Slashdot Mirror
Shuttle SS50 Mini-system
Jared writes: "Small Form Factor is taking off, Viahardware
wrote a review on the new Shuttle SS PC. In a case about the size of a shoebox,
you get Pentium 4 support, DDR memory, firewire, tv out etc. Great box for all
kinds of uses like a media box for the living room, file server, gateway, LAN
box. Slashdot posted about the SV24 last fall, and this is the follow up
product. Very cool." We've looked at some other Shuttle systems before.
I'm sure VIAhardware.com is more than excited to report on hardware that isn't bug ridden. ;-)
But actually I like the way it looks. It would have been nice if it included USB 2.0 instead tho...
Do a google search before posting.
a case for my DirecTV Emulator that doesn't look like I raided radioshack! Sweet does it come in black.
Str8Dog
using System.Darkside; public
. . . that's pretty cool, but still, give me a huge freaking tower any day. I don't mind carting aroud a behemoth of a case so long as I've got enough room to live in there if need be. :)
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
that you can't yet buy the mobo separately (at least last time I looked at Shuttle's website.)
This would be the ideal mobo for doing some sweet mods.
*LAUGH* I want to build my next PC in a shoebox.
-------------------------------------------
Saving baby carrots around the globe.
Question to manufacturers ... come out with an AMD version of these super-small, super-integrated systems, and you'll be able to sell many ...
Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
I've waited for SFF boxes for a long time. Perfect for small desktops (PC X stations :) on the kitchen, living room, bedroom etc...
What's putting me off is that motherboards and cabinets have been non-standard and hard to upgrade. If we can have a new truly small form factor just as standardized as ATX (right, standard non-standard you might say, but still...) it will be a big step ahead for me.
//TheToon
//TheToon
One thing to make sure you don't forget about is the height/length restrictions some of these small systems have for PCI cards. For many people it may not matter since much hardware is already built into the board, but I have seen people be burned when there old Voodoo 3/PCI couldn't fit into the system! Just FYI. Fly
Smaller desktops are long overdue. It's kind of ironic that my old 386 had a 17" tower with a lot of uneeded, empty space inside the box. Now my Athlon 1.2 GHz has a tower of the same size, but it now needs the space to cool it off. I think it's better cooling technology that is driving this change to smaller desktops now. But why hasn't this happened earlier? (Laptops have been around forever, and since I have yet to open one up, it's a mystery to me how they keep them so cool!) Anyways, a box like this and a flatscreen will definitely give me some more desk space than I have now. I hope this push towards smaller desktop boxes continues, so we can have something that is closer to "laptop-sized" for a decent price.
That we make a nice case/computer for those family members that dont overclock of constantly upgrade :) I have a feeling if I put my rig in there id be able to cook a couple of eggs on the surface. Hmm I suppose I could throw about 4 fans on each side.. hmm...
(This Space For Rent)
but people tell me that size doesn't matter.
I'm a concientious
i bought the sv24 recently as a computer for my sons room. it's a nice size, and has all the connections one needs. i had a spare cpu, memory, monitor, etc, so the cost was very minimal. as noted in previous slashdot articles, it is a noisy machine,but not as noisy as my valinux 1U server. i have to run win98 because of his software (reader rabbit, etc). my only problem with the computer is that the 1394 does not work with the web cam. it may be windows, the via pl133 chip set, or the camera.
mostly a good computer. this new one should just as good.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Where do the hard disks go? Maybe I've just got way too much email, but if it won't hold more than 0.5TB (rounded up a bit if it's more convenient; not including space lost to RAID5 or other overhead if it's more convenient), it's not a file server in my book. And I'm pretty lax about that definition too - if you stick 4 WD1200BBs into a box, you get just north of 300G usable space in a RAID5 config, but the numbers on the boxes add up to 480, which is close enough for government work.
As you close in on 1TB (for personal / home use), I begin to be impressed:) I filled my new 120G drive in 3 days and realized it just isn't as much space as it used to be but even at that rediculous rate, it'd take a month to fill a terabyte array.
When does it start comming out in fruity colors?
DISCLAIMER: The above was sarcasm, if you don't get it, it's your own fault. Deal with it.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Why they won't include an AGP slot? I can't get back on the site to verify the specs. but the perfect (to me) config would be to put the NIC, firewire and sound on the MOBO, and have one AGP slot and one PCI slot.
Don't see anything about Macrovision on the TV out.. did I miss that ?
I use Mandrake 8.1 with Ximian Gnome 1.4 (1 Gig proc., 512 RAM) on my Spacewalker that I built a couple of months ago... that and a nice (and cheap) Samsung LCD display, and I've got a small, fast, reliable and easy-to-use little station for email, web surfing, etc... (not to mention small home server) in the living room that takes up very little space. Given the price of equipment and the GPL software, its a very cheap and fast PC that fits perfectly in an entertainment room.
I have some pictures of this system on my website from CeBIT 2002.
http://kruczkowski.mine.nu/cebit_2002.shtml
hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
shutleonline
For hooking up to your local broadband, an old PCI Pentium system from the thrift store for $20 works great. Why fork out the money for this box, when you can get a cheap old box and throw Linux on it?
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
Take one of these impressive little boards and couple it with a Nvida nForce chipset? I would pounce on one of these small systems in a heartbeat if the graphics didn't suck ass so bad. I had one about a year ago and just ended up totally disgusted with overall video performance.
I know a lot of people will use them in the living room/small home server. But I would love to be able to get ride of my huge tower sittign next to my desk if I had a good alternative. support for a DVI port would make the deal even better. You have this nice small system.... who wants to use a bulky CRT with something so sleek? To me, using analog LCD panels just isn't a real option either.
Anyhow... jsut my thoughts.
Other useful areas are:
* Hack it to become a car media player with full featured video and dvd player.
- Why: it would fit easily in a car. Fun. Games possible.
- How: embedd small LCD's into the back of the seats.
* Controll device for robots.
- Why: robots are cool. Easy to program. Cheap CPU-power.
- How: simple relay control using the FireWire, USB or serial interfaces.
* Use it for anything you'd like:
- Why: it's a regular computer. Computers aren't tools. Tools are built for a purpose and purpose means you're locked at a target. Hammers are used to hammer nails, kettles; to cook potatos in, computers; to do anything.
Look a monkey!
Shouldnt that be Nano? Tipical computers are "Micro Computers" officially. ;)
Man I need some coffee or something. I read that and thought "whoa, when the hell did the Space Shuttle get an Intel processor, let alone a Pentium 4??" =)
/me just being silly.
Aw well,
The FIC Samba SFF P4 kit includes DVI support, an AGP slot, 2 PCMCIA slots and SPDIF audio out.
Have a look.
http://www.fica.com/products/systems/Databook/Samb a/Samba.stm
Anyone else impressed with how well this site is taking on the traffic of slashdot? Usually niche sites like viahardware go down in an instant or slow down to a crawl especially when the review is so graphics intensive. My congrats go out to Viahardware.com's sysadmin, we have have been defeated.
Am I the only one who would rather have a socket 370 version? Or even better, socket A?
I'm not sure about the p4 stuff just yet. (Guess I'll have to stick with the SV24?) And while I'm wishing, how about dual NICs? And a $9.95 price tag? And a...
Don't sweat the petty things. But do pet the sweaty things.
Now just throw it in a lunch-box style case with an integrated LCD (doesn't have to be great quality, I always have the TV out) and a hide-away keyboard and pointing device of some kind and I'm sold.
Smaller system units are great, but if you're gonna go that route you may as well make it a true portable.
Small box under desk, Promiscuous mode net card, Silently watch boss.
Does anyone know where one can purchase these, specifically the SS40. I've been intel free for over 2 years now and I see no sense in stopping now.
Your sig is lame. This is a discussion board, not a "announce the facts, maam", board, and everyone doesn't have to present a paper detailing all of the facts before posting a comment.
Yes, I do realize that he was trolling and understand that the only joy he gets from life is when people respond to his childish antics. Nonetheless, I decided to give my opinion on the matter.
I recently noticed that Epox is shipping their 8KHM microatx k5266a based mobo. Average price is 80$ with sound onboard. A little more if you want the crummy onboard video.
Get this board, a midrange athlon xp (newest ones may not be supported yet), ddr ram, and twink out the system the way you like it.
With the ati all in wonder 8500 out this makes an awesome tv box, nice an compact, without being very expensive. Think I paid about 800$ for the whole system including monitor + shipping + tax.
by losing the floppy disk bay. Who uses floppy disks anymore anyway?
.. dunnno why not)
Replace that with a 2x20 LCD screen, though, and maybe you could keep it. (Although Matrix Orbital and Crystal Fontz don't seem to make LCDs for the floppy bay
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
Big deal - my dell I8200 has this and more already.
Perfect size for a Bewoulf component :)
http://www.ajaygautam.com
I'm not arguing that advocating public rather than private source code for computer programs is life and the rest is just details.
I am, however, stating that many of us, while we embrace Linux and free/open-source software, have lives beyond the realm of computing.
Try volunteering, mentoring, or giving your own time or resources (which you seem to be so proud of) to people who could use a little help.
This rat race that you've got yourself into will end when you fall off the proverbial cliff.
uhh... Why 'd you wanna use a PIV as a gateway? Aren't gateways the reason why god made the PI?
Check out the new mini-ITX platform that VIA has put together. Supposed to be fanless and under $100 with processor. If someone doesn't sit down and develop a Linux based set of appliance firmware, then Microsoft will fill yet another market. 3D will be damn cheap soon enough and will become part of these products.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
So will the TV out in work in Linux? Or if I throw my GeForce 2 MX in there will that overide the onboard video, and then tv out will work under Linux?
Does anybody know if there is a driver for the onboard network device on this board? (It's the Realtek 8100). I know that there is a driver in the 2.4. series for a realtek RTL8139. Is this the driver to use on this board???
Personally, I don't mind having a tower. I like throwing in odds-and-ends in my PCI slots, so something like this would never really be my primary rig. However, for the "average" user (or even a secondary living room computer or something) this thing looks great!
It's got everything the one could ask for, with a few more conviniences than even your average desktop. (That being readily-available mic, headphone, USB, and firewire on the front of the box. Nice stuff.) The fact that it's so tiny is also great, as it could be shown off as a table-top piece, or stowed away where nobody could see it. Pair this with a flat-panel and you've got a PC box with (almost) as much appeal as the G4 Cube. (Which, I'll admin, does look a bit cooler...but I'll take what I can get.)
The only handicap I see is the lack of an AGP slot and, thus, very weak gfx performance. *sigh* Oh well. Can't have everything, I guess.
-Jayde
What's a sig?
I get that when I try and access the URL from the story. I would give the sysadmin more kudos if he could manage his includes in a better fashion.
At least the show this machine using a REAL OS!!!
they atart offering them with crappy old Geforce 2 or other video cards that actually have some capabilities instead of the crap that is always in these boxes... The cappuchino knock offs that you can buy for $350.00 and the Cappuo it's self. have the absolute crappiest video card available... It's like these manufacturers go out of their way to try and find super crappy video.
Hell offer Geforce 2,3 or even a 4 chipset in there.. if they did I know of at least 10 people that would buy one in a few seconds for their lan-part machine. (I'm waiting for the "use a laptop" comments... Sorry no laptops exist with good video chipsets.. that rage mobility is pure crap... Worse than an EGA video card.)
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Fuck off, Go and take a bath you scum sucking wanker.
If you want to use a parallel-port based gadget with one of these, you will either need to use one of the PCI slots to get a parallel port, or else use a 1394-to-parallel adapter. Or a USB-to-parallel adapter, if you don't mind the speed hit (USB isn't quite as fast as a parallel port running in 1284 mode).
But all the new stuff is either USB or 1394 anyway, so I doubt that many people will care.
P.S. It has two serial ports! Two serial ports and no parallel. I guess it was just a question of what they could fit in there...
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I respect someone who devotes their life selflessly to helping the poor survive, but I admire someone who devotes their life selflessly to the advancement of humanity.
int func(int a);
func((b += 3, b));
If I could I'd mod you up.
the 8100 is basically the same as the 8139, its simply a motherboard version of the 8139. So i think you can just use the 8139 driver in linux.
i nu x24x-8139cp(101).zip
If the kernel driver doesnt work, try the driver posted below, its a direct link to realtek's linux driver
ftp://ftp.realtek.com.tw/lancard/drivers/8139/l
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
I wont a MOSIX cluster of these.
Oh and can it run linux
Toss the box in a closet somewhere out of the way...
Er... spend over the odds on a flashy aluminium brushed finish sexy case and throw it in a closet? I think not... The closet if for beige PCs surely....
moog
No Norm, those are your safety glasses; I'll wear my own thanks...
There has been a standard called PC104 in use quite a while now. They are special mobo boards with very small form factor used in industrys and in embedded devices. Usually they have everything on a single board but they can be expanded easily. They arent top_of_the_line but for things like fileservers and routers/proxys they would do just dandy. Especially considering many cisco routers still in use have 68030s in them. There are boards for faster cpus too if you would need that. Cool that someone took this concept and made it mainstream atlast.
HTTP/1.1 400
Maybe I missed it in the site, but how big is the p/s that comes with this? Is it the same as in the fv24, and if it kaks some time down the road, will a regular atx p/s fit?
Re: mini-ITX platform - Looks neat, but the main reason I bought my last low-profile system was for use as a video player. Not sure the VIA C3 chip is suited for that. I tend to prefer Intel CPUs all around as I have experienced better stability, and stability is #1. I would gladly take a speed decrease (as long as I can still play intense media) over a system that crashes often. That is what I like about the SS50. Too bad it uses the SiS chipset :(
Give me Intel or give me death (Blue screen of death, to be exact).
I'll think twice before checking out another shuttle mini system. The SV24 looked good on paper, but the company failed to release decent software support for the video or the audio. Sure, they had some creaky binary only drivers, but if you are trying to develop softwrae on these systems, forget it.
Are those the things with IC circuits on them?
--
If you moderate this, then your children will be next.
For controversial sites, folks will launch DOS attacks to coincide with Slashdot articles. This sometimes makes the Slashdot effect look a lot bigger than it is.
I would love to have one of these as a replacement for my MP3 Server, but I really need digital audio output - some PC based DVD players even support spitting DTS and Dolby 5.1 out of the digital out on my soudblaster card, it all sounds so sweet goign stright into my receiver.
However if you force me to cram it into to channels and a 3.5mm headphone jack I'm going to loose a whole bunch of qaulity.
I do like the TV output though
What's funny is that I'm immaculately clean and good-looking, to boot.
If I desired, I could easily steal your wife/girlfriend away from you.
It's a good thing that I don't know where you live; otherwise, you'd be sleeping by yourself tonight.
Go back to your computer, I hear Bill and Steve calling.
These boxes will be useless in a living room unless they are QUIET. I tried getting an iCue Book PC ( Here is a link, but not the vendor I used) for an mpeg/web browser for the living room. It has only two fans, one for the processor and another for the power supply, but it was WAAAAAAAY to loud for a piece of audio equipment. My PS/2 is almost too loud to use as a DVD player, but it is nothing compared to PC of this class. Bottom line is don't buy an SFF machine thinking it is appropriate in the living room -- it isn't. A PS/2 with a Linux kit, now you're getting close!
I've also been looking for something small and inexpensive I can send off with our sales folks to trade shows to run as servers to do demos from. Should be cheaper than notebooks and not take up so much space if we need three of them set up and connected together.
Would prefer an intel chipset though.
Check out Shuttle's SS40 system. Basically the same I/O layout but takes AMD XP and Duron processors up to 2 GHz.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
Hello,
I do not work for company XYZ, but I feel it's my right to rally against it.
You see, advertising on the internet has been proven ineffective; banner ads, pop-up windows, and silly flash games (where is Homer employed? A... B... C: NUCLEAR POWER PLANT D...), just do not fool you or the average person who tends to use the internet to accomplish an objective that does not include penis enlargement.
Company XYZ, a hardware/software/technology company, after spending billions on market research found that 99% of the people who drool or get dilated pupils when brushed with a picture of a sleek piece of hardware or a statistic showing an enormous polygon count, do read Slashdot. They also found that outside of the corporate sector, there are people who have fetishes for soldering irons, CAD-case designs, screwdrivers, and copper bracelets. These people, the study confirmed, will actually buy and put new things in their computers.
Company XYZ, with a limited advertising budget (research is so expensive), decided that spamming free web forums with product announcements could ingrain the corporate name in a large number of people's heads and actually make people think about possible scenarios/wet dreams with products of XYZ CO, creating an emotional "moment" with the product and the company that other forms can not attain... all this for the price of their already adequate internet connections.
Company XYZ is powerful, let me tell you. You're free-wheeling rebellious days on the public web forums are over. Be prepared to be baited back for one more round of Linux roll calls, and succumb to the dark and sinister product placement of company XYZ! Yes. The web is owned. Don't fear though, someone has to have something good to say about VIA.
Did anyone find the power supply specifications listed anywhere?
The onboard video of the SS50 has been reporting similar benchmarks to a Geforce 2MX. SIS has come a long way, and will soon be in direct competition with nvidia and ATI.
In addition, an updated version of the SS-series will have an AGP slot. The AGP version is tentatively planned for the summer. Stay tuned.
Journal
I've got an old Avermedia TV98 (BT848) and Geforce 3 V3800 deluxe (philips chipset) in my dual-athlon system, and there's no incompatibility.
Keep up the good work!
The new Mini-ITX motherboard form factor provides motherboard makers, system integrators, and OEMs with a standardized ultra compact yet highly integrated platform that can be utilized across multiple ultra Value PC, Information Station, Information Server, and Broadband Gateway product lines. With a footprint that measures only 170mm x 170mm, the new Mini-ITX form factor is more than 40% smaller than any other motherboard form factor currently available on the market and more than 50% smaller than the FlexATX mainboard form factor.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/VInternet/mini_itx.jsp
for more details.
Did anyone else notice how it seams the computer industry has just about dropped everything to create and promote pentium iv 'solutions'? What's up with that? And is anyone else puzzled by hardware 'fan' sites which have reviewed and discussed the pentium iv from when it came out and since then, showing what a botched chip it is and yet have steady stream of 'news' postings about piv-isms, like new motherboards, written as if they're excited about whatever it is they're mentioning. Or being excited about a 'piv oc'd to 3GHz!' when they themselves have discussed to death the piv's low ipc.
But then we got the AT&T 3B20, because we *were* Bell Labs, after all. Looked like another air conditioner, or more precisely like a phone switch. 3-4 six-foot-high cabinets with smooth blue doors on the front and back - you had to open it up to see any of the clutter on the wiring side, but the front looked like nice clean plugin boards for all the processors, plus the four truck batteries that were the built-in 48v UPS system (Telco offices run on 48v DC...) It wasn't blazingly fast - about the speed of the 780, 1 MIPS or so, but when we'd have power glitches, the Vax would be lieing in little pieces all over the floor and the 3B20 would have a note on the console saying "By the way, the power was out for a couple minutes, but everything's fine, thought you'd like to know."
A couple years later, we thought about getting another 3B20 for our other lab, in the Bright Orange model. Not because we really wanted it, but because our director was obsessed about us not buying anything other than an AT&T computer (or maybe a Vax, because they were familiar), and if we put the 3B20 in the front of the lab, it would be big enough to hide a *real* computer behind
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Add an AGP slot so power users can put in their own video, and this system will own MANY LAN parties. Until then, it's just a cute toy.
For those of you looking for a REALLY small system, check out the Nano Module from Nano Systems (a small Swedish start-up).
It's a Pentium 266-class PC in a 5.25"-size package, containing:
It's powered by a small 12V laptop power supply. No fans. It's definitely not for the 3D game boys in the crowd, but for embedded use or a firewall/mail gateway/proxy/whatever it's close to perfect.
It's so small you can put it in one of the 5.25" bays of your computer while developing. It even has a connector so you can power it from the PC power supply.
I bought one a couple of weeks ago, and it's sweet. Here is a picture of the internals.
Something that wasn't clear to me in the review was that there *are* 2 IDE controllers. That, plus two 3.5 inch bays means one could run a pair of drives in RAID 1, each on its own bus (for more reliability and speed) and still have a CD drive in the large bay, for a box that might be very reliable.
-kb, the Kent who just built himself a RAID 1 mid-tower and would have liked a smaller box.
It's also a fantastic dishwasher, chimney-cleaning device, and food suppliment.
It's not a tool at all...
From all I've heard about the Shuttle thing it is as loud as a good Onyx ;-)
...
Everyone knows that size doesn't matter. It#s the noise you make
Bye egghat.
-- "As a human being I claim the right to be widely inconsistent", John Peel
But there are also some tantalizing possibilities that will probably never get exploited. Despite its low stats, this box has roughly the same horsepower as my Linux box. Which has no trouble running KDE, Mozilla, even Kylix. In other words, there's enough computing power here to satisfy 99% of all non-gaming desktop users.
Think of all the folks who share their lives with a big, noisy, cantankerous beige box. Now think of what a smart IS department could do with the Nano. "Hello new hire. I hear you hate fan noise and technicians. Well, here's your computer. No, I won't come install it for you. Just plug it into the keyboard, monitor and network that's already in your cube. You need local storage? Plug this zip drive into the USB port. You can take it home if you want, but you have to provide your own monitor and keyboard. If you need a software upgrade, bring it back and we'll swap in a new flash card. Good bye!"
Yeah, I know. IS people aren't that creative. Oh well!