New picture frame project

Howdy!
After being inspired by all the picture frame projects around, I built my own.  I started blogging about how I did it (it's on Windows CE on a laptop, as opposed to XP, so there's no laptop).  I talk about how I built the OS and app, and the CEPC boot disk, etc.

Here it is if anyone's interested: http://weblogs.asp.net/swingbeat/archive/2004/07/08/177714.aspx

I love your all in RAM bit, I mean the hard-disk would be the first thing to die in the laptop. The simplicity would also keep it nice and stable for a long time. Have you got any numbers on how long it will run for without crashing? Also is it possible to pull out the memory card and have it keep the current imagine on the screen?

AND what happens if it is half way though reading the file when you pull it out? Will it crash?    

I like the RAM bit too. In the future, I might upgrade it with a CF card with a CF--2.5"IDE adapter. (I'll write more on the blog next time).  So this way there will be NO moving parts

If you pull out the image card while it's halfway reading, the read will fail, but I catch that exception (although I haven't tested it ) and it should just leave the existing image on the screen until the next time it reads the image.

Yeahp, when you pull out the memory card, it will keep the current image on the screen (this I tested ).

I don't have any numbers.. I  just finished this on Monday, but so far it's been running for two days without a reboot.

Good idea. You could consider grabbing the imagines off of the network, would force you to have an RJ-45 cable going in but would not have any moving parts and could also run from RAM.

Also could have a live webcam feed into it ..

That's a good idea .
I don't know if I can find a USB webcam that will work with Windows CE, though .
Check out the site again - there's feedback/discussions on what else can be added.      

Seriously cool, well done!


btw, this ( http://www.pandaworx.com/prv/first_picframe_vic.jpg ) happens if someone is stupid enough to drop their display whilst working on such a project.
Sigh.

hehe, ouch ! Those things happen, don't give up!

busted

I've got a flaky laptop with a hard disk that gets corrupted about every 6 months, so I'd love to try this... but I have no idea how to go about getting Windows CE. How is that done? Do I have to pay some licensing fees or something?

Kaelan wrote:

I've got a flaky laptop with a hard disk that gets corrupted about every 6 months, so I'd love to try this... but I have no idea how to go about getting Windows CE. How is that done? Do I have to pay some licensing fees or something?