>
> Hello everyone! I'm starting to design an mp3 player for use in a
> car/truck/etc, and would like to use linux for it. However, putting a regular
> computer in my van wouldn't really work, and most computers aren't made to
> operate in those conditions, so I started looking into some sort of embedded
> system.
>
Sounds like fun.
> Basically I'm looking for a way to hook up an IDE cdrom drive to a board that
> has linux either in rom or some type of rugged disk (no moving parts), and will
> allow me to use another port to transmit data to a small LCD display and read a
> few push buttons.
>
> Could anyone get me started here?
>
If you don't want the IDE hard drive there are a couple of
alternatives:
There is a linux router project that has a single-floppy linux. You
could simply boot from the floppy and run from there. Actually it is
not too hard to come up with a single-floppy linux system. I just
followed the instructions in the BOOTDISK HOWTO. Space is tight, but
depending on the size of the mp3 decoder if you leave out networking
it might fit.
There are a bunch of people running Linux systems from flash proms.
Many SBC's (i.e. POS-460 from www.advantechusa.com (advantek?))
support flash proms.
Good luck, and keep us updated on uyour project
-- cary
