What to do with an old mp3 player

[maverick5]

Im a novice hobbyist and am trying to figure out a use for my old 6 GB Creative Nomad Jukebox. Can any one think of an idea i could use its components for. I was thinking about making its 6 GB harddrive into an external USB harddrive. Is that possible or would the firmware on the drive mess it up. Either way, does anyone have any cool ideas?

 

[maverick5]

ok new idea

I talked to a friend who told me the firmware on Creatives stuff won't allow an external harddrive, but i have a new idea. An mp3 car deck. Anyone who could help this happen?

 

[andrew2022]

i have an old 20GB archos mp3 player. a few month ago i was thinkin bout making ti for my car. its still collectig dust on my shelf

 

[bonxer]

Re: ok new idea

I talked to a friend who told me the firmware on Creatives stuff won't allow an external harddrive, but i have a new idea. An mp3 car deck. Anyone who could help this happen?

:wink: 8)

 

[MrMikey83]

:lol: @ Bonxer

Wow, you guys are mentioning old harddrive players with 8 and 20 GB. I have an OLD Rio PMP 300 w/ 8MB of storage. The belt clip snapped first thing. The battery compartment latch broke and is held shut with a rubber band. Still works though.
~Mike

 

[maverick5]

Cute idea with the velcro and tape adapter, but im more interested in making a better sounding, direct connection with the car stereo aka a built-in-dash unit. I have a brand new alpine deck in my car but it doesnt have a harddrive in it, i thought it would be cool to make a seperate harddrive unit. i think i have the basic idea of how to power it from the car(and no not with a dc adapter) and how to wire the audio to the car(again, not with a tape adapter) but my problem is how i can move the controls to the front of the panel, and then make a switch to switch between the alpine deck and the harddrive deck. The MP3 player is made by creative and is the original jukebox they made, it looks like a cd player with the controls on top. Anyone have a clue how i could remove the switches and lcd screen from the player, attatch them to some sort of faceplate, then reconnect them with wires? Like i said im only a novice.

 

[pianoman]

Yeah, just desolder the switches, solder small wires in its place, and then resolder the switches to the wires this time, and mount the switches on some sort of faceplate you design.

 

[maverick5]

can i replace that volume wheel with a standard pot? if so like ohm pot should i use. Any other cool add ons i could do or anyone could think of. Integrating the decks? Switching system? anything...

 

[monkeytree]

dj mixing? take the final sound out put of mp3(it saves alot of time rather than going back into the system) get what ever you want eg. graphic equalizer, bass bost, treble, component mixing ect. (u can get alot cheap working bits and pieces at your loacl tip/dump).


is this any good, i'm only fourteen and self taught please comment.

 

[maverick5]

all of these buttons are surface mounted to the pc board. how hard would it be to solder wires to the board and then move the buttons? to me it would seem really hard. how about soldering wires to where the buttons are, leaving the buttons on the board, then connecting the other end to a seperate button. would that work? will it just bypass the other button?

 

[pianoman]

all of these buttons are surface mounted to the pc board. how hard would it be to solder wires to the board and then move the buttons? to me it would seem really hard. how about soldering wires to where the buttons are, leaving the buttons on the board, then connecting the other end to a seperate button. would that work? will it just bypass the other button?

Well that would depend entirely on your soldering experience. I myself would desolder the switches, as I have no problem soldering on very small surfaces, I'm relatively "expereinced" with soldering. As far as connecting another button switch in parallel, yes that would work fine.

 

[maverick5]

my soldering skills are limited, i've done a lot of work with re wiring mine and my friends guitars, but my skills dont span much further than guitars. i cant really solder in small spaces, most likely because im using a gun shaped soldering iron with a trigger. i have a pen type soldering iron which i think may work. Guitar electronics are very spaced apart and rather forgiving when it comes to the amount of solder and position placed.

1. if i were to put in new buttons in parallel, would it matter which type of buttons they were. i dont know the specs on the current ones, but i do know they are surface mounted and very very small.

2.another problem comes in when trying to desolder the lcd panel. with important components close to everything, how can i ensure they dont over heat,

3.what kind of heat sink can i use and how

4. also, what is the appropriate way to take apart and desolder/resolder while ensuring the components arent damaged by static

 

[monkeytree]

1. if i were to put in new buttons in parallel, would it matter which type of buttons they were. i dont know the specs on the current ones, but i do know they are surface mounted and very very small.

A.if they are pressure switches(they only stay down if you hold them down) then they need to be replaced with pressure switches or they will breake your mp3.

2.another problem comes in when trying to desolder the lcd panel. with important components close to everything, how can i ensure they dont over heat,

3.what kind of heat sink can i use and how

A.to 2+3 just use some metal preferbly steel or copper as thick as you can fit in and hold it on the components you dont want to damage(it is easiest to get a friend to hold theese as you do the soldering).

4. also, what is the appropriate way to take apart and desolder/resolder while ensuring the components arent damaged by static

A.i have not hade a proberlem with static but if you want to be safe try erathing the component with a wire to the ground or to a cold water pipe.