alternatives to the WL-520gU

[gerben]

I think you can use the default broadcom build (http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/10.03/brcm-2.4/)
For more info see: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/asus/wl500gp#installation

[djmasterg]

Do you know if the mpd supports aac+ in that version (kernel 2.4)?

[gerben]

See the package list: http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/1 ... /packages/
The mpd version in the latest openwrt is mpd_0.15.8. You would need to check if AAC is enabled in that version.

[djmasterg]

No luck, installed 2.4 kernel, tried latest mpd / mpc and no aac+ support. I will look for solutions and post my experience here. thanks.

[djmasterg]

All right, a little bit of update:

On my asus wl 500gp v2 I have installed 10.03.1 stable release of backfire. Got it working with no problem - standard configuration for network and wireless. So I downloaded packages for audio daemnon mpd and player mpc. Everytning went fine again. Then I started to edit mpd.conf

Code: Select all

                                                                     
# An example of an OSS output:                                                  
#                                                                               
audio_output {                                                                  
        type            "oss"                                                   
        name            "My OSS Device"                                         
                                                                                
        device          "/dev/sound/dsp"                                        
        format          "44100:16:2"                                            
#       mixer_type      "hardware"                                              
#       mixer_device    "/dev/mixer"                                            
#       mixer_control   "PCM"                                                   
}                                                                               
#                                                                               

and got a message after starting mpd:

Code: Select all

root@OpenWrt:/# mpd
output: line 213: No such audio output plugin: oss

Worth mentioning that mpd here is mpd_0.16.1-1_brcm-2.4.ipk so hopefully it will manage aac, and I get the packages and distro from http://downloads.openwrt.org/backfire/1 ... /packages/

[mightyohm]

Thanks Jeff,

Have you got by any chance an Openwrt compiled for wl500gp v2? If not, could you guide me on which compilation to use ?

I used the same exact firmware that I use on the WL-520gu. It's based on kamikaze and an older version of mpd without AAC etc. support.

[jumperonline]

question has anyone hacked a bt homehub version 1 or 1.5 by any chance seeing as I have one of those hunks of plastic lying around somewhere

[ilinux]

The TP-LINK TL-MR3020 router in europe the price is under 40€ i think in usa should be similar and works with internet streams like video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTgVhHvbyw8

[danitool]

question has anyone hacked a bt homehub version 1 or 1.5 by any chance seeing as I have one of those hunks of plastic lying around somewhere

Those routers are very similar to the Livebox 1, I was able to run mpd in my Livebox without any problem. So to make a wifi radio with homehubs is more than possible since they have 32 MiB RAM (the livebox only 16 MiB).

[gerben]

I'd like to add the Raspberry Pi to the list. http://www.farnell.com/raspberrypi/

I recently bought a Raspberry Pi. The first think I did was install MPD onto it, and it was playing music within minutes. I did cost 32 British pounds = 40.65 Euros, so about the same as and entry level router.

Plus sides:
+ It already has audio out, so no need for an usb-sound adapter.
+ 700 MHz CPU
+ 256 MB SDRAM
+ 2 USB ports
+ Can play 1080p via HDMI.
+ Composite out for old tv's
+ SD card slot, so easily extendable memory. (No more 4MB limit, but more like a 32GB limit )
+ 17 GPIO connections, so you might be able to ditch the micro controller completely
+ Support for multiple OS distributions.

Downsides:
- It doesn't have wifi, so you'll need a usb wifi adapter.
- Doesn't include a power adapter (5v, 700mA, micro usb)
- No internal Flash memory, so requires a SD card, that isn't included
- Doesn't have an enclosure

PS Also check the upcoming APC from VIA (http://apc.io/). A bit more expensive, and currently only supports Android.