Newbie here. Can I do the following with my N770:

(1) Mount a self-powered USB HDD?

(2) Install and run MPD?

Among other things, I would like to connect my N770 to a spare stereo to play my > 110 GB music collection from the extra disk I use to archive my primary audio set up.

I am already using Glurp on the N770 to control another MPD set up, but I can't find MPD for the N770 itself.

What cables/adapters are necessary to mount an external USB HDD?

Thanks.

I hadn't thought of this until reading your post, but I like the idea. Especially since I just got my second 770 (from woot) and mpd on a laptop is my stereo's music player of choice.

All you'd need is a mini-usb connector for the 770 side and a regular usb-a female connector to go to the usb drive. Tie the data lines and ground from one to the other and then you'll have to get 5V from somewhere else to power the usb part of the usb drive. You'll have to lookup the pinout of usb - I don't know which one's 5V. If it's a short connector that you're building, you don't even have to worry about making the data wires a twisted pair.

As for mpd, you should look into the mud builder. It's a project that lets you specify a single xml file so the mud builder knows how to configure and compile a program that works in regular linux on a 770. I did this for gpsd and it's not too hard for command-line programs like this. You may also have to get some of mpd's prerequisites built this way, too. The bonus part about using mud is that if you submit the xml file to the project and they accept it, it will automatically be built and everyone will be able to install mpd from the regular maemo garage (if I recall correctly) repository with no fuss at all. It'll get the newest upstream version, to boot.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.