Microdrive... is it an option?

[LocalH]

It's coming from the fact that flash devices only are rated for a limited number of writes (and you can't just write an individual byte, you have to read in a whole block, change the desired data, and rewrite the whole block). For primarily read-only use, flash memory can be a great alternative to an actual disk. But if you are planning on using it just like it was a hard drive, with lots of write cycles, then it WILL eventually wear out.

[LocalH]

These characteristics are present in most, if not all, forms of flash memory. However, the number of write cycles in current devices tends to be quite high, on the order of several hundred thousand. This is also on a per-block basis. Also, CF cards automatically map out bad blocks, so in most cases, this is unnoticed in practical use and cards can have a long life, even with the typical use in a digital camera. This would also explain why a card that has been used extremely much would lose some of its' capacity.

With the Amiga, I wouldn't be so worried about wearing out a CF card, however. On Linux, the default settings record an access time for each file, but this can be disabled, so that the drive is only written to when there is an actual write. I wouldn't recommend using flash for a swap partition though =P

[LocalH]

I never advocated using a Microdrive, I just merely presented the facts about flash and large amounts of write cycles, that's all. When I build a Linux MP3 player for my car, I'm probably going to use CF for the root partition, and dedicate a few megs on my MP3 hard drive for swap (the machine will have 48MB RAM, so I figure 128MB swap should be more than enough).

[LocalH]

Well, as for hardware I've got a cheap P166 that I'm already setting up for the job, I'm building the base system on an actual HD of course, I'll transfer it over after I have purchased a CF card of suitable size and a CF-IDE adaptor. I read about one guy using an Amiga and a parport DSP, but there's no way in hell I'm taking a chance on losing an Amiga via wreck or thief =P

I've got a 40GB HD on an ATA100 PCI controller for MP3s (CF isn't really feasible here for the storage I want), and I currently have a wired Ethernet card (I will be installing an 802.11b card once I've got the system set up, in the hopes of gaining the capability to send songs to the car from the comfort of my home, especially with the remote starter I have installed in my car =P). I've got a Sony headunit, and I plan on having an interface built so as to route the MP3 audio directly into my headunit and through my amp. I'll also be adding the usual LCD (or I might splurge and go VFD) display and keypad above my headunit. I'd like to figure out a way to mount the CDROM somewhere accessible so as to rip CDs in-car, but I don't know how well that would work with IDE, and I'd also imagine it would take a while to encode MP3s on a P166, even with LAME.

[LocalH]

VFD = Vacuum Flourescent Display. Gives off a much brighter display than LCD, already found in many car stereos.

I'm not so much worried about how 'boring' the actual system will be, because it'll be tucked away either in the trunk or underneath one of the seats. Like I said, I don't want to lose a much more valuable Amiga due to a bad misfortune. I got this P166 for next to nothing, so I'll really only be out the time it took me to build the system should something like that happen. Old PCs are perfect for this type of utilitarian workhorse function. Amigas are destined for far better things, such as watching demos =P

I want as much storage as I can for my player, and I figure 40GB should allow me plenty (I had 20GB of MP3s on my laptop recently for a total of about 4/5 days of music). I also want to be able to set it to shuffle on albums and listen to pretty much random albums from my collection, without even lifting a finger, and even with no delay between albums like with a CD changer. I'm not so worried about access times either, ATA100 will be more than fast enough.