I would like to see your notes on installing on the ALIX SBC as well.

* Keith Lofstrom <[log in to unmask]> [2009-01-06 10:04:32 -0800]:

> On Tue, Jan 06, 2009 at 09:48:43AM -0600, Glenn Horton-Smith wrote:
> 
> > We recently needed a small PC for a slow monitoring application, and ended
> > up getting an Asus Eee PC 1000 HD mini notebook.  An SBD like the ALIX 2D3
> > would have been another option, but we liked that the Eee came with its own
> > monitor, hard drive, and integrated "uninterruptible power supply" (i.e.,
> > batteries).  We just got it yesterday, still trying to figure out whether to
> > stick with the preinstalled Xandros OS or try installing SL instead.
> 
> Glenn - I hope you don't mind me sharing this on the list.  I think
> we will get some useful contributions from others.
> 
> 
> First, an interesting idea for the ALIX:  the input power supply
> will run on the 12 to 14 volts from a car battery.  Hence, you
> could use an ALIX with a battery, a solar panel and a miniPCI
> wifi card with a high gain antenna, and you have something that
> you can place miles from the power grid.  That would be hard to
> do with an EEE, though if wall power is available 23.9x7 the
> EEE is an easier way to get the job done.  Either way, you get
> to run the same software.
> 
> 
> Second, regards the EEE:  I help run a monthly Linux Clinic.  One
> of our "clients" brought in a pair of ASUS EEE PCs, one with the
> preinstalled Xandros on a solid state drive, and another with
> preinstalled WinXP on a SATA hard drive.  We blew away the XP
> and installed Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy.  We ran into a problem with
> networking - the built-in CAT5 and wireless ethernet interfaces
> were not handled by the drivers provided with Ubuntu.  We limped
> through the install and updating with USB ethernet and USB
> wireless (using a cheap ZyDAS wireless adapter).  The client
> found drivers for the native hardware.
> 
> I suggest that you make an external image of the Xandros drive, or
> else set the machine up dual boot, so you can pull drivers from it
> as necessary.  If it is a SATA drive, you can replace it with a
> similarly-sized spare and install SL5 on that.  The Ubuntu 8.04 
> kernel and x.org are about a year more advanced than SL5, so there
> may be more driver problems with SL5, but these can be fixed.
> 
> The EEE PC is just the thing for what you want to do - it would
> be better for many applications than the ALIX.  And SL5 is a 
> much better distro for any kind of scientific work.  In fact, I
> am planning to purchase an EEE Box (not the microlaptop, but the
> hardback-sized computer box) for my wife's office, to replace
> the power-hungry and unreliable Shuttle ITX system she has now -
> and of course I will run SL5 on it. 
> 
> So please share your own experiences with the SL5 install.  Given
> the positive response I've gotten (especially from Troy - Oh boy,
> I get to pay back a little!) I plan to put the ALIX instructions
> on my wiki at wiki.keithl.com.  You are welcome to use that if
> KSU Physics doesn't already have a good place for your own
> contributions.  At the very least, we will link to each other!
> 
> Keith
> 
> -- 
> Keith Lofstrom          [log in to unmask]         Voice (503)-520-1993
> KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
> Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs
> 

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