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incredibly small linux computer
This may sound strange, but i need to make a very small linux computer with all of the following. -3 usb plugs -a battery powered power supply (like a laptop) -enough power to run damn small linux it doesn't need a hard drive, (a flash drive will do) and it doesn't need any form of permanent input or output. it just needs to be able to boot up and run a few programs. i also need to be able to carry it easily (hence the small). so what should i be looking at here in terms of motherboards and the like? EDIT: why doesn't this forum keep my formatting?
---------------------- recettes économique |
Can you give a few more details about what you will be using this computer for? When I needed a portable machine, I took an old main board I had and set it up for battery with a bootable flash drive. Netbooks are quite a bit smaller than a regular laptop and will have the hardware features you want. They can be found cheap if you watch sales. If that is too big, you may start having a difficult time finding something that is not custom made.
BTW- I would upgrade that flash drive to Puppy Linux unless there is some reason you absolutely have to have DSL. I switched after DSL couldn't properly mount a SCSI HDD on a newer (but not brand new) IBM. Puppy handled it no problem and is much easier to add packages to. |
and I would cast a vote for grml or debian-live
you'll have over 20000+ pkgs available my grml pocketwriter runs at about 130mb with iceweasel open and other small stuff running persistent usb |
you may take a look at zotac ion
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I'd look at some of the small embedded computer boards available from various manufacturers. Most are highly modular and would meet your needs exactly - far better than trying to use an old desktop board.
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Netbook there reliable.... Small and I've got 250 gig hard drive....
$299 Can put any linux Os on this small machine with this size hard drive... good luck... The other part of your request seems weird???? The better option is to save the data for future use... |
Depending on your needs:
Add a usb hub, small 12V battery, and a 12/110 converter. All in you should be well under $150 and able to fit it in a kids lunch box. |
I am building something similar; a miniITX Intel mainboard with an embedded processor. Mine is meant to be powered by a PSU, not batteries, and it will be inside a plexiglas case filled with mineral oil ;-) (I am making 4 of these for a science museum)
If it helps you, the mainboard is an Intel 945GCLF2D (17x17cm), dual core Atom 330 - 8 watts - with embedded graphics card and 8 USB. Maybe you could attach a laptop battery, I am using a picoPSU and a laptop charger for DC conversion. Mainboard, 1Gb RAM, 8Gb pendrive and PSU where 140 euros. The PSU works with 12 volts DC, if you can find a battery 12 volts, 2 or 3 amps, I think this could give enough power for the computer to work. I am planning to use a reduced version of Slackware installed in the pendrive, but I've also tried using Ubuntu and works OK. Now I am trying to reduce the read/write to minimum to make the pendrive last as long as possible. One of the first plans were to use a netbook, specifically a Malata clon that works great and was very affordable (200 euros) but the mainboard was not as small as Intel's and was a bit ugly (for this setup, where the computer is to be seen). If you can find a cheap netbook, I think it will be the quickest way to do what you want, as you will not have to care about an external battery... Hope this helps! Dån |
Try the mini2440 or ngw100 or similar boards, if you can make the case yourself.
the mini2440 comes with Linux OS and 3,5" or 7" touchscreen LCD, the ngw100 also with linux but no display. mini2440 has one ethernet interface, ngw100 has two (ideal for a small firewall). Both have sd-card slot, the mini2440 usb host and usb device ports, the ngw usb device port only. Both have rs232 and GPIO with digital i/o and analog i/o. The first is arm the second avr32, you can cross-compile nearly everything using opensource tool chains, and both are under 100 bucks. Just a little bit of google'ing will lead you to vendors and the forums. Or the sheevaplug, but i did not use that one yet (though i know you can run slackware on it - www.armedslack.org) |
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