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| Do you have interest in running wview on an off-the-shelf embedded platform like the NSLU2? |
| Yes |
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100% |
[ 4 ] |
| Not so much |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 4 |
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mteel
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 435
Location: Collinsville, TX
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 Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:18 pm Post subject: wview Hosted on a Linksys NSLU2 |
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Since I am putting the finishing touches on this capability (with the help of Jon Barber), I figured I would add it to this list to see if there is any interest.
Excerpt from the new section in the User Manual:
| Quote: | The Linksys NSLU2 is a network storage link which uses USB external hard
drives and an ethernet interface to provide Network Attached Storage (NAS)
to the masses. This is a perfect embedded platform to use as a wview host.
It is small, inexpensive (~$70) and uses little power. In addition, there
exists a mature linux hacking community which has developed an entire open
source distribution including a simple package management system. We will
use one USB port for our boot disk and root partition hard drive and the
other USB port for the USB-to-serial interface to the VP console. One could
also use one of the wview-approved terminal servers to interface the VP
console via ethernet.
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The distribution we will use is openslug:
http://www.nslu2-linux.org/wiki/OpenSlug/HomePage
Here is a list of the USB-to-Serial devices that will be supported on the NSLU2:
BELKIN
CP2101
CYPRESS_M8
DIGI_ACCELEPORT
EDGEPORT
EDGEPORT-TI
EMPEG
FTDI_SIO
KEYSPAN
MCT_U232
PL2303
SAFE
TI
WHITEHEAT
Will be included in the upcoming 1.9.1 release...
Mark |
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chrisale
Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 187
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| Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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I will be very interested in this feature! Certainly takes up a lot less space than my old PC i have running it on.
I assume it still supports all the features of wview including mySQL?
great upgrade! |
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mteel
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 435
Location: Collinsville, TX
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:04 am Post subject: |
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No MySQL yet - there is a limited openslug MySQL package I believe, but remember that this is an embedded device running on 32MB of RAM. I don't believe there is an available PostGreSQL package for openslug.
All other features are supported - CWOP, wunderground, alarms, etc.
You can now browse the User Manual online to see the NSLU2 section and what this involves to get going.
Mark |
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bhnb
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 127
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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I can confirm that MySQL works with wview on the NSLU2. I'm now running wview, MySQL and samba plus a couple of other services and it still doesn't seem to be breaking a sweat.
I bought the NSLU2 with the specific aim of trying to get wview to run on it and I can't believe how easy it has been. On top of that, all of the work Mark has done on packaging it up it will make it even easier.
I'm seriously considering running this on a USB memory stick rather than the hard disk I'm using at the moment - this will make the whole thing completely silent and with even lower power requirements. The downside is that by Mark's calculations a 512MB stick will only store 25 years' worth of data  |
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chrisale
Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 187
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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Geez Mark! Why couldn't you have announced this earlier so that I could have put that on my Christmas list!! Man.. do I ever want one those those puppies now... it'd be PERFECT.
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mteel
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 435
Location: Collinsville, TX
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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Just watch ebay - I bought my second development slug for $47 including shipping, brand new!
I am somewhat dubious about running MySQL using a flash memory stick as the hard drive. Databases take up a lot of space (read lots of overhead per byte of data) compared to a simple binary representation like in the WLK files. Maybe I am just being too cautious, but I would definitely set up a series of cron jobs to backup WLK files and the SQL database regularly to a network disk.
With Jon's help we will be putting together MySQL enabled packages for radlib and wview in the next several weeks so they do not have to be built natively to include MySQL support.
The slug is a really cool platform for wview. I wish I had looked into it sooner.
Mark |
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mhweather
Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:07 am Post subject: |
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| This sounds cool - I'm wondering if the device can use the USB connection point(s) to support a webcam ? Would be cool to have a small solid-state device that could replace my PC. |
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bhnb
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 127
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mhweather
Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 54
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| Hmmmm, now, what would I need to support my serial Vantage Pro, has to be some kind of cheap serial-to-USB adapter. |
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mteel
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 435
Location: Collinsville, TX
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:52 am Post subject: |
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For Mac testing earlier this year, I bought a USB-to-serial convertor cable ($25) which contains the PL2303 chipset. I use it for Mac testing and now for NSLU2 testing.
The main thing is to choose a convertor which has a chipset with a supported driver. The list is in the UM.
I guess you would have to use a USB hub in this arrangement to have a hard disk (or flash stick), USB webcam, and the VP interface...
Maybe Jon knows more about how that works with the openslug platform - I know I saw something on the Wiki about using USB hubs... |
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bhnb
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 127
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes - I'm using a USB hub and it 'just works'. |
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wxnut
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 5
Location: Cleves, OH (Cincinnati)
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| Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: wiew hosted on a Linksys NSLU2 |
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Hi,
Count me in. It makes sense to use a simple dedicated device rather a general
purpose. PC
Ron
_________________
"Some people are weatherwise, but most are otherwise."
Benjamin Franklin |
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