Linux on a Used Cash Register: Reloaded

plimsoll writes "Hot on the heels of the original cash register running Linux, dumpster-diver Aaron Benoy has implemented his own GNU/Linux POS project with a twist: Ruins in ASCII, a late IBM 4694 removed from its case and reloaded with Linux to become a self-described 'video sculpture' showcasing 'an infinite loop of 180 distinct 7-second long video clips of various abandoned, ruined or otherwise vacant buildings and infrastructure' on its 9-inch paper white phosphor terminal display. Southern geeks can see it unveiled tonight at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival."

Comments

Re:Interesting Art

[Alien Being]

It makes me feel happy, sad, nostalgic, fearful, curious and inspired all at once. You might enjoy this

Re:Not that cool?

[javaxman]

I take that back. It looks like it has a pretty standard/weak video subsystem, and is certified to run Red Hat 7.1 ( kernel 2.4.2 ). Yes, you read that right, Linux is a *supported* OS on this puppy.

The list of video cards used in the 4694 makes me think that the claim 'incapable of displaying anything but text' sound more than a little fishy, too.

From the manual, again :

v 4694-244 and 205/245 - Cirrus GL5446 SVGA PCI video controller (model 244's have 1 MB of RAM installed, which yields up to 1024x768x256, while model 2x5's have 2MB of video RAM, yielding up to 1280x1024x256 or 1024x768x65535)
v 4694-207/247 and 307/347 models have AGP compatible video function embedded within the main system (VIA PM8601A) chip. Video RAM is part of system RAM and is reserved using the BIOS setup function. Once RAM is reserved as video RAM, it is no longer available for use as system memory. (For instance, a 32M system with 4M of RAM reserved for video will actually only have 28M of RAM available for system use (not counting memory required for BIOS shadowing, etc..)
v 4694-2x6- ATI Technologies Rage 128 Pro 4XL AGP2X video controller with 8MB of video DRAM, yielding support for resolutions up to 1280x1024x32M colors

frickin' Rage 128 Pro?!? I *just* retired a machine with that card in it...

Re:geek question

[mikewas]

It can be oriented in any direction. The major concern is keeping it from arcing. The best way to keep it from arcing is to keep it well away from anything else.

Color tubes restrict how you can mount them. The guns are either arranged in an equilateral triangle (point up) or in a horizontal row with a pattern of red, blue & green phosphors to match.

Monochrome tubes give you a lot of options. Only one gun centered in the neck. No pattern of colored phosphors on the screen. It's all white so it's just spread inside the front of the tube. You can rotate the tube anyway you want, giving you infinite possibilities if it's round.

Old B&W TVs with round tubes made use of this. Most components were on a chassis at the bottom so it isn't top-heavy. Tuner & other controls somewhere near the top so it's easy to reach. Tube rotated to the side opposite the tuner so it's away from everything -- usually a bit above horizonal because the HV power supply will be at that end of the chassis & it's rather large.

I work with these!!

[k4_pacific]

From the article:
"hardware so old it is incapable of displaying anything but text"

Speaking as someone who writes software for these boat anchors, I would like to point out that they have VGA monitors and can display 640x480 graphics in black and white with the standard 9" monitor or, with the optional 9" color monitor, 16 colors. My company, which does custom retail software, has several customers running these units. Most still on DOS, but a few on Windows NT.

Re:I work with these!!

[Gordonjcp]

Speaking as someone who does tech support for this stuff, they can do a hell of a lot better than that. Some of the new ones are really powerful (more powerful than my aging Duron 700, by a long shot). One model even has an NVidia 3D chipset... WTF?

Re:The sad thing... (slightly OT)

[cjsnell]

Nope, not an option. I'm a very experienced Perl programmer but that's irrelevant. A Web-based application cannot open cash register draws, draw to an LCD, or print receipts...at least, not without a really kludgy server-to-client piece.