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Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #12251
| From | Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.os.linux.misc |
| Subject | Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes |
| Date | 2014-10-09 14:44 -0400 |
| Organization | National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Message-ID | <alpine.LNX.2.02.1410091443350.19791@darkstar.example.org> (permalink) |
| References | <m13igf$3qf$1@speranza.aioe.org> <alpine.LNX.2.02.1410081141310.17080@darkstar.example.org> <N_idnToIl5CT-KjJnZ2dnUU7-eGdnZ2d@giganews.com> |
On Wed, 8 Oct 2014, Robert Heller wrote:
> At Wed, 8 Oct 2014 11:45:34 -0400 Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Wed, 8 Oct 2014, asdf wrote:
>>
>>> (I apologize for the repost from c.o.l.embedded but that group
>>> looks almost dead and the topic may be of interest to others)
>>>
>>>
>>> Those nice boxes have multiple video inputs, serial/RS485/parallel i/o
>>> for alarms, camera motion etc, one or more audio i/o, HDMI output,
>>> one or more SATA ports, etc and some cost down to less than $50
>>> including case, power supply, cables, mouse and remote. And all of
>>> them run Linux. The logical question is: did anyone manage to flash
>>> some embedded distro on one of these boxes to extend their
>>> capabilities or use them for different purposes? 4 or more channels
>>> video sampling means they use some pretty fast ADCs in there.
>>>
>>> Here's one.
>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/361044828613
>>> Having placed a few of them I can confirm, regardless of their
>>> brand/model, many use the same firmware save for a few
>>> changes.
>>>
>>>
>> I've wondered about it, I've found a few on the sidewalk. But I've never
>> looked into it, so I don't know what might have been done already. Since
>> these I've found, I have no manuals to see if they run Linux, and booting
>> up one of them doesn't say.
>>
>> Blu-ray players also tend to have a board inside that runs linux, probably
>> limited in resources, but maybe fitting some uses, and they certainly can
>> be small. At least one of my two blu-ray players will accept a keyboard,
>> and one of these days I'll plug one in and see what it might do.
>>
>> Even my tv sets run Linux, but I can't figure out what use that would be
>> as a tv set (though maybe as they die, the controller can be reused for
>> something).
>
> Can you say iLinux? Afterall, an iMac is just a processor board + hard drive
> + display screen. It sounds like the TV Set is much the same (but probably
> without the hard drive).
>
But limited memory, only one USB port and no ethernet.
It's easier to imagine reusing a blu-ray player, since they either have
ethernet or built in wifi.
Michael
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repurposing cheap dvr boxes asdf <asdf@nospam.com> - 2014-10-08 14:42 +0000
Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2014-10-08 11:45 -0400
Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2014-10-08 11:23 -0500
Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2014-10-08 17:34 +0100
Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2014-10-09 14:44 -0400
Re: repurposing cheap dvr boxes Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2014-10-09 14:20 -0500
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