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Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

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Re: Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

#6

Post by robomartin »

I've been looking for an alternative to Raspberry Pi for a project. Perhaps someone on HN can suggest a solution. Here's what I need:

- Run minimal embedded Linux (LAMP) - No graphics/GUI required - Ethernet connector - Power connector for wall-mounted adapter (P5 or something like that) - Serial port header for debugging - Second serial port for other I/O - Maybe a couple of LED's or an 8 bit port available for status LEDs - SD card for OS (just like R-Pi) - No other peripherals or I/O needed - Low cost (ideally $25 or less)

Barring a pre-existing board, any suggestions for a low-cost processor to design a board around that could run a bare-bones LAMP setup? A lot of what I see out there (like the i.MX233) have built-in peripherals such as LCD and touch-screen controllers that would be overkill for this project.

Re: Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

#7

Post by stephengillie »

robomartin wrote: post #6

I've been looking for an alternative to Raspberry Pi for a project. Perhaps someone on HN can suggest a solution. Here's what I need: - Run minimal embedded Linux (LAMP) - No graphics/GUI required - Ethernet connector - Power connector for wall-mounted adapter (P5 or something like that) - Serial port header for debugging - Second serial port for other I/O - Maybe a couple of LED's or an 8 bit port available for stat…

The closest I can think of would be one of the Arduino ARMs or a Teensy or maybe a Stellaris. But I don't know if those have the "horsepower" to deliver a computing experience.

Re: Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

#8

Post by DanBC »

robomartin wrote: post #6

I've been looking for an alternative to Raspberry Pi for a project. Perhaps someone on HN can suggest a solution. Here's what I need: - Run minimal embedded Linux (LAMP) - No graphics/GUI required - Ethernet connector - Power connector for wall-mounted adapter (P5 or something like that) - Serial port header for debugging - Second serial port for other I/O - Maybe a couple of LED's or an 8 bit port available for stat…

Is this for a one off or for a bigger quantity?

There are a variety of devices that use Linux that you could kludge - routers, set-top boxes etc etc.

How's this if you want 100? (much more expensive than you want) (http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?tab=opt...)

Re: Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

#9

Post by joe_bleau »

stephengillie wrote: post #7
robomartin wrote: post #6

I've been looking for an alternative to Raspberry Pi for a project. Perhaps someone on HN can suggest a solution. Here's what I need: - Run minimal embedded Linux (LAMP) - No graphics/GUI required - Ethernet connector - Power connector for wall-mounted adapter (P5 or something like that) - Serial port header for debugging - Second serial port for other I/O - Maybe a couple of LED's or an 8 bit port available for stat…

The closest I can think of would be one of the Arduino ARMs or a Teensy or maybe a Stellaris. But I don't know if those have the "horsepower" to deliver a computing experience.

I don't think you'll be running a LAMP stack on any of those microcontroller based boards.

How about something from Olimex?

https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/iMX233/iMX233-OLin... looks close, but the price is a bit higher than your target.

https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A13/A13-OLinuXino-... if you want wifi over ethernet?

Did any low-end routers come with an SD card slot?

Re: Turning a Raspberry Pi into a tiny Linux notebook

#10

Post by ChuckMcM »

robomartin wrote: post #6

I've been looking for an alternative to Raspberry Pi for a project. Perhaps someone on HN can suggest a solution. Here's what I need: - Run minimal embedded Linux (LAMP) - No graphics/GUI required - Ethernet connector - Power connector for wall-mounted adapter (P5 or something like that) - Serial port header for debugging - Second serial port for other I/O - Maybe a couple of LED's or an 8 bit port available for stat…

So the question is what you're shooting for. You can build an embedded web server which has two serial ports, ethernet (or WiFi), power, 8 bit I/O port, and an SD Card interface for I've got something very close to that from China which is trying to be USB over IP extender, but the basic setup is as you describe.

If you leave LAMP on your must-have list though it raises the price to at least $35 :-). Given the success of Rpi though I expect we'll see someone else's 'phone' SoC in a board (and no I don't mean Samsung's $200 thing)

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