Linux distro for advantech PCM-3342 pc/104.

hi i have been given the task to choose a linux distro to replace the MS Dos currently running on an advantech PCM-3342.

Now i am very new to embedded systems, so i have no idea where to start from.

I've been told i would also have to apply the RT linux patch.

I'm not asking for a tutorial, but can you guys give me some pointerson where i should start, like some interesting distros that fit my requirements?

thanks

That must be your board: http://www.cpuboards.com/cpu-boards/pcm-3342.htm. It's a x86 platform so any distribution should be compatible. However, you only have 64 MB RAM, so you'd better look for lightweight Linux distributions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightwe...x_distribution

I don't really know those distributions (and you did not say what you want to do), but the names I'm familiar with are Bodhi Linux, Damn Small Linux, Slitaz and Lubuntu/Kubuntu.

If you need something more custom, you could also build your own with the Yocto Project, Buildroot or just debootstrap.

For the RT patch you'd "only" have to rebuild the kernel.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes your right, i forgot to say what i wanted to do. The only thing it is doing right now is running a program that is controlling a FPGA board, so i don't think anything really customized will be needed.

If you _just_ want to run 'a program' under Linux in the shell, then almost any bare distro would do.

Since 64MB is highly restrictive you'd need to be careful if you also want a GUI - even the excellent Bodhi with E17 can use most of 64MB; the least I've seen it use was (iirc) 56MB on our P3 laptop with 800x600 display. But it had 128MB, and I'm not certain that it would boot in 64MB.

Display buffering can eat up RAM - more display, more RAM. An external serial terminal unit or PC/termulator helps.

Probably good to consider something like TCL - Tiny Core Linux - it is modular, and has a number of modes of operation that might help you to get it installed appropriately on your system. The TCL Wikipedia page says:-

Minimal Configuration: Tiny Core needs at least 46 Megabytes of RAM in order to run. Otherwise it won't boot. Microcore runs with 28mb of ram. The minimum cpu is i486DX (486 with a math processor). A recommended configuration: Pentium 2 or better, 128mb of ram, some swap.

Tiny Core is not my own choice for everyday use, but many people do so happily; worth checking their friendly forum for advice on your specialised FPGA application and getting the RT kernel compiled. I find TCL runs very predictably and is extremely low impact, ideal for light hardware.

FPGAs are seriously cool hardware - I believe they are/have been used for re-configurable CPUs.

One can also define a state machine so easily and have it provide a solution in hardware that's faster than any CPU/software combination, then re-program the FPGA for another task. Dedicated hardware, but re-configurable.

Ben

Usually, PC/104 class CPUs don't have to run a GUI, so I'll assume you don't need one, especially if it is to replace MS-DOS. Most likely, you will want to select an OS that has a kernel and standard C library that is compatible with whatever host platform you use to do your development work. I have found the combination of Debian 6 for a development host, and TinyCore (MicroCore, when I adopted it) as the production embedded Linux platform is a good fit. I have been using that combo for about a year now, and find that it works well.

--- rod.