Converting IBM Thinkpad to MP3 player
I converted my old Thinkpad to MP3 player very easily. First I removed the
display from it's holders and then I put 1.5 meters long 30 pin cable between
main-unit and display. I attached cable with small connectors, so it's easy to
take off when not needed. Then I did a small adapter so that I could attach a
keyboard to main-unit directly. Then I loaded it with linux and now I'm playing
mp3's with it. I'm using mp3's served by Samba server at our home LAN.
The mp3-player I'm using is mp3blaster, it works
great in console. I'm using console because I think it's easier to make it work
than to mess with X and mouse etc. Especially when the player is located just
beside our bed, it's easier to operate it with just keyboard. Maybe I could
make a small PIC to emulate couple of keyboard shortcuts, like play, rew, ffw
etc. But we'll see if that's needed after couple of months of usage.
