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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>We are developing
some RF and Bluetooth sensoring system too and a good (not great) video
output would be an optional to give the user the right
feedback.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The low power
consumption is really important to us: we are developing a
rechargable-battery+photovoltaic recharge system to make our boxes able to be
power-chord independant.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>...but i think we
are quite off-topic now :-)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=774330216-22052008> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left>
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</DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=it dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2><B>Da:</B> mgrollman [mailto:mgrollman@cox.net] <BR><B>Inviato:</B>
giovedì 22 maggio 2008 18.00<BR><B>A:</B> Dario Finardi<BR><B>Cc:</B>
voyage-linux@voyage.hk; Kim-man 'Punky' TSE<BR><B>Oggetto:</B> Re: R: Alix1/3
VGA support (lxfb) vs. Intel Atom D945GCLF<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Dario,<BR><BR>I also am big fan of PCEngines and Alix, and use
this board for some of our mobile sensor projects. But it has trouble
keeping up with certain video efforts -- just not enough gas in the tank,
sometimes.<BR><BR>Atom CPU at 1.6GHz will draw around 2.2watt, still very lean
and mean.<BR><BR>I agree that mini-pci slot is lacking in D945GCLF, but I would
expect to see boards out there with mini-PCI soon using ATOM. Also, the
Alix has a better power setup than this Intel board does.<BR><BR> But, the
combination of this very low power ATOM chip, super low price, and a native
Intel chip set, it is very sexy, especially in video world.<BR><BR>-
Michael<BR><BR>Dario Finardi wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:3C918A5DAEE3BD41B54DE3CEB88099EE1E7AE8@gearpdc.sede.gear.it
type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Thankyou Michael,
we are using Geode based board for some reasons:
- small size
- very low power consumption (geode@500mhz is <0.9watt and the board is <5watt)
- quite expandable (2 minipci slots + come gpio)
- the producer of the board we've choosen (PCEngines) make a little modification based upon our request for a small order (100pcs).
Thankyou again.
dario
-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: mgrollman [<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="mailto:mgrollman@cox.net">mailto:mgrollman@cox.net</A>]
Inviato: giovedì 22 maggio 2008 17.39
A: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:voyage-linux@voyage.hk">voyage-linux@voyage.hk</A>
Cc: Kim-man 'Punky' TSE; Dario Finardi
Oggetto: Alix1/3 VGA support (lxfb) vs. Intel Atom D945GCLF
We do a lot of video encode stuff with Voyage (not so much playback), so we try and track what is out there that works well and it low cost for hardware. It would appear that the Intel Atom D945GCLF is shipping now, at around $80 USD qty 1, with a 1.6GHz CPU and a much more potent grahaics engine GMA 950 than Alix, as well as much better RAM upgradeable, it would seem that it could handler a video playback application like what you describe below much better than Alix could (much as it saddens me to say it) even withg frame buffer, and that a it would not take much to get Voyage to run well on this platform, since it is based on venervcal Intel 82945G (ICH7). This board, I think, will take over many many application niches where Via and Geode are hot today.
Cheers,
- Michael
--------------------------------
Kim-man 'Punky' TSE wrote:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Hi,
If you are using XFree86, I think you may need framebuffer driver.
With XOrg, it will have a native geodelx video driver. My question
is, if XOrg on Etch does not support geode lx, will adding framebuffer
support help?
Next 0.6 release will base on lenny, and will be available at around
summer time.
Regards,
Punky
Dario Finardi wrote:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Yes, you're correct.
I'm investigating about the way to use such cheap and low power
consumption boards (alix pcengines and soekris) to build embedded
devices with the ability to drive display not charging the cpu with
the heavy X11 infrastructure.
About X11: I see the Geode support was introduced in X11 starting
from Debian 4.0 Lenny and Sid.
Etch hasn't such a driver yet.
Have you some roadmap timing to port Voyage from Etch to Lenny yet?
NOTE: I tested X11 without any specific video driver. Geode is driven
only as a plain VGA with really poor performances and supporting few
resolutions/color depth.
Regards,
dario
-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: Kim-man 'Punky' TSE [<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="mailto:punkytse@punknix.com">mailto:punkytse@punknix.com</A>] Inviato:
mercoledì 21 maggio 2008 3.37
A: Dario Finardi
Cc: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:voyage-linux@voyage.hk">voyage-linux@voyage.hk</A>
Oggetto: Re: [Voyage-linux] Alix1/3 VGA support (lxfb)
Hi
I am not convinced why a geode lx driver is needed. As far as I read
from <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Hardware_Drivers">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Hardware_Drivers</A> and kernel
documentation, framebuffer is for provide graphical support on kernel
console. Correct me if i am wrong. Any other strong reason than that?
Regards,
Punky
Dario Finardi wrote:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">I was looking for the lxfb module to have optimized support of the
Geode framebuffer.
I made an hand-check, then installed module-assistant too.
I see the lxfb module ins't available in the Voyage mainstream
distribution.
Someone with a solution?
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</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><PRE wrap="">--
Regards,
Punky
Voyage Solutions (<A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://solution.voyage.hk">http://solution.voyage.hk</A>)
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