* [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
@ 2008-02-01 5:33 ron minnich
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: ron minnich @ 2008-02-01 5:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs
seems to run Plan 9 right out of the box. It's an rtl8139, the
graphics work, I am going to transplant the drives to it tomorrow and
see if it all continues to "just work". But the Plan 9 install CD
booted and ran just fine. Seems like a nice fast little machine for
Plan 9. Of course, Plan 9 has graphics up and running before the
delivered OS can get to the point of saying "what language do you
tawk" but that's to be expected.
Nice, I thought I was going to have to host plan 9 under a VM, but it
appears I can just run it.
I did have to make one improvement, however: I had to take a
screwdrive and slash it through the "touch this sticker and void your
warranty" stickers. Standards must, after all, be upheld.
Anybody want a "google desktop" cd :-)
ron
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 5:33 [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC" ron minnich
@ 2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
2008-02-01 11:19 ` Pietro Gagliardi
` (3 more replies)
0 siblings, 4 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: John Barham @ 2008-02-01 5:47 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs
> Seems like a nice fast little machine for Plan 9.
Dirt cheap too. Even w/ Fry's specials it would be hard to put
together a comparable machine for that amount.
Given that it has VIA's C7 chip which has extra instructions for
crypto, including SHA1
(http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/padlock/), it should make a nice
venti server--although you would probably need to upgrade the 80 GB
drive... What would be involved in patching Plan 9's libsec to use
the C7's crypto instructions?
John
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
@ 2008-02-01 11:19 ` Pietro Gagliardi
2008-02-01 11:41 ` Charles Forsyth
` (2 subsequent siblings)
3 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: Pietro Gagliardi @ 2008-02-01 11:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs
Strange, I looked at the manufacturer's website - not a mention of
Plan 9.
On Feb 1, 2008, at 12:47 AM, John Barham wrote:
>> Seems like a nice fast little machine for Plan 9.
>
> Dirt cheap too. Even w/ Fry's specials it would be hard to put
> together a comparable machine for that amount.
>
> Given that it has VIA's C7 chip which has extra instructions for
> crypto, including SHA1
> (http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/padlock/), it should make a nice
> venti server--although you would probably need to upgrade the 80 GB
> drive... What would be involved in patching Plan 9's libsec to use
> the C7's crypto instructions?
>
> John
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
2008-02-01 11:19 ` Pietro Gagliardi
@ 2008-02-01 11:41 ` Charles Forsyth
2008-02-01 17:04 ` ron minnich
2008-02-01 11:43 ` Charles Forsyth
2008-02-01 12:12 ` erik quanstrom
3 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Charles Forsyth @ 2008-02-01 11:41 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: 9fans
> What would be involved in patching Plan 9's libsec to use
> the C7's crypto instructions?
it didn't look too hard, but there's a bit of work to do in the kernel
to enable it (and enable sse for some instructions).
are there similar things on intel and amd? i haven't really kept up.
no doubt they all use different instructions and conventions so
we'll need an array of implementations.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
2008-02-01 11:19 ` Pietro Gagliardi
2008-02-01 11:41 ` Charles Forsyth
@ 2008-02-01 11:43 ` Charles Forsyth
2008-02-01 12:00 ` mattmobile
2008-02-01 12:12 ` erik quanstrom
3 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread
From: Charles Forsyth @ 2008-02-01 11:43 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: 9fans
>> Seems like a nice fast little machine for Plan 9.
>
> Dirt cheap too. ...
given its spec i was amused by the reviews that refer to it as `underpowered'
(although even Linux should be fine on that)
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 11:43 ` Charles Forsyth
@ 2008-02-01 12:00 ` mattmobile
0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: mattmobile @ 2008-02-01 12:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs
I've been using a passively cooled 500Mhz C7 in my EPIA 5000 for a few
years as a CPU/Auth see 9fans passim for how pleased I am with it
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
` (2 preceding siblings ...)
2008-02-01 11:43 ` Charles Forsyth
@ 2008-02-01 12:12 ` erik quanstrom
3 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: erik quanstrom @ 2008-02-01 12:12 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: 9fans
> Dirt cheap too. Even w/ Fry's specials it would be hard to put
> together a comparable machine for that amount.
>
> Given that it has VIA's C7 chip which has extra instructions for
> crypto, including SHA1
> (http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/padlock/), it should make a nice
> venti server--although you would probably need to upgrade the 80 GB
> drive... What would be involved in patching Plan 9's libsec to use
> the C7's crypto instructions?
we have been getting similar machines for <$150. they're sold
as thin clients with a gigabyte mainboard and case. they pxe boot
but don't have power or room for a hard drive. they work
very well, but i don't think they would make very nice venti
servers with only 10/100 ethernet, regardless of the processor.
a single disk would scare me, too. i guess i'm just a paranoid
performance weenie.
- erik
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC"
2008-02-01 11:41 ` Charles Forsyth
@ 2008-02-01 17:04 ` ron minnich
0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread
From: ron minnich @ 2008-02-01 17:04 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs
On Feb 1, 2008 3:41 AM, Charles Forsyth <forsyth@terzarima.net> wrote:
> no doubt they all use different instructions and conventions so
> we'll need an array of implementations.
oh yeah, they are all quite different.
Great fun, eh? And now there is a 64-bit via part.
ron
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2008-02-01 17:04 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
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2008-02-01 5:33 [9fans] The $200 walmart "gPC" ron minnich
2008-02-01 5:47 ` John Barham
2008-02-01 11:19 ` Pietro Gagliardi
2008-02-01 11:41 ` Charles Forsyth
2008-02-01 17:04 ` ron minnich
2008-02-01 11:43 ` Charles Forsyth
2008-02-01 12:00 ` mattmobile
2008-02-01 12:12 ` erik quanstrom
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