[vorbis] stupid cd player mod question

Kenneth Arnold
Thu, 05 Dec 2002 01:09:20 -0000

On Thu, Dec 05, 2002 at 10:03:59PM -0000, Martin Blackwell
wrote:
> Hi, really stupid question here:

... "there's no such thing as a stupid question"

> question: how would i go about modifiying my stereo cd player (whatever
model) to be able to play vorbis files on CD/CD-R/CD-RW ?

Let's break this down... you'd need:

1. Any modifications necessary to the laser and control mechanisms to
read CD-R/RW (most newer CD players can read CD-R/RW already)
2. Modifications to the positioning system, error checking, etc. to
allow reading the data CD format
3. A (probably custom) microcontroller implementing all the code
necessary to manage both the physical positioning and filesystem
interfacing aspects of reading an ISO filesystem
4. A DSP capable of running the Tremor integer Vorbis decoder
5. Interface to control the data going to/from this DSP -- CD
filesystem browsing, file reading, tag processing/display, etc.
6. Reimplementing all the regular CD playing functionality that you
bypassed

(if I haven't forgotten anything)

All of this requires:

6. Extensive internal knowledge of the electronics in the CD player
7. Willingness to go buy a new one when you break it
8. Lots and lots of time, patience, and hardware hacking experience

It would be a neat project, but I think that this would be more
practical:

A mini-ITX system,
e.g. http://www.mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=11 -- fanles, very
quiet, nice and small. You could quite easily get a Vorbis-capable
shelf-size CD player that way. Fun projects for this would be more
along the lines of an IR remote control, playlist and title display on
an LCD or TV out, networking, or adding hard disk ripping. Though the
URL eludes me right now, I think some of these have already been
addressed by others with similar intersts.

If you feel like hacking something together, take some pics and
summarize your process on a website; I'm sure there are people here
who are interested in something like this done from start to finish.


--
Kenneth Arnold <ken@arnoldnet.net>


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: part
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 190 bytes
Desc: not available