On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 6:17 PM, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: I built the Dutchtronix predecessor to that. Much fun. I think it was my first embedded ATmega kit, back before Arduino was everywhere. -ethan

On 8/25/12 5:03 PM, Richard wrote: I was looking at the TFT LCD to get rid of the monitor. This all started when Lyle Bickley came by my office and he was talking about buying old laptops to use as terminals, which got me thinking about how small and cheap you could make a terminal now with an integrated display.

On 8/25/12 5:41 PM, Tothwolf wrote: or a oLinuxXino-mini https://www.olimex.com/dev/imx233-olinuxino-mini.html

On Sun, 26 Aug 2012 06:12:24 -0600 Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: Then have a look at the OLinuXino-Micro: https://www.olimex.com/dev/imx233-olinuxino-micro.html FEATURES: iMX233 ARM926J processor at 454Mhz 64 MB RAM SD-card connector for booting the Linux image TV PAL/NTSC video output 1 USB High Speed Host three Buttons 2x30 pin GPIO for connection of other hardware PCB dimensions: 3.00'' x 1.70'' (76.2mm x 43.2mm) Nominal dimensions: 3.40'' x 1.70'' (86.4mm x 43.2mm) 23.95 EUR It's still more then the LPC1768-Mini-DK, but runs Linux. This will ease software development imensly, as you can reuse already invented wheels. -- \end{Jochen} \ref{http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/}

On 8/27/2012 8:46 AM, Richard wrote: Sounds like a good platform to emulate your old computers. Port simh to ROM and you have it made. Ben.

On 8/27/2012 9:36 AM, Richard wrote: Do I get the card! ... ??? Ben.

On 8/26/12 5:12 AM, Richard wrote: The problem is you can't find something for 1/3 the price to get 1/3 of the hardware http://www.ebay.com/itm/190702111630 for example, is $75 (incl shipping) for a whole computer with 7" LCD What I was looking for was something really small to lug around when I have to stick something on a serial port in the back of a rack. Looks like this will work just fine with a USB serial dongle.

On 8/26/12 10:08 AM, Al Kossow wrote: here are the instructions for installing Linux on it http://kernelhacks.blogspot.com/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm8650-netbook.html

On 08/26/2012 10:27 PM, mc68010 wrote: How so? I use them most every day to talk to classic systems, have for years, never had a problem. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

On 08/26/2012 10:42 PM, mc68010 wrote: Oh. I've not run into such problems, but likely mostly because I work primarily with DEC systems, and flow control is almost never an issue in that world. As far as drivers, I don't use crappy cheap ones. ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

There's a certain breed of PIC microcontroller programmer that relies on 12v signals on RS232 to provide enough voltage to trigger the programming. The USB to serial chips I've seen so far are all 5v, thus they can't power such programmers. -------- Paul Anderson -- VE3HOP On 2012-08-26, at 11:20 PM, Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> wrote:

On 8/26/12 11:48 PM, Jochen Kunz wrote: I was thinking on the drive in about the old smart cables, It would be interesting to take an AVR with USB interface and make a serial dongle that would sense if the other end is driving pin 2 or 3, then flip the direction of the signals appropriately. It could also handle RTS/CTS or CTL-S/CTL-Q handshaking directly and generate a serial break.

On 8/27/12 11:31 AM, Jochen Kunz wrote: A Maxim MAX214 will handle the DCE/DTE switching part. The other trick is to detect if either RX or TX is being driven externally. If neither is driven, it isn't connected to anything. Just poll until one of the two pins goes active. A couple of small LEDs for monitoring, and you're done.. I've got a bunch of Micropendous boards from another project that I could glue a MAX214 onto. It is about $50 in parts, but it seems like a really useful gadget.

On 8/27/12 12:45 PM, Mouse wrote: OK. It probably is better to just show the state of the interface lines on the display, and have a DCE/DTE button. That eliminates the need for LEDs on the dongle as well.

Old Pentium Laptops can also be a nightmare. I quite like some of the older thin terminals like the NEOWARE. These are pretty cheap:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230835650095 and if you tweak the software they can be made very dumb. They actually have a serial port but I have never tried to use one to connect to a real system. Also watch if you want 3270 software as some have it and some don't. Dave Wade G4UGM Illegitimi Non Carborundum

On 08/26/2012 07:08 PM, Al Kossow wrote: Old palmpilot ? 2 aaa batteries, serial port...

On 27/08/2012 19:53, Jos Dreesen wrote: I was going to say HP iPaq pocket PC but the serial cables are getting hard to find. -- Dave Wade G4UGM Illegitimi Non Carborundum *** For the Hams on the list three special event stations in Manchester now operational ***** **** GB2012MV, GB2012MS and GB2012MW. See http://GB2012MS.COM/ for links and schedules. ***

I actually suspect that to get it down to "a project box not much larger than one needed to mount the various connectors" you'd end up having to use at least some undocumented or only-partially-documented chips. I'd love to be wrong. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

On 8/25/2012 6:03 PM, Richard wrote: NO MORE WALL WARTS !!!! Ben.

A non-wall-wart external supply, presumably. While I'm not quite as vociferous about it as Ben, I don't like wall-warts either. I'd much rather use a power-brick style supply (ie, a device with a - preferably detachable - mains cord, and another cord to the powered device). /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

Well, maybe. I've seen one kind whose footprint on the outlet is barely more than an ordinary plug's; that's pretty close to OK. But every other wall-part I've seen insists on covering up significant amounts of outlet space beyond the outlet itself, and that I do not like. Any power supply that has physical constraints meaning two of them can't be plugged into adjacent outlets in any of the common configurations (2->6 multiplier, power-bar, and rotated power-bar in particular) is, IMO, buggy. There exist short (~ 1 foot) extension cords, which help, but it's annoying to have to supply them myself - and it's only recently that I found them; until then, I'd've had to make them from plugs, sockets, and wire. The one I recall seeing that was held together with screws used triangular socket heads. I made a bit for them by taking a spare screw and grinding flats on the sides to fit, but I really don't like to have to do that. (If they're not too tight and you can find exactly the right size, you can sometimes drive them with Allen wrenches. Sometimes.) /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

In article <503A758A.9070401 at jetnet.ab.ca>, ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> writes: That's insane. The power supply would be 3x larger than the project enclosure. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline> The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org> The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org> Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

I can understand why people go for them. It's a convenient, commonly available supply, and by using it you can eschew the expense of UL/CSA testing. What we really need, IMO, is to accept that a large quantity of stuff runs on DC. I know there's a number of ham radio guys who use anderson powerpole connectors and you can buy what is basically the DC equivalent of a powerbar. On 2012-08-25, at 10:50 PM, ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:

Paul Anderson wrote: On 08/27/2012 12:28 PM, Tony Duell wrote: The wall warts don't pass UL if they don't have appropriate fusing or protective devices. The ones you're talking about that don't have fusing or protective devices either aren't actually UL listed, or the manufacturer changed the design without resubmitting it, in which case the listing is void and the manufacturer is potentially liable for a considerable amount of damages.