Re: Newbie Questions
On Monday 15 July 2002 07:10 pm, Designer wrote:
> Hello Debian Laptop List,
>
>
> I'm going to purchase a new portable, but, I'm having trouble getting
> specific hardware information. By trade I'm an embedded systems
> programmer. Here goes:
>
> 1. Is there documentation with information that I can read and not
> bother the list with these basic(stupid) questions?
>
> 2. Does anyone know of a portable with (2) or more serial ports.
> I use a variety of serial(RS232C) data analyzers, both under unix and
> W2K, to sniff/hack/program a wide variety of hardware. Maybe I need a
> pcmcia card with multiple serial ports.... Any suggestions? Any
> existing (software) drivers for Debian/unix? sourcecode would be
> nice. Any pointers to RS485, RS422, I2C, CAN, modbusTCP, devicenet,
> CompactFlash or any other types of industrial (SCADA) communications
> devices/protocols that are supported under debian would also be
> appreciated. Any cable testers that work under Debian, would also be
> cool.
I've never seen a laptop with dual serial ports, but USB<->serial
adaptors are relatively cheap, so I can't imagine this being a problem.
The kernel does support I2C, but I don't know you would connect it to
anything outside of the laptop itself.
> 3. Purchasing a portable with resolution greater than SVGA, can be
> problematic when you try to get information from vendors. Any
> suggestions? Dell? Better prices, as Dell seems to be a bit pricey
> for what you get. Has anyone setup Debian on a Phillips portable?
> Other price sensitive suggestions?
By SVGA do you mean 800x600 (which is what I understand it to mean) or
1024x768 ? Anything more than 10x7 is pretty pricey. I work from home
most of the time and when I have to head into the office, I sync to my
laptop and plug it in to a 21" monitor that sits in my cube. If you're
wanting to work in multiple places, rather than work on the move, a
10x7 laptop that supports dual-head would be a cheaper solution.
> 4. CD-RW and DVD-RW. I really want a DVD-RW. Any suggestions on which
> DVD-RW to purchase? Internal or External/USB 2.0/pcmcia based? Ideas?
Can't comment here, I burn on my desktop box.
> What's the best software package for a Mitsumi CD-RW? xcdroast?
> gcobust? gtoaster? Debian-CD? I have this reader/writer installed on
> a desktop pc running debian-potato, but I never could get the CD-RW
> working( Granted, I'm not very versed with Debian, but OK on many
> different unix systems). The second CD-R works fine. Any pointers to
> which package I should use to burn a CD for Debian(Woody) and
> information or instructions? Should I upgrade this system to Woody,
> first and then get the CD-RW working, or get the CD-RW working, and
> then burn a Woody cd? Is there documentation on using apt-get or
> whatever to upgrade the kernel and installed software to Woody from
> Potato? Recommendations?
>
> 5. I have to run programs written for W2K, such as AutoCad 2K,
> Microstation, and PLC programming IDEs. Any advice on trying these
> under X11 with a Windows_Emulator, or have those packages
> matured sufficiently for stable use? Is there a list of which
> Windows2K packages work under emulation, anywhere? I'd really like to
> ditch W2K completely......
>
VMWare is good, and the only things that it hasn't been able to run for
me are things that need accelerated 3D. It's not cheap though. Get the
30 day eval version and see what you think. You'll definitely need
plenty of RAM if you're running something big - having the virtual
machine start swapping through the Linux host to an IDE drive is an
extremely painful computing experienve.
> 6. CDPD, Cellular Digital Packet Data, has anyone gotten a CDPD
> modem to work with Debian on a portable or wearable rig? Any
> sniffing/etc tools for CDPD or pointers to work in progress are most
> welcome! Any service providers for CDPD in USA? Florida?
>
> 7. 802.11??? support for Wireless ethernet under Debian.
I believe wireless is supported, but I haven't got round to trying it
myself yet.
>
> 8. Entertainment: I'd like to copy my extensive DVD collection to a
> Debian System, and make it available on the net. Any pointers to
> tools? The idea I have was to set up a "check-out" system. When
> somebody checks out one of my DVD's I remove that DVD from
> availability in my library. When that person, acknowledges that they
> are finished watching the movie, and have subsequently deleted the
> checked out copy(verification not necessary), then the DVD is again
> available over the net. This scheme should be legal.....
>
No idea about any of these.
> 9. Time. Anyone got a Debian-machine that can generate spare-time for
> me?
>
>
> James
One other important thing - make sure the display chipset is supported
by X - if you have to run it in software through the VESA driver,
you'll be cursing your new toy within the week.
- Derek
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