Old computer into a MP3 jukebox

[Opteron_Man]

I friend just gave me a very old Compaq computer.
Here are the specs on the piece of shit:

This white box was built in 1998 but its been upgraded.
Celeron 500 MHZ (socket 370 in a slotket card)
192 MB of SDRAM
CD-ROM drive
3 GB IDE gard drive
RagePro AGP video card


Know what I'm gonna do with it?
I am putting Windows 2000 Pro on it
and I am going to use the speed demon as a music player!
I will stick it in my living room with a keyboard, mouse, and a shitty monitor. I will then hook it up to my sterio. The whole mess will sit on a salvaged wood end table that a neighbor threw away.

I will load Winamp with DFX, and I might have my songs on a USB external HD.

That computer is a real piece of shit, but it will be a gawsome
music player!

I suggest that anyone who has old hardware laying around gathering dust and coffee spills, do the same. Don't throw it out, make it play music.
Hook it to some good speakers and be happy that it didn't go to the landfill.

[Opteron_Man]

I don't know anyone who has done this, taken a normally useless
geriatric computer and turned it into a music player for their living room speakers.

[Opteron_Man]

Wow! Windows 2000 didn't take that long to install either!

I think I will put in a cheap black CD-ROM drive,
Then coat that ugly mother in semi-gloss black spray paint.

[tekajo]

i'd have gone with Linux.

Here http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm this will help your computer run smoother.

[x-deviant-x]

Yeah, I'm having to learn linux now, and while I really don't like it, it'd be much easier on that compaq. what kind of ram is that again? 192 is a pretty odd number. It sounds like the shit that was in my mom's pc from about the same year. she wanted me to upgrade it for her, but more of the same memory runs about $300 per stick today. i can't remember the exact type though so i could be wrong on it.
.

[tekajo]

The computer probably has one stick of 128 and another stick of 64. More than likely the ram in that Compaq is SDRAM which is fairly cheap today. i've seen sticks of 256 (which is probably the largest module that motherboard can handle) go for $40 and cheaper.

Linux these days isn't hard to learn at all since almost all of them have a very good GUI such as the K Desktop Enviroment (for faster computers) and Gnome (for slower computers). The command line days were a bitch.

[x-deviant-x]

we're using red hat in school. i have no idea what build, probably something the school came up with. but they aren't actually teaching us how to use it, (most of the instructors don't even know), they just require that we do our projects in it (because linux is industry standard). and since it doesn't support photoshop, we have to use gimp....

.

[tekajo]

CrossOver Linux allows you to run Windows based programs on Linux/Mac machines. It's not free but it works quite well. The open-source version is Wine but i've had problems getting certain programs to work right. Built basically by the same guys.

It's well worth a look if GIMP is not working out too good.

Just so that i can say i'm still on topic, Opteron Man, i wouldn't use the new version of Winamp (resource hog) go with v2.95 or even look up XMplayer.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by tekajo

The computer probably has one stick of 128 and another stick of 64. More than likely the ram in that Compaq is SDRAM which is fairly cheap today. i've seen sticks of 256 (which is probably the largest module that motherboard can handle) go for $40 and cheaper.

Linux these days isn't hard to learn at all since almost all of them have a very good GUI such as the K Desktop Enviroment (for faster computers) and Gnome (for slower computers). The command line days were a bitch.

Nope. This speed demon has three sixtyfour meg sticks of SD Ram running at 66 MHZ.

I hate Windows! I just composed a teary letter about how my cat died, when I hit "submit reply" the IE window froze and it crashed and I lost that letter.
Now thanks to Bill Gates and Windoes XP, I have to get back into that sad train of thought and retype the letter.

Thanks once again Microsoft-dick!

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by tekajo

i'd have gone with Linux.

Here http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm this will help your computer run smoother.

Thanks. It runs Winamp perfectly. It is running the next to newest revision.
DFX is loaded, it is a program that enhances the sound. It does and it sounds lovely. Actully, the onboard sound sounds very good considering.

[Opteron_Man]

I made this cool Bauhaus wallpaper.
It was originally supposed to be a stenzel for a painting project but I abandoned it. I was going to spray paint a Bauhaus logo on my main computer's white Antec case. It's the best machine I have.
It has an Intel Q6600 @ 3.2 GHZ with 4 GB of DDR2.
For harddrives, it has one 320 GB and one 500 GB. Both SATA 2.
I am getting used to Vista x64. XP x64 has annoying problems like all Microsoft-cock products.

In the mean time, it has a piece of shit video card. I mean really crappy.
I am a poor guy, so I have to save up for the video card.
I want to play Crysis Warhead, and Call of duty 4.
Games like that.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by Opteron_Man

I made this cool Bauhaus wallpaper.
It was originally supposed to be a stenzel for a painting project but I abandoned it. I was going to spray paint a Bauhaus logo on my main computer's white Antec case. It's the best machine I have.
It has an Intel Q6600 @ 3.2 GHZ with 4 GB of DDR2.
For harddrives, it has one 320 GB and one 500 GB. Both SATA 2.
I am getting used to Vista x64. XP x64 has annoying problems like all Microsoft-cock products.

In the mean time, it has a piece of shit video card. I mean really crappy.
I am a poor guy, so I have to save up for the video card.
I want to play Crysis Warhead, and Call of duty 4.
Games like that.

Sorry about that, I forgot to post the wallpaper!
I thought about keeping it for myself but I thought I'd share it instead.
It turned out very well if I do say so myself.
http://tinyurl.com/5lnmln

Enjoy!

[Tralis]

Its an excelent idea. I do it with my current rig, actually. It has a digital link to my AV Receiver. Whatever's being played on my computer is sent digitally to the receiver, both audio and video, through an HDMI cable. That way I can watch things off hulu or listen to music stores on my hard drive over my living room setup. Most computers don't have an HDMI port yet, but if your amplifier and computer both have a SPDIF port (which most made this decade do) than it with sound a lot better then having your sound card convert it from digital to analog.

[Opteron_Man]

Do you like my Bauhaus wallpaper?

[Tralis]

Oh, yes, excelent. It seems like a perfect wallpaper for a music server like that. Bold lines like in Bauhaus icon make it seem faster than I'm sure the computer actually is.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by Tralis

Oh, yes, excelent. It seems like a perfect wallpaper for a music server like that. Bold lines like in Bauhaus icon make it seem faster than I'm sure the computer actually is.

Thankyou! As strange as it might sound, I don't use Autocad or Photoshop.
I use MS Paint for drawing diagrams.
The copy that came with Windows Vista
is alot better then the one that comes with Windows 2K and XP.
The picture of the Bauhaus logo is something like half the original size.
I resized it to 1280x1024 pixles. Then I blurred the lines. It took some time to draw, I took a real Bauhaus logo and copied it by eye.
I would like other people to use it.

[Opteron_Man]

The computer that I described worked like a charm!
But I just pulled the same trick with a even shittier computer!

IBM machine from 1996
Pentium 1 MMX @ 200 Mhz
64 MB of SDram

But with this computer, I had to install an old version of Winamp.
Winamp 2.95 and DFX 6.1. It runs Windows 2000 Pro.
It plays music just fine. So long as the only app that is running is Winamp. It is not strong enought to juggle multipul apps without skipping and crackling the stream of music.

I will now put a better sound card in. I am happy with reusing formally usless shit equipment. That IBM was originally my bedside table.
It just sat there unplugged. It was given to me because I asked for it, it was on it's way to be scrapped.

[jack_the_knife]

I really don't understand why you used Windows 2000. I would have just used Linux.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by jack_the_knife

I really don't understand why you used Windows 2000. I would have just used Linux.

I know how to use Windows 2000. Also, Windows 2000 is lighter on old hardware like this piece of shit. Remember, all I need that whole computer to do is run Winamp with DFX plugin. Thats all.
I realise that Linux is better then Windows, but I don't know which variation to use and I don't know how to use it.

I am not closed to the idea of using Linux, it's just that I am not familiar with it.

[jack_the_knife]

Originally Posted by Opteron_Man

I know how to use Windows 2000. Also, Windows 2000 is lighter on old hardware like this piece of shit. Remember, all I need that whole computer to do is run Winamp with DFX plugin. Thats all.
I realise that Linux is better then Windows, but I don't know which variation to use and I don't know how to use it.

I am not closed to the idea of using Linux, it's just that I am not familiar with it.

Oh, that makes sense. You really should look into Linux. It's a far superior operating system than Windows.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by jack_the_knife

Oh, that makes sense. You really should look into Linux. It's a far superior operating system than Windows.

I was thinking about dual bootinq Linux with Windows on my main machine.
The Windows part is so I can play all my games.

[Man In Room 5]

I've actually been using an old computer as an MP3 player too. I have an old IBM Thinkpad i Series model 1452 with a 2 G HD that I hooked into my stereo reciever. I have a Sony 5 disc DVD player that plays MP3 CDs too but right now I don't have a TV so I can't see the menu for it. The laptop lets me do that so I don't have to shuffle thru 4 albums to get to the songs I want.

And I love your Bauhaus wallpaper. I was thinking of painting the Bauhaus face on my leather jacket and I've been looking for the biggest .jpg I could find of it. I'll probably blow up your wallpaper and cut a stencil from it.

Actually, another cool trick to play MP3s thru your stereo reciever is to simply get a cord to run the audio out of your iPod into the audio in of your reciever. I've been known to do that too.

[tekajo]

IBM machine from 1996, Pentium 1 MMX @ 200 Mhz, 64 MB of SDram

If Winamp is skipping when another app is open then Win2k is not as easy on the resources as you thought.

For a machine of that caliber i'd use Damn Small Linux. It's very small and lightweight yet comes with many apps. Once installed you can browse the DSL repository for other programs.

On my 366MHZ Dell laptop i installed VectorLinux with the XFce4 shell and it worked like a charm. The only drawback was that i had to use WINE in order to run PokerStars' application and that was not acceptable at the time.

Also check LinuxQuestions.org for more information.

In the future, when dealing with higher class of "ghettoPC's", you might even want to look into using nLite to create yourself a customized lite version of Win2k or XP.

The aforementioned Dell 366 now has a very lite yet very functional version of XP installed on it. Of course i ditched the Explorer shell for UTbox (a BlackBox for Windows derivative). As well as using alot of "portable apps".

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by Man In Room 5

I love your Bauhaus wallpaper. I was thinking of painting the Bauhaus .

Thank you for the nice compliment. I appriciate it!

The drawing I showed the group is not the original size. The drawing I drew is giganic. In order to use it as a wallpaper and not have the logo squashed into an oval, I resized it to 1280x1024 pixles.

Maybe you could take a photo of the jacket for me when it done?
I would love to see how it turns out!
Put the link here, or e-mail it to me.

[Opteron_Man]

Originally Posted by tekajo

If Winamp is skipping when another app is open then Win2k is not as easy on the resources as you thought.

For a machine of that caliber i'd use Damn Small Linux. It's very small and lightweight yet comes with many apps. Once installed you can browse the DSL repository for other programs.

On my 366MHZ Dell laptop i installed VectorLinux with the XFce4 shell and it worked like a charm. The only drawback was that i had to use WINE in order to run PokerStars' application and that was not acceptable at the time.

Also check LinuxQuestions.org for more information.

In the future, when dealing with higher class of "ghettoPC's", you might even want to look into using nLite to create yourself a customized lite version of Win2k or XP.

The aforementioned Dell 366 now has a very lite yet very functional version of XP installed on it. Of course i ditched the Explorer shell for UTbox (a BlackBox for Windows derivative). As well as using alot of "portable apps".

It wasn't Windows 2000 that was the real problem.
I like to install a plug in with Winamp. It is called DFX. It enhances audio output. I like it and it works.

On that Pentium 1 machine, I installed Winamp 5.35 with DFX 8.
Both apps are from mid to late 2008. It skipped when I played MP3's.

What I did was, I uninstalled Winamp 5.35 and installed Winamp 2.95
and DFX 6.

It now plays songs just fine, and there is no skipping!
See, the problem is that both copies of Winamp and DFX were modern 2008 apps. The older versions were from around 2002-2003.
You don't try to run stuff fromm 2008 on an old Pentium 1 200MHZ
from 1996!