> > James> Yes, but a video board is a slave system, it must do what the main > > James> system requires. > > Does it need to be able to function as the only video board on the system?
The Ethervideo box isn't a "video board", it is more like an X11 terminal. If we want to use it as the console of a pee-cee, there would need to be some sort of "PC Weasel" type card with VGA-to-X11 bios firmware. That could be an optional feature. Systems that support some type of open bios could put the code in there and not require a slot. So, how would the VGA-to-X11 bios firmware know what IP address to use for itself? How would it know the IP address of the Ethervideo box that is its console? Will it ask the Ethervideo box to create a new window (like xterm -C)? There could be multiple Ethervideo boxen on the network. There could be multiple headless computers on the network. A single Ethervideo box could provide the console for multiple computers. We need a way to configure this stuff and avoid chicken-and-egg problems. And we need to avoid security problems, as consoles are normally considered secure. > > James> The requirements were fairly clear: a video card that is external to > > the > > James> system connected by a serial connection (Ethernet, USB-2, or > > IEEE-1394). > > > > USB is a crappy standard, and USB-2 is limited to IIRC 5m (about 15 feet). > > IEEE-1394 is much better than USB, but is also limited to 5m. 1394 can use > > repeaters, but that runs the cost up, and requires power. There was talk > > about > > a newer version of 1394 that would use cat6-ish wiring, same as recent > > Ethernet, > > and allow longer distances, did that ever get anywhere? Ethernet can go > > long > > distances, is inexpensive, and very common, so Ethernet is the clear winner. > > I agree, USB sucks. Ethernet is probably the preferred connection > method if IEEE-1394 won't use a long enough wire without going to fiber > optic. I didn't mention WiFi but I notice that TVs are starting to use > it. IAC, we would be using Ethernet over wireless. People who want to try wireless can add a wired-to-wireless doohickey. _______________________________________________ Open-hardware-ethervideo mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-hardware-ethervideo
