Building HTPC Cheap

[Angrboda]

Reading the manual for the WD TV Live Plus, I discover it can use a USB keyboard and certain keys are mapped for the normal functions of the remote control. (The WD TV Live — no 'Plus' — only differs from the Plus model in not being able to do Netflix, from what I understand. Though, my brief skimming indicates that part of the Plus' firmware is encrypted, making hacking it difficult; that may not be an obstacle with the original non-Plus version.)

And I've also discovered that, while it will only recognize one storage device per USB port, I can put a storage device, my Rosewill RNX-N100 Wi-fi dongle, and a USB keyboard on a USB hub and it will recognize them all. (Unpowered hub.)

And I discovered that it supports FLAC audio files (yay) but not APE (boo).

And thanks to some black electrical tape, those annoyingly bright LEDs are no longer annoyingly bright.