On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 05:06:49PM +0300, Heikki Suonsivu wrote: > > Oops, sorry, I was not specific enough: > > FreeBSD 4 or older NetBSD are no go: > > The computer I am doing this is not old, it is otherwise brand new, but > it uses an embedded cpu, a 486 clone as SoC without math. See > www.compactpc.com.tw, eBOX 2300SX. It is very low cost, runs on about > 3W of power with CF card as mass memory, 128M, 3 USB2, serials, sound, > etc, it has VESA form factor so you can attach it behind many LCD > displays, etc. They have beefier models, but this one is cheapest and > uses least power, latter of which is the more critical requirement for us. > > We would like to use it for certain control applications. Linux works, > has been tested, but requires patches (turn math emulation on, add > support for built-in ethernet, bug workaround).
I don't know if this machine is going to be sited on an insecure network or not. If it is, then you'll probably be using ssh. Without a math co-proc to do the crypto, it will be horrendous. I don't even know if ssh would work with an architecture without a maths unit. If it can't work with ssh, then you might be restricting your market. I think you are punishing yourself unneccesarily by going with a processor without maths. You restrict the software (both OS & application) you can run. > > The problem with is that while FreeBSD 4 seemed to boot on it, it did > not recognize any peripherals as they are new. Old OS's are not really > what we want, this is not one-off but volume product, it will be > internet-connected so we need bugfixes and we need support for latest > chipsets on 802.11 cards etc. > > There is another similar CPU, even slower and less power consuming, I do > not remember the part number, I think it was about 100 MHz 486 without > math as well. This was some manufacturer of microcontrollers. Can't you find a manufacturer that makes something similar with a DX instead? Or can you email this company and ask them how much it would cost to run off X units with a 486DX rather than SX? > > Heikki -- Frank Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
