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Linux On a Used Cash Register

Posted by timothy on from the paper-plastic-or-canvas dept.

codewolf writes: "Looking at this site, it seems that if someone has enough time on their hands, they can get Linux to run on just about anything. Looks like this guy got Red Hat Linux running on an Ultimate Techonologies Corporation cash register. This is a great hack if you ask me."

18 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. well if you need reliability... by Romancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd hate to see a port of WinCE on a cash register, Imagine the small print on the back of the receipt.

    "...you agree by paying this amount, to never divulge what you paid, or purchased, in any form, written, recorded, or electronicly transcribed in any way, to anybody. By having this receipt, you are violating the EUCEA (End User Cash Exchange Agreement) and must distroy this document, or face an audit of all digital processing and storage devices you own."

    --


    ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
    ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
    1. Re:well if you need reliability... by Glorat · · Score: 4, Funny
      I'Id hate to see a port of WinCE on a cash register

      Heh, well at Wimbledon station in the UK, they run Windows NT to sell train tickets in one of those electronic hole in the wall ticket dispensers. (Choose ticket, insert money, out pops ticket).

      While waiting for my pickup, I amused my self as the machine spontaneously rebooted, saw the NT4 loader in it's comforting blue screen, see Windows launch, autologin, connect to some network shares and start up the ticket selling interface. And then watch it spontaneously reboot again =P
  2. Well it's confirmed... by Thaidog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Linux is a POS operating system...

    --

    ||| I still can't believe Parkay's not butter.

  3. What's so special about this? by laptop006 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you actually read the product info you can (for the 'logic unit') either use a:
    * ASCII Terminal (Just connect to a *nix box)
    * PC (Just install linux)
    * NC (Can anyone say X)

    Now, yes this IS cool, but it's equivilent to someone isntalling linux on a weird looking PC with some cool peripherals.

    --
    /* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
  4. Not impressive by Shriek · · Score: 3, Flamebait

    This POS is still a computer so what is the big deal about this? The CueCat that is attached to it is a more impressive hack.

  5. Its a P233 pc by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Kinda neat, but its a P233 pc. Really the only cool thing is the led display. I have an old IBM thermal printer that uses fax paper also, used it on my c64. Now put linux on a c64 (load "linux",8,1) and I will be impressed.

    1. Re:Its a P233 pc by HeUnique · · Score: 5, Informative

      already done :)

      --
      Hetz (Heunique)
    2. Re:Its a P233 pc by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Informative

      first off it isnt a LED display it is a Vaccum Flouresent Display (VFD) (Please excuse my spelling, I just got up, I cant find My glasses, and My hands are still wet from the shower... Ooops too much information)

      VFD's are easy to get to talk to linux, they act just like a LCD and if it is serial I am betting that it takes standard Matrox Orbital commands so he just downloaded the code from one of the linux pages on how to talk to one of these things.

      Hey, If I install linux on my PC can I get a story on slashdot?? That is exactly what this is.

      Now the industrial touchscreens I have that are water,weather,freeze proof... that is a cool hack, but not worthy of a slashdot story...

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  6. Well ... by Throstur · · Score: 5, Insightful

    POS machines are nothing more than PC computers with extra serial ports and different peripherals than "normal" PCs. And the POS software normally runs on DOS or Windows (*gasp*) ;-) I really don't see what the big fuss is about, I mean, I've installed Linux on a few different POS machines myself, (I work for a company that makes POS software), and it's just like setting up Linux on a normal PC except for the peripherals.

  7. Linux can run on anything by Ed+Avis · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just goes to show that Linux will run on any old POS.

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  8. I like this by ishark · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't ask why... Some things just need doing.

    Definitely an excellent reason for this project. I can't think of a better one :)
    I'm only surprised that the first use of the display pole was not for uptime/load....

  9. What about a calculator? by fireboy1919 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think that this is actually a little smaller...
    Look at the bottom of the page.
    There's a Linux shell for TI-89!
    http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/shells/

    Now for more wierdness...how about Linux on an oscilloscope? I know a guy who wrote "pong" for it using anolog circuits. Perhaps someone should take it further.

    They could use a TV remote as the interface and an adapted LCD driver chip to do it cheap...

    --
    Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
  10. Enough time? More like way too much time! by jonr · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is fun and whatnot, but SFW? You have full access to the kernel and everything, so what an excellent way of spending your weekend. A company that I work for, is hacking Linux to work on a embedded medical device eg.
    Do you have to mount /dev/cashdrawer?

    J.

  11. Slight bug though... by C+A+S+S+I+E+L · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently it still operates as a cash register while running Linux... except that it keeps insisting that anything run through it should be costing $0.00.

  12. Display by JimPooley · · Score: 3

    I thought it was quite nice the Cash Register people told him how to get the display on a stick working. That's what I call support...

    --

    "Information wants to be paid"
  13. Blah! Try it on a real machine! by Cef · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just like most Point Of Sale machines, they are just PC's with extra hardware. That is, if they bother. Many are just plain jane PC's, with things like the pole display and cash draw all driven by the printer, while the barcode scanner is plugged in through a keyboard wedge, so it emulates keyboard input.

    If you're so interested in this, try developing a whole graphical (note: graphical as in has to look similar to their existing Windows setup) Point Of Sale system that will be using FrameBuffer, that will end up running on 486-dx33's, with 16 meg of RAM, and a whopping 420 meg of h/drive space. The place I work for is doing this for an Australia wide chain so that they can install it on their existing hardware. They are in a 'contract' with the old POS supplier to keep the hardware on the desks for a few more years. Poor bastards!

    We have most of the extra hardware working (a whole 2 extra serial ports - and while it has a PCMCIA flash card reader, it isn't even worth the worry). The Point Of Sale program itself is written in Kylix (was originally a Delphi app on Windows), using SDL as an interface between the FrameBuffer and Kylix. Fun fun fun!!

  14. Screen shot by Salsaman · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Try this page

  15. Hey, here's an idea by nobodyman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of these *whack* ouch!! Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!