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

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 3:52 pm

Is this good news or bad news?

No, really, which one is it?

I know, three posts in a row, but...oh well. tom61, I can make my own thread if you'd like- as I will when I complete this project- or we can use your thread as one big uber thread.

It turns out that the 44pin IDE cable included with the motherboard actually plugs into a 44pin port, but has two 40pin connectors! This means that loading data will be MUCH easier, but it also means that I will be forced to use an IDE adaptor so that I can go from 44pin -> 40pin -> 44pin!

I simply don't have the money to buy a 44pin -> 44pin cable.

Another symptom of my low funds and low time limit: this PCp will be larger than I originally planned. The enclosure may be a cardboard shipping box that is 10 x 9 x 2 inches. Someday in the future, I may change that- I can still see putting it in a game box and running it off of 6 or 12AA's- but not now.

Time to break out the soldering iron!

EDIT: the power went out due to a storm when I was halfway through a diagram of my PCp's power circuit. Ugg

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:39 pm

Neat, I got my ETX (has different mounting holes than EBX) yesterday, and it has both 40-pin IDE and 44-pin IDE. So that solves the trouble of getting an adapter, I can just install Linux onto the drive using the ETX board.

Picture of that board:

Right now I'm trying to figure out the best option for power, as just hooking together multiple 7805s appearently causes troubles.

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:42 pm

Shall we RACE!?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!

....

(cough-cough)

I'm kidding. It seems like we two will be the first among the Doom Portable and BenHeck crowd to achieve workable PCp glory, though I'm sure it has been done plenty of times before.

harad · Post by **harad** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:03 pm

teraflop122 wrote:though I'm sure it has been done plenty of times before.

i highly doubt it. really, where's the point of doing it?

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:27 pm

These portable PC threads are meant for the exchange of ideas regarding the construction of PCp's, not for people to question whether building them is feasible or worth while.

Your wording is quite amusing, though. You speak as if the answer to your mostly rhetorical question is obviously what you believe it to be, even though you are utterly incorrect.

Thanks for the laugh.

BTW, Tom61, it is up to you now. MY hard drive exploded, so I'm out of the game for a few weeks.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:52 pm

harad wrote:
teraflop122 wrote:though I'm sure it has been done plenty of times before.
i highly doubt it. really, where's the point of doing it?

IIRC, the OQO started off in much the same way as our projects. BTW, your hacker-fu is weak if you can't see the point of doing something for the fact of doing it. Plus, I can get a nearly as powerfull, nearly as small system, for 1/4 the price than an OQO.

Project update:
Waiting on a MAX787 DC-DC converter (supposedly better than a regulator) and a replacement for the other small board in the pic above(looks like it was fried by a bad PS).

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:30 pm

Musical motherboards, eh tom61?

That's even worse than losing a hard drive!...kinda.

Still looking for a replacement? This board looks neat: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

And that seller is very good. The nice thing is his low feedback, which keeps the price down

You'd need a bunch of breakout cables though

But you can have them included for a bit extra

Sometimes that seller has 3.5inch mobos also (actaully 3.9 x 5.7inch).

cennar · Post by **cennar** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 6:02 pm

hey i would go with that...

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:43 pm

teraflop122 wrote:Musical motherboards, eh tom61? That's even worse than losing a hard drive!...kinda.

I did loose a HD too, my 1GB test drive. The board was gauranteed working, and it wasn't working, so the seller is sending me another.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:39 pm

Got the MAX787s today, going to be a little harder to wire up than I thought. I was thinking they were wired up the same a 7805, and needed no supporting circuitry, but they have 5 pins and need some other components.

I'll need to sort through the parts that I have to see what else I need, but I don't have a 50uH choke nor a zener diode, which are required for the circuit.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 12:37 am

I need to order everything, as Radio Shack doesn't have a suitable choke or zener diode for the MAX787. I'm really not liking the fact the choke costs about $5 by itself. $10 in parts + $5 fee for being under $25 minimum order, and then shipping on top of the Digi-key order.

I'm gonna hold off for awhile on ordering, though.

I'm going to sell a PDA on eBay, which should get me enough money to get more stuff for the uPC (like the trackpoint).

Here's a list of additional stuff I'm thinking of adding:
iTrip FM modulator (changes frequencies when certain audio files are played)
Sammy PS2 gamepad with integrated keyboard
5" USB touchscreen kit (This is still iffy, but if the PDA goes for enough, I'll be able to swing it)
60GB drive instead of the 20GB

KANDYMAN-IAC · Post by **KANDYMAN-IAC** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:38 pm

where can you get that lcd from... and what resolution is it.... mmmmmmmm must have 5" inch touchscreen....

pant pant pant

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:22 pm

KANDYMAN-IAC wrote:where can you get that lcd from... and what resolution is it.... mmmmmmmm must have 5" inch touchscreen.... pant pant pant

There's places that have just the touchscreen kit, for any LCDs (of certian sizes, of course). I was thinking of getting one and pairing it with the PSOne LCD. Another possibility is getting one designed for car use, but no 5" units come too mind, though. However, a 7" widescreen 800x480 LCD would fit in my case.

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 12:58 pm

(back from vacation)

Could we have a link for the touchscreen kit, or is it secret?

Is the kit capable of all the intuitive mouse functions (click/tap, double click/double tap)? If you you don't want to always play emulators, that thing could be realy useful- especially considering that I'm now planning to leave the USB cgamepad seperate and intact... (more random mumblings)

EDIT: A 60GB drive!? heh, I guess a laptop drive is a laptop drive is a laptop drive... I'm beggining to think my drive blew up because it didn't like the probably imperfect current from my power circuit

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:47 pm

I can't seem to find my bookmark of the place selling the USB touch kit. It cost a little over $100 for the touchscreen and controller on the site.

Anyways, an update:
With yet another PDA sold, I now have enough to buy most everything. I'll soon aquire the RAM, trackpoint, WiFi adapter, and the stuff needed to make the 787 work. I didn't quite make enough off the PDA to afford the touchscreen, so that's something to add when I get some more money.

I'll also be grabding a 40-pin to 44-pin IDE adapter to transfer the OS to the drive (I couldn't get K Ubuntu or Debian to install to the drive), as the embedded board that I got from ebay still hasn't been replaced.

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I have grabbed a second battery, to help extend the life of the uPC.