Re: OpenWRT
Jerome Warnier wrote: > Given that Multias have limited expansion, eat much power, have a rather > noisy hard-disk and only have one integrated NIC, I fail to see where it > could be really interesting. > > As a Multia owner, it doesn't seem so appealing to me. But hey, you're > free! What? Have you looked at your multia lately? You have two beautiful pcmcia slots right? So that's 2 wifi cards there. Which is what I've done with mine. Then you have the built-in nic, and then you have another PCI slot for another nic, either wifi or ethernet. They make a great router/firewall/access-point. Noisy hardrive -- mine isn't, maybe you need a new one? My fan is noisy, but who cares, the thing sits in the attic anyway. I guess you didn't really read my post, or else just missed the whole point. Multia's, being so low-powered and slow, really aren't usable for much of anything these days --- except as a cheap router/firewall/access-point. And even at that, unless you already had one, I'm sure you could buy a new/used linksys or d-link router/accesspoint on ebay much cheaper than finding and paying for shipping on a multia. Right? So having a little embedded OS like OpenWRT that ran on the multia would be a great thing. Not that I expect it ever to happen. In fact, since I got my multia going (running debian sarge with a 2.4.34.1 kernel as I outlined before), I've found some really cheap older laptops on ebay that I'm picking up for $10-15 which have 2 pcmcia slots and a usb port *AND* a docking station/port replicator with 4 pcmcia slots -- which work a lot better than the multias. And can use a CF card/IDE instead of a hardrive. And have no fan and run on 12v. So, since I've now got these new toys, I'll probably be selling my multias. Anybody want to buy one with the 74F623 chip replaced with a later upgrade TI chip that won't burn out from the "heat-death" problem? Make me an offer. 8^) -- Harmon Seaver -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OpenWRT
On Tue, Apr 03, 2007 at 10:59:42AM -0500, Harmon Seaver wrote: >I guess you didn't really read my post, or else just missed the whole > point. Multia's, being so low-powered and slow, really aren't usable for > much of anything these days --- except as a cheap > router/firewall/access-point. And even at that, unless you already had > one, I'm sure you could buy a new/used linksys or d-link > router/accesspoint on ebay much cheaper than finding and paying for > shipping on a multia. Right? I know it's popular among geeks, particularly Debian geeks, to repurpose old hardware to keep it running indefinitely, but power consumption is a real, hidden cost of running old hardware. I don't have any hard numbers, but I'm sorry to say that I suspect buying a new WAP54G AP or similar[1], instead of running a multia[2], will easily pay for itself in terms of your electric bill if you plan to deploy it long-term, and that in terms of environmental and out-of-pocket cost, the best use of an old, low-MHz high-wattage system like a Multia is to scrap it or recycle it. [1] http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive80-2005-8-226230.html [2] http://www.alphalinux.org/archives/axp-list/1998/February1998/0126.html Yes, I know the environmental cost of discarding computer hardware is significant -- that's why I have a box full of old hardware I'll never use again, that I'm sitting on until I have a better option than sending it to a landfill. :/ But the cost of electricity is also non-negligible; it apparently costs me about USD 0.20/month to run my WAP54G by the first URL above, vs. $2.30/mo. as a *conservative* electricity cost for a Multia. At $2.10/mo. and a price of USD 64.99 for a new WAP54G (based on a quick google), assuming for the moment a cost of $0 for the disposal of the Multia (because I don't have any numbers for this :/), a new WAP54G would pay for itself in 2 1/2 years. (And on the flipside of ignoring the cost of disposing of the Multia, we're also using a "0" for the cost of any PCMCIA devices needed to run the Multia as an AP.) Granted, I suppose if you're doing this for the hack value you have to decide how much that's worth to you in itself; but at least for me, the hack value is in doing the hacking, not in keeping it running afterwards in a manner contrary to my own best interest :), so. Cheers, -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.debian.org/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OpenWRT
Yes, this is all s true! And another whole reason why I've been buying up cheap $15 laptops so I can have my little geek way with them in a much more energy efficient and environmentally conscientious fashion. In fact even run them free forever on a equally cheap gellcell and quite small and cheap chinese solar panel. OTOH -- the whole reason I bought my first multia was to have my very own DEC ALPHA -- 64bit unix box to play with, eh? And there's still that bit of techno-lust that thus far has kept me from literally tossing it, not to mention the ridiculous amount of time I've spent in the last couple years trying to get it actually fully functioning properly, and now that I've finally succeeded in having my way with it, why, what do I do but immediately drop the cute little thing for new and even younger --- uh, hmm, gee, maybe I should talk to my shrink about this. And I also have to confess that I was seriously lusting after some other alpha boxes that I saw on ebay -- much bigger iron, 4 cpu's each, raid, etc and the place that had them was even willing to give them away free -- but they refused to ship because they were so big and heavy and required crates and trucking and all that stuff that they refused to deal with -- if only they were closer. My wife would be soo thrilled to see me dragging a huge alpha minicomputer up to my room. And think of the electric bill for that thing! One thing for sure, even now, my computer room is the warmest room in the house, since rising heat bills forced us to turn down the thermostat. 8-) Steve Langasek wrote: > > I know it's popular among geeks, particularly Debian geeks, to repurpose old > hardware to keep it running indefinitely, but power consumption is a real, > hidden cost of running old hardware. I don't have any hard numbers, but I'm > sorry to say that I suspect buying a new WAP54G AP or similar[1], instead > of running a multia[2], Yeah, actually I do have a very nice little WRT54GS that I run OpenWRT on and it is the access point for the house. Kinda' hard to explain what I do with the multia -- it has two seano wifi nics each with two cantennas on them, and well, it's a fun toy. will easily pay for itself in terms of your electric > bill if you plan to deploy it long-term, and that in terms of environmental > and out-of-pocket cost, the best use of an old, low-MHz high-wattage system > like a Multia is to scrap it or recycle it. > > [1] http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive80-2005-8-226230.html > [2] http://www.alphalinux.org/archives/axp-list/1998/February1998/0126.html > > Yes, I know the environmental cost of discarding computer hardware is > significant -- that's why I have a box full of old hardware I'll never use > again, that I'm sitting on until I have a better option than sending it to a > landfill. :/ But the cost of electricity is also non-negligible; it > apparently costs me about USD 0.20/month to run my WAP54G by the first URL > above, vs. $2.30/mo. as a *conservative* electricity cost for a Multia. At > $2.10/mo. and a price of USD 64.99 for a new WAP54G (based on a quick > google), assuming for the moment a cost of $0 for the disposal of the Multia > (because I don't have any numbers for this :/), a new WAP54G would pay for > itself in 2 1/2 years. (And on the flipside of ignoring the cost of > disposing of the Multia, we're also using a "0" for the cost of any PCMCIA > devices needed to run the Multia as an AP.) > > Granted, I suppose if you're doing this for the hack value you have to > decide how much that's worth to you in itself; but at least for me, the hack > value is in doing the hacking, not in keeping it running afterwards in a > manner contrary to my own best interest :), so. > > Cheers, -- Harmon Seaver -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
