widefault
04-27-2008, 01:39 AM
Okay, the name isn't a reference to anything in particular, but a description that somehow sounds cooler than it may be. It's going to be a basic Linux system that hooks into a terminal server, and it's being housed in a surplus US Civil Defense CDV-715 Radiation Fallout Meter. Despite what many think, this model is not a geiger counter. Its made for use after the nukes fall and to read the level of fallout. Basically, if you need to use one of these you're probably going to die pretty soon. For the collector types, I only use damaged or broken meters for my projects. I won't pay the price for a working one, and have managed to build up a nice stash of bad ones.
First off, if this seems familiar, you may have seen a few of the other mods I've done using these meters. For the past few years I've been modding them into USB (http://www.widefault.com/other/worklog.htm), firewire (http://www.widefault.com/other/rad.htm), and now eSATA 3.5" hard drive enclosures. Most have gone to friends and family, but there are a few extras that have made it into the wild.
I've also built two PCs (http://www.widefault.com/pmrm/p-msff.htm) in these cases using embedded 3.5" boards. One is a Pentium-M 1.8GHz, the other a Via C3@667MHz. Never really used either of them, the Pentium-M was too loud and the C3 had power issues. Well, I stole the PSU from it for another project so it's been boxed up until I get around to wiring it back together. I still have both, and while they'd work fine for what I'm doing, I'd rather have a much lower power system built for the purpose.
Anyway, on to the hardware...
For this project, I'll be using another embedded 3.5" form factor motherboard. This time it will be an Advantech PCM-5825. This uses a NationalSemi GeodeGX1 CPU@300MHz. Performance is equivalent to a PentiumMMX@~200MHz. It's descended from the old Cyrix MediaGX and is a kind of half-breed 486/586 core with onboard audio and video that rely heavily on the CPU. It's weak, but for what I'm doing it should be fine. It helps that this CPU(now owned by AMD) is used by Wyse in a lot of their Winterm models, so I know it will work for a terminal setup. There are updated versions of the CPU/chipset that increase clockspeed and add DDR support as well as more USB and even SATA on some versions. The base core is still the same.
So it's a poor performer, why would I use it? This board, running from a 45 watt PSU, pulls between 6-7 watts idling in the BIOS and requires about zero effort for cooling.
And a quick word on the 3.5" embedded form factor, since someone will ask eventually. The board size is 105mm x 145mm, same as a 3.5" hard drive. They're available with CPUs ranging from the 386 up to 800MHz bus mobile Core 2 Duos@2.6GHz. I've also seen them using xScale and other non-x86 CPUs, and recently saw there'll be one based on the Intel Atom. I like the form factor a lot, but they're hard to find and not cheap unless you buy used. Oh yeah, there's also an identically sized embedded form factor called ECX which is backed by Intel. Only real difference is ECX has a "standardized" PCI-e/USB/PCI expansion bus and most E3.5 use PC/104, PCI/104, and/or mini-PCI.
And finally, pics of the victims.
The board.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft001.jpg
Bottom. Currently only have 128MB of ram, need to get it running and see if I need more. I also plan on running the whole works of a compact flash card. I've got a few different ones to play with, hopefully the board will play nice.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft002.jpg
The unmolested case.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft003.jpg
The guts.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft004.jpg
Guts removed. I'll be cutting the "legs" off for clearance.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft005.jpg
The gauge will show drive activity even though there won't be much when it's being used on the terminal server.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft006.jpg
And I've started my layout for the ports.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft007.jpg
For the ports, I have a method that works pretty well. Consists of a drill, an old slot bracket, files, and a lot of arm motion. The big issue will be keeping things lined up. Get one port finished, then start another, constantly checking alignment. Consider there are 7 holes on this one, and I've got a challenge.
I'm also going to have to find cables for USB and audio as well as plan how I'm going to power the unit. It will run off a single 5 volt source, but the standard power mode is AT. It does have an ATX mode, but it's designed to be run with a real ATX PSU. I could use a PicoPSU and custom cables, but that's more money to spend and more chance of complications. I'd like to get the ATX mode working, but it's not really that big a deal if I can't. With 7 watts power use I could just leave it running all the time.
First off, if this seems familiar, you may have seen a few of the other mods I've done using these meters. For the past few years I've been modding them into USB (http://www.widefault.com/other/worklog.htm), firewire (http://www.widefault.com/other/rad.htm), and now eSATA 3.5" hard drive enclosures. Most have gone to friends and family, but there are a few extras that have made it into the wild.
I've also built two PCs (http://www.widefault.com/pmrm/p-msff.htm) in these cases using embedded 3.5" boards. One is a Pentium-M 1.8GHz, the other a Via C3@667MHz. Never really used either of them, the Pentium-M was too loud and the C3 had power issues. Well, I stole the PSU from it for another project so it's been boxed up until I get around to wiring it back together. I still have both, and while they'd work fine for what I'm doing, I'd rather have a much lower power system built for the purpose.
Anyway, on to the hardware...
For this project, I'll be using another embedded 3.5" form factor motherboard. This time it will be an Advantech PCM-5825. This uses a NationalSemi GeodeGX1 CPU@300MHz. Performance is equivalent to a PentiumMMX@~200MHz. It's descended from the old Cyrix MediaGX and is a kind of half-breed 486/586 core with onboard audio and video that rely heavily on the CPU. It's weak, but for what I'm doing it should be fine. It helps that this CPU(now owned by AMD) is used by Wyse in a lot of their Winterm models, so I know it will work for a terminal setup. There are updated versions of the CPU/chipset that increase clockspeed and add DDR support as well as more USB and even SATA on some versions. The base core is still the same.
So it's a poor performer, why would I use it? This board, running from a 45 watt PSU, pulls between 6-7 watts idling in the BIOS and requires about zero effort for cooling.
And a quick word on the 3.5" embedded form factor, since someone will ask eventually. The board size is 105mm x 145mm, same as a 3.5" hard drive. They're available with CPUs ranging from the 386 up to 800MHz bus mobile Core 2 Duos@2.6GHz. I've also seen them using xScale and other non-x86 CPUs, and recently saw there'll be one based on the Intel Atom. I like the form factor a lot, but they're hard to find and not cheap unless you buy used. Oh yeah, there's also an identically sized embedded form factor called ECX which is backed by Intel. Only real difference is ECX has a "standardized" PCI-e/USB/PCI expansion bus and most E3.5 use PC/104, PCI/104, and/or mini-PCI.
And finally, pics of the victims.
The board.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft001.jpg
Bottom. Currently only have 128MB of ram, need to get it running and see if I need more. I also plan on running the whole works of a compact flash card. I've got a few different ones to play with, hopefully the board will play nice.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft002.jpg
The unmolested case.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft003.jpg
The guts.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft004.jpg
Guts removed. I'll be cutting the "legs" off for clearance.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft005.jpg
The gauge will show drive activity even though there won't be much when it's being used on the terminal server.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft006.jpg
And I've started my layout for the ports.
http://www.widefault.com/ft/ft007.jpg
For the ports, I have a method that works pretty well. Consists of a drill, an old slot bracket, files, and a lot of arm motion. The big issue will be keeping things lined up. Get one port finished, then start another, constantly checking alignment. Consider there are 7 holes on this one, and I've got a challenge.
I'm also going to have to find cables for USB and audio as well as plan how I'm going to power the unit. It will run off a single 5 volt source, but the standard power mode is AT. It does have an ATX mode, but it's designed to be run with a real ATX PSU. I could use a PicoPSU and custom cables, but that's more money to spend and more chance of complications. I'd like to get the ATX mode working, but it's not really that big a deal if I can't. With 7 watts power use I could just leave it running all the time.