From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Ralf Baechle DL5RB Subject: Re: Embedded Linux and Amateur Radio Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:25:49 +0100 Message-ID: <20050621192549.GO6461@linux-mips.org> References: <42B84FB5.8090907@wa7v.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Return-path: Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <42B84FB5.8090907@wa7v.com> Sender: linux-hams-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: Brett Mueller Cc: Linux-Hams On Tue, Jun 21, 2005 at 10:34:45AM -0700, Brett Mueller wrote: > But, having had some very positive experience with commercial outdoor > 802.11a/b/g access points built around Linux single board computers > (SBC), I'd really like to move in that general direction. That is, I'd > like to build a system with no moving parts, using Linux as the > operating system, with miniPCI 802.11 radio cards, and having serial > ports to support KISS or 6PACK on TNCs. I'd like the ability to run > LinuxNode at the least, or preferrably (X)Net. I'd imagine that the > latter would mean that the CPU would have to be x86 compatible, since > (X)Net is not open source and only binaries are available for it. I've ported Xnet to MIPS; it's been demonstrated on the Packet Radio Congress in Darmstadt in April running on a WRT54G wireless access point. > The > ability to compile the kernel is almost certainly a must, to roll in > AX.25 support, etc. Since some of the sites are fairly remote and > inaccessible for six months of the year, stability and reliability is an > absolute must. In such a case you want a watchdog or remote reset facility anyway. And a machine that minimizes mechnical parts such as fans. For that reason, I'm leaning towards the 2.2 series > kernels, as my experience was that it was always rock solid with AX.25 > compiled in -- although I did just have 190 days uptime on my gateway > with 2.4.24 before it inexplicably rebooted (power bump? -- my UPS is shot). Pure luck. The kernel AX.25 was and is full of potencially fatal bugs. > Has anyone already expended some energy along these lines, either time > on the drawing boards, or actually spent building such a system? Any > words of wisdom? It would be much appreciated. The wisdom says use proven OTS components :-) It may not be as fun as homebrewing but minimizes potencial points of failure. 73 de DL5RB op Ralf -- Loc. JN47BS / CQ 14 / ITU 28 / DOK A21