This is part 4 of Transforming a Mac Mini G4 to a Media Center. Links to the last three parts of this series is at the bottom of the post.
Most of the time, I stream the video contents of my Mac Mini to my iMac or MacBook so there isn't really a need to connect my Mac Mini to a monitor at all times. Most of the time, screen sharing will let me do whatever I need for the Mini. Still there are times I still need to use a monitor with it and it's troublesome to reconnect a external monitor to it. I could go out and buy a switch to switch the monitors between my computers. And I remember I had this small LCD screen.
Hooking the Mini with Mobile Monitor Color LCD Screen InterAct for GameCube
I bought this a long time ago, and haven't to put it to good use ever since I packed it away with my GameCube. This could serve as a monitor for the Mini I thought! So I dug it out. It seems like it's still working.
Now I just need to get the necessary cables to connect the Mini to it. For that I will need a DVI to Video Adapter, which is around 20 bucks. Here's a picture.
Now I hooked everything up, and everything appears to be working. The screen is really blurry. So to make things legible, I dropped the resolution to 640 X 480. The text is still not crispy enough for typing or web surfing. Front Row works nicely, and I can get video and music to play. I could also watch TV using the connected TV tuner. It's really not great quality to spend long hours watching video on it, but nice for trailers and YouTube videos perhaps?
Connecting a webcam and installing Skype
Since I had a Logtech webcam (QuickCam Ultra Vision SE) lying around, I decided to connect it to the Mini as well. I would then be able to make video calls with the Mini as well. To do so, I installed Skype.
And here we have it, I can now use my Mac Mini G4 to:
- store and stream music and video
- play music and video using Front Row
- watch and record TV
- make video calls through Skype
And here is all the software and hardware so far:
Additional Software:
- Activate Front Row
- Perian
- Skype
Additional Hardware:
- DVI to Video Adapter
- Mobile Monitor Color LCD Screen for GameCube (InterAct)
- Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision SE
- Keyspan’s Front Row Control
- iPod touch and iPhone with Remote app
- Elecom USB 4 Port Hub
- Yamaha NX-U02
- TV tuner from I-O Data
Other:
- Enabled Mini for Apple Remote Desktop so I can screen share with Leopard
- Use an nice Mini icon for the user picture
Mac Mini G4 Media Center Project Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment