Via EPIA 800: Difference between revisions

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''Oct 2010 -- This EPIA board died on me some time ago, so this page is all just historic data now.''
== Overview ==
== Overview ==


Got myself a Via C3 EPIA 800 board, so that I could build a tiny low power Linux server, with a LCD/kbd/mouse for surfing, listening to music and so forth.
I got a Via C3 EPIA 800 board, so that I could build a tiny low power Linux server, with a LCD/kbd/mouse for surfing, listening to music and so forth.


These are my setup notes.
These are my setup notes.


I powered it up connected to the drive for an existing Ubuntu server and it worked, so I put it into a PC case, attached a random hard drive I had lying around, and tried to do a network install of Trustix 3. That crashed. So...
I chose to use a Debian distribution. I tried Ubuntu but it is bulky.
I had to build a kernel to get stability; modern distros are built for Intel processors and this thing really needs a C3 kernel or it will crash periodically. With the C3 kernel, it is completely stable.


==Ubuntu install==
==Hardware==


I did a network install of Ubuntu. Worked fine.
*The Via board currently lives in a custom wood case.
It crashes periodically.
*It is connected to a 200 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10 drive.
*Power supply is an Antec 65W MicroATX from an HP Vectra.


Found some notes saying this fellow has a kernel compiled that works better with the C3 processor.
*Plugged into the serial port is a Magnavox MX-9212 GPS receiver.
*In the parallel port, an HP Laserjet 4ML
*USB port 1: an APC UPS
*USB port 2, a Logitech mouse
*Keyboard, a Belkin PS-2
*Audio line output: a pair of Acoustic Partner speakers
*VGA video: an Asus 15" flatpanel LCD


http://zagar.cactus.org/via/
On this board, the northbridge chip is the PLE133
This is the lightweight. No hardware support for MPEG-2 so no DVD watching.
I don't have a DVD drive anyway.


I am finding Ubuntu to be rather bulky anyway so...
Audio -- see http://www.viaarena.com/PageId=294#md


==Debian==
ALSA works fine. You get it when you build a 2.6 kernel.
Run alsaconf to set up the kernel modules and set default audio levels.


The mirror is so close for Debian, seems a shame not to use it. So I will.
The board will support 6 channel audio.


Here is a page about installing the old "Woody" version: http://www.debianplanet.com/node.php?id=818
Southbridge: 8231


I don't want Woody, I want Sarge (current stable release) so
Sensors: According to the EPIA howto, I can activate sensors by compiling the vt8231 module and loading it.


On the boot server
===Cooling===


wget ftp://debian.osuosl.org/debian/dists/stable/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
The standard C3 cooling fan was very whiny. The smaller they are the more annoying; 6000 rpm. I removed it and its heatsink and installed a Zalman Northbridge heatsink. I added a duct (cardboard) from the power supply fan,
and put its fan and another 80 mm fan onto a speed controller / temperature monitor. Now it is both cool and quiet.


Unpack the tar in /var/lib/tftpboot
(This assumes the dhcp and tftpd servers are already set up.)


Reboot the C3 from network card.
'''Big note:''' VMware-player will not run on this machine. It requires the CMOV instruction which is not implemented in the C3.


It should come up in the debian installer now.
== Operating system ==


I did a network install of Debian (I used [[PXEboot]] to boot the new system from my old server over the network.)


=== Stuff to delete ===
Here is a page about installing the old "Woody" version: http://www.debianplanet.com/node.php?id=818
But I don't want Woody, I want Sarge (current stable release) so


It is busy installing garbage I don't want now, even though I said 'minimal'
On the boot server
To be deleted


mutt shareutils
wget ftp://debian.osuosl.org/debian/dists/stable/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz
bison flex gcc mtools tcsh cpp g++
pidentd
g++
exim4


I should probably rebuild the kernel to work with the C3 before deleting the build tools. Sarge is built on a 2.4 kernel, I wonder if that is better for the C3 than a 2.6 kernel -- I think I will leave it for now.
Unpack the tar in /var/lib/tftpboot
(This assumes the dhcp and tftpd servers are already set up.)


It installs python-2.3, outdated but probably okay here
Reboot the C3 from network card.


=== Stuff to add ===
It should come up in the debian installer now.
 
Stuff I have to have that it did not install
 
emacs21 -- This pulls in huge gobs of stuff since it is linked to X.
 
synaptic -- likewise pulls in lots more X stuff but I want most of it
 
bzip2 -- they left this out?
 
kernel-package - to build kernel, delete later
 
ncurses-dev -- needed for menuconfig of kernel
 
openntpd
 
acroread
 
dhcp3-server
 
apache2 and php5
 
esound, esound-clients, festival
 
firefox
 
realplayer 10
 
rsync
 
xfree86, wmaker


=== Tuned the hard drive ===
=== Tuned the hard drive ===
Line 89: Line 69:
Hard drive performance was ABYSMAL. After tuning with "-d1 -X66 -m16"
Hard drive performance was ABYSMAL. After tuning with "-d1 -X66 -m16"
performance jumped from 2 MBps to 88.
performance jumped from 2 MBps to 88.
I have the drive set to spin down after 10 minutes of inactivity.
Settings are in /etc/hdparm.conf


=== non-686 code ===
=== non-686 code ===
Line 102: Line 86:
=== Building a C3 compliant kernel ===
=== Building a C3 compliant kernel ===


I compiled a 2.4.32 kernel setting it for C3 processor and the system is now very stable.
Initially I compiled a 2.4.32 kernel setting it for C3 processor and the system is now very stable.


[http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-kernel.en.html Building a kernel on Debian]
[http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-kernel.en.html Building a kernel on Debian]
Line 114: Line 98:
See http://www.courville.org/phpwiki/Gcc
See http://www.courville.org/phpwiki/Gcc


===Northbridge===
I had to build an initramfs too, installed initramfs-tools and used the command


PLE133
VERS=2.6.15
mkinitramfs -o /boot/initramfs-$VERS $VERS


Audio -- trying to build Alsa support and trying to use the Via driver from
== Services on this machine ==
http://www.viaarena.com/PageId=294#md


===Southbridge===
ssh server


8231
dhcp server


===LM Sensors===
privoxy (dont think i really need squid)


There don't appear to be any sensors to speak of. The CPU fan is 3 wire so in theory it has a speed sensor. Hmm... disappointing.
apache2 + php


== Services on this machine ==
ntpd


ssh
nfs + samba


dhcp server
cups


privoxy (dont think i really need squid)
== New fun stuff ==


possibly mysql for testing
===rrdtool===


apache2
To collect data from the GPS, mostly.
 
ntpd


php
rrdcollect
rrdtool
torrus-apache2, torrus-common ([http://www.torrus.org/ Torrus project])


nfs samba
== Mini-ITX links ==


[http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT3470636459.html Mini-ITX Madness] an article from Linux Devices


== Desktop software ==
=== Linux audio ===


X
[http://www.agnula.org/ Agnula]

Latest revision as of 19:18, 18 October 2010

Oct 2010 -- This EPIA board died on me some time ago, so this page is all just historic data now.

Overview

I got a Via C3 EPIA 800 board, so that I could build a tiny low power Linux server, with a LCD/kbd/mouse for surfing, listening to music and so forth.

These are my setup notes.

I chose to use a Debian distribution. I tried Ubuntu but it is bulky. I had to build a kernel to get stability; modern distros are built for Intel processors and this thing really needs a C3 kernel or it will crash periodically. With the C3 kernel, it is completely stable.

Hardware

  • The Via board currently lives in a custom wood case.
  • It is connected to a 200 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10 drive.
  • Power supply is an Antec 65W MicroATX from an HP Vectra.
  • Plugged into the serial port is a Magnavox MX-9212 GPS receiver.
  • In the parallel port, an HP Laserjet 4ML
  • USB port 1: an APC UPS
  • USB port 2, a Logitech mouse
  • Keyboard, a Belkin PS-2
  • Audio line output: a pair of Acoustic Partner speakers
  • VGA video: an Asus 15" flatpanel LCD

On this board, the northbridge chip is the PLE133 This is the lightweight. No hardware support for MPEG-2 so no DVD watching. I don't have a DVD drive anyway.

Audio -- see http://www.viaarena.com/PageId=294#md

ALSA works fine. You get it when you build a 2.6 kernel. Run alsaconf to set up the kernel modules and set default audio levels.

The board will support 6 channel audio.

Southbridge: 8231

Sensors: According to the EPIA howto, I can activate sensors by compiling the vt8231 module and loading it.

Cooling

The standard C3 cooling fan was very whiny. The smaller they are the more annoying; 6000 rpm. I removed it and its heatsink and installed a Zalman Northbridge heatsink. I added a duct (cardboard) from the power supply fan, and put its fan and another 80 mm fan onto a speed controller / temperature monitor. Now it is both cool and quiet.


Big note: VMware-player will not run on this machine. It requires the CMOV instruction which is not implemented in the C3.

Operating system

I did a network install of Debian (I used PXEboot to boot the new system from my old server over the network.)

Here is a page about installing the old "Woody" version: http://www.debianplanet.com/node.php?id=818 But I don't want Woody, I want Sarge (current stable release) so

On the boot server

wget ftp://debian.osuosl.org/debian/dists/stable/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz

Unpack the tar in /var/lib/tftpboot (This assumes the dhcp and tftpd servers are already set up.)

Reboot the C3 from network card.

It should come up in the debian installer now.

Tuned the hard drive

Hard drive performance was ABYSMAL. After tuning with "-d1 -X66 -m16" performance jumped from 2 MBps to 88.

I have the drive set to spin down after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Settings are in /etc/hdparm.conf

non-686 code

From http://five.nocrew.org/via/debian.html

Dealing with non-686 software

Although VIA C3 is i686 compliant, some software packages use non-i686 compliant instructions (like cmov) in their i686 distributions. Examples for this is libcrypto and libssl.

You should compile and use a i586/MMX compliant kernel for VIA C3. When using apt-get and install on some packages like libcrypto and libssl, you can have problems running them. Just copy the libraries in /usr/lib/i586 to /usr/lib/i686.

Building a C3 compliant kernel

Initially I compiled a 2.4.32 kernel setting it for C3 processor and the system is now very stable.

Building a kernel on Debian

Today I broke down and installed a 2.6 series kernel. Now I have to get audio working again.

This C3 is a Samuel 2 processor and the recommended compiler flags are: 

-march=c3 -m3dnow -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -mmmx

See http://www.courville.org/phpwiki/Gcc

I had to build an initramfs too, installed initramfs-tools and used the command 

VERS=2.6.15
mkinitramfs -o /boot/initramfs-$VERS $VERS

Services on this machine

ssh server

dhcp server

privoxy (dont think i really need squid)

apache2 + php

ntpd

nfs + samba

cups

New fun stuff

rrdtool

To collect data from the GPS, mostly.

rrdcollect rrdtool torrus-apache2, torrus-common (Torrus project)

Mini-ITX links

Mini-ITX Madness an article from Linux Devices

Linux audio

Agnula

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