   Programming for.. umm.. DVD players
  I was wondering, is it possible (for the average individual) to write software for at least some of the portable DVD players? Do they support flashing their bios (perhaps by putting it on a CD/DVD) or the only way to update their firmware is to physically change the chips?I am not expecting much info on this thread, but at least did anyone else think of that before?   
  I'm no expert either, but a fried of mine updated the firmware of his DVD player using some self-made cable he attached to the device. So it must be possible for sure. He did, however, download the firmware from some website so I have no idea whether it's possible to simply "write some software" for these things.;Dragon's LairLook down at the very bottom, there is a version of the game that runs in a standard dvd player.   ;  The DVD link for that game doesn't work, but games like that are very limited, they only allow to 'program' in some sort of DVD menu script thing. I would like ASM level programming :)   ;  For DVD players that allow firmware flashing you possibly have an opportunity. If those players require a signed firmware then you're out of luck, unless you can find a way to get an unsigned firmware running. If the player doesn't need a signed firmware you will need to figure how the hardware works. This information might be on the net, but there are so many DVD players out there, each with mostly unique hardware, that this probably won't be easy. The CPU might not be difficult, most of the usual suspects are well documented and most are supported one version of the GCC toolchain or another, it's the other hardware that will cause you a problem. I don't know how most manufacturers come up with their DVD hardware, whether it's off the shelf parts they put together themselves, or if they license a SOC from someone, or some combination. You can always attempt to reverse-engineer the player's default firmware if it's not encrypted, but getting info that way is tedious and slow and requires a lot of patience.   ;  I know that there are some ways to do it, but I am not that crazy to do it all by myself :)I was hoping there were some (3rd party) SDKs (possibly even a Linux version) for some portable DVD player.I mean, we have Linux on an Ipod and on microwave ovens (j/k about the microwave ovens) and we don't have it on a dvd player?   ;  Say you got everything working, and you were able to develop for your DVD player, what would you write for it?Your biggest limmitations would be the RAM, whatever you are going to use for a controler, and the speed of your processor.Texas Instruments siteYou will have some flexibility, but not much. It looks like the only chip you would be able to play with is the one that handles talking to the encoder and displaying stuff on the screen like the GUI. Since the decoder chip uses all the horsepower, all this chip has to be is the equivelant of a 386 or so. Probably something from the ARM chain, or totaly propriatary to begin with.Another thing to consider is that the FLASH ROM is soldered directly to the board, making it quite difficult to flash.Good luck anyways.   ;  Well, they have to have some general purpose CPU for stuff like menus.What can you do with one, if you could get it to work? Well, one thing could be some games (2d games). Another thing would be perhaps some unidirectional IR interface so that you can view all kind of stuff from the computer to the DVD player LCD.   ;Quote:Original post by RaduprvI know that there are some ways to do it, but I am not that crazy to do it all by myself :)I was hoping there were some (3rd party) SDKs (possibly even a Linux version) for some portable DVD player.I mean, we have Linux on an Ipod and on microwave ovens (j/k about the microwave ovens) and we don't have it on a dvd player?There was this one time...were i installed linux on my vaccum cleaner :P....jk   