Nice try, except with a logitech "mac comptaible" USB keyboard ***NONE*** of the keyboard shortcuts work with the mac-mini. Not "hold C" or "alt-option-o-f" or the many others. Not a single one.
You probably need a blessed official Apple keyboard or something.
Basically once I got yaboot [improperly] installed my Gentoo setup wouldn't boot and I couldn't boot off the MacOSX Installer CD [hitting 'c' or not]. It could be just my Mac is broken but it booted OSX just fine and worked correctly while up. I think the BIOS, er, sorry "open firmware" is just crap and didn't recognize my keyboard [or allowed startup combos].
Frankly I'm not impressed by a computer lacking a BIOS [or monitor of some sort]. Even my 8051 board has startup software to help use it...
For the record not everything runs off 5V or can tolerate a max of 500mA...:-( That said,..., devices could be made with this in mind but then you'd still want a cell phone or alarm clock that could work without a PC [or while the PC is on for that matter].
The device I had in mind would have both 5V and 12V and allow at least a sink of 1Ah per port. A standard PSU can support this and when the PC is off the PSU wouldn't need a fan to supply 5W or 12W to a something like a cell phone charger... But to be universal the 5V side could be "USB" [with the upped amperage] plugs powered whether the computer is up or not. The 12V side would need a different plug to prevent people from introducing 12V to a 5V circuit.
Mostly I'm confounded by the "every manufacturer has their own plug" system. Who cares who makes the AC adapter for your cell phone? It's cheaper for the consumer if more companies could make UL/CA listed power supplies.
Even inside your house you can have hundreds of feet of wire. Think from one side of your basement to the other than up two stories...
The loss on a 5V line at 50-100 ft would be too much for it to be useful. So even in your house you need 110V [or 220-240 if you're one of them European weirdos] to avoid huge losses.
That said... why not invent a PSU that can provide one desktop, chargers [phone, ipod, etc], and other low power items? Think of a 5.25" bay device which has "outlets" for other DC devices.:-) That'd be cool.
That and "install GNU/Linux on it" is harder than it seems. outside pre-packaged distros [and even then] it's hard to find good info on how to setup a mac if you're from a PC background. There is no bios and the OF bootloader doesn't work on the Mac Mini [at least it didn't when I hit the magic key combos].
Most Mac users I see at OSS conventions run the default MacOSX that came with the box. Probably because they too couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
Now my Dell laptop... that got gentooed fairly quickly out of the box:-) lilo worked just fine.
There are more than just a few cables. Recall the media power comes from the PSU not the mobo. So you'd have at least an HD [4 wires] + mobo [20 wires] for a total of at least 24 wires.
And generally if the poster doesn't know about basic wiring electronics [e.g. ohms law] he/she shouldn't be wiring up a power supply outside of the "plug it into the mobo" routine.
I doubt that. The K6 was certainly not AMDs fastest design [or more succintly most efficient] but it was not that bad. If you had a K6-2 400Mhz that ran things at the same rate as a 80586 at 200Mhz you likely were I/O bound and not ALU/FPU bound.
Well maybe FPU... back then Intel was king in the desktop market for FPU power....
At anyrate, anyone who thinks AMD is "dodgy" when compared to Intel today is just fully loaded with a stockpile of bullshit.
My point was that most computer users won't benefit tremendously from the extra registers. [especially when running windows anyways].
Compare to the K7 [Barton series] the K8 makes a better 32-bit processor which is about what most seem to need anyways. So being bound to Win32 on a K8 [as painful as that seems, I don't do it myself... my X2 runs gentoo] is not a horrible thing.
If you have a >4GB file you're going to spend more time swapping in data from disk to REAL memory than some form of banked memory management [which is what you'd be doing even in a 64-bit world what do you think page faults are?].
Sure it may be nice from a programmers point of view but don't kid yourself that it's any faster.
If you could code worth a damn you'd have osme form of
read64(int fileno, int start, int length, void *dst);
And it would handle paging in the right part of the file. If you simply did mybigmemmap[ptr] = 3; The OS could have mapped that page to NULL forcing a page fault then a load from disk. The code would look simpler but not be any faster.
NOW note that a "speed" application will typically be dealing with BLOCKS of data. So you're just going to memcpy from your mmap to your process space. How is that any different from doing a read() to userspace?
If you're smart you could do a userspace cache to make the program platform agnostic [e.g. not all OSes do disk cache as nicely], etc.. Point is, it doesn't make the program faster and if you code properly not any easier.
Um no you're wrong simply because the vast majority of programs need more than 64KB of memory. They don't need more than 4GB though.
So 32-bit registers makes sense. It means you can do pointer math in one register instead spread across two.
I suppose if you have an 68000 model and used 32-bit address registers and 16-bit data registers that'd work but your core would be more complicated to look at and verify.
There are plenty of places to buy a desktop that isn't Dell.
Only reasons I bought a Dell laptop
a) Halfway realistic chance of getting my warranty service if I need it
b) Actually decent configuration
But for desktops... their cases are crap. An Antec Sonata case is cooler, neater looking and has more area for the flow of air [or storage of "things" like HDs]. You can get a 939 motherboard anywhere, etc...
It just doesn't make sense to buy from Dell for something like that.
Yeah that's the point though. The vast majority of people won't benefit from the 64-bit wide registers in the slighest. That speeds up some things but mostly they're limited to tasks like crypto, bignum math or register intense filter algorithms [even then that's pushing it].
What you do get in the 32-bit side? Well the things I mentioned plus a core made with more efficient transistors that runs cooler, takes less energy.
So even if you ran in 32-bit mode only you still get a benefit over an Athlon K7.
The K8 sports architectural improvements over the K7 other than the onboard memory controller and 64-bit wide registers. More instructions are "direct path" which means faster decoding and shoving in the pipeline. The pipeline is slightly longer which hurts branches but helps raise the clock rate [e.g. 2.4Ghz K8s that don't burst into flames]. They also have a 16-byte instruction window which means you're more likely to get all three decoders something to do [the K7 had an 8-byte window].
You can build a desktop from parts you can buy at any local shop.
The only reason I bought a dell machine was because it's a laptop and buying replacement laptop parts locally is just not feasible. There are 150 computer shops in Toronto. I can buy a 939 mobo pretty much anywhere. I can't buy a replacement Acer motherboard anywhere.
Sadly what's the alternative. There are a lot of decent laptops floating around [Acers for instance] but you can only really buy them from hole-in-the-wall shops where you're likely not to get a decent warranty out of it.
Because they know people are stupid enough to think the AMD64 is magically faster even with a 32-bit OS.
It's true that the AMD64 is faster than the AMD32 [e.g. K7 Athlon-XP series] with 32-bit code. However, to get the most out of it you really need to be in Long mode.
But 99% of the public doesn't get that. They think because the chip is 64-bit it means it's faster.
This is why they say things like "128-bit graphics processor" when they mean "higher latency wider data bus":-)
For the laptops [prolly desktops too] just take any WinXP home CD [OEM or otherwise] and re-install. It's easier and more likely to get rid of the annoying software.
In my case I used the WinXP Home OEM CD I got for doing some LTC work in Windows...:-)
It doesn't help that Dell preinstalls a bunch of useless nagware that isn't up to date or "fully functional". Like thanks for McAfee but why not install Anti-vir? The first thing anyone halfway competent does with a Dell box is reinstall windows [or go straight to linux].
Where is the option to buy a Dell box with a blank drive or some linux distro or windows without all the unwanted doodahs? That'd be a truly useful option.
Of course this would require the hardware manufacturers to
a) open up their interface with documentation
or
b) write a GPL driver and give it out.
But they won't because they're stupid and they think knowing how to make a wifi device send a frame in memory is "leaking how th design was implemented". Like knowing the encoding for the MUL instruction tells you how an AMD64 processor works...:-/
um... that wouldn't make a good load of sense. You'd have a wifi adapter in every flashdrive? You can't use BT as it's too slow and even Wifi maxes out at 54Mbps [all while using around 200mAh at 3V]. The cost would be an interesting figure.
1. Monthly service for radio link servetude: $30 2. Airtime charges to download the news: $10 3. 911 access fee... on a piece of paper... : $1 4. License fee: $7 5. Newspaper subscriptions: $15 6. Knowing you'll be leached to death by yet another inadequate technology: Priceless.:-)
[yes this is a rant about how cell phones cost too much and do so little]
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Nice try, except with a logitech "mac comptaible" USB keyboard ***NONE*** of the keyboard shortcuts work with the mac-mini. Not "hold C" or "alt-option-o-f" or the many others. Not a single one.
You probably need a blessed official Apple keyboard or something.
Basically once I got yaboot [improperly] installed my Gentoo setup wouldn't boot and I couldn't boot off the MacOSX Installer CD [hitting 'c' or not]. It could be just my Mac is broken but it booted OSX just fine and worked correctly while up. I think the BIOS, er, sorry "open firmware" is just crap and didn't recognize my keyboard [or allowed startup combos].
Frankly I'm not impressed by a computer lacking a BIOS [or monitor of some sort]. Even my 8051 board has startup software to help use it...
Tom
Shut your gob! :-)
... :-( That said, ..., devices could be made with this in mind but then you'd still want a cell phone or alarm clock that could work without a PC [or while the PC is on for that matter].
For the record not everything runs off 5V or can tolerate a max of 500mA
The device I had in mind would have both 5V and 12V and allow at least a sink of 1Ah per port. A standard PSU can support this and when the PC is off the PSU wouldn't need a fan to supply 5W or 12W to a something like a cell phone charger... But to be universal the 5V side could be "USB" [with the upped amperage] plugs powered whether the computer is up or not. The 12V side would need a different plug to prevent people from introducing 12V to a 5V circuit.
Mostly I'm confounded by the "every manufacturer has their own plug" system. Who cares who makes the AC adapter for your cell phone? It's cheaper for the consumer if more companies could make UL/CA listed power supplies.
Tom
Even inside your house you can have hundreds of feet of wire. Think from one side of your basement to the other than up two stories...
... why not invent a PSU that can provide one desktop, chargers [phone, ipod, etc], and other low power items? Think of a 5.25" bay device which has "outlets" for other DC devices. :-) That'd be cool.
The loss on a 5V line at 50-100 ft would be too much for it to be useful. So even in your house you need 110V [or 220-240 if you're one of them European weirdos] to avoid huge losses.
That said
Tom
Cuz it's a mac? :-)
... that got gentooed fairly quickly out of the box :-) lilo worked just fine.
Those things are highly annoying.
That and "install GNU/Linux on it" is harder than it seems. outside pre-packaged distros [and even then] it's hard to find good info on how to setup a mac if you're from a PC background. There is no bios and the OF bootloader doesn't work on the Mac Mini [at least it didn't when I hit the magic key combos].
Most Mac users I see at OSS conventions run the default MacOSX that came with the box. Probably because they too couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
Now my Dell laptop
Tom
There are more than just a few cables. Recall the media power comes from the PSU not the mobo. So you'd have at least an HD [4 wires] + mobo [20 wires] for a total of at least 24 wires.
And generally if the poster doesn't know about basic wiring electronics [e.g. ohms law] he/she shouldn't be wiring up a power supply outside of the "plug it into the mobo" routine.
Tom
Very few people will willingly hunt around for interesting sites on that non-descriptive pinboard.
Sorry, but it's all hype and no return. I mean a 10x10 smiley face in the middle of 950 others won't make you popular on the internet.
The fact that so many people have already paid money for it scares me. Though doesn't surprise me that bad. I mean people are stupid afterall..
Tom
I doubt that. The K6 was certainly not AMDs fastest design [or more succintly most efficient] but it was not that bad. If you had a K6-2 400Mhz that ran things at the same rate as a 80586 at 200Mhz you likely were I/O bound and not ALU/FPU bound.
... back then Intel was king in the desktop market for FPU power. ...
Well maybe FPU
At anyrate, anyone who thinks AMD is "dodgy" when compared to Intel today is just fully loaded with a stockpile of bullshit.
Tom
Or you could ship it now [snip].
:-)
That's all.
Tom
Um thanks for repeating what I said...
My point was that most computer users won't benefit tremendously from the extra registers. [especially when running windows anyways].
Compare to the K7 [Barton series] the K8 makes a better 32-bit processor which is about what most seem to need anyways. So being bound to Win32 on a K8 [as painful as that seems, I don't do it myself... my X2 runs gentoo] is not a horrible thing.
Tom
... um ... bullshit.
If you have a >4GB file you're going to spend more time swapping in data from disk to REAL memory than some form of banked memory management [which is what you'd be doing even in a 64-bit world what do you think page faults are?].
Sure it may be nice from a programmers point of view but don't kid yourself that it's any faster.
If you could code worth a damn you'd have osme form of
read64(int fileno, int start, int length, void *dst);
And it would handle paging in the right part of the file. If you simply did mybigmemmap[ptr] = 3; The OS could have mapped that page to NULL forcing a page fault then a load from disk. The code would look simpler but not be any faster.
NOW note that a "speed" application will typically be dealing with BLOCKS of data. So you're just going to memcpy from your mmap to your process space. How is that any different from doing a read() to userspace?
If you're smart you could do a userspace cache to make the program platform agnostic [e.g. not all OSes do disk cache as nicely], etc.. Point is, it doesn't make the program faster and if you code properly not any easier.
Tom
heat dissipation.
... "diminishing returns" does that mean anything to them? Why not a 32MB cache!!! 128MB!!! a gig!!!
Well that and the ALU is really crap still. Sure it does well at bulk data movement tasks but compiling/crypto it's a useless core.
That and for the love of god
Tom
Um no you're wrong simply because the vast majority of programs need more than 64KB of memory. They don't need more than 4GB though.
So 32-bit registers makes sense. It means you can do pointer math in one register instead spread across two.
I suppose if you have an 68000 model and used 32-bit address registers and 16-bit data registers that'd work but your core would be more complicated to look at and verify.
Tom
I don't like you.
Tom
lazy.
There are plenty of places to buy a desktop that isn't Dell.
Only reasons I bought a Dell laptop
a) Halfway realistic chance of getting my warranty service if I need it
b) Actually decent configuration
But for desktops... their cases are crap. An Antec Sonata case is cooler, neater looking and has more area for the flow of air [or storage of "things" like HDs]. You can get a 939 motherboard anywhere, etc...
It just doesn't make sense to buy from Dell for something like that.
It's like mail ordering for movie rentals...
Tom
Yeah that's the point though. The vast majority of people won't benefit from the 64-bit wide registers in the slighest. That speeds up some things but mostly they're limited to tasks like crypto, bignum math or register intense filter algorithms [even then that's pushing it].
What you do get in the 32-bit side? Well the things I mentioned plus a core made with more efficient transistors that runs cooler, takes less energy.
So even if you ran in 32-bit mode only you still get a benefit over an Athlon K7.
Tom
The K8 sports architectural improvements over the K7 other than the onboard memory controller and 64-bit wide registers. More instructions are "direct path" which means faster decoding and shoving in the pipeline. The pipeline is slightly longer which hurts branches but helps raise the clock rate [e.g. 2.4Ghz K8s that don't burst into flames]. They also have a 16-byte instruction window which means you're more likely to get all three decoders something to do [the K7 had an 8-byte window].
Tom
Who the fuck buys a dell desktop?
You can build a desktop from parts you can buy at any local shop.
The only reason I bought a dell machine was because it's a laptop and buying replacement laptop parts locally is just not feasible. There are 150 computer shops in Toronto. I can buy a 939 mobo pretty much anywhere. I can't buy a replacement Acer motherboard anywhere.
Tom
Sadly what's the alternative. There are a lot of decent laptops floating around [Acers for instance] but you can only really buy them from hole-in-the-wall shops where you're likely not to get a decent warranty out of it.
Tom
Because they know people are stupid enough to think the AMD64 is magically faster even with a 32-bit OS.
:-)
It's true that the AMD64 is faster than the AMD32 [e.g. K7 Athlon-XP series] with 32-bit code. However, to get the most out of it you really need to be in Long mode.
But 99% of the public doesn't get that. They think because the chip is 64-bit it means it's faster.
This is why they say things like "128-bit graphics processor" when they mean "higher latency wider data bus"
And don't get me going on latency vs. throughput.
Tom
For the laptops [prolly desktops too] just take any WinXP home CD [OEM or otherwise] and re-install. It's easier and more likely to get rid of the annoying software.
:-)
In my case I used the WinXP Home OEM CD I got for doing some LTC work in Windows...
Tom
It doesn't help that Dell preinstalls a bunch of useless nagware that isn't up to date or "fully functional". Like thanks for McAfee but why not install Anti-vir? The first thing anyone halfway competent does with a Dell box is reinstall windows [or go straight to linux].
Where is the option to buy a Dell box with a blank drive or some linux distro or windows without all the unwanted doodahs? That'd be a truly useful option.
Tom
More drivers is about the most important thing.
... :-/
Bring the hardware, software will follow.
Of course this would require the hardware manufacturers to
a) open up their interface with documentation
or
b) write a GPL driver and give it out.
But they won't because they're stupid and they think knowing how to make a wifi device send a frame in memory is "leaking how th design was implemented". Like knowing the encoding for the MUL instruction tells you how an AMD64 processor works
SPEW!!!!
Tom
um ... that wouldn't make a good load of sense. You'd have a wifi adapter in every flashdrive? You can't use BT as it's too slow and even Wifi maxes out at 54Mbps [all while using around 200mAh at 3V]. The cost would be an interesting figure.
Tom
Problem with e-paper ...
... on a piece of paper ... : $1 :-)
1. Monthly service for radio link servetude: $30
2. Airtime charges to download the news: $10
3. 911 access fee
4. License fee: $7
5. Newspaper subscriptions: $15
6. Knowing you'll be leached to death by yet another inadequate technology: Priceless.
[yes this is a rant about how cell phones cost too much and do so little]
Tom
This just in: 2006 will be the year of the dupe!