.

[i'm not affiliated with the shop on that link btw, just the first link that came to hand]

 

[charlieb]

I think it would be a little more work than its worth. I put together a pc with a tv card running mythtv for a little over $300, that included more than i needed to spend on a shuttle case.

I suspected that this also might be the case, the problem is that I haven't built a computer in about 10 years and I'm a bit intimidated by the whole motherboard, processor, ram compatibility mess. Plus I already own a gp2x and a big usb hdd. Oh yeah and I have issues with most PCs because they are noisy, maybe a relatively low power small PC might be able to be quiet but the gp2x is *silent* and that's a big plus for me.

Charlie

 

[suppafly]

Just get an used Xbox for 70 dollars and mod it yourself with a HD .

XBOX media center is so much more powerful

 

[Titcher]

I agree with suppafly, nothing beats XBMC.

 

[rokdcasbah]

I agree with suppafly, nothing beats XBMC.

are we talking fan volume?

i just did that recently actually, just gotta make sure you don't get one of the originals, the thompson drives barely read xbox games, let alone dvd-rs. plus the internal hard drive is not that big (easy to swap though).

i think the absolute best solution would be one of those mini-atx (not micro) boards from via. they run very cool and are very small. might not be the cheapest, though.

i get bothered seeing a lot of wires, so i'd take issue with a gp2x-based media center for that reason...needs two power adapters, usb for the hdd and possibly the IR. but if you aren't bothered by the wires then it'd probably be a cool project. i'd suggest forgetting the IR though and just go for a wireless usb gamepad.

 

[yaustar]

I agree with suppafly, nothing beats XBMC.

Agreed. I have mine hooked up to my network so I can stream files from my file server

 

[trooper]

I`m not knocking the GP2x`s media playing capabilities, But for what you want, You may want to consider something like

THESE.

Add your own hard drive of the size you want or can afford, Sorted.

Trooper

 

[sam fisher]

I agree with suppafly, nothing beats XBMC.

Agreed. I have mine hooked up to my network so I can stream files from my file server

likewise.