Live updating on a photo frame? Is it possible?
 

Say, does anybody know if there's a way to connect a cheap-o LCD photo frame to a computer so that it updates live from the Internet? I'm thinking of two possible applications:

- Connect it to something like Flickr so you always have fresh images.
- Connect it to a webcam so you can monitor your home in real-time without having to open up a web browser.

I've done a few Google searches and turned up nothing. I realize that this may be asking for a lot from such inexpensive little gadgets. ;-)

I dont know of a way to connect a store bought DPF, unless it has a wireless card or even an Ethernet plug. Plus if it's a really cheap one your options would be limited. Post the DPF's specs and we can tell you more about your options.


I have made my own DPF from old laptops that I put a wireless card in and was able to ssh in to change the photos or to make the DPF show a radar loop from a web page.


Instructions are here, they may be a bit outdated as I was using slax 5.something.. and they are up to Slax6. But any linux distro would work, depending on your hardware.

http://mylinuxjournal.blogspot.com/2...1_archive.html

Depends on how the photo frame works. I doubt the cheap ones have any capability other then uploading pictures or video.

The Samsung SPF-85V LCD Photoframe or maybe D-Link Wireless Photo Frame (DSM-210)
appear like they will work for you but probably to expensive.

Or build your own.
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/20...al-photo-frame

best i could come up with - a photo frame without internet - could be connected to computer and this computer could in turn connect to internet and download images from internet and upload it to photoframe.

The particular model I have is the Curtis DPF247 (http://www.curtisint.com/web/browser...0PHOTO%20FRAME).

The way it handles its internal memory is kind of odd. When you plug it in to your computer, it mounts a folder that contains the syncronization software, but the actual photos aren't in the folder. You run the sync software to copy photos to the frame. The photos must be kept on a different partition, or something. The frame needs to be restarted for the photos to display on the screen.

I'd like to find a way to hack the frame so that the photos directory can be seen on the PC, and so that the frame doesn't have to be restarted after sync. That way, I could just have the desktop copy photos automatically to the frame periodically.

It's probably way too cheap a frame for this sort of hack. On the other hand, since it was so cheap there's very little to lose if I end up destroying it! hehehe

Would be interesting to see what hardware and type of processor the frame is using. Maybe more trouble then its worth to hack the firmware.

Unfortunately, the only docs I could find were at the link I listed there. A second USB folder does mount when I plug it in, but Windows says it needs to be formatted. I hesitate to do that as it probably contains the software needed to run the frame. Maybe I should buy a second one to tinker with.

When I plugged it into my Linux computer, I couldn't find a way to open the directories up at all, although sda1 did appear in /mnt. Fdisk refused to open sda and Testdisk didn't recognize sda.

It's not a priority project, of course. I'm just curious and tinkering with the sucker.

Update: As is so often the case, a little more Googling with better, broader search terms got me some more information that may be of use. In case anybody is interested in this sort of hack, here are the links I found:

http://picframe.spritesserver.nl
http://www.neophob.com/serendipity/i...rame-Hack.html
http://spritesmods.com/?art=picframe <--- This link proves that you CAN turn a mini photo frame into a full-motion display. There's video to prove it!

Judging from the Sitronix website, it looks like the only chipset that could possibly be in this thing is their ST2205U. So, in theory, this frame should be hack-able.