Hack75.Use FrodoPlayer as Your Car PC Frontend


Hack 75. Use FrodoPlayer as Your Car PC Frontend

FrodoPlayer is one of the most popular car PC applications, because it integrates almost every conceivable feature (and has a cool name).

FrodoPlayer started out as a way for me to tie together the many functions I wanted in a car PC. When I began my car PC project, there weren't as many programs for use with car computers and VGA touchscreens as there are now. A lot of the functions I needed just weren't easy or safe to use in a car environment, especially for drivers. I started out with a very basic media player that played only MP3s. Compare that to what FrodoPlayer is today: a system that supports music, video, DVD, CD audio, "smart" and regular playlists, XM radio, FM radio, GPS, reversing cameras, file syncing, picture slideshows, remote control, web-based control, skinning and customization, external applications, video lockout for safety and legal reasons, and ties in with external applications written specifically for the car PC market. Believe it or not, even more features are in the works, and all the existing features are constantly being improved.

As you can see, I'm quite proud of it, and I like to brag…a little.

After reading this hack, you should have a pretty good idea of whether you want to use FrodoPlayer as the frontend to your car PC.

7.8.1. Installing FrodoPlayer

First up, let's get the setup of FrodoPlayer out of the way. I'm going to go through some basic and intermediate aspects of setting up FrodoPlayer for the first time.

The latest version of FrodoPlayer can always be found at http://www.frodoplayer.com. There is also a support forum there, but more people use the forum at http://www.mp3car.com. This MP3Car.com web site is by far the best car PC resource in existence.

After you have downloaded FrodoPlayer and verified that you have all the prerequisites, you can install FrodoPlayer. This is straightforward and has a guided setup, so you shouldn't have any problems.

After installation, FrodoPlayer needs to scan your media collection in order to add all your music to its database. To do this, go to Settings Database and browse to a media folder located on your non-removable hard drive. Sit back and wait a bit while the player builds your database. If you would like, you can peruse the other settings in this menu while you wait. You will only have to rebuild your database when you add media to your car PC. (A syncing function is in the works that will shorten this process considerably, but unfortunately it is not yet available.)

Okay, you have it set up now, but it might not look like you want it to. Fortunately, FrodoPlayer is completely skinnable, which means you can easily change the appearance of the entire application. Take some time to choose a skin you like from the FrodoPlayer web site.

The main interface (Figure 7-26) has Forward and Back buttons, which allow you to choose the browse modes (i.e., different ways to access your media). You can find the media you want to play by artist, genre, title, folder hierarchy, or album art, to name a few of the options. There's even a search facility that will bring up an onscreen keyboard. Before you move on, check out the full-screen mode.

Figure 7-26. FrodoPlayer's main interface


Everything on the main screen should be pretty self-explanatory; if it isn't, it won't take you long to figure it all out, but you should do so before you start driving. When you drive, you need to keep your eyes on the road, not on a new user interface.


7.8.2. FrodoPlayer Features

FrodoPlayer is packed with features. When it first launches, you are presented with the media player screen and your music collection. If you press the Menu button you'll see the screen shown in Figure 7-27, which displays all the other functions available to you. Read the feature descriptions below, then play around in the interface to see how the features actually work. Experimenting like this is probably the easiest way to learn the program.

Figure 7-27. The main FrodoPlayer menu


The features available in FrodoPlayer are:


Smart playlists

Smart playlists are just database queries. These can currently be made in the settings menus. An example smart playlist would be one that consists of only Rolling Stones songs from the '80s. Note that it is possible to create such a playlist only if your file tags include the necessary information. To accomplish this, open the Settings menu, click on Smart Playlists, enter in the query values, and save. It's that simple.


Import Winamp playlists

If you've spent hundreds of hours making Winamp playlists over the years, all that effort wasn't wasted. If you have Winamp playlists in . m3u or .pls format, just drop them in the playlists folder and FrodoPlayer will make use of them.


Regular playlists

Of course, FrodoPlayer supports regular playlists as well. Figure 7-28 shows the regular playlist selector.

Figure 7-28. The playlist selector



Use FFDShow to post-process videos

Post-processing enhances the resolution, sharpness, and detail of digital video after it has been decompressed, compensating for some of the jagged artifacts added in the compression process. If you have a powerful enough system, you can install FFDShow (Google to find it) and use it to post-process your videos.


Add videos to the database

FrodoPlayer normally doesn't store videos in the database, but that doesn't mean you can't. Open the Settings menu, and click the File-types option. Add the video file types to your database, and then rebuild or sync. Just make sure your video files are located under the same main folder as your music. Now you can use the browse modes to browse your video collection. If you want to categorize your videos, just set them up in folders and use one of the directory or album art modes.


Install DVD codecs

FrodoPlayer won't play DVDs without the appropriate decoder (codec). When you install a player application such as PowerDVD or WinDVD, the appropriate codecs are installed with it [Hack #70], You don't actually have to use these programs; you just need them for their included codecs.


Install a video lockout device, or a remote camera trigger

You can buy small serial relay devices from my web site, or build your own. These devices allow FrodoPlayer to respond to input signals telling it when the car is in motion or backing up. (For wiring considerations, look at "Turn On Your Car Computer Before You Start Your Car" [Hack #46].) Installing these will allow you to disable video playback in FrodoPlayer while the car is moving, or have FrodoPlayer switch to your rearview camera when the vehicle shifts into reverse [Hack #33].


FM radio

The FM radio player (see Figure 7-29) piggybacks off a wonderful program called Radiator, which is available at http://www.flesko.cz. Find a supported card somewhere on the Net [Hack #19], and get it all set up and running with Radiator. Then just go to the settings page and tell FrodoPlayer where you installed Radiator.

Figure 7-29. FM radio player (picture courtesy of Konrad)



XM Radio

FrodoPlayer is XM satellite ready! To use an XM Direct receiver [Hack #19], you need a simple, cheap cable that connects the receiver to your car PC's serial port. The instructions to make this cable can be found on my site (http://www.frodoplayer.com)or at http://www.mp3car.com. You may also find vendors who provide the cables pre-madejust ask on the forums at one of the above sites.

After you have fabricated or purchased your cable, hook up your XM Direct receiver to an available serial port, or to an available USB port if you would like to use a USB-to-serial adapter. Note the port you used, and define the port in the settings. You'll now be able to tune your XM radio directly from FrodoPlayer (see Figure 7-30).

Figure 7-30. XM radio player (picture courtesy of djScript)



Automatic file syncing

File syncing can be accomplished by using an integrated third-party application called Karen's Replicator [Hack #64]. Karen's Replicator has been modified for touchscreen use and is available from FrodoPlayer's main menu. It supports scheduled and manual syncing. Additional information can be found at http://www.karenware.com. This is really useful for wireless connections between your home and car. Once your network is set up, a touch of the sync button is all that is needed to transfer your files. Optionally, you can use the Replicator's scheduling functions.


Serve up HTML or scripts to other applications

FrodoPlayer includes a small web server internally. This allows third-party tools to query and control FrodoPlayer, as well as allowing the user to write web plug-ins (FPWebins) for simple automation and control of just about anything. The web server also supports most CGI scripts, including PHP, so practically unlimited control is possible. Full programming specifications and usage instructions can be found at http://www.frodoplayer.com.


Remote control

FrodoPlayer can be controlled with Windows messages, which allows third-party developers to automate FrodoPlayer. This also enables users to automate FrodoPlayer by using a third-party tool such as Girder [Hack #56] that will allow remote controls and other hardware to control it. Complete specifications for the commands and some tutorials are available on the FrodoPlayer web site. Here is an example of how this works (you'll need a remote control, of course):

  1. Download Girder from http://www.girder.nl.

  2. Go to the FrodoPlayer web site, and download the sample Girder configuration file.

  3. Load the file into Girder and follow Girder's instructions for your IR receiver to get it all set up. Then click on the command in the list that you want, choose Learn, and press the desired key on your remote.

  4. After that, if Girder is running and FrodoPlayer is running, pressing the key on the remote will initiate that action. Yes, it is that simple!

7.8.3. Third-Party Tools

An increasing number of third-party tools can be used with FrodoPlayer. These tools are able to interoperate with FrodoPlayer as one cohesive unit.

One example is my friend Zoran Horvat's PhoneControl.NET [Hack #63], which can pause and resume FrodoPlayer when you receive and terminate incoming calls. To try out PhoneControl.NET, go to http://zoran-horvat.de/private/CarPC/default.htm.

Another useful third-party tool, written by another friend of mine, is Navi-Voice [Hack #60]. NaviVoice is a nice voice-activated program that will allow you to control all kinds of computer-related things. You can download the program from http://www.whipflash.com/vamr/routisvoice.htm. To find out more about it, go to http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=52 (or just search the MP3Car.com forums for NaviVoice).

7.8.4. Replace the Windows GUI with Frodo

You can replace the Windows XP Explorer shell (i.e., the whole Windows GUI) with FrodoPlayer. It is relatively simple to do, but it may cause instability in your OS. This will only work with a Windows XP system. Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Windows Registry Editor ( regedit).

  2. Navigate to this subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.

  3. Go to the Shell setting.

  4. Replace explorer.exe with the full path to FrodoPlayer.exe.

  5. Reboot.

7.8.5. Future Improvements

By the time you are reading this, the player will probably have changed a lot, with more features added and ease of use improved. Here's just a sampling of the features I'm working on at this writing:

  • Dual screen support

  • Integrated web browser, email reader, weather reporting, TV control, and radio control

  • Gamma (brightness) control and relay controller support with plug-ins

  • Memo recording, contact list

  • File manager

  • Control of FrodoPlayer from any "XM-ready" head unit

  • Full Unicode support and international customization support, languages, etc.

  • Safety enhancements

  • Expanded GPS support

All of the things you have read about here can be found as tutorials or FAQs at http://www.frodoplayer.com or http://www.mp3car.com.

Support forums are available as well. Please check in to see what has changed and try out some of the things you find there.

Kevin Lincecum



    Car PC Hacks
    Car PC Hacks
    ISBN: 0596008716
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 131

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