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README.md

ESPer-CDP Firmware

This is the ESP32 firmware for the ESPer-CDP CD player board.

System Requirements

  • ESPer-CDP platform dev board with IDE bus
  • ESP32-WROVER with ESP32 REV 3 or newer, with 8MB QIO Flash and 4MB QIO PSRAM (HIMEM is not used currently)
  • ESPer Keypad
  • Futaba GP1232A02 VFD display (take it out of a broken arcade cabinet... or write a driver for something less obscure, but preferably also VFD :-)
  • IR remote receiver + PS2 DVD remote
  • optional: Nixierator module for track # display (not yet implemented)

Tested CD drives

The Good

  • Recommended: NEC ND-3500A: just works in every aspect, and even has CD TEXT! Wish every one of the others was like this.
  • Philips/Lite-On DH-20A4P aka Buffalo DVSM-XE1219FB: Load a bit on the slow side, noisy mech! Janky ffwd/rewind (using software timer because the drive doesn't do SCAN commands).
  • TEAC DV-W516GDM: Smooth operation, has CD TEXT, janky ffwd/rewind
  • ASUS CD-S520B: CDText, Softseek required. Very silent operation. Doesn't seem to report a CD status until exit and enter CD mode (no media codes quirk flag).
  • LITE-ON LTN-486: Noisy, cannot set speed to 600, janky ffwd/rewind, otherwise works, has CD TEXT
  • LITE-ON LTR-48246S: Kinda noisy, works mostly, janky ffwd/rewind, has CD TEXT.
  • JLMS XJ-HD166S (JVC/Liteon): Kinda noisy, works mostly, janky ffwd/rewind. Properly reports audio status when using the (hidden) play button! Loses sync quite often on some CDs, test unit defective?
  • MATSHITADVD-RAM SW-9583S: Works mostly. No SPDIF output even though the jack is there?? Do we need to alter the Mode Select page?
  • TEAC DV-W58G: works and reads CD TEXT, janky ffwd/rewind (same as DH-20A4P). Most of the initial development was done with this drive. SPDIF output noisy during initial spin-up and pause release, or my unit just too old/faulty?
  • Matsushita SR-8171 (slimline): mostly works. TOC read after disc change is unstable (goes through on 3rd retry, timing/busyflag issue?) Needs a standard JAE 50pin to IDE 40pin adapter. Does not require 12V supply. Analog output only.

The Bad

  • Matsushita/Panasonic SW-9590C: never initializes, never sets DRQ, faulty unit?

The Ugly

  • NEC CDR-1400C: kinda works, very unstable state management, sometimes freezes the whole system, doesn't report media type codes properly.
  • TEAC CD-C68E: works including changer, sometimes TOC reads are broken, workaround is in place but still. No SPDIF output, so you have to resort to analog. As of V1.0a it's become significantly more glitchy and I have no idea why. TBD in a future release...
  • ALi DVD Ver0.96A_0104: found inside a MUSTEK DVD player. Plays it seems but no SPDIF. Cannot stop without being paused first. Overall weird behavior.
  • BENQ DW1620: won't clear BSY unless booting with a disc in, otherwise it plays (but requires softseek), eject and close with or without disc results in eternal BSY, sometimes enters BSY during playback, disobeys max speed after a few seconds of playing. Defective unit?

Capabilities

  • Read CD audio TOC from an IDE drive
  • Ask the drive to play/pause and skip tracks (sequential playback only for now)
  • Read CD TEXT if the drive supports it (only English/UTF8 block is supported)
  • Display CD metadata found online through Musicbrainz, or GnuDB — using real libcddb ported to ESP32, lol
  • Cache CD metadata in Flash (no cleanup when storage runs out yet... but with compression you can fit an average CD collection in there with ease)
  • Display timed lyrics for the songs using the awesome LRCLib
  • Receive internet radio stations (as long as no crazy bitrate) in MP3 and AAC formats with up to 6 station presets
  • Receive sound over Bluetooth (SBC only) and control the remote device
  • Settings UI on screen with multiple language support: English, Japanese, Russian, feel free to add your own?
  • IR Remote (PS2-DVD remote)
  • Scrobbling to Last.FM
  • ... more to come! I need time :P

Further goals

Software only

  • HTTP updates with CI/CD
  • Hopefully increase size of cache partition
  • Stretch: Bluetooth transmitter from radio/CD
  • Maybe some day: Web interface
  • Dependency, so also maybe some day: Connect to WiFi by QR (upd: DPP QR doesn't fit in 29x29 or 31x31, must use captive portal or OSD altogether)
  • More lyric sources (similar to those supported by one popular foobar plugin)
  • Figure out how to disable drive's sleep mode? For now I almost exploded the disc twice from hanging the CPU in the drive, but never got the power condition mode select call to work

Rev 2 of hardware if it ever comes

  • Direct read of CDA from the drive instead of using SPDIF
  • Reading of UDF/ISO9660 drives with AAC/MP3/MOD/XM/IT/other files on them
  • FM radio with RDS
  • AM radio (SW, MW, LW)
  • maybe: other display types

Architecture

  • GUI is rendered using a custom ESPer GUI (えぐい) library
  • All platform related driver and stuff is kept in the ESPer Core library
  • ATAPI related drivers and CD player command/state machine model is stored in the ESPer CDP library
  • All fonts are loaded into PSRAM from LittleFS where they are stored using the MoFo Format from PIS-OS
  • ESP-IDF is used to customize the building of Arduino libraries because otherwise I run out of IRAM area when using A2DP + WiFi in the same program

Credits

Tech Notes

© Genjitsu Gadget Lab, 2025 (yes, a CD player project in 2025)