I Wznt To Make A Very Simple Thing Yet So Complicated!

[karlosantana 0]

Hi guys long time no see, how is everyone? Right you gonna have to bear wih me on this one I'm writing this on my nokia 5800 that i got YESTERDAY! Right my parents have a computer that burns half a rain forest just booting the thing up. They purely use it for BBC iPlayer and 4od. What i want to do is build an operating system based on linux of course. I've got the hardware sorted, im making something called a puppy box , apparently they fly! Google it and you'll see what it is i cant do hyperlinks through this!My question as you can see is very simple i need to build an os that will just browse the net, boot really quickly and stop killin rainforests!Anyone whos done something similar speak now! If you know o any sites that are good references for this it woul be really apreciatedI hope this sounds ok kinda hard to type this much this late too!Thanks in advanceKyle

[rob86 2]

I haven't built a computer before, but the Puppybox looks like a great little project. I like PuppyLinux so having a use for it would be great. I didn't see anything on "Building a puppybox" about a modem? The guy who made it uses it for web-related things, but there was no mention of a modem to connect to the internet with? Is it hooked up via USB or something?

[karlosantana 0]

Hi mate, internet is done through an ethernet connection its scary fast apparently. Writing this on my phone again so if theres any typos im sorry! Cheers

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi KarlosSantana!If you want to build something that saves electricity, the first thing I would say is that you should stay away from 32-bit x86 processors and 64-bit x86-64 (IA64) processors. Those things are neither built for efficiency nor are they built for heavy number crunching but they are mass produced and so are quite cheap, especially if you are willing to settle for an Intel Celeron or an Intel Atom or even their AMD equivalents. If you pick an ARM processor, although it runs on a different set of processor instructions, you can get a Linux distribution to run on it and it can give you higher levels of efficiency. I can't wait for them to make netbooks with dual-core ARM processors because they seem to last almost forever. You can't, however, run Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP on ARM processors as Microsoft just hasn't seen the value at targeting a small group of users. You might be able to get Windows Mobile or Windows CE to run on it though.If you are pretty adamant about using a 32-bit x86 processors and 64-bit x86-64 (IA64) processors, you would want to take a look at AMD's Geode processor and compare that against Intel's Atom processor. Both try to give you the highest level of efficiency that you wouldn't find in mainstream processors.Via also has a couple of processors in its line-up that you could use. A couple of years ago, Transmeta did come up with some innovative power saving technologies but it was gobbled up by Novafora, which itself went down under.

[inverse_bloom 0]

Just to add to Nitin's post, the old Pentium M's - the "Banias" series are particularly good for low power use. Im not sure how they compare against Atom cpu's, but i know for sure you get decent performance from a 1.4 Ghz "Banias" gauged against how much power it uses. You would need to purchase a 2nd hand laptop to get one of these, as unfortunately they were never made available on PC's.Not to be confused with the Pentium M "Dothans" which have a larger cache, but arent designed as well and produce much more heat. Actually after a quick check, a 1.5Ghz Banias has a TDP of about 10 W, whilst the Atom typically around 2-4 W. But the atoms performance typically compares more to a Pentium 3 than that of a Pentium 4 M. Basically as youd expect, the atom is more efficient but a 1.5 banias is quicker, unless you go for an upmarket atom altenative that uses more power anyway.

Edited October 19, 2009 by inverse_bloom (see edit history)