Starting my ultra-portable PC project (PCp?) update Nov 26th

[tom61]

I don't think 6Volts will damage it instantly, but I think it could bad for the screen over time, and may cause interference in the video. For a 1 Volt drop, I'd just use a resistor of the proper size.

[tom61]

Got the connectors from Radio Shack, should wire it up to battery power soon. I'm going to measure it's current draw from the battery, I'm hoping that it'll be fairly low.

Forgot to mention last time; I couldn't find where to increase the FSB speed (or any CPU setting), which means I'm limited to a 100MHz FSB and a processor running at 600MHz.

I need to load some software onto the Win 95 1GB drive and see if I can get some real-world ideas of what the system can handle (i.e. DivX sizes, gaming).

For wireless 802.11g/b I think I may go with a bridge connected to the onboard ethernet, as Linux 802.11g support is immature at the moment. I mainly want 802.11g that way I can access more access points, not so much for the speed.

[tom61]

Anyone interested in a Socket 370 board that could be made to work in a PCp? The board is a bit longer than the board I'm using in my uPC, and is rather picky about it's RAM. However, it takes normal DIMMs, and uses standard connectors for everything but the floppy.

Specs:
Takes Socket 370 processors (supports 100MHz bus officially, but goes up to 150MHz in small increments). 1 DIMM (likes PC100 over PC133) slot. PC104+ connector (can't operate at the same time as PCI). Onboard i810 Video, PS/2 keyboard and mouse (does not halt at bootup if keyboard is missing, making it great for firewalls, etc.), 10/100 Ethernet port on the board. Headers for 2 USB (1.1 I presume), 2 serial, 1 parallel, 1 GPIO, 1 IDE, mutant floppy connector (smaller pins than normal, listed as 'reserved' in the manual). Runs off a connector plugged in to 5 and 12 Volts, but the manual hints that it can run off 5 Volts only.

Pic of the board (one on the bottom) next to the the one in my uPC:


Manual for the board:
http://tom61.arcadecontrols.com/downloa ... AL_1_2.doc

[teraflop122]

You've checked around for obscure FSB selection jumpers on the mobo itself and in the Bios?

BTW, I may be interested in one of those trackpoints pretty soon.

[tom61]

Looking through the manual now. Just stumbled across a setting called 'CPU Host Clock (CPU/PCI)' listed under "Chipset Features Setup', that I'll have to look into. I can see how I missed it before, I saw 'PCI' and instantly skipped over that setting, on top of that, it's over to the side. :/ Looking at more screens in the manual, I may have a different BIOS, though.

Small update:
The connector for the mouse is being a PITA, there is a header that goes to the motherboard, the other half of keyboard's header, that was already wired when I salvaged it (used to be some firewire thing in my friend's case), and one of the wires ripped off instead of stripping. So, I'll have to take that pin out of the header, rewire it, and figure out how to get it back in.

[Unidentified Assilant]

Wow, nice work, I'm just about forgetting about the whole thing now, it certinely seems pointless to me as to why, and it ain't feasible, I'llk never have the money anyway, I'm going back to my PSoneP project I was thinking of the morning, I only need £70.

[teraflop122]

PCp's are both feasible and worthwhile. Virtually anything that runs DOS and a floppy drive is in reality a PCp, despite what people like to say. If it has an x86 processor, than it is a PCp.

People most often encounter trouble on the topic of PCp's because they want to much out of them. They want an uber gaming machine- which PCp's are not- capable of running Half-Life 2- which PCp's can not.

If you take your DOS experiment (as mentioned on another thread) and pay about 20 dollars more for a cheapo 128 or 64MB compact flash card and CF IDE adaptor, you'd have a fully featured computer right there.

Just a few suggestions.

[Unidentified Assilant]

I want to play Q3A on mine If I ever make one, and maybe Global Operations

[Foxx373]

If i make a PCp, its going to run either Win98 or Win2k. Ill use it for scanning wireless networks, PDA type stuff, Serial Terminal, and some data logging. Not to mention im gonna plug it into my radio scaner. I might run MP3 from it when its actually on and im working with it, but its not going to be an iPod.

Size isnt an issue for me. Im willing to slap a Micro or Baby ATX motherboard, DC-DC PSU, Slim HDD, and battery into a small backpack or shoulder bag. RIght now power is my main problem. I have some nice 14v batteries for my laptop, but I dont want to take them apart for the PCp. Then I wont have any laptop batteries...

[teraflop122]

Yet more good news: I discovered the perfect solution to the mouse & keyboard integration Woes (sorta):

JoyToKey

With that program, any gamepad can emulate the mouse or keyboard- the choices are unlimited. You can even select a button that will let the other buttons do a second function instead of the first! Now I need an gamepad with one or two analog omnidirectional pads (Ala Playstation 2 controllers)

[tom61]

Is Joy2Key capable of using full analog for mouse control? If it's not fully analog, it's going to be a pain to use. I've used an X10 Mouse Remote to control my PC, and it's pseudo analog (press button to go slow, press it harder to go fast) was a pain to use, and I never got used to it.

I'll have to see if there is a Linux app that can remap a joystick to mouse functions. There are apps (at least one called 'Joy2Key') for remapping a joystick to a keyboard, have been since shortly after Linux had joystick support.

Edit:
Stumbled across a thread on the MP3Car forums:
"weill, i bought the iTYPE2 with the mini-keyboard built into the playstation 2 controller. i tried the joymouse program to try and get one of the joysticks to work as a mouse pointer for an all-in-one input device.

well, it didn't work out so hot. i got the playstation 2 to PC adapter and updated all drivers and tried the joymouse all to no avail. i got one thumbstick to move the cursor at a blistering snails pace. i could cover the full screen (7") in just under 2 minutes... yea...okay...
anyone got any ideas about how to make this work better?"

Doesn't look too good for you. However, I did stumble across another Windows program for converting joystick to keyboard, when I was looking for one for Linux (which I did find, complete with full analog support).

You might want to keep an eye on the thread there:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=51569

[teraflop122]

That person wasn't to intelligent to try to use a PS2 controller as a mouse, connected to a PC. I doubt the software he was using for the actual connection was capable of reading the analog signal from the controller- either that or he had no idea what he was doing.

I tested the program using a not-so-new analog joystick from Microsoft, and it operated flawlessly. In fact, the computer was listening to both the mouse and the JoyToKey signal- so you could move with the joystick and grab the mouse the next second to do the same thing. If you moved the joystick to one side, and moved the mouse in the opposite direction, the program simply combined the two commands and sent out a net-difference movement to the curser. Soon I'll pick up a nice USB gamepad, and it looks as if my PCp is going to be vertical now instead of horizontal.

JoyToKey will be perfect for my purposes

[tom61]

I don't know why I keep buying these little boards, I've bought another Socket 370 EBX board: http://www.ibase-i.com.tw/i815e.htm

* Intel 815E Chipset, 66/100/133MHz FSB
* Up to 1GHz CPU, UDMA/100
* 1 DIMM Slot PC100/133 supports up to 512MB
* Integrated VGA/Audio, Shared Memory & Optional Panel Link
* Integrated LAN (the second LAN is not installed on the one I'm getting)
* 1 PCI, 4 USB Ports & ATX Type Rear Connectors

Good news is that it doesn't use headers, instead it has most everything broken out to a ATX style backplate, takes standard sized SDRAM (versus laptop), and states that it supports 133MHz FSB. Bad news is that it uses a ATX connector for power.

Around $45 on Ebay. It might end up replacing the board I'm using currently, and then I'd pick up another Li-Ion and get an 18V power supply intended for Mini-ITX systems.

[teraflop122]

I wasn't aware that 18v Mini-ITX power supplies were available. If you go with 12v, PSU's built by Morex tend to be pretty cheap. I have a 60w 12v Morex PSU (plus AC adaptor) laying around that I'd be willing to part with for pretty cheap.

My current ebay auctions are ending, meaning that I will finally have access to the funds I need to complete my PCp. The FUN part is that I must get ALL the parts during this next week, and that will leave me with about 3 days to construct the PCp in its entirety.

What I will run on my PCp:

Perfectly:
Windows 98SE
Doom (original versions)
NES emulator
SMS emulator
Alpha Centauri (PC)
SimCity 2000
Winamp

Sufficiently:
SNES emulator
Genesis emulator
PSone emulator (will be excluded due to enormous ISO files)

Barely:
SimCity 3000

Unknown:
n64 emulator
Q3A (probably not)

[teraflop122]

My auctions ended. Along with the motherboard, I have just now purchased a 128MB SO-DIMM and a 9.0x GB 2.5inch laptop hard drive. I am awaiting comfirmation of the availability of high-speed/express shipping from other eBayer's before buying the remaining items I need.