Set Top Box data collector

Someone donated an old Set Top Box (STB) to Tokyo HackerSpace. No one seemed to want to do anything with it, and it just sat there for a couple of weeks. So, I decided to open it up to see whats what. It turns out the mini ITX board contained within is fairly standard (if a bit old and slow). I thought it would be perfect for a data collector.

• Original Specifications:
  • Model TD500M
  • Manufactured by Celrun Co. Ltd
  • Reseller ZenTcom
  • 16MB x 16 bit NAND flash SSD
  • 128MB DDR DIM RAM
  • CPU: VIA Nehemiah 1197Mhz 32-bit
  • S-video output, VGA output on an unmounted connector
  • AC97 compatable Audio Controller, dual RCA jack output
  • 2 x  external USB, 2 x internal USB
  • USB 0-2 @ v1.1, USB 3 @ v2.0
  • 100MB ethernet jack (VT6102)
  • Paralell port (unmounted)
  • 2 x internal USB
  • V20 modem connector (internal)
  • RS232 connector (internal)
  • I2C connector (internal)
  • PS2 Keyboard and mouse (unmounted jacks)
  • 2 x ISA
  • 2 x floppy disk
  • 2 x IDE
  • Phoenix BIOS D886 password protected
  • IR receiver and remote control (specs still unknown)

• Data Sink requirements
  • XBee to USB (serial emulation) adaptor based on the common FTDI chip
  • accept data via XBee and log it to a MySQL data base
  • Each reporting device reports an ID, followed by a specified series of data points
  • SQL should hold a configuration table defining the reporting devices
  • SQL should create a table per device
  • Webserver interface
  • Should be have the following views: hour / day / week / month / year
  • Would be nice to have something like "This week last year" going back the entire history of recording
  • Datapoint graphing would be nice
  • Dump selected data to CSV
  • A "local mode" minimal control panel using the VGA/Svideo output and remote control would be a nice feature

• Planned hacks
  • Replace hard drive with CF or SD card adaptor and removable disks
  • multiple os / configurations by swapping SD cards
  • Mount VGA jack to enable output to standard monitor
  • Attempt to gain access to IR receiver
  • Attempt to break the password protection on the BIOS chip
  • Attempt access to I2C connector