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Plug Computer

Andrew Oliver

On Oct 22, 2009 11:29

check this out:

http://www.marvell.com/products/embedded_processors/developer/kirkwood/sheevaplug.jsp

.8 to 1.2 ghz, wall socket size.

http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/t-sheevaplugdetails.aspx#features

USB

Ethernet

SD card

$100 for the US version!!!

Can run Debian

 
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Participants: Andrew Oliver , Administrator , Harold Cochran , Jody Smith , Juha Lindfors , Neil Cherry
  1. Sep 03, 2009

    Juha Lindfors says:

    Looks very cool. Does anyone have Tomcat running on it yet?

    Looks very cool. Does anyone have Tomcat running on it yet?

  2. Sep 03, 2009

    Andrew Oliver says:

    Dunno but: http://www.openplug.org/ http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/K...
    1. Sep 03, 2009

      Neil Cherry says:

      My opinion (and take it as just that) is that as the central brains of an HA set...

      My opinion (and take it as just that) is that as the central brains of an HA setup I don't like it, too small. As a remote processor it has potential (a lot). I'd really like to see a wireless network connection (802.11g is fine) as it doesn't need a lot more speed than that. It does look like it would work as a central controller for the first few revisions of the system.

      1. Sep 06, 2009

        Andrew Oliver says:

        The wireless is a biggy, "too small" is kind of the point. Add something like: ...

        The wireless is a biggy, "too small" is kind of the point.

        Add something like:

        http://www.networktechinc.com/hub-usb.html

        and something like

        http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=off&num=100&q=usb+wifi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=8833627077708925335&ei=WyWjSp20BKnEtgf31cTPDw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1#ps-sellers

        You loose the beauty but you're still HA for < $150.  This means supposing you already have a cell phone that an OpenRemote starter kit costs less than fancy high-end universal remotes they sell at AV stores.  I wish it were all in one case, some twist on "Plug and Play with OpenRemote" is a happy marketing thing but even with a few low-ball components its still potentially a compelling device.  And I think they're in the business so maybe "hey stick in another USB or WIFI" might not be out of the question.  Moreover the flash drive means "small" from a storage standpoint isn't a given.

        Anyhow I'll report back on how the one we ordered works out (for something else).

        1. Sep 06, 2009

          Neil Cherry says:

          My apologies, by smaller I mean ram wise. I'd like to see 2G but 1G is a minimum...

          My apologies, by smaller I mean ram wise. I'd like to see 2G but 1G is a minimum for future work. When we start to add support for various multi-media services that ram will be taxed.

          I also would like to see another USB port. This would avoid slow downs on network access. While slow speed isn't a problem physical queuing delays bother me.

          1. Sep 08, 2009

            Andrew Oliver says:

            Wha?  1G minimum for an essentially single user system???  I have ente...

            Wha?  1G minimum for an essentially single user system???  I have enterprise systems that serve real traffic that have less than 1G.  I could make a pretty reasonable single user system in 128 to 256m.  In fact come to think of it I think I have the VM that runs our website, webmail and email all in 512m running in KVM.  And all you're doing is serving a web page and sending ir signals.  You should be able to do that non-java in <64m and java in <512m

            1. Sep 08, 2009

              Neil Cherry says:

              If your only talking a web page and IR then I'd say 64M is fine. I'm talking abo...

              If your only talking a web page and IR then I'd say 64M is fine. I'm talking about doing a lot more. I'm also talking about stuff like Mr. House and more. Remember that I'm using my definition of HA which includes everything and the kitchen sink. Of course I don't have what a normal user would have, heck some medium size size businesses can't match my setup.

              My current home server (which is a lot more than just a home automation server) has 512M and 1G Swap. It usually sits with about 32M in swap. I think there will be additional services that users will want and more memory will be very useful. Don't you want your house to tweet you?

  3. Oct 13, 2009

    Jody Smith says:

    Did you have any luck getting this to run? I am looking at getting asterisk and ...

    Did you have any luck getting this to run? I am looking at getting asterisk and openremote working on it and integrated together and was wondering if you'd ran into any issues before I order one.

    Thanks in advance for any help.

    Jody..

    1. Oct 13, 2009

      Andrew Oliver says:

      We JUST got it three weeks ago before I went on the road, took forever for it to...

      We JUST got it three weeks ago before I went on the road, took forever for it to arrive.  When I get back we plan on dinking with it.

      1. Oct 14, 2009

        Jody Smith says:

        Thanks, I wait with baited breath...

        Thanks, I wait with baited breath...

        1. Nov 11, 2009

          Andrew Oliver says:

          So I'm only using it with Apache and a few other mod including mod_perl.  I...

          So I'm only using it with Apache and a few other mod including mod_perl.  It works great and is supprisingly fast.  It actually comes with a version of Ubuntu already installed and it is configured for DHCP by default.  No load testing or anything yet.

      2. Oct 21, 2009

        Jody Smith says:

        Well, I went ahead and ordered one of these anyway, they look like far too much ...

        Well, I went ahead and ordered one of these anyway, they look like far too much fun to not have one and even if I can't get open remote running on it I'm sure I'll find another 400 uses for it. Keep me up to date with your efforts and I will post anythign I find her.

        Do you (or anyone else) know if an ARM based instead of X86 pased processor is going to be an issue? I believe it comes with ubuntu pre installed so am hoping to be able to move forward based on that.

        Jody..

        1. Oct 21, 2009

          Neil Cherry says:

          Keep us apprised of your developments. I'm always interested in the hardware par...

          Keep us apprised of your developments. I'm always interested in the hardware part of OpenRemote. At the moment I'm tied up with the ISY99 and Insteon and also a new Netbook EEE PC (1005HA). The Netbook is not specific to OpenRemote and I'm trying to figure out the ISY. The Insteon stuff I've got down pat (and working pretty well in my home).

        2. Oct 21, 2009

          Neil Cherry says:

          On the ARM vs x86, as long as you can get the dev env set up you should be able ...

          On the ARM vs x86, as long as you can get the dev env set up you should be able to get most stuff working. There may be an issue with getting Java working on it. The solution may be to compile the open source Java. I haven't tried it yet.

          1. Oct 22, 2009

            Jody Smith says:

            Thanks for the heads up about Java, I will let you know what I have to do to get...

            Thanks for the heads up about Java, I will let you know what I have to do to get it up and running (if I can get it running).

        3. Oct 22, 2009

          Juha Lindfors says:

          The dependencies are JRE on ARM and then Tomcat on the JRE. If you follow the o...

          The dependencies are JRE on ARM and then Tomcat on the JRE.

          If you follow the original links that Andy already posted, you'll find this discussion http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=161.0

          Which leads to Zero/Shark project that is a port of OpenJDK: http://icedtea.classpath.org/wiki/ZeroSharkFaq

          There are other JVM's for embedded (ARM) space but the above would be a clean OSS solution. Assuming that runs on Linux/ARM platform then the key question is on stability/performance. Shark is the JIT for Zero, it's still under development though.

          It sounds like a fun hacking project. If that's your itch, I'd also like to know how it goes.

          1. Oct 22, 2009

            Jody Smith says:

            "fun hacking project", definately my itch. If and when I get it working I will d...

            "fun hacking project", definately my itch. If and when I get it working I will definately keep you updated. I'm looking to integrate Asterisk and a HA software onto one of these plugs, I had been looking at Mister house on a regular PC before I found open remote and the plug PC link. If I can get it all working together then I should be able to just image the SD card for an easy install on other plugs, would bring your required hardware costs down a bit

            If it all fails miserably, then the plug will be a NAS/torrent server so I can turn off the power hog I have now, and I'll move over to the ASUS eee PC, bit more power and probably a darn site easier to install.... but where's the fun in easy

          2. Nov 11, 2009

            Andrew Oliver says:

            BTW the openjdk/classpath guys are apparently not really that interested in anyo...

            BTW the openjdk/classpath guys are apparently not really that interested in anyone being able to build their crap.  It is a little infuriating to build.  So be ware that is about as fun as kicking yourself in the head repeatedly.  IIRC the threaded JITs produce acceptable performance on ARM.  The problem was they still use classpath and not the openjdk libs.

            1. Nov 11, 2009

              Juha Lindfors says:

              We're working through the paces on ARM + OpenEmbedded Linux + CocoaVM at the mom...

              We're working through the paces on ARM + OpenEmbedded Linux + CocoaVM at the moment.

              Will let you know if Tomcat manages to get up (issues with Class-Path: in MANIFEST.MF right now)

              1. Nov 11, 2009

                Andrew Oliver says:

                http://jamvm.sourceforge.net/ JamVM was the one I was thinking about.  it u...

                http://jamvm.sourceforge.net/ JamVM was the one I was thinking about.  it uses instruction threading rather than a switch statement as the interpretter.  That's basically going to be similar ASM that compilerthread0 doesin hotspot.

                BTW someting is goofy with this editor window, as the thread indents the right side starts getting cut off...

                1. Nov 11, 2009

                  Juha Lindfors says:

                  Yeah saw JamVM earlier too but haven't played with it. Not seeing any issues w...

                  Yeah saw JamVM earlier too but haven't played with it.

                  Not seeing any issues with the editor, what browser/OS combination are you on?

                  1. Nov 11, 2009

                    Andrew Oliver says:

                    You type really short sentences and double space everything. Type this sentence...

                    You type really short sentences and double space everything.

                    Type this sentence which is long enough to wraps around to the other side of the editor but just before it does it gets chopped off.

                    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1368565/or-editor-choppingeditor.png

                    Ubuntu/Firefox

                    1. Nov 11, 2009

                      Administrator says:

                      Switch to Wiki Markup and make it your default. The button bar on the rich text...

                      Switch to Wiki Markup and make it your default.

                      The button bar on the rich text editor widens the text area over what is actually available. I don't know if it can be fixed from outside the editor component itself. I might take a look at it sometime.

  4. Oct 25, 2009

    Neil Cherry says:

    I think you may find this, on Slashdot, interesting: Low Power Home Linux Server...

    I think you may find this, on Slashdot, interesting: Low Power Home Linux Server

    As usual with Slashdot, take some posts with a grain of salt.

    1. Oct 26, 2009

      Jody Smith says:

      Thanks, there were actually quite a few links within the comments that were very...

      Thanks, there were actually quite a few links within the comments that were very useful (installing Debian, gentoo, ubuntu etc) so I now have lots to work with once I actually get the unit

      1. Nov 18, 2009

        Jody Smith says:

        Got the unit, if this works I'll post a how too

        Got the unit, if this works I'll post a how too

        1. Nov 23, 2009

          Jody Smith says:

          OK, well I've had a couple of days to play with this now and am slowly getting m...

          OK, well I've had a couple of days to play with this now and am slowly getting my head around it. separate to Open Remote I have managed to get Asterisk and Asterisk-GUI up and running on this thing. Also managed to get the operating system (Ubuntu 9.04) on the plug running from the SD card.

          I'm now moving into getting this installed with Open remote, from Juha's earlier post "The dependencies are JRE on ARM and then Tomcat on the JRE" I was looking at being lazy and just seeing how the packages had been updated. I used apt-get install tomcat6 and it seemed to install all of the necessary java packages to allow tomcat6 to install.

          Now if I browse to IP:8080 I get the default tomcat "It works!" page. If tomcat is at this point does that mean I should have minimal issues with open remote? or am I just wishful thinking and the real java problems will show themselves as I get further into OR ?

          Have to say, even if the open remote part falls apart, this little unit will definitely be used for a couple of things regardless.

          1. Nov 23, 2009

            Juha Lindfors says:

            Now if I browse to IP:8080 I get the default tomcat "It works!" page. If tomcat...

            Now if I browse to IP:8080 I get the default tomcat "It works!" page. If tomcat is at this point does that mean I should have minimal issues with open remote? or am I just wishful thinking and the real java problems will show themselves as I get further into OR ?

            It sounds like you may have gotten around the major obstacles at least. Getting Tomcat to start is a good sign. Now the issues that remain should be restricted to the Java VM level.

            You can probably just try downloading the controller from http://sourceforge.net/projects/openremote/

            It already contains the Tomcat runtime so just unzip and

            /bin/openremote.sh run

            Make sure you shut down your installed Tomcat instance first – otherwise you're bound to get a long list of exceptions when the new process attempts to bind to port 8080 as well.

            1. Nov 24, 2009

              Jody Smith says:

              OK, so since this is the first time running through this I am assuming I will ru...

              OK, so since this is the first time running through this I am assuming I will run into problems so am just going through it quickly so I've done a couple of steps I wouldn't do on a production system.

              Followed (ish ) this guide http://www.openremote.org/display/orb/OpenRemote+Reference+Implementation+-+Software+Installation+Instructions

              I did laugh when I got to the OpenRemote part to see "coming soon" since that was the part I needed most. I skipped the Wi-Fi part since I'm using a wired connection, and used apt-get for lirc install (although I don't have a IR set up yet and my end goal is to have this on an android phone). To install OpenRemote this is what I did (including the steps I don't want to do on production)

              cd /usr/src
              wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/openremote/OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1.zip?use_mirror=voxel
              unzip OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1.zip
              chmod -R 0777 OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1 (this is the bit I wasn't so sure on since I didn't know which files needed to be executable)
              cd OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1/bin
              ./openremote.sh run

              so running as root with rwx privileges on everything (just for a quick test) I get this.

              ./openremote.sh run
              Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/src/OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1
              Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/src/OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1
              Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/src/OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1/temp
              Using JRE_HOME: /usr
              Nov 24, 2009 3:19:50 AM org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener init
              INFO: The APR based Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: /usr/src/OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1/webapps/controller/WEB-INF/lib/native
              Nov 24, 2009 3:19:51 AM org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol init
              INFO: Initializing Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
              Nov 24, 2009 3:19:51 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
              INFO: Initialization processed in 7890 ms
              Nov 24, 2009 3:19:51 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService start
              INFO: Starting service Catalina
              Nov 24, 2009 3:19:51 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine start
              INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/6.0.18
              Nov 24, 2009 3:20:18 AM org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol start
              INFO: Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
              Nov 24, 2009 3:20:18 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
              INFO: Server startup in 27586 ms

              I checked the APR error with Google and it says that it can be ignored, it's an optimization. (what say you? ignore or spend time finding it)

              I then browse to the IP of the plug and get nothing... quick look around the files, and browse to IP:8080/controller/ and I have a the "update page"..

              So far so good, was pretty straight forward. Now I just have to figure out how it ties in with everything, I'll be following through these posts next to figure out how to actually use this software

              http://www.openremote.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=5537859 (documentation hints)

              and

              http://www.openremote.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=4096038 (Android emulator)

              If there's a way to test everything is OK please let me know, also if there is a better list of files to make executable (rather than just rwx the whole folder) I'd like to know where that is too.

              Thanks.

              1. Nov 24, 2009

                Juha Lindfors says:

                I did laugh when I got to the OpenRemote part to see "coming soon" since that ...

                I did laugh when I got to the OpenRemote part to see "coming soon" since that was the part I needed most.

                Will be working on finishing that doc next, now that the Win and Mac setup instructions seem to work at least reasonably.

                chmod -R 0777 OpenRemote-Boss-1.0.1 (this is the bit I wasn't so sure on since I didn't know which files needed to be executable)

                Files under bin/ should be sufficient (let us know if that's not the case). I need to look into scripting the release packaging to make sure this gets done automatically.

                I checked the APR error with Google and it says that it can be ignored, it's an optimization. (what say you? ignore or spend time finding it)

                You can safely ignore it.

              2. Jan 08, 2010

                Harold Cochran says:

                I'm gonna toy with the plug as well. Ordered just prior to holidays. Their deliv...

                I'm gonna toy with the plug as well. Ordered just prior to holidays. Their delivery is 3 to 4 weeks.

                Several users have several LAMP modules running even MySQL.

                The plug success story thread is here:

                http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?board=10.0

                1st challenge will be wireless usb.


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