On 16.09.2008 08:53, Corey Osgood wrote:
On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Joseph Smith joe@settoplinux.org wrote:
On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:28:40 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger c-d.hailfinger.devel.2006@gmx.net wrote:
since the market share of machines with a serial port is shrinking rapidly and USB debug cables are not affordable at all for hobbyists, we may need to support console on parallel port. I do realize that not all machines lacking a serial port will have a parallel port, but as long as it improves our console coverage, I'm inclined to suggest parallel console support as a viable option.
Parallel port console support has the advantage of being faster than serial port console, at the same time keeping the cost for a cable in the single digit dollar range.
What do you think?
Do we have any other devices on board which don't require interrupts to run? Floppy connector? POST cards? PC speaker (with 1-wire protocol)? Is it possible to use any of them with cheap home-built adaptors?
I like this idea. I would also be nice to be able to use a parallel port post (say that five times fast) card for embedded boards without a PCI slot. The one I have does both, PCI and/or Parallel.
The question I have is, are there really systems out there that have parallel and not serial?
I believe so, but they are on the way out as well.
I've seen/owned a few systems with serial and no parallel port (all OEM systems, HP and Gateway and the like), but none vice versa. If they exist, and there's a need for it, I'm all for it! As far as other options, I don't see any that aren't on their way out on your list, aside from PC speakers, which are being integrated onto the mainboard more and more often.
I just checked 101 AM2+ boards and 99 of them have a floppy connector, but only 90 have a serial port. Those 2 without floppy connector have a serial port.
Joe, I remember you were interested in crazy hardware hacks. Would designing a floppy->parallel port interface (or floppy->serial) fit your bill?
Regards, Carl-Daniel