[PLUG] buying Mini-ITX in PDX - Linux compatability

[Keith Lofstrom]

On 11/10/05, Eric House <fixin at peak.org> wrote:
> I'm looking to build a fanless Linux box, probably based on a Mini-ITX
> board, and want to get the parts in Portland.  Can anybody recommend a
> shop that 1) knows what supports Linux (or can look it up); carries
> Mini-ITX boards, cases, etc; and 3) is open on Saturdays?

On Thu, Nov 10, 2005 at 12:04:25PM -0800, Larry Brigman wrote:
> The only place I have found Mini-ITX boards is at Fry's.  Even then
> the ones they carry have fans.

I recently purchased a Shuttle ST62K from Fry's - it is one of the
older and slower and less expensive miniITX boxes, and it does have
a fan.  However, the fan is pretty quiet.  It fires up relatively
loudly when the machine boots, then slows during normal operation. 
With the case on, the single fan is somewhat quieter than the house's
central air heating duct, which is pretty good for a 2GHz+ Pentium.

You are not likely to find a faster machine without a fan of some
sort.  The ST62K has a heat pipe from the CPU chip to the main fan,
so there are not multiple fans making noise at least.  This machine
will be going into my wife's office, and she likes quiet.

I remember there were issues with drivers - I had to use Fedora core
4 and tweak with the X configuration, older distros did not work.
But maybe that's just me.  I don't have sound working yet - but as
I said, my wife likes quiet.  The ST62K video DAC is a little wussy,
and consequently the pixels are not very sharp, which can lead to Moire
effects on an LCD monitor.  If you find a low power unit with a DVI
connector, or an AGP slot, I would be interested in hearing about it.

Be attentive to chipsets and drivers.  The mini-ITX units use weird
chipsets to reduce power, and there may be driver issues with the
unit you select - sorta like some laptops only worse.   

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs