[iyonix-support] Re: Iyonix x86 cards (Was Re: Re: Problem installing Firefox-2-r2)

  • From: "David J. Ruck" <druck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: iyonix-support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:36:55 GMT

On 17 Mar 2007 dgs <dgs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On 17 Mar, Alan Leighton <alan.leighton2@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Instead of removing software I long for Castle to put the clock back 
> > and put into it's case a PC card like the old days.
> 
> The Iyonix has PCI slots, there's nothing to prevent you from plugging in
> a PCI card with all the essential elements of a Windows PC on it.

There are plenty of PCI based PC's that contain all the major components,
(processor memory, disc interface, I/O) that work on a passive PCI backplane.
There are slightly fewer that are designed to work in multi processor system,
where they aren't the sole controller on the PCI backplabe.

> The only issue is that it wouldn't work without someone writing
> appropriate software to drive it.  There's no reason why it should be
> Castle who do that, it wasn't Acorn who originally wrote the PC card
> software for the Risc PC.

Most of the cards are self contained with their own video, keyboard and mouse
interfaces, so in the simpiliest case don't require drivers, they are just
powered from the host machines CPU and can be used through a KVM.

To make a fully useful system, it would be desirable to write drivers so that
peripherals on the PCI bus such storage devices, graphics cards and USB
devices could be shared by both systems.

> If you believe there is sufficient demand, then it's up to you to find the
> right people to develop the software, and then get your product to market!

Unfortunately the ecomomics are stacked against it. You can get full PC
system far cheaper than the industrial controller orientated PCI card
systems. Even in mini-ATX form factor which are small enough to hide away
unseen, and can driven in a window on the Iyonix desktop over the network via
VNC or RDP.

Cheers
---Dave

-- 
____________________________________________________________________________

  David J. Ruck    Phone: +44- (0)7974 108301    Email: druck@xxxxxxxxxxxx
____________________________________________________________________________
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