Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-15 Thread epoch1970
Excellent. (SATA ports on the mobo, I am impressed.) epoch1970's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=16711 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96347 __

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-15 Thread CharlieG
I am listening to music streaming from my new VortexBox (well if you can call a 2004 repurposed box new)! The hard drive swap was really easy. The motherboard in the old computer has SATA controllers, so all I had to do was plug the new hard drive using a new SATA cable and a molex 4-pin to SATA

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-10 Thread Mnyb
CharlieG wrote: > I've done some research on the Dell user forums and it seems my machine > is capable of up to a 2 TB SATA drive. It will require cable adaptors > but that's okay by me. One TB SATA drives are pretty reasonably priced > so I think that's probably what I will use. Thats excelle

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-10 Thread CharlieG
I've done some research on the Dell user forums and it seems my machine is capable of up to a 2 TB SATA drive. It will require cable adaptors but that's okay by me. One TB SATA drives are pretty reasonably priced so I think that's probably what I will use. -

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-10 Thread ply3908
2004 computer should be able to boot from USB devices, You can install Vortexbox on a USB thumb drive (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-SDCZ33-008G-B35-Flash-Drive/dp/B005FYNSUA/ref=sr_1_34?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1347303637&sr=1-34). You music can be on USB external drive or NAS.

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread garym
epoch1970 wrote: > :) > Our (I commandeered it switfly) Apple //e has twin floppy readers too. I > was holding the guys fiddling with cassette tapes in utmost contempt. We > still have the machine, a few years ago it was still in service for > playing a few games, before being replaced by a retir

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread epoch1970
CharlieG wrote: > It seems I had my dates wrong:-) > > I placed the order for the computer on January 18, 2004 and the date of > manufacture is 1/20/2004. Ok, you need not worry much about the HDD then. If you're looking for a new one, it's going to be crazy expensive anyway (factories only do S

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread CharlieG
It seems I had my dates wrong:-) I placed the order for the computer on January 18, 2004 and the date of manufacture is 1/20/2004. It has a Pentium 4 CPU 2.66 GHz and came with 512 MB of RAM (I later added two GB of RAM). It was in 2009 (when I purchased my first Squeezebox) I added the RAM and

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread garym
Mnyb wrote: > The Apple II dad borrowed one when i was a child ,memories (we could not > afford such thing back then ) later on friends had the typical Vic C64 > etc and transfered software over the phone line from cassettes :) A, I fondly remember using my Apple II with an attached cassette

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread epoch1970
Mnyb wrote: > The Apple II dad borrowed one when i was a child ,memories (we could not > afford such thing back then ) later on friends had the typical Vic C64 > etc and transferred software over the phone line from cassettes :) C64, preserved and stuffed: http://www.kingsquare.nl/jsc64 ;) (USB

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-09 Thread the nightfly
epoch1970 wrote: > (I *think* win xp can't see above 2TB ?) WinXP 32-bit can only see 2TB. I believe the 64-bit version can see drive space larger than that. the nightfly's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.ph

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread Mnyb
Bizarre I've never heard of computers with this kind of bios limitation ? live and learn . mobo must have been old design even back in the day ? 137GB does not acount for much for music storage but this is more than enough for the OS . If you got no SATA interface USB may be the only option left

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread epoch1970
Mnyb wrote: > You are old if your current phone outperforms your first computer :) ( > and I do suspect that my controller does to ). I was lucky enough to have my father bring an Apple //e in the family. My first computer can be emulated in javascript inside a web browser… CharlieG wrote: > Ok

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread CharlieG
epoch1970 wrote: > On that old machine, there is a chance the bios will only see the first > 137GB of any drive. I'd favor a laptop drive (more robust) over a larger > desktop drive. > I remember I've had met this limit with an iMac that came with a 30GB > drive… Those were the days. Okay, how w

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread Mnyb
epoch1970 wrote: > On that old machine, there is a chance the bios will only see the first > 137GB of any drive. I'd favor a laptop drive (more robust) over a larger > desktop drive. > I remember I've had met this limit with an iMac that came with a 30GB > drive… Those were the days. +1 You are

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread epoch1970
On that old machine, there is a chance the bios will only see the first 137GB of any drive. I'd favor a laptop drive (more robust) over a larger desktop drive. I remember I've had met this limit with an iMac that came with a 30GB drive… Those were the days. --

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-08 Thread Mnyb
CharlieG wrote: > I guess you are right about the drive not lasting much longer. It was > the only computer in the house for eight years, and ran 24/7 for the > last two. At one point I researched (on the Dell site) getting a larger > drive, but none was available for this model. I may look in

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-07 Thread CharlieG
ply3908 wrote: > The computer is fine for Vortexbox but 9 year old drive will not last > for long if keep it on 24/7. Why not buy a bigger drive? If you don't > need the space, install it on a USB drive if the BIO has the boot from > USB drive option. I installed Vortexbox on a thumb drive f

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-07 Thread ply3908
The computer is fine for Vortexbox but 9 year old drive will not last for long if keep it on 24/7.I installed Vortexbox on a thumb drive for my HP ProLiant MicroServer. ply3908's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/

Re: [SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-07 Thread epoch1970
Yes and yes. As for the name under which the USB drive would attach, I think this is Vortexbox dependant. They have a forum, and even 'a nice wiki page' (http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=USB+Media+Library) for you. I would recommend applying the optional steps 11 and 12 shown in the w

[SlimDevices: Plugins] Converting an old PC to VortexBox

2012-09-07 Thread CharlieG
I have an old PC I’m thinking of using as a dedicated Squeezebox server. It is a 9 year old Pentium 4 machine with 2.5 gigs of RAM, but the hard drive is small (75 gigs I think). The operating system is Windows XP. I want to convert it to VortexBox but I have a couple of questions. First off thi