KC7PM wrote:
I saw something in the last year or two about building a PC that runs
entirely on 12V and with low power consumption. Does anyone know on 1.6
where I can find that article or website?
=============================================
The new generationn of mini-laptops like Asus eeePC and I believe also
the similar devices from Acer and Dell run on 12 V -DC
They all use a Pentium Atom N270 processor

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

PS:I am happy with the ASUS eeePC

JIMMIE wrote:

I know I dont have a problem with Linux either but casual users here
in the states are afraid of it. I use Linux or various versions daily
at work and love it. They are selling for about $270 here in the states.
Still a bargain. I was in the process of building a car PC but that
project ended when I found net-books.

I can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. There has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more people
and businesses migrate.

The last time I entered the 'States, the Customs guy demanded to look at my
laptop, and see that it would actually work and that I wasn't importing a
bomb. I started it up, and got my very pretty 3D Gnome desktop up, and he
asked me what it was. I then got a lecture about how it was "un-American"
and "Commie" not to use Windows! The fact that I am a Brit, and that Fedora
(my usual distro of choice) is American, entirely passed him by...

Bob

"Bob" wrote in message
...
JIMMIE wrote:

I know I dont have a problem with Linux either but casual users here
in the states are afraid of it. I use Linux or various versions daily
at work and love it. They are selling for about $270 here in the states.
Still a bargain. I was in the process of building a car PC but that
project ended when I found net-books.

I can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. There
has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to
play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more
people
and businesses migrate.

The last time I entered the 'States, the Customs guy demanded to look at
my
laptop, and see that it would actually work and that I wasn't importing a
bomb. I started it up, and got my very pretty 3D Gnome desktop up, and he
asked me what it was. I then got a lecture about how it was "un-American"
and "Commie" not to use Windows! The fact that I am a Brit, and that
Fedora
(my usual distro of choice) is American, entirely passed him by...

Bob

Obviously just joking with you. Comedy is often a stress releiver. Apple
is the one with the Soviet corprorate model.

Many of the laptops will operate well at 13.8 if you disable all the alerts
and auto shutdown features. You also need to remove the battery so that it
won't run it down. Some will get goofed up thinking there is a shorted
battery though. I used to run my old Panasonic on 12v direct to the battery
input terminals without incident.

I have an APC TravelPower adapter which claims to pull 10 amps at 11-16 v
input. for 3.6 amps at 18v. Ouch! A small msw 120v inverter seems to be a
lot more efficient than that.

On Nov 12, 11:59*am, "JB" wrote:
"Bob" wrote in message

...



JIMMIE wrote:

I know I dont have a problem with Linux either but casual users here
in the states are afraid of it. I use Linux or various versions daily
at work and love it. They are selling for about $270 here in the states.
Still a bargain. I was in the process of building a car PC but that
project ended when I found net-books.

I can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. *There
has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to
play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). *Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more
people
and businesses migrate.

The last time I entered the 'States, the Customs guy demanded to look at
my
laptop, and see that it would actually work and that I wasn't importing a
bomb. *I started it up, and got my very pretty 3D Gnome desktop up, and he
asked me what it was. *I then got a lecture about how it was "un-American"
and "Commie" not to use Windows! *The fact that I am a Brit, and that
Fedora
(my usual distro of choice) is American, entirely passed him by...

Bob

Obviously just joking with you. *Comedy is often a stress releiver. *Apple
is the one with the Soviet corprorate model.

Many of the laptops will operate well at 13.8 if you disable all the alerts
and auto shutdown features. *You also need to remove the battery so that it
won't run it down. *Some will get goofed up thinking there is a shorted
battery though. *I used to run my old Panasonic on 12v direct to the battery
input terminals without incident.

I have an APC TravelPower adapter which claims to pull 10 amps at 11-16 v
input. *for 3.6 amps at 18v. *Ouch! *A small msw 120v inverter seems to be a
lot more efficient than that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have a little APC UPS that I use with vehicle battery in my RV.

Jimmie

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:24:01 +0000, Bob wrote:

can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. There has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more people
and businesses migrate.

Maybe it is because it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to
find necessary hardware drivers. Especially, if you have some of the
latest equipment models. I have found Linux to be more useful on older
computers as one is much more likely to find the necessary drivers.

For example have recently added a new HP all-in-one laser printer that
includes a scanner and FAX. I have it installed on a dual boot
(Linux/Windows XP) system. While I'm able to print with the Linux
system good luck trying to get the scanner and FAX working. That's
just one example. I have a litany of them.

Regards,
Danny

Dan Richardson wrote:

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:24:01 +0000, Bob wrote:

can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. There has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more people
and businesses migrate.

Maybe it is because it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to
find necessary hardware drivers. Especially, if you have some of the
latest equipment models. I have found Linux to be more useful on older
computers as one is much more likely to find the necessary drivers.

For example have recently added a new HP all-in-one laser printer that
includes a scanner and FAX. I have it installed on a dual boot
(Linux/Windows XP) system. While I'm able to print with the Linux
system good luck trying to get the scanner and FAX working. That's
just one example. I have a litany of them.


Funnily enough, I have much the same, but found that HPLip handled printing
perfectly, and Xsane handled scanning. Hylafax also works very effectively.
No difficult installation or configuration required with the /very/ latest
hardware - modern Linux distros have all that pretty much licked!

Just don't buy Canon or Lexmark gear - both companies /actively/ /discourage/
the development of Linux drivers.

Bob

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008, Dan Richardson wrote:

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:32:40 -0800
From: Dan Richardson
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
Subject: Article about a portable PC that runs on 12v?

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:24:01 +0000, Bob wrote:

can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. There has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more people
and businesses migrate.

Maybe it is because it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to
find necessary hardware drivers. Especially, if you have some of the
latest equipment models. I have found Linux to be more useful on older
computers as one is much more likely to find the necessary drivers.

For example have recently added a new HP all-in-one laser printer that
includes a scanner and FAX. I have it installed on a dual boot
(Linux/Windows XP) system. While I'm able to print with the Linux
system good luck trying to get the scanner and FAX working. That's
just one example. I have a litany of them.

I spent a couple of years evaluating Linux here and decided to go back to
Windows. I really really wanted Linux to work, but in the end stayed with
Windows (98 second edition was best). Here are some of my issues;

1. Hardware compatibility is a major problem, and gets worse the later the
distro. Best distros for my hardware were Red hat 5.2 and 6.2, and I could
install those distros on any and all of my hardwares (about two dozen
boxes), Later distros did not have drivers for earlier CDROM drives where
your only other option is boot-from-CDROM, but if your bios does not have
that, then you are dead. I have had a lot of experience with installations
of Linux that crash before the installation is completed. If you want
Linux, start with a shop or company that will sell you all the hardware
knowing that that hardware will support the OS. Yes, i spent years on the
linux newsgroups reading posts of all kinds of people having all kinds of
problems. The multi-boot loaders also have bugs (lilo, grub, etc.) and the
books don't tell you what to do if it screws up your box. Also, its a
hardware compatibility problem. I had boxes where everything worked fine.
Other boxes where the install crashed, the boot manager screwed up, or
something else didn't work. YMMV.

2. I like iomega zip disks (100 MB) and the books say the only way Linux
can support zip disks is by re-compiling the kernel and I was not about to
do that.

3. Especially the later distros: they all need more ram than Windows to
work (250 mb, minimum).

4. If you are serious, you need to configure your Linux firewall and the
books say if you don't do it right, you're worse off than running without
a firewall. I ran Linux for over a year, but got hacked within two months.
With Zone Alarm, you just put it into Windows and you get a lot of
protection for no work.

5. Unless you have a high spec box (I didn't), all of the aps run slower
than Windows. This is because Linux is really multiprocess unlike Windows
which is multitasking (via time slicing). This is also true for OS/2 which
I also spent a lot of time with.

I bought version 8 of Ubuntu a few weeks ago. they cleaned up a lot, but
after the install, I got the printer to work fine, but Ubuntu could not
find my modem (yes its a _regualar_ modem and that modem worked with
everything else) and I don't have any other kind of internet access here
besides dialup (unless I want to get one of the satellite dish deals,
adding up a ton of fees and a two year contract and the legal disclaimers
say they don't guarantee anything). So, I'll give MS credit for an OS that
really does install on all of my hardware, and always finds all of my
peripherals.

One nice thing about Ubuntu is that you can boot up totally off the CDROM
and see if it ends up with the gui and you can run the aps without
problems. Boot up from the CDROM takes (on my 800 mHz box) about 5-8
minutes. Ap launch is also quite slow, but will work. It absolutely will
not boot up on less than 250 mb of ram.

Microsoft has become the ultimate robber-barron with its "activation" and
I bought one legal copy of XP which I will run as long as I can but if
internet web browsing makes any further advances, I'll consider an Apple
Mac before I give Bill Gates & Thugs any more money.

The other problem is whether Apple supplies distibution disks with their
computers (in case you need to re-install the OS because of, for example,
a corrupted or hacked OS install). And, if you think OS-X is immune to
hacking, then just google on "hack OS-X" and get 30,000 hits. Might be
resistant to MS viruses, but there is a lot of other malicious code out
there that is bad for your box.

Oh, yes, shut off as many of the services as you can or when you re-boot,
it may crash (particularly the earlier distros) and make your box unusable
without another install from scratch (unless you know how to fix what got
screwed up). You could also ruin your RH 5.2 install if you did a shutdown
and forgot to unmount a CDROM drive. Happend to me three times.

Regards,
Danny

KC7PM wrote:
I saw something in the last year or two about building a PC that runs
entirely on 12V and with low power consumption. Does anyone know
where I can find that article or website?

Oh you can roll your own quite easily. Go to http://www.mini-box.com
and put together a combination of case, system board, and power supply.
You'll need to add memory and disk to it, as well. I'm currently using
an Intel system board (D945GCLF2) which comes with a dual core Atom 330
processor soldered on. I'm running my on 110VAC but it's quite a
capable system board and I wouldn't hesitate to try to build a 12VDC
system around it.

#!/bin/bash wrote:

KC7PM wrote:

I saw something in the last year or two about building a PC that runs
entirely on 12V and with low power consumption. Does anyone know
where I can find that article or website?


Oh you can roll your own quite easily. Go to http://www.mini-box.com
and put together a combination of case, system board, and power supply.
You'll need to add memory and disk to it, as well. I'm currently using
an Intel system board (D945GCLF2) which comes with a dual core Atom 330
processor soldered on. I'm running my on 110VAC but it's quite a
capable system board and I wouldn't hesitate to try to build a 12VDC
system around it.
Of course you can roll your own switchmode psu from 12 volts to whatever
votage a laptop requires. That would be easiest. I've made a couple from
a circuit in the Aussie magazine "Silicon Chip" a year or so back and
they have worked well. The output can be varied from 12 volts to about
20 volts at up to 3 amps with no problems. I used mine to run a laptop
to drive my telescope in the field from a car battery supply.
Cliff Wright ZL1BDA

On Nov 12, 7:18*pm, Bob wrote:
Dan Richardson wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:24:01 +0000, Bob wrote:

can't understand the reluctance of the Americans to use Linux. *There has
been no real reason to use Windows for a long time (unless you want to play
games, but a PS3 is best for that). *Over here in Europe, Linux uptake
continues rapidly - as each new Windows virus or worm hits, ever more people
and businesses migrate.

Maybe it is because it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to
find necessary hardware drivers. Especially, if you have some of the
latest equipment models. I have found Linux to be more useful on older
computers as one is much more likely to find the necessary drivers.

For example have recently added a new HP all-in-one laser printer that
includes a scanner and FAX. I have it installed on a dual boot
(Linux/Windows XP) system. While I'm able to print with the Linux
system good luck trying to get the scanner and FAX working. That's
just one example. I have a litany of them.

Funnily enough, I have much the same, but found that HPLip handled printing
perfectly, and Xsane handled scanning. *Hylafax also works very effectively.
No difficult installation or configuration required with the /very/ latest
hardware - modern Linux distros have all that pretty much licked!

Just don't buy Canon or Lexmark gear - both companies /actively/ /discourage/
the development of Linux drivers.

Bob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For an everyday driver I do find putting together a computer using
Linux a bit of a hassle. However for a special purpose computer like a
server I prefer Linux systems. I guess Windows has become the WD40 of
operating systems, its useful for a lot of things but for most special
purposes yo ucan find something better.


Jimmie