Zed's DVD Player Case Mod DVR

[rampy]

Here's where you can comment on bznotins'  Zed's DVD Player Case Mod DVR :cool:

rampy  

[Anonymous]

Just a quick follow-up.

I decided to risk some heat-related issues and turned the fans in the DVR down.  Now you can't hear it from across the room and it's been operating for 48 hours without discernable problem.  Hopefully it stays that way, because it really is quiet now.  :)

Z

[bznotins]

Aw, crap.  I hate it when I fail to notice that I'm not logged-in.

If it isn't already apparent, the above post was from me.  ;)

Z

[bznotins]

And because no thread would be complete without THREE consecutive messages from me, if you want a cheap HDD, the very same deal I got for my PVR is back on again.

But only if you have a Fry's in town.

Get a Fry's ad with the $80 WD 120GB HDD, take it to Circuit City, get them to pricematch, and all you do is pay tax (after rebate).  YMMV, of course, but it worked for me.

Z

 http://www.slickdeals.net/#p5049

[LowBrow]

Wow, great article.  My Panasonic RV31 DVD player recently crapped out, it lights up real pretty, the drive itself just won't spin anymore.  I've taken it apart, and successfully reassembled it, still won't spin.  I was wondering what to do with the case, now maybe you've put me onto something.

Have you considered patching into the LCD panel on yours?

Tom

[bznotins]

Have you considered patching into the LCD panel on yours?

I briefly considered the idea, but I'm totally clueless as to how I would get the pinouts on the DVD player's display to translate to PC...

I also considered a custom LCD/VFD solution, but that's another $50 I didn't want to drop right now.

[bznotins]

One last update.

It's been running 24/7 for quite some time now with no issues.  It still feels hot, but the fans are slow enough to be quite quiet.  Success!

[Anonymous]

Just as a note, the new version of Snapstream BTV 3.5 works with the ehomewonder. Very Cool!

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to say a big thanks for your PVR article on byopvr.com....i used to be pretty savvy with IT stuff, but i am too lazy to post my thoughts and just wanted to give a tiny something back by saying thanks.
 
i was hooked on your article right away as I am a big pioneer fan, and happen to have a broken pioneer dvd player, i think it's a 525, my new one is a DV-C505, 5 disk, with mp3, cdr capabilities..
 
I am also a cheap bastard, and a packrat, so I have many video, sound cards left over from my dotcom days, ram, case fans, etc....
 
anyhow...i just got my "pvr" started/running, but plan to move it to a "home theater" looking case soon....I don't think I will attempt your pioneer case conversion, with the labor and the $ I think I will look for a used pvr case or just pay someone to make me an aluminum or stainless front panel for my large atx case....the pioneer conversion would impress my savvy friends, whereas a big steel looking box would impress everyone else, or not.
 
anyhow, if you're still reading i have mine running:
xp pro
dual cpu p3 700 x2
512ram
older hauppauge tuner card, wintv go , 878 i think
geforce2 mx440 card with tv out
SB awe64
sageTV
still configuring stuff, sound card, dvd codecs etc, ....which is the hard part....
 
i was going to sell this machine, my previous main system, but it's worth more to me than selling it for 150 or whatever...
 
not really impressed with sagetv, I know it is designed for easy, remote navagation, but the menus are really bad....
 
i think mine eventually will be a media center, but with a mouse, using multiple applications to run : no dvd, downloaded mpegs, avis, recorded tv, mp3s, but no dvd, that's what the pioneer player is for....
 
anyways thanks again...
 
K
 

[bznotins]

Thanks for the kind words!  You're right -- my "geek" friends think the project is pretty cool but the non-"geek" types all don't get it.  Heh.

One FYI on Sage.  There are many customizations out there that redo the menu system.  You might like one of those...

Z

[C.K.]

I know this is like years after you did the initial project but I wanted to point that that the built in cpu "disconnect" feature (HLT) that is built into windows xp is still not as good as third party products.

You can get another 3-5c temperature drop at idle and load by using a product like cpuidle.
(www.cpuidle.de)  Not sure if there is any freeware out there (or works as well).

This will put much less a load on your PSU as well and keep the heat output a little cooler.

Hope that helps and nice job!

[Song]

Z, this artical is very good, and informative.  I've been thinking about building a DVR for a while now.  Your instructions/steps are very helpful.   Just a thought for you, most DVD players are small, maybe you can find a used VCR as housing, it has more room since it has higher height, might fit a atx psu in.  and you can use a normal size DVD rom it.  Even a DVD RW, that way you can burn the shows there there.  I have an old karaoke box I'm going to take apart for the build. 

Thanks and good job on your project.

[pjl]

Have you considered patching into the LCD panel on yours?

I briefly considered the idea, but I'm totally clueless as to how I would get the pinouts on the DVD player's display to translate to PC...

I also considered a custom LCD/VFD solution, but that's another $50 I didn't want to drop right now.

I'm exploring the idea of doing the same thing but in a busted stereo receiver and I can't wait to get home to rip it apart and see what I can do. I don't know what it looks like in there, maybe I can figure something out, but does anyone have any info on reusing the LCD panel and/or volume knob? Just general tips, I don't even remember what model it is.

Thanks!

[bznotins]

Wow, my article springs back to life, courtesy of a wired.com link!

Just a quick FYI... the DVR is still working great, but it did cook it's original HDD.  I don't know if it's just the cheapo Western Digital drive that I got, or the reduced airflow in the case (or both).  I put a new 200gb drive in and it's humming along again.

I also changed video cards to an nVidia 5200-based card to get a bit better mpeg2 decoding.  Not quite sure if it really changed anything.

I'm starting to think about building an HD PVR -- but all the DRM issues scare me.  I'm probably just going to wait some more and see how things settle...

Thanks everybody for your kind words!

Z

[aint skierd]

Just a "feeling" I developed over the years, but i steer clear of the Maxtor and Western Digital drives. Makers of the only HDD that ever failed on me. Each time, it was a bearing that failed.
I barely got my stuff off the last one, by dismounting it and giving it a thump sideways on my palm to get it to spin up.