I assumed the original poster was trying to be funny and tried to give a funny reply with some serious info mixed in - hope that wasn't too confusing.
I agree other than novelty there's really no reason to run Linux on the MS hardware. Though I do occasionally enjoy doing things simply for the novelty aspect of doing them!
The software being developed for Tuning/programming the MegaSquirt under Linux however I felt was something the/. crowd would really be interested in. There's already a fully functional Windows program for doing this so why not make a Linux version and avoid having to deal with getting serial working correctly through Wine (which some people have done with success to program their MS from Linux.)
My motor is a 1974 2.0l from a Ford Pinto. I run it in a hand built tube chassis "sandrail" which is based primarially off a VW pan and suspension. Mine is somewhat outdated compared to the new ones but I'm on a very tight budget and got my rail for about $3,000
The motor was just rebuild and has new high compression pistons with a high lift long duration cam - the crank and rods are also new but are just reconditioned stock pieces....they should be strong enough for the power I expect to be making.
The Injection system is all homebrewed and it looks like I'll meet my goal of keeping the cost under $500. I have about $250 into my MegaSquirt (and stimulator and relay board for interfacing to the engine.) I got a throttle body off a V6 Mustang and injectors off an SHO Taurus for $70 on Ebay. The fuel pump was donated from an injected Bronco and a friend is going to fabricate a custom intake for me.
Right now the vehicle is stripped down to the bare frame and I'm getting ready to start reassembling it so we can figure out what style of intake will fit within the frame. I'm hoping to have the whole project done by Halloween when the sand season starts out here.
That's the beauty of the MS approach - it's like the Unix tools philosphy. Build a tool that does one thing really well then build another to do something else and keep building.
The MS is by choice fuel only. The same guys who designed it are also working on the MegaSpark which will take care of Timing. From there who knows where they'll go.
The whole thing is a offshoot of the DIY EFI-32 project which was designed to be an all in one engine management solution - but is so complex and more than what most people need that it was turning people off to homebrew engine control.
If you really want an all in one solution that can do almost everything an ODBII computer can take a look into the DIY EFI-32 project.
If you prefer the tools type of approach MS is very much worth a look.
Not yet - but there is a Linux based tuning program being written for it. It's still in the early stages at this time but the guy working on it has made a lot of progress the past week or two. Anyone got some good guage widgets for GTK+ they care to donate to him:)
Actually that has been brought up already on the MegaSquirt list - and Chevy is doing something similar on a vehicle in the next year or two with an engine that dynamically changes from 6 to 4 cylinders. It was done before (by Cadillac IIRC) but didn't work out well because the technology to pull it off just wasn't available.
Oh - and it's also a technique used in some motors alreeady. The Ford Focus will do exactly what you described if it starts to overheat in an attempt to "Limp home".
Not this weekend! I build my MS back in December but didn't get my new motor together until about a month ago. Now I'm about ready to start putting it all together and/. finally notices the project.
So of course just when I need the site the most it will probably be overrun and unavailable;)
Seriously though it's a great hardware hacking project. Quite a few revisions to the basic system have been made by the users and there are even a few spin-off projects (MegaSpark, MegaSquirtAVR, MegaJolt, MegaView, MegaTune, MSTWeak3k....) all of which were created by users of the system.
It's based on a stripped down simple version of the DIY EFI-32 project that aimed at building a homebrew version of the GM computer but was getting so complex it was turning some people away.
If the main site does get slashdotted there's the Yahoo Group: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/megasquirt
The MS FAQ: http://members.shaw.ca/megasquirt/MS%20FAQ.h tm
And a few photos of my own project for those of you you just want to see the pretty pictures: http://www.americansandassociation.org/ phpBB2/modu les.php?set_albumName=album43&op=modload&name=gall ery&file=index&include=view_album.php
From the materials in the pump - windshield washer pumps are not food-safe and are not a very good choice for this project.
That was one of my big questions when I first read this - how do they transfer the liquids.
Why even bother with pumps in the first place. Why not use gravity and solenoids food grade solenoids are a LOT cheaper than food grade pumps and you can get them for about $10 each at most RV dealers - sometimes less if you buy in bulk. Then just use a PWM setup like a fuel injector to measure out the amounts of each liquid.
So do you guys use a different kind of ton (or should I say tonne) over there? The Port Chicago explosion was explained to be at least 5,000 tons of bombs.
Oh uh...Maybe the first nuke was really in Fauld and not Port Chicago after all that's why 4,000 tons in england was a larger explosion than 5,000 tons in the states:)
Gee, I Must be confused. I had a friends PS2 on loan for a few weeks and could swear I was playing on-line games free.
THPS3 and 4 both support on-line play without the sonly network adaptor (they support most USB ethernet connectors including the one I had laying around) and don't require any kind of subscription since individual players run their own servers much like PC based multi-player gaming. The game included Gamespy based code to find on-line games and it worked flawlessly.
In fact one other thing the PS2 supports that apparantly Xbox dosen't (since it was a complaint in this review) is the use of a USB keyboard. I grabbed my own keyboard ( a MS natural no less) tossed on the PS/2->USB adapter it came with, plugged it into the PS2 and was able to enter my game info that way instead of using the controller - saved a lot of time and made chatting in-game possible without a headset.
I also have to agree with the other posters who want to know why the built-in ethernet is such a benefit when you still have to pay to use it on-line and then keep paying (an unspecified ammount no less) on a regular basis to keep using it. I like the pay once for the hardware model of the PS2 way more in that regard. But then again I always prefered buying my own cable or satellie box instead of paying a monthly "rental" fee as well.
"Once you get used to it, Keyboard+Mouse control is actually a little faster than Multibutton-Mouse control."
Tell that to my friend who has little to no control over his left hand.
The whole idea of mixing inputs is revolting - mouse inputs should come from the mouse keyboard from the keyboard. It's HIGHLY unintuitive to have to mix the two.
When I was taking a course in Director I'd occasionally let friends come use my decked out PC to work on their projects - once I showed them how to right click to bring up context menus most of them were hooked and started complaining about how the mac did it.
And these were people who just about had to be bribed to touch a PC.
So even after paying a premium price for supposedly perfect top of the line hardware....you still have to shell out extra cash for an unencumbered mouse.
I thought the point of Apple controling the mac hardware was to make sure that you DON'T have to go to third party options.
If I was paying that much for a system I'd be pissed as heck that the first thing I had to do was throw out the main user interface and buy a new one!
It took me a couple of years of forced mac use in college before I realized this one my #1 complaint about the single top menu bar. I knew I hated it just couldn't figure out why.
The problem is if you misclick all the rules suddenly change - at least in OS's with menus within their respective windows everything dosen't shift on you.
The single menu works OK if you're not multi-tasking (like original macs) but once you start running multiple apps simultaneously (something most mac users still don't seem to do probably because the OS makes it inconvienant) it's a MAJOR burdon and creates a LOT of confusion.
I've seen quite a few experienced and inexperienced users trying to figure out what happened after misclicking on a mac.
Actually the problem seems to be that IE is inconsistant. Most apps have Exit as the last item but IE since it's not an "App" but rather part of the OS according to MS dosen't even have an exit. You can't exit IE without exiting windows all together.
Any other app that opens multiple windows works just like Mozilla and the Mozilla functionality is perfectally consistant in that respect - Close will close the current window and Exit will exit the entire app.
The problem is with MS trying to redefine the browser as part of the OS and creating confusion in the minds of the users.
Seemed to work for me. I too the wav file linked off the page linked from the Wired article, encoded it to MP3, and then decoded the MP3 to a new WAV file.
The face is still there. A little distorted and not quite as clear but it's still there and still recognizable.
Of course if you encoded it as a 64k or 32k mp3 things might not work as well but since I can hear the difference at those levels I don't mess with MP3 that compressed unless I really need it.
Heck I HATE having back there. I map my middle mouse button to back and it's MUCH easier and quicker for me. I actually use MOST of those other options on a daily basis (View Source, View Info, View Image, Save Image As.., Save as.....) the only time I use back from the context menus is when I hit it by mistake:)
I may hate MS software but I have to admit I love their hardware. I don't know how I survived without my newest intellimouse. Far left button is page up, far right is page down, scroll wheel is one line at a time or back if I press it. I never touch the keyboard unless I actually have to type something in. Now that's how a mouse is supposed to work. Tradional one and two button mice piss me off so bad because they require that I keep one hand on the keyboard to get anything done. With 5 buttons and a scroll wheel I have enough functions to get around but not so many I forget what they all do.
The only problem is when I'm on my notebook or someone elses system I get disorienated:)
I'm even more screwed. The e-mail address for my main personal domain is for an account I no longer have. The phone number they have is for a cell phone I no longer have. And the address is a house I no longer live at (But since it's my parents I still get mail that's sent there).
When I contacted NSI they said the only way they'll let me update my info is if I can provide them will a bill in my name sent to the address I have the domain registered with. But I no longer have any bills going to that address!
I'm half tempted to just use one of the snailspam credit card offers I keep getting to get a bill at that address so I can change my registration info.
For now thankfully the bill from NSI still comes to that address and gets forwarded to me but they won't accept their own bill it's got to be from someone else. So I can still pay and keep the domain but I can't make any changes or get it back under my control.
Yep, this is the quality of thought I'm capable of on a Monday.
I'd love to see someone buy ads to the word redundant and link them to a page which uses the new google API to return the same search results that brought them the ad in the first place.
I should honestly just not even bother getting out of bed on mondays:)
There's an even easier way that dosen't even require a working keyboard. The power plug is symetrical and except for a very small dimple has nothing to keep you from plugging it in backwards.
I learned this the hard way when we moved and my dad hooked mine up before I got to it. He thought the power plug seemed a bit tight going in.
IIRC pluging that in backwards either reverses the polarity or sends 12 volts to the 5 volt lines and 5 volts to the 12 volt lines. Whichever it was it sure lets the magic smoke out fast.
And no mine didn't survive that! Luckily my dad felt bad enough that he replaced it with the brand new 128 that had just come out:)
Check out the latest version of WinPT. It now has "encrypt/Decrypt current window" from hot-keys.
I just installed it for a client today and wow does it make it all easier. Just hit ALT-SHIFT-D and enter your passphrase to decrypt e-mail. Just hit ALT-SHIFT-E to encrypt before sending.
Better send some of those engineers down to Arizona then because we're suffering the same problem here in Yuma.
They build a multi-million dollar desalination plant to clean farm run-off before returning it to the colorado river to meet treaty requirements for fresh water with Mexico.
While they were building the plant they made a temporary drainage ditch that dumps the run-off into the Golf of Mexico well within Mexican borders.
Now a group called the CBD (Center For Biological Diversity) with a long history of winning this kind of lawsuit is threating to take legal action to stop the plant from becoming operational...why?
Because a new "wetland" has formed where the temporary ditch drains into the Gulf down in Mexico. They claim that by cleaning the water and returning it to the Colorado it will put a number of species in peril of extinction.
Of course the fact that this is happening is Mexico dosen't bother them since the actions causing these events are taking place in the US.
And all of this thanks to our extremely poorly written Endangered Species Act that assumes humans are guilty of habitat destruction unless proven otherwise.
They recently sued the BLM to close down over 50k acres of public land in southern california (and won with the BLM settling out of court and agreeing to the closures) to protect a plant that is listed as "threatend" (not even endangered) despite the fact that the BLM's own studies and other independent studies show the plant is thriving and does not even belong on the endangered species list in the first place.
My grandmother actually used to look forward to inheriting my old game systems. She first got hooked on Frogger back in the 2600 days and still has a GameBoy that keeps her entertained.
Personally I wouldn't have believed it myself either until I saw her getting into it one day. Almost like some kind of funny commercial.
She's up in her 90's now though and while she dosen't get into many games anymore she still pulls the gameboy out from time to time!
Slashdot Mirror
I assumed the original poster was trying to be funny and tried to give a funny reply with some serious info mixed in - hope that wasn't too confusing.
/. crowd would really be interested in. There's already a fully functional Windows program for doing this so why not make a Linux version and avoid having to deal with getting serial working correctly through Wine (which some people have done with success to program their MS from Linux.)
I agree other than novelty there's really no reason to run Linux on the MS hardware. Though I do occasionally enjoy doing things simply for the novelty aspect of doing them!
The software being developed for Tuning/programming the MegaSquirt under Linux however I felt was something the
My motor is a 1974 2.0l from a Ford Pinto. I run it in a hand built tube chassis "sandrail" which is based primarially off a VW pan and suspension. Mine is somewhat outdated compared to the new ones but I'm on a very tight budget and got my rail for about $3,000
The motor was just rebuild and has new high compression pistons with a high lift long duration cam - the crank and rods are also new but are just reconditioned stock pieces....they should be strong enough for the power I expect to be making.
The Injection system is all homebrewed and it looks like I'll meet my goal of keeping the cost under $500. I have about $250 into my MegaSquirt (and stimulator and relay board for interfacing to the engine.) I got a throttle body off a V6 Mustang and injectors off an SHO Taurus for $70 on Ebay. The fuel pump was donated from an injected Bronco and a friend is going to fabricate a custom intake for me.
Right now the vehicle is stripped down to the bare frame and I'm getting ready to start reassembling it so we can figure out what style of intake will fit within the frame. I'm hoping to have the whole project done by Halloween when the sand season starts out here.
That's the beauty of the MS approach - it's like the Unix tools philosphy. Build a tool that does one thing really well then build another to do something else and keep building.
The MS is by choice fuel only. The same guys who designed it are also working on the MegaSpark which will take care of Timing. From there who knows where they'll go.
The whole thing is a offshoot of the DIY EFI-32 project which was designed to be an all in one engine management solution - but is so complex and more than what most people need that it was turning people off to homebrew engine control.
If you really want an all in one solution that can do almost everything an ODBII computer can take a look into the DIY EFI-32 project.
If you prefer the tools type of approach MS is very much worth a look.
Not yet - but there is a Linux based tuning program being written for it. It's still in the early stages at this time but the guy working on it has made a lot of progress the past week or two. Anyone got some good guage widgets for GTK+ they care to donate to him :)
Actually that has been brought up already on the MegaSquirt list - and Chevy is doing something similar on a vehicle in the next year or two with an engine that dynamically changes from 6 to 4 cylinders. It was done before (by Cadillac IIRC) but didn't work out well because the technology to pull it off just wasn't available.
Oh - and it's also a technique used in some motors alreeady. The Ford Focus will do exactly what you described if it starts to overheat in an attempt to "Limp home".
Not this weekend! I build my MS back in December but didn't get my new motor together until about a month ago. Now I'm about ready to start putting it all together and /. finally notices the project.
;)
h tm
/ phpBB2/modu les.php?set_albumName=album43&op=modload&name=gall ery&file=index&include=view_album.php
So of course just when I need the site the most it will probably be overrun and unavailable
Seriously though it's a great hardware hacking project. Quite a few revisions to the basic system have been made by the users and there are even a few spin-off projects (MegaSpark, MegaSquirtAVR, MegaJolt, MegaView, MegaTune, MSTWeak3k....) all of which were created by users of the system.
It's based on a stripped down simple version of the DIY EFI-32 project that aimed at building a homebrew version of the GM computer but was getting so complex it was turning some people away.
If the main site does get slashdotted there's the Yahoo Group: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/megasquirt
The MS FAQ:
http://members.shaw.ca/megasquirt/MS%20FAQ.
And a few photos of my own project for those of you you just want to see the pretty pictures:
http://www.americansandassociation.org
From the materials in the pump - windshield washer pumps are not food-safe and are not a very good choice for this project.
That was one of my big questions when I first read this - how do they transfer the liquids.
Why even bother with pumps in the first place. Why not use gravity and solenoids food grade solenoids are a LOT cheaper than food grade pumps and you can get them for about $10 each at most RV dealers - sometimes less if you buy in bulk. Then just use a PWM setup like a fuel injector to measure out the amounts of each liquid.
So do you guys use a different kind of ton (or should I say tonne) over there? The Port Chicago explosion was explained to be at least 5,000 tons of bombs.
:)
Oh uh...Maybe the first nuke was really in Fauld and not Port Chicago after all that's why 4,000 tons in england was a larger explosion than 5,000 tons in the states
Gee, I Must be confused. I had a friends PS2 on loan for a few weeks and could swear I was playing on-line games free.
THPS3 and 4 both support on-line play without the sonly network adaptor (they support most USB ethernet connectors including the one I had laying around) and don't require any kind of subscription since individual players run their own servers much like PC based multi-player gaming. The game included Gamespy based code to find on-line games and it worked flawlessly.
In fact one other thing the PS2 supports that apparantly Xbox dosen't (since it was a complaint in this review) is the use of a USB keyboard. I grabbed my own keyboard ( a MS natural no less) tossed on the PS/2->USB adapter it came with, plugged it into the PS2 and was able to enter my game info that way instead of using the controller - saved a lot of time and made chatting in-game possible without a headset.
I also have to agree with the other posters who want to know why the built-in ethernet is such a benefit when you still have to pay to use it on-line and then keep paying (an unspecified ammount no less) on a regular basis to keep using it. I like the pay once for the hardware model of the PS2 way more in that regard. But then again I always prefered buying my own cable or satellie box instead of paying a monthly "rental" fee as well.
"Once you get used to it, Keyboard+Mouse control is actually a little faster than Multibutton-Mouse control."
Tell that to my friend who has little to no control over his left hand.
The whole idea of mixing inputs is revolting - mouse inputs should come from the mouse keyboard from the keyboard. It's HIGHLY unintuitive to have to mix the two.
When I was taking a course in Director I'd occasionally let friends come use my decked out PC to work on their projects - once I showed them how to right click to bring up context menus most of them were hooked and started complaining about how the mac did it.
And these were people who just about had to be bribed to touch a PC.
So even after paying a premium price for supposedly perfect top of the line hardware....you still have to shell out extra cash for an unencumbered mouse.
I thought the point of Apple controling the mac hardware was to make sure that you DON'T have to go to third party options.
If I was paying that much for a system I'd be pissed as heck that the first thing I had to do was throw out the main user interface and buy a new one!
Thank God...I was afraid I was the only one.
It took me a couple of years of forced mac use in college before I realized this one my #1 complaint about the single top menu bar. I knew I hated it just couldn't figure out why.
The problem is if you misclick all the rules suddenly change - at least in OS's with menus within their respective windows everything dosen't shift on you.
The single menu works OK if you're not multi-tasking (like original macs) but once you start running multiple apps simultaneously (something most mac users still don't seem to do probably because the OS makes it inconvienant) it's a MAJOR burdon and creates a LOT of confusion.
I've seen quite a few experienced and inexperienced users trying to figure out what happened after misclicking on a mac.
Wow, I haven't seen a .UUCP address in a LONG time! That brings back some memories....
Actually the problem seems to be that IE is inconsistant. Most apps have Exit as the last item but IE since it's not an "App" but rather part of the OS according to MS dosen't even have an exit. You can't exit IE without exiting windows all together.
Any other app that opens multiple windows works just like Mozilla and the Mozilla functionality is perfectally consistant in that respect - Close will close the current window and Exit will exit the entire app.
The problem is with MS trying to redefine the browser as part of the OS and creating confusion in the minds of the users.
Funny looks like he's still there. Took me awhile to dig that far back into my bookmarks though:
DeCSS
Seemed to work for me. I too the wav file linked off the page linked from the Wired article, encoded it to MP3, and then decoded the MP3 to a new WAV file.
The face is still there. A little distorted and not quite as clear but it's still there and still recognizable.
Of course if you encoded it as a 64k or 32k mp3 things might not work as well but since I can hear the difference at those levels I don't mess with MP3 that compressed unless I really need it.
Heck I HATE having back there. I map my middle mouse button to back and it's MUCH easier and quicker for me. I actually use MOST of those other options on a daily basis (View Source, View Info, View Image, Save Image As.., Save as.....) the only time I use back from the context menus is when I hit it by mistake :)
:)
I may hate MS software but I have to admit I love their hardware. I don't know how I survived without my newest intellimouse. Far left button is page up, far right is page down, scroll wheel is one line at a time or back if I press it. I never touch the keyboard unless I actually have to type something in. Now that's how a mouse is supposed to work. Tradional one and two button mice piss me off so bad because they require that I keep one hand on the keyboard to get anything done. With 5 buttons and a scroll wheel I have enough functions to get around but not so many I forget what they all do.
The only problem is when I'm on my notebook or someone elses system I get disorienated
I'm even more screwed. The e-mail address for my main personal domain is for an account I no longer have. The phone number they have is for a cell phone I no longer have. And the address is a house I no longer live at (But since it's my parents I still get mail that's sent there).
When I contacted NSI they said the only way they'll let me update my info is if I can provide them will a bill in my name sent to the address I have the domain registered with. But I no longer have any bills going to that address!
I'm half tempted to just use one of the snailspam credit card offers I keep getting to get a bill at that address so I can change my registration info.
For now thankfully the bill from NSI still comes to that address and gets forwarded to me but they won't accept their own bill it's got to be from someone else. So I can still pay and keep the domain but I can't make any changes or get it back under my control.
Yep, this is the quality of thought I'm capable of on a Monday.
:)
I'd love to see someone buy ads to the word redundant and link them to a page which uses the new google API to return the same search results that brought them the ad in the first place.
I should honestly just not even bother getting out of bed on mondays
There's an even easier way that dosen't even require a working keyboard. The power plug is symetrical and except for a very small dimple has nothing to keep you from plugging it in backwards.
:)
I learned this the hard way when we moved and my dad hooked mine up before I got to it. He thought the power plug seemed a bit tight going in.
IIRC pluging that in backwards either reverses the polarity or sends 12 volts to the 5 volt lines and 5 volts to the 12 volt lines. Whichever it was it sure lets the magic smoke out fast.
And no mine didn't survive that! Luckily my dad felt bad enough that he replaced it with the brand new 128 that had just come out
Check out the latest version of WinPT. It now has "encrypt/Decrypt current window" from hot-keys.
I just installed it for a client today and wow does it make it all easier. Just hit ALT-SHIFT-D and enter your passphrase to decrypt e-mail. Just hit ALT-SHIFT-E to encrypt before sending.
Better send some of those engineers down to Arizona then because we're suffering the same problem here in Yuma.
They build a multi-million dollar desalination plant to clean farm run-off before returning it to the colorado river to meet treaty requirements for fresh water with Mexico.
While they were building the plant they made a temporary drainage ditch that dumps the run-off into the Golf of Mexico well within Mexican borders.
Now a group called the CBD (Center For Biological Diversity) with a long history of winning this kind of lawsuit is threating to take legal action to stop the plant from becoming operational...why?
Because a new "wetland" has formed where the temporary ditch drains into the Gulf down in Mexico. They claim that by cleaning the water and returning it to the Colorado it will put a number of species in peril of extinction.
Of course the fact that this is happening is Mexico dosen't bother them since the actions causing these events are taking place in the US.
And all of this thanks to our extremely poorly written Endangered Species Act that assumes humans are guilty of habitat destruction unless proven otherwise.
They recently sued the BLM to close down over 50k acres of public land in southern california (and won with the BLM settling out of court and agreeing to the closures) to protect a plant that is listed as "threatend" (not even endangered) despite the fact that the BLM's own studies and other independent studies show the plant is thriving and does not even belong on the endangered species list in the first place.
Nahhh, but miss that afternoon dose and watch out!
Well of course it's the clothing of your skin...
Everyone knows Q2 is best when played completely naked.
My grandmother actually used to look forward to inheriting my old game systems. She first got hooked on Frogger back in the 2600 days and still has a GameBoy that keeps her entertained.
Personally I wouldn't have believed it myself either until I saw her getting into it one day. Almost like some kind of funny commercial.
She's up in her 90's now though and while she dosen't get into many games anymore she still pulls the gameboy out from time to time!