Difference between revisions of "Bering-uClibc 4.x - User Guide - Appendices - Hardware-Specific Guides"

Revision as of 20:02, 31 March 2011

PC Engines WRAP

TODO Need to copy content from http://leaf.sourceforge.net/doc/bucu-sc1100.html

The recommended Bering-uClibc 4.x disk Image is Bering-uClibc_4.VERSION_i486_syslinux_ser.tar.gz

Hardware / driver details:

• The IDE controller chip is a National Semiconductor SC1200, and needs kernel Module pata_sc1200.ko
• The network controller chip is a National Semiconductor DP83816, and needs kernel Module natsemi.ko

PC Engines ALIX

Overview

The ALIX family of small, energy efficient, single-board-computers from manufacturer PC Engines are available in several variants within four "series", all of which use the AMD Geode CPU (either LX700 or LX800) and have an on-board Compact Flash (CF) card socket for storage:

ALIX1 

A miniITX board with 1 LAN connector and a VGA display output

ALIX2 

A 6"x6" board with 2 or 3 LAN connectors, no VGA, an RS-232 console connector and optional USB connectors

ALIX3 

A 100x160mm board with 1 LAN connector and an optional VGA display output

ALIX6 

A 6"x6" board with 2 LAN connectors, intended for mobile telephony integration

Of these, the ALIX2 series is generally preferred for LEAF usage, mainly because of the multiple LAN connectors. In particular, the 2D3 and 2D13 variants are widely used for Bering-uClibc 4.x and perform well.

The following probably only applies to boards in the ALIX2 series.

Bering-uClibc 4.x Disk Image Selection

The ALIX2 boards have an RS-232 console connector and no VGA display output so the recommended Bering-uClibc 4.x disk Image is Bering-uClibc_4.VERSION_geode_syslinux_ser.tar.gz which is tailored for serial consoles.

Hardware / Driver Details

• The network controller chip is a VIA Rhine™ III VT6105M Fast Ethernet Controller, and needs kernel Module via-rhine.ko
• The AMD CS5536 "I/O Companion" chip implements the following functions:
  • IDE disk interface to the Compact Flash card, which needs kernel Module pata-amd.ko
  • RS-232 interface. Support for this is built into the Bering-uClibc 4.x kernel so no Module is required.
  • I2C interface via the NatSemi SCx200 ACCESS.bus which needs kernel Module scx200_acb.ko (which in turn relies on i2c-core.ko)
    • This is often used in conjunction with the hardware temperature monitoring chip, an LM86 which needs kernel Module lm90.ko (which in turn relies on hwmon.ko)

Installation Notes

Serial Console

As shipped from the factory, the serial console on the ALIX2 series boards is configured for 38400 baud, 8N1, no flow control. Currently (Bering-uClibc 4.0-beta3) the _ser disk image is configured for 19200 baud (because some users have reported problems with Serial <-> USB adaptors when running at 38400 baud).

These need to be aligned and need to match the setting of the terminal emulator being used. Either:

1. Change the ALIX2 baud setting to 19200 (press S during the power-on memory test for the setup menu).
2. Change 19200 to 38400 in file syslinux/syslinux.cfg and also in file etc/inittab which is embedded within file configdb.lrp

Soekris Engineering net4501

TODO - Volunteers?

Currently reported as NOT WORKING with Bering-uClibc 4.0-beta2. Davidmbrooke 16:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Soekris Engineering net4801

TODO - Volunteers?

The recommended Bering-uClibc 4.x disk Image is Bering-uClibc_4.VERSION_i486_syslinux_ser.tar.gz