3,
Cracking open a few players out there (so you don't have to).
Looking under the hood of different players available on the market.
With a few comments on basic functionalities and easy of hacking.
RCA
1. Specifications
256 megs of internal memory
No external memory slot
Black and White Text only LCD screen
Menu options include: organising files and folders
Automatic reset button in the back
Rechargable Lithium battery: charges through USB
2. Source & price
50 $ at Kmart
3. Hacking hints
Crack the plastic open
Unscrew as much as you can
The hardest part is to crack open the exterior plastic casing withou tbraking anything inside. Once you have the top red casing out, you can start to unscrew each part out of the casing until you get the core piece out. The only screw i have not touched is the one that holds the USB connector to the board.
[Squeleton: front view]
[Squeleton: back view]
Depending on your application, you might want to keep the plastic body as a holder for the electronic device. If you don't, you need to design your own casing in order to protect the naked player.
Buttons: front view
Buttons: back view
This player has a nice and clean design for the series of buttons. Looking at the back, it's easy to identify what connects to what when the buttons are pressed and solder right onto the front for a clean hack.
[The reset button]
[Inside view]
This player also has a small reset button in the back. Be carefull to protect it or deactivate it if needed. It is also usefull to restart the player if it acts strangely as you try and hack it.
4. Comments
The easiest hack for this price range.
The location of the buttons is easy to identify and there is no risk running the rest of the board while trying to solder onto the buttons.
Also, the USB charged Lithium battery is small and sexy -deserves to be a hack in itself. (where to find it/make this setup).
This would appear to be yet another variation on the generic S1 mp3 player, it hails from china, comes in several variations on the same basic design, and is often bought up in large quantities and rebranded by many consumer electronics/entertainment companies well known and otherwise, see www.s1mp3.org for more info. Most run from a AAA battery like the coby below, but many of these models with USB-charged internal batteries have been appearing 'in the wild' since mid-2006. -FXB
COBY Simple
1. Specifications
256 megs of internal memory
No external memory slot
No LCD screen: Play, FWD, BWD only
1 status LED (multiple states)
1 AA battery
2. Source
Found at surplus general store for 20$.
3. Hacking Tips
This player is easily opened up using a small screw driver.
The different parts
Front of the player
Back of the player
4. Comments
Very cheap.
Good for simple applications where the absence of a screen is not a problem.
This Coby model has only 3 buttons to perform 6 actions in total (PLAY/STOP, FWD/FFWD, BWD/FBWD). This can make it a bit harder to control with a microcontroller.
COBY middle range
1. Specifications
256 megs of internal memory
External SD card slot (comes with 8 meg card)
Text only LCD screen (larger)
Indiglo light on LCD
Record function (mic input)
1 AA battery
2. Source
Found at surplus general store for 50$.
3. Hacking Tips
info here
info here
info here
info here
4. Comments
Wasn't explored fully because the significantly larger number of functionalities increased the complexity of reading through the boards ect.
Great for recording and playback of audio.
Button hack probably similar to a standard joystick hack.
More topics
(possible things to explore in this category)
1. Controlling a hacked player with a microcontroller.
2. CD player hack.
3. Make your own MP 3 player from *almost scratch (links to existing ressources and comments on these ressources).