In the evenings I’ve been working on restoring an old computer that Nathan, my roommate, recently acquired. It has a PII 200MHz processor with 32 mb of RAM, a 10 GB hard drive and no LAN modem. After thinking about what we could use the computer for, I decided to make it into a jukebox for the living room. Having a means to listen to music while cooking, cleaning and doing other activities in the area around the living room would certainly be welcomed by all of us.
I slaved over it (much like an oven, old computers tend to give off a lot of heat, which added to the already humid and hot environment this apartment has become) for quite a while trying to install various versions of Linux. After a couple days of this I was provided with a replacement CD drive that allowed me to finally accomplish that. I installed Damn Small Linux, a distro that takes up a mere 50 mb and features a built in media player (as well as programs for web browsing, word processing, e-mail checking, image editing, instant messaging, spreadsheet creating, PDF reading, gaming and more).
The current obsticle is setting up the soundcard, which seems to be a rather stubborn chip to configure. It is, however, the last step in making the computer able to take on the role I intend it for. I’m holding hope that I’ll be able to figure out how to get it working and transform the box from a CD and Tetris playing device into a music dispensing tool.
The case of this computer is rather bland and unappealing. When I have the resources I would like to do a case mode to make it look like an actual jukebox. While I would not attempt anything as grand as this jukebox project (or of that style), I think it would be a great challenge and learning experience to attempt to create a case that looks akin to this. I have no experience in case modding, and my artistic skills are limited, but it would be an exciting project.
I slaved over it (much like an oven, old computers tend to give off a lot of heat, which added to the already humid and hot environment this apartment has become) for quite a while trying to install various versions of Linux. After a couple days of this I was provided with a replacement CD drive that allowed me to finally accomplish that. I installed Damn Small Linux, a distro that takes up a mere 50 mb and features a built in media player (as well as programs for web browsing, word processing, e-mail checking, image editing, instant messaging, spreadsheet creating, PDF reading, gaming and more).
The current obsticle is setting up the soundcard, which seems to be a rather stubborn chip to configure. It is, however, the last step in making the computer able to take on the role I intend it for. I’m holding hope that I’ll be able to figure out how to get it working and transform the box from a CD and Tetris playing device into a music dispensing tool.
The case of this computer is rather bland and unappealing. When I have the resources I would like to do a case mode to make it look like an actual jukebox. While I would not attempt anything as grand as this jukebox project (or of that style), I think it would be a great challenge and learning experience to attempt to create a case that looks akin to this. I have no experience in case modding, and my artistic skills are limited, but it would be an exciting project.
