DIMS Foundry - Small Platform // Standard

		Introduction An emerging, and already widespread platform, is the linux based mini-pc. These PC's are ideal for many uses - network appliance, firewall, set top box, or just very cool, quiet desktop PCs. This part of the DIMS foundry describes how to setup a mini-pc as a platform for mobile sensor applications.
The hardware platform The hardware platform for our linux implementation will be based on a mini-pc distributed by the german company "Concept Distribution" (www.cool-shop.de/product_info.php?products_id=54&cPath=5). It is a very small mini-computer, with a quite modest power use (< 10 Watt). It does not use any fans, and it can be fitted with 2½ harddisk and wireless lan access. More specifically, the spec's are as quoted below;
	Processor: AMD Geode LX-800 (500 MHz), compareable to a 800 MHz Pentium 512 MB RAM (SO-DIMM) 2,5" harddisk (for now 40 or 80 GB) optional WLAN (802.11 b and g) with back-mounted antenna Front: 2 x USB 2.0., Stereo in/out Back: 2 x USB 2.0, power, 12V, VGA Realtek Sound (18-bit fullduplex) ALC203 Realtek Ethernet (100 Mbps) RTL8139DL Measurements: 13x14x3,5cm (or. 4,5cm mit 2 seriell, 1 parallel) external poweradapter
The software platform One option is to install a "knoppix" distribution using netboot. There are several ways computers can boot over a network, but the one mandated by PC99 is called PXE. PXE is a kind of DHCP extension, so all you need is an up-to-date DHCP server and a TFTP server. Together, a DHCP server and a TFTP server can be set up to handle PXE boot requests. It's up to you what to give the PCs when they boot; several possibilities include Another bootloader, for instance: pxelinux, etherboot, grub The network install boot image from a Linux distribution, or whatever evil program you desire. PXE stands for 'Preboot Execution Environment' and is part of Intels(tm) Wired for Management (WfM). PXE defines a method for the BIOS to fetch a booting code over the network. It does this via standard Internet protocols. When the appliance is powered on, the BIOS makes a DHCP request. The DHCP server, recognizing the appliance as a network-booting client, returns instructions on the location of a tftp server and the name of the name of the file that it should download from the server. You can read more about network booting here: www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5834950453.html. So, simply put, you should be able to start a Knoppix distribution on a computer on your network and then start a knoppix-terminalserver (make sure the 8139too driver is selected). Then, you can install Knoppix (or other linux distributions) using "sudo knoppix-installer". A brief overview of the knoppix distribution can be found here (www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-knopp.html). Some highlights of the knoppix distribution listed in this article are: Knoppix boots swiftly. Most users get a boot time of under two minutes, on ordinary hardware. Knoppix It includes an extensive collection of hardware drivers and good facilities for detecting them, so that common hosts boot with all hardware already operational. Knoppix is adapted from widely respected Debian distributions. Knoppix "does the right thing" in such circumstances as remote booting. Clients without a CD-ROM drive but with a Linux-supported bootable network card, for example, can boot remotely from a Knoppix-running server by means of PXE. The last feature is the one of most interest to us, considering that our mini-pc does not include any other means of installation, as it is without CD-ROM or disk. Links to software Knoppix homepage: www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Mini_Distributions/ emknoppix.sarovar.org/ (embedded knoppix) www.knoppix.net/wiki/Knoppix_Customizations Links to Hardware www.cool-shop.de How to get started So - how do you get started with all this, then? First of all, secure a hardware platform. This small tutorial will guide you in installing linux using a knoppix CD and the miniPC2 from Concept Distribution in germany. A similar approach can probably be used for other similar platforms. Demo application Here, a demo application will be described (a remote sound sampler with automatic boot). How to contribute or learn more Here, we will add information about how to contribute or learn more. Go to DIMS Foundry frontpage.