New WL520GU approach - building on the shoulders of giants

[mtennant]

I love my hacked WL-520gu. Many thanks to MightyOhm!

I'm happy running the firmware from ilinux without any other bells and whistles, except using MPOD and Minion as my remote control.

However, I think more geeky horizons await us. My problem is that I have limited software experience. I do know how this stuff gets put together, minus the critical details. Oh, those pesky details.

Here is my proposal.

Install either Tomato USB or DD-WRT firmware on the WL-520GU. Install Optware. Hack away.

The choice of a single device to plug into the single USB port seems important to me.

I'm aware of these devices: http://cgi.ebay.com/4GB-4G-WMA-MP3-USB- ... 3a5b8ea005

One device to do it all. FM Radio. USB Sound. USB storage. Even a built-in microphone. Input buttons. Display. There may be other cheap devices out there that would be more suitable.

Will Linux talk to all these individual components? I don't know. Wouldn't you like to find out? I would. Even if only the sound and storage functions work, it would be worth it in my opinion. This is probably the first step -- testing this all-in-one device for discoverability.

I am also of the opinion that this new all-in-one device should also be able to continue operating as a router and wireless AP. Or in the case of DD-WRT, use the built-in repeater or repeater bridge function to connect to a main router/AP. The presence of a GUI seems critical to me.

Anyone up for the challenge? I'm willing to provide a test environment plus seed money.

Who is smart enough and geeky enough to join me? Let me know and we will talk.

[jeroen94704]

It looks like this device cannot be used as a USB sound-card. It's just an mp3 player with built-in fm radio and voice recorder. The only function the router could access through USB is most likely the flash memory. All other functions (radio, voice recorder, playback) are controlled through the buttons/display on the device itself.

Jeroen

[mtennant]

Ok, here is another device that incorporates USB Sound, keyboard and mouse inputs, along with two USB ports suitable for a cheap USB flash drive. Available for less than $7 delivered from Hong Kong!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

[LloydEwing]

mtennant,
Your $7. hub with looks interesting, but we won't know if it works unless someone orders one. I bought one of the $1.60 USB audio adapters on eBay and it didn't work; when I told the seller, he sent another one that also did not work. (The seller had good feedback ratings and I hesitate to leave negative feedback for an item that cost < $2.)

It seems to me that it is easier to get a regular USB hub and plug in the individual adapters you need. There is no assurance that OpenWRT will have support for each of the functions that are provided by a multi-function device like your $7. hub. If you can find which hardware chips are used to provide each of the functions in a multi-function device, then you may be able to add the drivers to OpenWRT. That seems like like a lot of work.

Lloyd

[mtennant]

Lloyd, you are right. The chipset is the key to compatibility.

You went too cheap!!! Splurge a bit and get a first class cheapo adapter like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB2-0-7-1-Audio-3D ... 154wt_1135

I got mine for $4.54 delivered.

My seller actually specified the chipset as a CM119 made by C-Media.

I'm going to send a message to the seller on the cute little green heart thingy I'm in love with and see what they have to say about their chipset credentials. It doesn't say Linux supported, as do the sound adapters I've pointed to.

I like this little device because of the ability to connect a mouse, which could be used as an input device for changing channels (if it would work).

Marty

[mtennant]

The seller says they don't know the chipset model. I'm going to order one anyway. Will keep the board posted.

Would still like to see a DD-WRT implementation of this radio.

[mtennant]

Ok, I'm trying to get Tomato USB with Optware to run MPD with a USB sound card and a 2GB USB flash drive. I'm running the 2.6 kernel version of Tomato.

I've got Optware and MPD installed but I'm getting errors. I'm afraid there isn't a mpd.conf file in /etc, so I've got some basic stuff to do.

Apparently, this has already been done by ray123 over at Tomato USB.

See this post:

http://tomatousb.org/forum/t-251870/dlna

I want to give these suckers away as gifts, and it's not right to expect a non-geek to wade into Putty command lines to setup a wireless network when Tomato USB can give them a web GUI interface for setting up Wireless Client mode.

[mightyohm]

Wow, cool project, you are going way beyond my original radio. Sorry you are running into problems, but then again that is the nature of using experimental software on a platform it wasn't necessarily designed for.

Good luck!

[mtennant]

I might not be an uber-linux geek like you and others, but I do have persistence.

When I figure it out with the help of others, I'll document it so it can be replicated.

Anyone here got any Tomato USB experience?

[jeroen94704]

I want to give these suckers away as gifts, and it's not right to expect a non-geek to wade into Putty command lines to setup a wireless network when Tomato USB can give them a web GUI interface for setting up Wireless Client mode.

OpenWRT has Luci installed by default, which is a nice web GUI which allows setting up Wireless Client mode. I suppose ilinux has chosen to not include that particular package in his firmware, but it should be trivial to add using opkg.

(Note that I'm not trying to argue against Tomato USB or anything. I'm sure it's a great platform, but I have no experience with it)

Jeroen.