My RT.APP on RTAI + PC104 Geode Vs RTAI + m-ITX VIA C7 - PUZZLE :-(

sanitynotvanity · 09-09-2008, 10:15 AM

Hi,

First of all i should declare, i have been using linux for only 2 years. i would consider myself an experienced noob.

My goal:
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is to have a linux OS that will control hardware in real-time.

what i have so far:
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i have an OS. Which i based from Ubuntu
i have a kernel which i based from Slax and patched for RTAI (2.6.20.15)
i use Linux-live to create a non-persistent USB implementation of my OS. for use in an embedded solution.
i have an application that uses RTAI

to make development and demos easier i have modified the OS to handle 3 boot modes. 1 boot mode will take the user to CLI, the other to a GUI and the 3rd will automatically run the application with zero user interaction (headless mode).

Hardware
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There are two systems i need the OS to run on.
System 1 - AMD Geode LX-800 on a PC104
System 2 - Mini ITX VIA C7

Puzzle
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System 1 will hang if i run the application from the CLI. It hangs on the last message outputed to the screen. At this point the application should be waiting for the FPGA timer to generate an interrupt. However, the entire system has frozen. Beyound Magic-SysRq.

System 1 will run perfectly fine if the terminal its being run from is being run in a X-window.

System 1 will run perfectly fine if the terminal its being run from is a remote terminal using SSH.

System 2 will run perfectly fine in any enviroment!!

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Now i know that the GEODE is a trouble some processor for Graphics, as its graphics processing is emulated within the chip... but surely it would be more stable in a CLI over GUI???

can anyone throw some light on this?

i really have no idea what is going on.

Thanks in advance.

Andy

sanitynotvanity · 09-15-2008, 01:56 AM

i think i have solved the problem by specifiying the Geode framebuffer on the kernel line in boot loader.

it seems that the standard vesa framebuffer is buggy on the Geode due to its bizarre way of emulating graphics...

by the way, boot splash does not work (or at least isnt working at the moment) with the Geode framebuffer.

the code is used is:

Code:

video=geodefb

Andy.