26 Dec
2001
26 Dec
'01
6:13 a.m.
With the recent discussions of the Be liquidation sale, I was wracking
my brain for the project/website of an *analog* CPU load meter. Someone
out there wrote a Linux driver to spit out CPU load on the parallel
port, to which is attached a simple ladder-type D-to-A and an analog
panel meter for CPU load.
I can *not* find this again, even after an hour of Googling, Altavista-ing
and Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this? Got any URLs?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg when, say, you fired up
a CPU pig of a game or were digesting /usr/spool/news or some such.
It would be less interesting on a system running, say, Seti-At-Home
where the load is more-or-less constant.
-ethan
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26 Dec
26 Dec
6:29 a.m.
At 12:13 PM 12/26/2001 -0800, Ethan Dicks wrote:
With the recent discussions of the Be liquidation sale,
I was wracking
my brain for the project/website of an *analog* CPU load meter. Someone
out there wrote a Linux driver to spit out CPU load on the parallel
port, to which is attached a simple ladder-type D-to-A and an analog
panel meter for CPU load.
That's just so delightfully twisted.
On a tangent, I wondered if anyone made "repeater" cables
with a sensor on one end, and an LED on the other. Like
a fiber pipe, it would let you watch an LED that's actually
located on the back of your computer, or on a distant device.
- John
8:31 a.m.
On Wed, 26 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
With the recent discussions of the Be liquidation
sale, I was wracking
my brain for the project/website of an *analog* CPU load meter.
Someone out there wrote a Linux driver to spit out CPU load on the
parallel port, to which is attached a simple ladder-type D-to-A and an
analog panel meter for CPU load.
I can *not* find this again, even after an hour of Googling,
Altavista-ing and Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this? Got any
URLs?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg when, say, you fired up a
CPU pig of a game or were digesting /usr/spool/news or some such. It
would be less interesting on a system running, say, Seti-At-Home where
the load is more-or-less constant.
A consultant I once hired suggested putting an old HP histogram onto a
serial or parallel port and sending out signals to it at various points in
your software.
Doesn't answer your question but hints at another idea ;)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
12:20 p.m.
Check this one:
http://www.switkin.com/software/geeklights/
James
http://home.texoma.net/~jrice
Ethan Dicks wrote:
With the recent discussions of the Be liquidation sale,
I was wracking
my brain for the project/website of an *analog* CPU load meter. Someone
out there wrote a Linux driver to spit out CPU load on the parallel
port, to which is attached a simple ladder-type D-to-A and an analog
panel meter for CPU load.
I can *not* find this again, even after an hour of Googling, Altavista-ing
and Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this? Got any URLs?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg when, say, you fired up
a CPU pig of a game or were digesting /usr/spool/news or some such.
It would be less interesting on a system running, say, Seti-At-Home
where the load is more-or-less constant.
-ethan
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send your FREE holiday greetings online!
http://greetings.yahoo.com
.
1:48 p.m.
--- "James L. Rice" <jrice(a)texoma.net> wrote:
Check this one:
http://www.switkin.com/software/geeklights/
Looks nice, but no schematics. I could probably figure out how he
did it, but that's real work.
-ethan
Ethan Dicks wrote:
>With the recent discussions of the Be liquidation sale, I was wracking
>my brain for the project/website of an *analog* CPU load meter...
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3:13 p.m.
On Wed, 26 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
I can *not* find this again, even after an hour of
Googling, Altavista-ing
and Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this? Got any URLs?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg when, say, you fired up
a CPU pig of a game or were digesting /usr/spool/news or some such.
It would be less interesting on a system running, say, Seti-At-Home
where the load is more-or-less constant.
Here ya go:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/led-stat.txt
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/ledstatus-0.1.tgz
-Toth
27 Dec
27 Dec
2:28 a.m.
--- Tothwolf <tothwolf(a)concentric.net> wrote:
On Wed, 26 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
I found that. More than once. That's for an LED bargraph. I'm
looking for a circuit that operates an old-fashioned galvanometer-
style panel meter with a needle that swings from side-to-side.
I can invent my own - a simple ladder D-to-A to produce a variable
voltage out of the parallel port. I was hoping to save the math
and use resistor values that someone else has calculated, but after
two days of searching, I guess I _will_ have to go do it myself.
Somewhere in my junk boxes, I have some .5" tall by 1.5" wide signal
meters that I think I pulled from a dead CB radio, c. 1978 (pre-40-
channel). The plane of the needle swing is parallel to the floor,
and the needle has a 90-degree bend at the end, so you see a .2"
tall vertical line slide from left to right as the signal improves.
If I can find it, it'll mount perfectly in a 3.5" blank faceplace.
Now to excavate the old parts!
-ethan
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I can *not* find this again, even after an hour
of Googling,
Altavista-ing and Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg...
Here ya go:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/led-stat.txt
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/ledstatus-0.1.tgz 
2:59 a.m.
I found that. More than once. That's for an LED bargraph. I'm
looking for a circuit that operates an old-fashioned galvanometer-
style panel meter with a needle that swings from side-to-side.
I can invent my own - a simple ladder D-to-A to produce a variable
voltage out of the parallel port. I was hoping to save the math
and use resistor values that someone else has calculated, but after
two days of searching, I guess I _will_ have to go do it myself.
What about this: http://www.xess.com/ho03000.html
I can't look at it to verify right now (using Lynx @ work and no PDF
viewer) The one I think you would want is the VGA driver. I believe it
uses the TTL output of a FPGA to four resistors to output an analog signal.
Bryan
3:31 a.m.
--- Bryan Pope <bpope(a)wordstock.com> wrote:
There are a couple of schematics in the pdf - one is a simple 2-bit
scheme with 470 ohm and 1K resistors - 6 bits of color resolution total.
The other schematics just show a digital bus for the colors going off-
page, presumably to a RAMDAC or some such.
Thanks, but not quite. So far, the best candidate is the replica BeBox
load meter circuit - 4-bits each on two bargraphs, but the bargraphs
feed off of a pair of LM3914 comparators. The 4-bit ladder network
there is 1K, 2.2K, 4.7K and 10K - roughly double at each stage.
I do have a Disney Sound Source around here somewhere - it was a similar
device, except it has an RCA jack off the end, for attachment to an
amplifier. Certain games ("Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2" comes to
mind) came with one in the box in case you didn't have a sound card (back
in the i386 days).
-ethan
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send your FREE holiday greetings online!
http://greetings.yahoo.com
I can invent
my own - a simple ladder D-to-A to produce a variable
voltage out of the parallel port....
What about this: http://www.xess.com/ho03000.html
I can't look at it to verify right now (using Lynx @ work and no PDF
viewer) The one I think you would want is the VGA driver. I believe it
uses the TTL output of a FPGA to four resistors to output an analog
signal. 
8:41 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tothwolf" <tothwolf(a)concentric.net>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2001 12:13 AM
Subject: Re: add-on CPU load meters
I built that thing a number of years ago. I thought it was pretty neat to
see it flashing, but then I've never experienced real Blinkenlights.
On Wed, 26 Dec 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
> I can *not* find this again, even after an hour of Googling,
Altavista-ing
and
Freshmeating. Anybody else remember this? Got any URLs?
It would be a blast to watch the needle peg when, say, you fired up
a CPU pig of a game or were digesting /usr/spool/news or some such.
It would be less interesting on a system running, say, Seti-At-Home
where the load is more-or-less constant.
Here ya go:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/led-stat.txt
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/status/ledstatus-0.1.tgz
-Toth
Bob
5:50 p.m.
On Thu, 27 Dec 2001, Robert Schaefer wrote:
I built that thing a number of years ago. I thought
it was pretty neat to
see it flashing, but then I've never experienced real Blinkenlights.
The SGI 210S I have sitting in storage actually has a bar graph for its
cpus. It has a 10 segment (I think) led bar graph for each of the 8 cpus
that can be installed. Currently, mine only has a single cpu, but I might
add the full set of 8 if I can find 4 dual cpu cards for the machine.
-Toth
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bpope＠wordstock.com -
erd_6502＠yahoo.com -
foo＠siconic.com -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
jrice＠texoma.net -
rschaefe＠gcfn.org -
tothwolf＠concentric.net