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PC/104 Linux Minicluster - miniHowTo

Posted by timothy on from the more-than-a-weekend-project dept.

coldfire writes: "At LISA2001 there was a neat presentation on a PC104 based mini-parallel computer. It seems that the how-to has now been posted, for the world to behold." From last year or not, this has some great pictures.

5 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Just in case! by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 4, Informative

    What Is PC/104?
    PC/104 (IEEE P996.1) was developed to fill the need for an embedded platform, which was compliant with standardized hardware and software of the PC architecture. Mechanically quite different from the PC form factor, PC/104 modules are 3.6 X 3.8 inches in size. A self-stacking bus is implemented with pin-and-socket connectors composed of 64- and 40- contact male/female headers, which replace the card edge connectors used in standard PC hardware. Virtually anything that is available for a standard PC is available in the PC/104 form factor. PC/104 components are designed to be stacked together to create a complete embedded solution. Normally there will be a single CPU board and several peripheral boards connected by the PC/104 (ISA) system bus. Often there will be a PCI bus provided by the CPU board that will accommodate PCI peripheral boards (this standard is called PC/104+). Overall the price point for a highly integrated PC/104 CPU module is lower than for a comparable IBM-compatible PC. However, due to the power dissipation constraints typically found in embedded applications, CPU horsepower is generally lower. For more look at the PC/104 consortium site.

    --
    I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
  2. Re:heat by barzok · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's only running P2/266s (in this setup). Not too much to worry about.

  3. Re:minicluster linux by Metrollica · · Score: 0, Informative

    Sorry, but Minix is already taken.

    MINIX is a free UNIX clone that is available with all the source code. Due to its small size, microkernel-based design, and ample documentation, it is well suited to people who want to run a UNIX-like system on their personal computer and learn about how such systems work inside. It is quite feasible for a person unfamiliar with operating system internals to understand nearly the entire system with a few months of use and study.

    MINIX has been written from scratch, and therefore does not contain any AT&T code--not in the kernel, the compiler, the utilities, or the libraries. For this reason the complete source can be made available (by FTP or via the WWW).

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    --Metrollica
  4. Re:minicluster linux by traphicone · · Score: 1, Informative
    Linux is actually born out of Minix. The Linux kernel was originally written to work within the Minix system, as Linus himself explained when Linux was first announced.

    Now, the following trivia comes from one of my current professors (he happens to be the Phil Nelson mentioned at the bottom of the previously linked announcement). As he tells it, Minix was created to be an instructional operating system, and the professor who wrote it is reported to have said, "If the Linux kernel had been written for my Operating Systems class, it would have received an F."

  5. Re:minicluster linux by affenmann · · Score: 3, Informative

    > And where is that snobby professor now? "Dunno" you say? That's what I frickin thought.

    I think it's Andrew Tanenbaum and he is Amsterdam now, as far as I can see on his homepage :-)