Battleangel

Hot, hot, hot. Unrelenting sun. But the projects must go on. This has been a busy day, at least if you consider how many klicks I have biked and how much fluid I have transpired.

Things are becoming clearer with the HTPC project. After trying to model a case in ProEngineer I finally came to my senses and will now move to AutoCAD just as intended. One major hurdle was the design of the front panel of the case. Not to say that is isn’t anymore but one thing can finally be omitted - the power on and reset buttons. What a relief. Now I have two less design elements to worry about and I also don’t have to find suitable steel/aluminium buttons and do three extra soldering operations. What a timesaver.

Now, how will the computer function properly without a power button? Am I attempting wake-on-lan again? No. This time it is wake-on-keyboard all the way. After checking with some people at dvdforum.nu I could confirm that this will indeed function with a wireless keyboard, just as it would with an ordinary one. The only drawback is that the Abit BX6 which currently is at the heart of the HTPC (along with the obsolete Celeron266@400) is the last mb made by Abit that DIDN’T support wake-on-keyboard. Bummer! Well, I think it was pretty obvious all along that this setup wouldn’t work anyway. Shed no tears and move on. The most feasible solution would be to scout blocket.se for a used mainboard package (minimum Celeron/Duron 800) and begin again. The left-overs could always be made into a server of some kind.

Booting with a wireless keyboard is way cooler than reaching into the tv cabinet and push a clumsy switch anyway.

Inc ribbon for Underwood 5.

Rubber feet for Underwood 5 (failed: reason: my contact was on vacation).

Soldering iron. 25W + wire + stand + desoldering pump.

Glue gun. 65W 11mm.

Electronic pocket multimeter (basic stuff).

As you can see I am building up for the LCD part of the HTPC. Too bad the displays from Velleman.be were just a tad overpriced. I am currently considering a smaller display (like 2×16 or 2×20) or possibly to import a unit. I have been in contact with conrad-electronic.com for this purpose. Some people have even used their graphical LCDs (though I couldn’t find them in the database myself). A 2×40 alphanumerical lcd from Conrad is typically around 41Euro. Roughly around 400Sek then, compared to 650Sek for a Velleman lcd here in Sweden. Haven’t checked with Velleman directly yet either. Projects should be fun and spontaneous .. not expensive and restricted.

Additionally, the media(music) list is updated with Swedish Army Concert ‘99, Madonna - Greatest Hits Volume 2, Roxette - Look Sharp!, The Sweet - Greatest Hits and Wham! - The Best Of Wham!. Quite a catch, eh?