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ASUS Motherboard Ships With Embedded Linux
Michael writes "ASUSTek has introduced the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, which in addition to using Intel's new X38 Chipset also features a soon-to-be-announced technology by DeviceVM. SplashTop is an instant-on Linux desktop environment that is embedded onto this motherboard. Within seconds of turning on the P5E3 Deluxe motherboard, you can boot into this Linux environment that currently features a Mozilla-based web browser and the Skype VoIP client. Browser and VoIP settings can be saved and there are plans for the device to provide new features and support via updates. At Phoronix is a review of this $360 motherboard embedded with Linux and a web browser."
YES, IT DOES RUN LINUX.
(rot13) rpbzbab@tznvy.pbz
All it's missing is iSCSI support for it to be a diskless yet completely functional desktop. Central storage (and upgrade) of apps, documents and settings, just by mounting the appropriate partitions from a large, fast shared disk array.
...Whoa. That is wicked cool. Now, make a lower-end one with cheaper hardware.
What's the point? All it can do is surf the internet and make phone calls. You can't save anything from the internet and you can't mount external media, making it's backup/restore functionality near zip. The author also laments the lack of media playback.
To me it would be much more logical for a user just to have Linux installed on their hard drive with full functionality. Where's the use in a crippled OS on a motherboard?
I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
Maybe with a Linux distro built into the motherboard, there will finally be a solution where you don't have to go on a two day scavenger hunt for drivers. The last time I installed Fedora and Suse, both times I had to spend countless hours looking for Linux drivers for my NForce chipset. That All-in-One crap is for the birds.
A problem has been solved! BRAVO!
The game.
This is similar to countless computers that had BASIC in ROM and has the same problems. Sure it's convenient, but what people want to do with computers changes every year while ROMs stay the same. Will this thing support IPV6? Browsing the web over corporate VPN? External network adapter/monitor/scroll mouse? Silverlight?
Modern hard drives just take a second to read 4GB, a reasonable size for a quckstart Linux partition. And a PC builder can easily include an internal flash drive with hardware write protection switch. I wouldn't pay any more for this product than for a comparable motherboard without this feature.
It'd would be more generally useful if it only came with a OpenGL ES enabled GRUB + a micro Linux environment prepared with machine virtualization, which would run, semi-transparently, the other OSs by default, unless overrided.
Considering the name of the company and the (limited) text on their homepage. Wouldn't it be cool to have a motherboard with built in (ROM) virtualization software like Xen? Isn't that what they're really aiming for?
X.
We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
-- Anais Nin
I think this is a shame (to put it mildly). Hopefully the specifications for the update process will be published so that a Linux solution can be produced.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
This could be very useful for backup/recovery or testing purposes, eliminating the need for a live CD. However, the intended purpose seems to be a completely different one: "With a fast boot-up speed of only 5 seconds, the ASUS Express Gate offers an optional Linux OS boot-up that allows you to enjoy instant access to commonly used functions like accessing the Internet, VoIP, and Web emailing without entering the OS."
Who would want to boot into a crippled Linux where you cannot mount external drives just to browse the internet or make Skype calls?
At least it can be updated, so ASUS might provide more functional versions in the future. However,
from TFA: "To update Express Gate [the embedded linux] though you will need to be running Windows on the hard drive in order to run the ASUS utility."
Now, that's just great...
Uh... Has this guy been living under a rock? I'm not even assuming he thinks Linux doesn't have USB mouse support, which would be just plain ridiculous. There have been graphical BIOSes for years! I know I had a computer back in the mid 90s that let me use the mouse to change BIOS settings. So why would it be a surprise that a full-blown Linux system, even if it is embedded in the BIOS, would have mouse support?
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
$360? OUCH!!!!
Because of the price, this mobo will be a total flop. Unless you're an overclocker, most PC builders want a simple board that still provides the latest in North/South bridge technologies. No WiFi, no super mega 7.1 audio, no dual nics, no on-board video. None of that crap matters in our market. If we really wanted all of those features, we would purchase a thin client PC from Dell which includes a nice warranty should any of those on-board features fail.
Life is not for the lazy.
I wonder if the ability to mount other media is restricted in the BIOS or the actual system.
If it is the latter, and since the system can be updated from a running OS, it should be possible to put your kernel, servers and window manager in the flash and have most of your operating system boot instantly. And I have no doubt that if that is the case, some very clever person who was given one of these will work out how to do just that. Given that this does use a Linux kernel, it shouldn't be too hard to get source for any hardware specific issues you might find in booting from this.
Otherwise, this is pretty boring. There has been software available to, say, play media without booting into your operating system for ages.
We at slashdot are scientists, specialists and kernel hackers. Your FUD will be found out.
Here we have an article about linux, and there is this post from an obvious Windows user. Where is the Slashdot of old when all we had to worry about was the occasional GNAA or goatse post.
Those were the days.
* Carthago Delenda Est *
It's interesting, actually. Pro-Linux posts get modded troll and flamebait with some regularity now. I haven't been a very Slashdotter for a long time, but the Microsoft fanboys (shills/astroturfers?) definitely have a much larger influence on moderation than they used to. They've deliberately attacked people that were consistently posting pro-linux stuff: just look at what they did to twitter, whose account is currently sitting in negative karma hell after having ACs copypaste the same exact diatribe at him for months. I got sick of seeing it and I'm not even the guy they were targeting.
Eventually, it's become more and more obvious that there are people whose sole purpose for BEING on Slashdot is to simply bash Linux even though Slashdot is by its very nature a Linux website. Why they find it enjoyable or interesting or even a worthwhile use of their time is beyond me- I simply don't see why anyone who doesn't use Linux would come to Slashdot, load a Linux article, and mindlessly bash Linux. Why not just play some of Windows games that you like so much, you know?
Care about privacy? Read this!
So how does this compare to LinuxBIOS?
I'll start:
LinuxBIOS:
- More capabilities, freedom to tinker
- Less expensive hardware
- Usually not supported by vendor, doesn't work with lots of motherboards
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
In a way it is sad to see a motherboard which is so close to offering built-in system rescue and system installation help.
If the onboard OS could write to the harddrive or at least a USB stick, this would be perfect for downloading latest drivers prior to performing a Windows installation. Especially network drivers which always seem to create a Catch 22 on newer motherboards (you have to have network drivers installed in Windows if you want to download network drivers). A direct link to the drivers for this specific motherboard could even be preconfigured in the browser.
Somebody's got to put food on the table.
This is obviously intended to allow you to quickly make a phone call or look something up on the net. It is not supposed to be a replacement for your entire operating system. If you want to save files, watch DVDs or run your business software then boot your hard drive!
I couldn't count how many times I have booted up my computer just to look up a bus timetable, or the TV guide or just check my mail. And how handy would it be to be able to quickly look at the slashdot headlines while your wife goes back to try on another outfit before you head out.
If the boot time can be believed, you could go from off to reading the /. front page in around 20 seconds. How cool is that?
And I want to set up a temporary Internet cafe at conferences. This would be an ideal, non-hackable environment.
I have to ask why this has taken so long, we needed this 10 years ago. The asus site says its down, cant find all the details, does it come with all linux partitioning tools? including resizing of partitions? I know this can be provided by live cd's, but what if you dont have a cd player? This is fantastic, finally having it available, but really about damn time.
http://www.awfullybigmoustache.com
Judging by the downmods, you are now...
But you're right. Microsoft marketing drones have been gaming tech site comment systems for a while now. Any discussion of Linux, GPL3, ODF or any other topic which threatens their monopoly will be swamped with red herring and troll posts.
It's one of the more disgraceful features of the company. They're willing to undermine anything - ISO standards, US DOJ, open discussion, etc, etc - if there's an advantage to them.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
That's a bizarre waste of an otherwise good motherboard.
How about letting us put whatever OS we want on it instead? Ick, Linux.
How about Minux? OpenBSD? FreeBSD? ExoKernel? ___OS?
Linux. Ick to the max.
If only they made a version with Nvidia SLI support instead of ATI Crossfire...
Justify my text? I'm sorry, but it has no excuse.
...can you read your email with it?
It is at least strange that they have chosen to use skype, as its linux version is complete crap, lacking most of the features. Let's at least hope that this will speed up skype development a bit
this post contain no useful information, no need to mod it down
If anything, it's the Jesusbots targeting me, not the Microsoft shills, as I really don't comment much on Linux-related stuff. The Microsoft stuff is shameful, but I haven't really been targeted by it directly. I just find it amusing that they're trying to do this on a site which not only started out as a Linux site but is also owned by OSTG. Seriously, what's the point? I can understand going it to other tech sites, because there at least there's a chance of success, but doing it to Slashdot is like trying to put out a volcano by pissing on it.
Care about privacy? Read this!
you guys do know you're complaining about linux bashing and modding down of pro linux posts on Slashdot in reply to a post about a guy having gay sex and coprophagia? Location, anyone?
Some of us are just bored with this whole Linux fanboy idea that Linux is always the best tool for the job. It isn't. Free/Net/OpenBSD, eCos, OpenSolaris and even OS X are often a much better solution for any given problem. Linux has no grown large enough that there are a lot of people who try to fit it into every possible niche, including those for which it is completely unsuited and shouting down anyone who suggests a better option. We moderated down the MCSEs for this kind of attitude with Windows, and we'll mod down the Linux fanboys when they display it with Linux.
Straying back on topic, this is a pretty neat idea. It's a shame Be Inc didn't last a bit longer, because this is exactly the kind of thing BeIA would have been ideal for. That said, it seems more of a gimmick than something useful. Considering how cheaply you can buy a 1GB CF card and CF to IDE adaptor, you could probably create a system like this yourself more cheaply. It's not like this is aimed at Joe Public, because he doesn't buy motherboards, just finished systems.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Maybe I've been in laptop-land for too long (last desktop I owned was three years ago), but do people really still regularly reboot? I close the lid on my laptop, it goes to sleep. I open the lid, it wakes up and I can start doing things with it as soon as I've entered my password. The only time I reboot is to install updates. Surely desktops can do this by now?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Kids, before you wet your pants over that one, think about the Eee. Yes, that piece of Vapourware Asus announced at CeBIT. It is supposed to be a laptop with Linux. It doesn't ship, but Asus took the liberty to reduce the specs and increase the price, while pushing the imaginary shipping date forward month after month.
Does anyone now if this is allowed?
http://www.phoronix.net/image.php?id=869&image=asus_splashtop_q1
Because I don't think you're allowed to "reserve all rights" on the GPL-ed parts of this application.
The editors should do something about this - the same crap day after day.
How many beans make five, anyhow ?
Look here: My Raptor 10kRPM SATA drive has a buffer-to-disk sustained theoretical transfer rate of 84 MB/s. Furthermore, this embedded OS is not in true ROM, it's flashable.
Maybe the site is just getting more balanced, and fanboy trolls/shills/astroturfers of any "side" are getting modded down.
This mobo just made embedded linux devs cream their pants, theoretically you could make a custom linux image with all the features you want.
You know the funniest part? That OSTG makes money by hosting Windows Server 2003 advertisements which spread FUD about Linux.
Sam ty sig.
Missing your tin foil hat buddy? I can sell you one for only $0.20 CAN
That's what? $0.10 USD?
I run Ubuntu skinned to look like a Mac on a PC. Go figure.
The fact that you take twitter seriously says enough. This is is a guy who uses sockpuppets to peddle his lies around , in plain sight even, but still you'd prefer to think that MS has a "troll slashdot" department.
For the record, I've used Linux on the desktop for a couple of years, on and off before that, and I mod Twitter/Erris down any chance I get. Why? Because he's harming more than helping. Whatever his intentions are, lies and half-truths are never the way to achieve anything. Yes, even if the other guy is doing it.
I'm going over here and I don't know why!
That's pretty smart of you, young man. But can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these?
Well, desktops have no lid, obviously. But aside from that, you can of course put a desktop to sleep, or even hibernate it - the latter is what I usually do, but it's not enabled in WinXP by default, so you have to fiddle with power management settings to get it running.
I have nothing against Linux, and think the product is pretty interesting, but the review was bad. It was not at all well written with a lot stylistic and grammatical errors, it gloosed over most technical aspects in the most superficial of fashions, and the tone of the review was very biased; any shortcomings were either excused or ignored. What draft of N was the wireless? Will it support draft 2? Will ASUS guarantee it can be upgraded to the N-standard when it comes out? Which of the two frequency bands did it work in? Did the integrated linux support WPA 2? There are a lot of very basic questions that were never touched, many of which could result in this motherboard being pretty useless.
Idle speculation gets modded insightful now? For shame.
Logical fallacies and other such non-arguments contain no insight by their very nature.
They've deliberately attacked people that were consistently posting pro-linux stuff: just look at what they did to twitter, whose account is currently sitting in negative karma hell after having ACs copypaste the same exact diatribe at him for months.
I wouldn't touch Windows with a shitty stick and yet I have expended many mod points modding down that little fuck over the last few months. He is clearly a troll trying to make anybody who is genuinely (and sanely) pro-Linux look stupid by association. I'm glad he is being picked on and I will continue to help the effort whenever I get a chance.
I got sick of seeing it and I'm not even the guy they were targeting.
The fact that you even felt the need to mention that makes me suspect that you are in fact the same person. Although in this case maybe you got an adult to write the post for you.
Does anybody remember true instant on?
For example with an Atari ST or a Commodore 64? Where the OS was actually on a chip? It was so hard to switch to today's booting mess for me, but i eventually got used to it.
The 801.11n driver contained would be interesting to see the source for.
I bought an IBM (server) motherboard last year which has a Linux kernel (and even an X window manager) in the BIOS. The downside is that if I plug in a PCIe video card instead of using the on-board graphics controller, the X gui fails to start and I have no way to check or change the settings.
--
This space for rent.
"Look ma, no boot disks."
Back in the '80s most 8-bit computers had an OS built in. Even many PCs had a BASIC interpreter boot option.
The Macintosh Classic even had a bootable "ROMDisk" you could get into with a few magic keystrokes. It made a great rescue disk.
Some of Tandy's computers booted DOS and Deskmate from ROM.
Other computers booted various OSes or working environments directly from ROM.
Oh, and of course today embedded devices like Routers and cell-phones usually boot from silicon.
Heck, you can even boot Windows from silicon USB memory sticks on most modern motherboards.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Actually I do think that M$ has a troll department. Just check on Monster.com for the listings
* Carthago Delenda Est *
Look 4 year into the future, adding Linux to any motherboard should cost about $10 (the price of the flash). In 8 years every motherboard will have an operating system build into it. As time goes on those operating systems will more and more complete. No one will install an operating system ever again.
Microsoft marketing drones have been gaming tech site comment systems for a while now. Any discussion of Linux, GPL3, ODF or any other topic which threatens their monopoly will be swamped with red herring and troll posts.
No doubt you have your Microsoft fanatics perusing topics regarding Linux. But, are you serious about Microsoft employees doing the modding? I find that very hard to believe as it sounds too conspiratorial.
If what you say is true, than there's a solution. Slashdot could block the IP ranges belonging to all of Microsoft's branch offices including the main one in Redmond. What I mean by block, is to flag and prevent these IPs from modding users posting in topics marked "Linux". Technically, it could be done. Getting the correct IP ranges however, would be the difficult task.
Yes, I am advocating censorship for astroturfers. If a Microsoft employee still wants to mod a Linux topic, they can damn well do it from home if they still feel that passionate about it.
Life is not for the lazy.
For now its already very cool :
...and something similar to Systen Rescue CD - enough tools for helping fixing/rescuing/partitionning a system. With things like a functionnal anti-virus (either opensource clamav. Or some other antivirus software with which ASUS has a deal), Gparted (there are only a couple of filesystem that can be resize live when mounted in Linux. It's absolutely impossible to partition a hraddisk currently being used in Windows), imaging software (also use full for quick OS installation), tools to access data like Samba's CIFS client and NTFS-3G, and a tool to reset lost Windows passwords. With this,
- You can use the embed linux for a quick peek on a coupl of internet page or for a quick phone call, all within 5 sec from turning on the computer, without needing to wait that a full fledged OS boots.
- AS you mentionned, use this as a pre-install environment and/or rescue environment, to quickly get vital information from the web, when there's no functionnal full OS (yet).
But, I think, we could extend this second usage you evoked :
-
The Flash device containing the system would need to be a tad bigger, but whith this the embed Linux is going to be the admin's best friend to salvage broken OS installations - without needing a bootcd.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Microsoft fanboys? I've always thought it was the Apple fanboys, who don't seem to like the competition in the "non-Windows" arena. Just look at the hostility when someone brings up OGG support, or says they prefer Linux over OSX on their Mac, or when someone critizes the closedness of Apple products.
When I was a kid new computers used ferrite-core memory.
The only time my desktop reboots is when the power goes out, or about once a month (I live in Lawrence, KS). I imagine most linux desktops are the same, except for those freaks who play windows games.
They probably reboot a lot.
I'm a long-time lurker who reads this Slashdot site assiduously. The pro-Microsoft astroturfing started very suddenly and all at once at a very defineable time (I didn't log the exact date, but it was a year or two ago, very noticeable, an almost overnight change). There is no doubt whatsoever that it is a *very* calculated move ... one so calculated, that on the contrary, rather than seeming "conspiratorial," the odds are extremly doubtful that it isn't precipitated by the organization itself.
[Have we gone off-topic, or meta? Is meta allowed here? We'll see:]
/., but at the fringe of major OS initiatives, where the newcomers take up beginner's posts sorting the mail, as it were - and delight in tearing up half of it and throwing it in the trash. What's wrong with kids these days?
Could it be part of a larger plan? As an old Linux hand, I've noticed the gatekeeping on the Bugzillas for a number of major OS projects has been lately taken over by kids who if they aren't being paid my MS, should be. These punks treat bug reports as if they were attacks on the date-ability of their sisters, marking them "bogus" or otherwise closing them before they've even taken the time to understand what's being reported. Often they're tossing "clever" insults at the reporters at the same time. This is what it now means to be running "peer reviewed" code: you review it, you find real flaws, and some teenager whose worked his way into being a Bugzilla gatekeeper rejects the report because, well, you're not his peer. Obviously.
So how have we ended up with kids whose destiny would have used to be manning the complaint desks at Ma Bell in key positions to cripple the quality of OS projects - often projects which directly compete with MS products? </snark>
My real point: MS doesn't have to hire shills. We're doing it to ourselves. Somehow the values that were so pervasive in OS even a few years ago haven't been passed on to the latest wave of newcomers. That's not just showing up on
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
Yup. Sleep, not boot. Macs do this flawlessly (push powerbutton, sleeps alomst instantly, push again and it comes back in +/- 1 second).
XP takes a bit longer though, not sure why....
The Bigger The Headache The Bigger the Pill
Read it as "ASUS Mothership Embedded with Linux"
For a second, I was faced with the horrific possibility that Independence Day was right after all.
splashtop.com/index.php
> Idle speculation gets modded insightful now?
Idle speculation like vague allegations of an astroturfing conspiracy? Maybe moderators would just like the rabid fanbois to grow the hell up.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
When I was a kid we had to write it ourselves on a stone tablet.
You can already do this with a live CD (or the leaner "sysresccd" which fits on one of those little 3" CDs).
The only advantage of having Linux in flash is that it boots in five seconds.
No sig today...
Jesus has bots?!?
Yep, it's possible to pick out the talking points that the astro-turfers get handed for a particular topic. A few old chestnuts:
It would be amusing if it weren't such a pain. The worst part, though, is that they used to spend all their time modding their comrades up, but now they've moved on to modding 'inconvenient' posts down.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
Anybody working a bugzilla for a popular project for long enough will be turned into a people hater. Its just the nature of the job. And with so many more greedy selfish bastards out there who want everything for nothing, who submit low quality reports with unreasonable demands, it's a lot worse than it once was.
You know, compared to back when the reporter was at least capable of writing a patch.
_
\\/ are accustomed' - First Lensman
The #1 top feature for this would be troubleshooting, especially if the user only has one machine with a single OS. As it has been noted, USB key compatibility would make it even better still.
You could also use it as an instant on technique to quickly check a web site, however I'd say just putting Vista* into hibernate would be just as fast. (*The average user who is buying one of these X38 boards would most likely couple it with at least 2GBs of memory and a reasonably good Core2Duo CPU and thus have plenty of resources for Vista.)
ISO certified == THX certified
Wow, enjoy the view up there from your high horse?
I consider myself a serious enthusiast. Now, first of all, last time I checked the P5E3 x38 didn't have onboard vga.
Then, I have an Asus Blitz Formula (p35) with a Q6600 and 2gb of memory (DDR2-1066mhz). This board is similar to the one discussed, except that it's using P35 and doesn't have onboard wifi - instead it is probably a bit more focused on overclocking performance. I greatly enjoy having the sata and network controllers built in - would you like those as PCIE/PCI cards too? And what if you have a camera that needs a firewire connection? That's another Asus onboard inclusion.
Also in my system the audio is included but as a tiny device which uses a PCIEx1 slot; it offers most excellent sound for my Logitech Z-5500Ds and I didn't have to pay any extra for it.
For the P5E3 wifi edition; if I was using wifi at home I'd appreciate not having to have another PCIE slot taken. (My Blitz doesn't offer this).
Benefits of integrated designs are: Better air flow thus cooling, reduced system complexity bringing higher stability. Also those tools that were put into the bios and design of my board (e.g. reset CMOS button) make overclocking so much easier. I paid a lot for it, but feel that I'm getting great value in return.
I'm getting the Maximus Formula X38 in a month or so to put the Blitz into my Zalman HD160XT based HTPC and the X38 into my desktop. The only additional card I need to put into it will be a 8600GTS Silent. Compared to the machines of old, I absolutely love the lack of clutter these feature rich motherboards provide.
ISO certified == THX certified
The post was followed by an ad for Windows Server 2003. Are the Slashdot ads word-targeted?
Usage: km/h for speed (kilometers per hour); kph for very slow impulses (kilopond hours).
but will it blend?
Why X-Fire and not SLI. If that was an SLI board, I'd change my platform now.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
Obviously, this ignores any green issues about wasting electricity.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
The US dollar is worth less than the Canadian dollar these days.
Have you never wanted to just look something up online, but not wanted to wait the few minutes while the OS boots? I don't use skype but I imagine a similar need arises, to just make a quick call before you go out or whatever.
You sound like a class-A moron.
I'm sure there are Micrsosoft employees that read and post to slashdot just like employees of any other company. And the earn mod points in the process. It's very sad and petty of you to suggest that fellow slashdotters be banned from modding simply because you don't like their employer.
I'm sure there are employees of Apple, Red Hat, IBM, Sun, that post things and mod other posts in accordance to their own points of view as well, and those points of view would be naturally influenced by their place of employ.
Don't forget, slashdot itself is owned by "VA Linux" (well, before they evolved into SourceForce Inc), so is naturally a pro-Linux site. And as consequence, the stories that are accepted here are generally anti-Microsoft, or spun to be such in the summaries. This site also uses anti-Microsoft icons for its "Microsoft" and "Windows" topics, the only negative icons used for any topics on the site. In the midst of all that, you can't handle a handful of pro-Microsoft posts/mods? You are truly sad.
If Microsoft employees should be banned from modding topics, then employees of pro-Linux companies should be banned from modding as well.