FreeBSD in Lex Twister

I am very happy to report that the CV863A-based Lex Twister VIA 1 GHz Nehemiah Padlock ACE 3-LAN Gigabit Ethernet Dual-PCMCIA 1-PCI (Lex Twister CV863A3U10) small form factor PC I bought from Hacom is running FreeBSD 6.0. You can see the dmesg output courtesy of NYCBUG dmesgd.

I bought this system as a proof-of-concept mobile sensor. It's much smaller than the Shuttle SB81p I also use. The Lex Twister even fits in my consulting bag.

Although the Lex Twister is not as versatile as the Shuttle, it still supports a full 3.5 inch HDD. The model I bought also has three built-in Intel Gigabit NICs. Here is a look at the back of a similar box; mine does not have four NICs. I installed FreeBSD 6.0 using a USB-connected external CD/DVD burner. I had to first try to boot the Lex Twister, have it find the optical drive, report an error, and then place the FreeBSD install CD in the drive and try again.

Is anyone using a small monitor, like these? If so, can you recommend a product? It would be nice to have one of these small monitors for emergencies, when connectivity by Ethernet or serial port fails.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The small monitors shown on the page you linked to are from Xenarc and Lilliput. I have both and and used both for quite awhile - I even have a 7" Xenarc mounted in the dash of my car (with a 1GHz Via in the back).

My personal favorite is the Xenarc, its got a better design to it. But the Lilliput is much tougher and is a bit more sturdy. Both are touch screen and have the same feel as far as responsiveness. Llli's are usually cheaper.

Take a look at http://www.mp3car.com/store/ and www.logicsupply.com for some better prices.
12:08 AM
Anonymous said…
Haven't tried those teeny tiny ones... but check out:
http://store.earthlcd.com/s.nl/sc.7/category.9/it.A/id.3846/.f

XGA resolution in 12.1". Larger than you seem to be seeking.
But it comes with a keyboard and a handy carrying cas. :)

On any of these, get the extended warranty, if available, esp. if you plan to be mobile.
About the size of a Thinkpad, but has enough pixels to actually see what you're doing
at XGA (1024x768) resolution.

When we first received them, the vertical offset was incorrect. Turns out we had to
stick a Bic pen cap through a panel in back to turn the appropriate knob.
9:18 PM
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