This project is done. I got one on ebay and opened her up. I removed the hard drive, took it to another machine, the immediatly blew out the existing xp embedded install and applications with cfdisk. After I finished a fedora core 6 install on the drive I re installed it into the akimbo case. I had to edit /etc/fstab to fix some paths but afterward it boots.
Here is what works.
1. Xorg works via the composite or s-video outs
2. Ethernet works
3. USB works
4. Sound works via the RCA stereo outputs (red and white) | I have not tested the optical out
Here is what does not work (yet)
1. There is some jitter in X, its fine when I play a video in fullscreen via xine (setting the res to 800×600 fixed this)
2. I have not yet figured out if the IR input will even be usable to me via lirc
EXTRA…
Performance is fine for video playback. Certainly better than the xbox frontend I was using for a while even though they have similar specs. I have played back mpeg-2 files, and mpeg-4 files w/ h.264. all were fine.
CPUINFO: Mobile Intel Celeron @ 733 mhz
MEMINFO: 128 MB, but I can clearly increase this as I see the dimm
glxgears runs @ about 350 fps.
here is my all working xorg.conf
21/12/2006 at 11:13 am Permalink
More…
I swapped out the DIMM with a 512 module, + added a Microsoft MCE remote and usb ir dongle. Now it truly works like a charm. There is work being done on the proprietary internal ir receiver as well as the 3 status lights. When I have more info I will post it here.
22/05/2007 at 2:32 pm Permalink
Hi, nice to see someone else trying to re-purpose one of the original Akimbo boxes.
I have managed to get CentOS4 installed on the box and also have been able to enable the IR receiver with Lirc.
I did the OS install directly on the box with an attached USB CD/DVD drive along with a USB keyboard. When the box is booting (i.e. at the initial Akimbo splash screen) keep pressing ESC on the keyboard until you hear the CD start reading. From then on it is a standard install, though only in text mode. The graphical installer assumes a larger resolution than can be displayed on a TV (mine anyway).
The CIR receiver in the box is controlled by a fairly standard ITE Tech IT8712 Super I/O controller chip. Lirc does support this IR receiver with the lirc_it87 driver, but the driver itself seems a little “fragile” and requires some hardware level tweaking. What I found is that you have to move the IRQ for the CIR device to 7 for the driver to work. The it8712 program from here – http://toxygen.net/it8712 – allows you to do that sort of hardware manipulation and also view the status of the various devices controlled by the chip. I have automated this with a few scripts and can now get Lirc to load on system boot. Have also been able to record a lircd.conf file with irrecord. (Tried to paste in the scripts but they get too messed up to be useful. If you want them then send an email).
22/06/2007 at 6:57 pm Permalink
Thats great!. Its good to know I am not alone. If you are decent with C this other fella was working on getting the led lights to work – http://www.takingthingsapart.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=72. I would love to get with you on those scripts, and getting the internal reciever to work. I also have some ideas on adding a laptop drive to the device, or getting my hands on a reference box w/ a slot.
27/01/2009 at 8:47 pm Permalink
Want a free Akimbo? If you are near Sunnyvale, CA, I would be happy to give you mine and you can make a Mythtv front end out of it. Better than tossing it. Might also be a decent low power server box. For me, if it doesn’t have HD, I don’t want it any more.
04/02/2009 at 8:59 pm Permalink
No, I live in NYC; but I would absolutely buy the device off of you if the price is right. brandon \ err ummm at \ dacrib.net