RAM upgrade abandoned

Hi Tom

thanks for the update!

I recall about a project to expand the flash inside the unit to 2MB.
it's at http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/

I gave up on this. I couldn't find a combination of the RAS and CAS
jumpers that would give access to the other 4M.

it's a pitty to hear that :~(

Post by Tom Parker
I also noticed that the 3.3V regulator gets even hotter with
the extra RAM (no surprise here). I managed to get what I wanted into 4M.

me too, but more RAM would make the unit behave better and give
it a little longer lifetime... NBD isn't an option to me because
most of the time there is no unix machine on the customers LAN
to get the swap :~(

Post by Tom Parker
I am happily using the flash boards shown on my website in my
3 2450s

[...]

Post by Tom Parker
I didn't try to enable the onboard flash, but if you can find
the extra CS line and reprogram alios to map the other CS into
memory the you will have a second flash disk......

having an 2MB or even 4MB flash would help if linux could
run in flash (i.e. uncompressed) like i.e. cramfs and jffs
do, instead of being expanded to RAM. I don't think this is
even possible but ...

(I remember ISA RAM expansions, for old machines. perhaps
one could use this idea to add a real bank of memory,
or even an RAM slot connector! then modify ALIOS do enable it
instead of internal RAM -- or am I going crazy?) LoL

Post by Tom Parker
ps. My girlfriend is in Brazil (Lencois) at the moment!

it's very nice there. try to came with her next time! ;-)

Post by Tom Parker
pps. my favorite wireless linux box looks like being the Linksys
WRT54g, the hacking is going well on this
(http://www.sveasoft.com/forum6.html)

on http://hri.sf.net Petr Novak published his successfull
port on SMC7004ABR V2 and me and others are working on
CX84200 hardware (SMC7004VWBR)

Cheers
!3runo
from Brazil

Roy

2004-01-24 04:13:01 UTC

I actualy dont see any big reason to upgrade ram 4mb is quite enough it will
not improve speed at all
another thing is flash which is very thight on space but still enough for
basic stuff.
I was even able to add trafic shaper to it.
basicaly flash have enough space for everything but not for everything at
once.

adding another flash chip should be not so hard but I dont see a way to
reach A22 line
except it is quite easy to do some tricks with gpio lines to switch bwtween
flash chips.
this can be done this way : boot kernel and drivers, then unmount root
sytem, change flash chips and mount new root sytem.
sounds ugly but quite easy

but all this is too hard and almost nobody will be able to do this without
experience in electronic and some knowledge.

so who is going to spend some weeks for that? (almost nobody will be able to
use it anyway)

or if you so much want more space then solder another pcmcia slot and put
20mb flash card in it

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruno Lopes F. Cabral" <***@pbnet.com.br>
To: "Linux Access Point Development" <linuxap-***@linuxAP.ksmith.com>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: [LinuxAP-dev] RAM upgrade abandoned

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
Hi Tom
thanks for the update!

I recall about a project to expand the flash inside the unit

to 2MB.

it's at http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/

I gave up on this. I couldn't find a combination of the RAS

and CAS

Post by Tom Parker
jumpers that would give access to the other 4M.

it's a pitty to hear that :~(

Post by Tom Parker
I also noticed that the 3.3V regulator gets even hotter

with

Post by Tom Parker
the extra RAM (no surprise here). I managed to get what I

wanted

Post by Tom Parker
into 4M.

Post by Tom Parker
I am happily using the flash boards shown on my website in

Post by Tom Parker
3 2450s

[...]

Post by Tom Parker
I didn't try to enable the onboard flash, but if you can

find

Post by Tom Parker
the extra CS line and reprogram alios to map the other CS into
memory the you will have a second flash disk......

having an 2MB or even 4MB flash would help if linux could
run in flash (i.e. uncompressed) like i.e. cramfs and jffs
do, instead of being expanded to RAM. I don't think this is
even possible but ...
(I remember ISA RAM expansions, for old machines. perhaps
one could use this idea to add a real bank of memory,
or even an RAM slot connector! then modify ALIOS do enable it
instead of internal RAM -- or am I going crazy?) LoL

Post by Tom Parker
ps. My girlfriend is in Brazil (Lencois) at the moment!

it's very nice there. try to came with her next time! ;-)

Post by Tom Parker
pps. my favorite wireless linux box looks like being the

Linksys

Post by Tom Parker
WRT54g, the hacking is going well on this
(http://www.sveasoft.com/forum6.html)

on http://hri.sf.net Petr Novak published
his successfull
port on SMC7004ABR V2 and me and others are working on
CX84200 hardware (SMC7004VWBR)
Cheers
!3runo
from Brazil
_______________________________________________
LinuxAP-dev mailing list
http://linuxAP.ksmith.com/mailman/listinfo/linuxap-dev

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-24 09:18:02 UTC

Post by Roy
I actualy dont see any big reason to upgrade ram 4mb
is quite enough it will not improve speed at all

I don't think so... Keith states all the time that
using external SWAP improves the responsiveness
of linuxap. add more RAM is an alternative to SWAPing,
or am I missing something here?

Post by Roy
another thing is flash which is very thight on space
but still enough for basic stuff.
I was even able to add trafic shaper to it.
basicaly flash have enough space for everything but
not for everything at once.

agreed

Post by Roy
adding another flash chip should be not so hard but
I dont see a way to reach A22 line

http://wiresncode.com/project/wireless/openap/
already have it! ;-)

Post by Roy
or if you so much want more space then solder
another pcmcia slot and put 20mb flash card in it

is that possible??

Cheers
!3runo

Roy

2004-01-24 13:49:25 UTC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruno Lopes F. Cabral" <***@pbnet.com.br>
To: "Linux Access Point Development" <linuxap-***@linuxAP.ksmith.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2004 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: [LinuxAP-dev] RAM upgrade abandoned

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
Hi

Post by Roy
I actualy dont see any big reason to upgrade ram 4mb
is quite enough it will not improve speed at all

I don't think so... Keith states all the time that
using external SWAP improves the responsiveness
of linuxap. add more RAM is an alternative to SWAPing,
or am I missing something here?

I cant state that adding more ram will not improve anyting, but it wont
improve speed so much
the main job is done in kernel space wich is not swapable anyway.
so all you will improve is telnet and web management response.
throughput will not change at all, it depends only on cpu speed.
so unless you need to run userspace programs there is no need for more ram.
afterall there is at least 1mb free because you can download flash image
into ram

agreed

Post by Roy
adding another flash chip should be not so hard but
I dont see a way to reach A22 line

http://wiresncode.com/project/wireless/openap/
already have it! ;-)

This page seems dead now do you mean it is possible to use all 2mb at once?

Post by Roy
or if you so much want more space then solder
another pcmcia slot and put 20mb flash card in it

is that possible??

I didnt tested it, but seems there is free space for another pcmcia slot
and if I remenber correctly cpu have ability to use 2 slots

Anyway it is probably imposible to do without having shematic, which is
nesecary to modify something significant.

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
Cheers
!3runo
_______________________________________________
LinuxAP-dev mailing list
http://linuxAP.ksmith.com/mailman/listinfo/linuxap-dev

Lluis

2004-01-24 18:10:41 UTC

El 24/01/04, a les 15:49:25, Roy ens deleità amb les següents paraules:
[...]

Post by Roy
I cant state that adding more ram will not improve anyting, but it wont
improve speed so much
the main job is done in kernel space wich is not swapable anyway.
so all you will improve is telnet and web management response.
throughput will not change at all, it depends only on cpu speed.
so unless you need to run userspace programs there is no need for more ram.
afterall there is at least 1mb free because you can download flash image
into ram

but, what about any dynamic routing protocols programs? do they usually work
on userspace? (bird, for example, as kernel-aodv works on kernel space, so
its tables can't be probably swapped - i suppose, as it uses kmalloc -,
although there are other aodv implementations that may run as userspace
daemons)

bye

--
"And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn
something new, the whole world becomes that much richer."
-- The Princess of Pure Reason, as told by Norton Juster in The Phantom
Tollbooth

Roy

2004-01-24 18:42:50 UTC

Of course thwre are many programs wou can benefit form more ram
but unfortunately there is no pace in the flash for them.
and I dont see that such programs are used on it now

I want to note that this board have 1mb flash and 4 mb ram
So basicaly you cant fill all ram from 1 mb
if it would be possible to add more flash then there will be more need for
more ram.
so flash memory is much more usefull.

Anyway can you show at least few people who are going to upgrade this board?
(for real not just in words) where are you going to solder another flash?
and where to get shematic of this board?

Post by Lluis
but, what about any dynamic routing protocols programs? do they usually work
on userspace? (bird, for example, as kernel-aodv works on kernel space, so
its tables can't be probably swapped - i suppose, as it uses kmalloc -,
although there are other aodv implementations that may run as userspace
daemons)

Lluis

2004-01-25 14:39:12 UTC

Post by Roy
Of course thwre are many programs wou can benefit form more ram
but unfortunately there is no pace in the flash for them.
and I dont see that such programs are used on it now
I want to note that this board have 1mb flash and 4 mb ram
So basicaly you cant fill all ram from 1 mb
if it would be possible to add more flash then there will be more need for
more ram.
so flash memory is much more usefull.

in fact, i made some space for a working kernel-aodv, but for now
people is just using WDS, as it seems enough for little networks
(altough it has already shown to be really inefficient), the point is
that when people has something working, it's hard to change (and the
insertion of kaodv was thought as a way to rute an ad-hoc little
backbone)

and a plan-for-the-future is to try to put bird with OSPF and
(sepparatedly) BGP support, time will tell... (did no size tests)

but in fact, other boxes with more memory are on the market, with
possibilities to be reflahsed (i'm not very informed about this, as i
don't have one of these :))

Post by Roy
Anyway can you show at least few people who are going to upgrade this board?
(for real not just in words) where are you going to solder another flash?
and where to get shematic of this board?

i'm surely not going to do it, as i don't have any knowledge on this :)
and my comment wasn't to make people think on adding anything, but to
point that it might be useful, although there's, as you pointed out, the
problem of flash space

bye

Roy

2004-01-24 18:49:54 UTC

does somebody knows where to get wl11000 board shematic?
I heard it was available some time ago but now became obsolette

I think someone should have it, at least the one who wrote led and watchdog
driver.

having shematic would alow me to add much more features
like more flash, ram , cfdisk, sound card, lcd and similar stuff. which is
already implemented in cpu and just need to be connected.

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-24 18:28:12 UTC

Hi there

I'd buy some daughter boards with more RAM and flash for
my 14 USR2450's, happily :-)

Post by Roy
having shematic would alow me to add much more features
like more flash, ram , cfdisk, sound card, lcd and similar
stuff. which is already implemented in cpu and just need
to be connected.

AMD Elan CPU isn't like other SoCs with lots of things inside.

as a x86 CPU, most of the chip is dedicated to complex CISC
instruction decode. that's one of the reasons for the EOL
of this board, it became pretty expensive while compared to
ARMs and Conexants newer designs

this said, flash was already add by Tom Parker's daugher board
(http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/)

a terminal (LCD) attached to serial port was done by ppl
from england (don't recall the URL, I think it is mesh
router guys). if not you can plug this ready one LK404-AT

http://www.matrixorbital.com/pages/product_view.asp?CatID=1&ProductID=11
(was http://www.matrixorbital.com/products/lk404-at.htm)

on which you can hook an AT keyboard (pricey but very
well done, this "terminal")

I've found a PC104 to dual pccard slot board, but it is
expensive and won't fit inside plastic case (yet it would
need a header to pc104 conversion so it can be pluged
on eumitcomm's board expansion slot) -- one could add
a CF microdrive and a RAM expansion on this dual pccard
slot and modify ALIOS to use that RAM instead of board's
RAM -- my guess is that it would be too much expensive
to be a viable choice to anyone

there is a new good / powerfull board, WRAP1C, with a
Geode 233 CPU, 2 LANs and 2 mini-pci card slots. it's
30-40% cheaper than cheapest soekris board (which is
ELAN 520). the next batch will be available on early
february, at http://www.pcengines.ch

Cheers
!3runo

Roy

2004-01-24 23:06:00 UTC

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
this said, flash was already add by Tom Parker's daugher board
(http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/)

His design is practicaly useless as I see
(however it saved my since I cant get sram card and I even cant some pcmcia
connector to make it so I used similar addon memory)
Anyway this is no use anywhere more , takes much space hard to make, and
doesnt do anything usefull.
As I found on his page the reason was like mine, the lack of sram card.

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
a terminal (LCD) attached to serial port was done by ppl
from england (don't recall the URL, I think it is mesh
router guys). if not you can plug this ready one LK404-AT

http://www.matrixorbital.com/pages/product_view.asp?CatID=1&ProductID=11

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
(was http://www.matrixorbital.com/products/lk404-at.htm)

this way is also not good there are plently of gpio lines to connect lcd and
no need to use serial port
also cpu have integrated video controler to connect ega lcd display.
so basicaly it is laptop on chip ;)

Brian Wilson

2004-01-24 23:24:36 UTC

Post by Roy
His design is practicaly useless as I see

I am guessing that it replaces rather than expands
on board flash, is that why you say it's useless?

Post by Roy
this way is also not good there are plently of gpio lines to connect lcd and
no need to use serial port

This assumes you need the serial port for something
else and that you have time to fuss with the io lines.

Since the std build already works with the serial port,
seems like it is a fine way to go if you have more
money than time. (Which leaves me out right now!)

Brian

Keith Smith

2004-01-30 17:40:57 UTC

Post by Roy
I actualy dont see any big reason to upgrade ram 4mb
is quite enough it will not improve speed at all

I don't think so... Keith states all the time that
using external SWAP improves the responsiveness
of linuxap. add more RAM is an alternative to SWAPing,
or am I missing something here?

It's thrashing. The ROM filesystem is block *compressed*. The kernel
buffer cache will read & decompress the block ( cpu cycles ), but it
can't keep it around because there is no memory to leave it in, so
the buffer cache get's flushed *constantly*. Further reading from the
flash memory is much slower than ram (access time), and you have to
waste CPU cycles decompressing the same blocks over and over again.

Occasionally used .TEXT pages (say syslog?, dhcp?), sit and hog up
RAM, narrowing the available buffer cache. Further I think there are serious
issues with linux and memory management when the kernel runs out of memory.
I've gotten "Out of Memory" errors when it would appear that there was
available memory.

Another 4MB of RAM would improve performance *dramatically*. We are talking
486SX-33 chip here. It should be able to keep up a lot more easily.

Post by Roy
another thing is flash which is very thight on space

I've maintained 2MB Flash / 8MB RAM would be an acceptable trade-off.
The problem is, this is a dead board.

Roy

2004-01-30 19:39:57 UTC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Smith"

Post by Roy
I actualy dont see any big reason to upgrade ram

4mb

Post by Roy
is quite enough it will not improve speed at

all

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
I don't think so... Keith states all the time that
using external SWAP improves the responsiveness
of linuxap. add more RAM is an alternative to

SWAPing,

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
or am I missing something here?

I cant state that adding more ram will not improve anyting, but

it wont

Post by Roy
improve speed so much
the main job is done in kernel space wich is not swapable

anyway.

Post by Roy
so all you will improve is telnet and web management

response.

Post by Roy
throughput will not change at all, it depends only on cpu

speed.

Post by Roy
so unless you need to run userspace programs there is no need

for more ram.

Post by Roy
afterall there is at least 1mb free because you can download

flash image

Post by Roy
into ram

It's thrashing. The ROM filesystem is block *compressed*. The kernel
buffer cache will read & decompress the block ( cpu cycles ), but it
can't keep it around because there is no memory to leave it in, so
the buffer cache get's flushed *constantly*. Further reading from the
flash memory is much slower than ram (access time), and you have to
waste CPU cycles decompressing the same blocks over and over again.
Occasionally used .TEXT pages (say syslog?, dhcp?), sit and hog up
RAM, narrowing the available buffer cache. Further I think there are serious
issues with linux and memory management when the kernel runs out of memory.
I've gotten '"'Out of Memory'"' errors when it would appear that there was
available memory.
Another 4MB of RAM would improve performance *dramatically*. We are talking
486SX-33 chip here. It should be able to keep up a lot more easily.

Post by Roy
another thing is flash which is very thight on

space
I've maintained 2MB Flash / 8MB RAM would be an acceptable trade-off.
The problem is, this is a dead board.

Yes unfortunately this platform is dead, so no need to improve it.
But it is very strange that so many people are talking about performance
improvement
without any explanation what performance they want to improve
this ap because of so small flash memory cant do anything besides routing or
bridging
even pppoe wont fit. (and actualy can be done in kernel space anyway).

I am just interested what userspace programs you are running?
the only purpose of userspace for me is to configure everything and run
telnet and web server.
I dont think syslog or dhcp is usefull actualy dhcp decresses security alot
and you cant control anything anymore
anyway it dont take so much ram space.

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-30 19:38:48 UTC

Post by Roy
But it is very strange that so many people are talking about performance
improvemen without any explanation what performance they want to improve
this ap because of so small flash memory cant do anything besides routing or
bridging even pppoe wont fit. (and actualy can be done in kernel space anyway).

why one would want to upgrade it? in my case, I wish to run snmpd
to remote monitor it, having space for a few more iptables modules
would be nice (i.e. irc/pptp/h323 nat), running PPPoE/PPTP won't
hurt and, if it is not enough, to make the unit more problem free
by not running so tight :~O

(I know some ppl are using openap-ct because its firmware update
on-the-fly thing, it would be good, too, as it could permite
offload the CPU a bit by leting card do WEP (currently it is done
in kernel driver))

Post by Roy
I am just interested what userspace programs you are running?
the only purpose of userspace for me is to configure everything and run
telnet and web server.
I dont think syslog or dhcp is usefull actualy dhcp decresses security alot
and you cant control anything anymore
anyway it dont take so much ram space.

you problably are talking without having a bunch of units on the field.
I have 14 here, if I can extend it's life, I'll do so (as I'd buy
more units if it hasn't the limitations me/Keith exposed)

Cheers
!3runo

Roy

2004-01-30 22:38:36 UTC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruno Lopes F. Cabral" <***@pbnet.com.br>
To: "Linux Access Point Development" <linuxap-***@linuxAP.ksmith.com>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 9:38 PM
Subject: Re: [LinuxAP-dev] RAM upgrade abandoned

Post by Keith Smith
Hi

Post by Roy
But it is very strange that so many people are talking about

performance

Post by Roy
improvemen without any explanation what performance they want

to improve

Post by Roy
this ap because of so small flash memory cant do anything

besides routing or

Post by Roy
bridging even pppoe wont fit. (and actualy can be done in

kernel space anyway).
why one would want to upgrade it? in my case, I wish to run snmpd
to remote monitor it, having space for a few more iptables modules
would be nice (i.e. irc/pptp/h323 nat), running PPPoE/PPTP won't
hurt and, if it is not enough, to make the unit more problem free
by not running so tight :~O

You are 100% right, but al this need more flash space first and only then
MAIBE more ram.
and I am quite sure ading more ram still wont change anything
I suppose you are not so much conserned about snmpd response time
anyway all this can be done even without upgrading any hardware.

I think it would be better to use kernel 2.2 which is 100k smaler

Post by Keith Smith

Post by Roy
I am just interested what userspace programs you are

running?

Post by Roy
the only purpose of userspace for me is to configure everything

and run

Post by Roy
telnet and web server.
I dont think syslog or dhcp is usefull actualy dhcp decresses

security alot

Post by Roy
and you cant control anything anymore
anyway it dont take so much ram space.

you problably are talking without having a bunch of units on the field.
I have 14 here, if I can extend it's life, I'll do so (as I'd buy
more units if it hasn't the limitations me/Keith exposed)

I have 7 usr2445 but I am going to use then only for p2p links
so nothing more besides bridging or routing is not required for me.
I was even able to implement trafic shaper (prioritizer), because
wlan is realy slow.

probably the better way should be concentrate on some other ap hacking
i think uniden is good candidate it is made of one chip only which is
designed for linuxRG
also it is wery cheap (30$)

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-30 22:15:31 UTC

Post by Roy
I have 7 usr2445 but I am going to use then only for p2p links

I have 4 on PtMP and the rest on PtP, snmpd is still necessary,
although I'm using wget with a cgi to retrieve the information,
as in interim solution

Post by Roy
so nothing more besides bridging or routing is not required for me.
I was even able to implement trafic shaper (prioritizer), because
wlan is realy slow.

another thing I wish to try was the Turbocell-like solutions
(sorry, URLs not handy), but that would need more space, too

you problably missed but there is a hack to add more flash,
and from what Keith said, perhaps adding 4MB flash would
let us use an uncompressed filesystem and get a few more
CPU cycles from the units

Post by Roy
probably the better way should be concentrate on some other ap hacking
i think uniden is good candidate it is made of one chip only which is
designed for linuxRG also it is wery cheap (30$)

that's why I'm on HRI project ;-)

Cheers
!3runo

Roy

2004-01-31 00:11:30 UTC

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
you problably missed but there is a hack to add more flash,
and from what Keith said, perhaps adding 4MB flash would
let us use an uncompressed filesystem and get a few more
CPU cycles from the units

If you are talkink about the same page
http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/
then you are wrong
this project REPLACES flash it does not add anything
this ap have 1mb as before.
This project had good idea how to avoid using sram but nothing else
and I still dont understand authors motivation to replace exsisting flash
chip
with aditional board forever.

and about CPU cycles you still miss the point:
yes, maibe you will increase userspace response
but who cares about it?
it is not so slow anyway. it wont increase througput at all.
and if you are still going to upgrade memory you should be ready
to solder the same type chip on top of old flash
there wont be any upgrade cards
if you an do this you can start experimenting right now
all that must be done is software
the fast and simple solution to get aditional addess line is to use one gpio
for example use one led. that all what is needed

if you need so high computing power then use normal computer
you probably can find some 100mhz pentium for free or very cheap

so the best would be to design some isa flash card to aviod using hdd (or
use ide flashdisk)
I think it is much better than working on obsolette platform which is not
possible to buy anywhere
also this way probably wont become obsolette because uses pc platform.

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-31 00:08:02 UTC

If you are talkink about the same page
http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/
then you are wrong
this project REPLACES flash it does not add anything

yes, but the basis to add more is there :-)

Post by Roy
this ap have 1mb as before.
This project had good idea how to avoid using sram but nothing else
and I still dont understand authors motivation to replace exsisting
flash chip with aditional board forever.

the original SRAM card was pricey, US$200 or so, and besides
pretec US$65 one he made a cheaper alternative with spare
parts he have. a good work!!

Post by Roy
yes, maibe you will increase userspace response
but who cares about it?

the unit is now only capable of about 350-450KB/s,
but with original firmware it does more. so if unix
turn the unit SLOWER, we must know the reason,
don't we?

Post by Roy
it is not so slow anyway. it wont increase througput at all.

well, I have 486 notebooks with similar hardware
running much better than eumitcomm board...

Post by Roy
and if you are still going to upgrade memory you should
be ready to solder the same type chip on top of old flash
there wont be any upgrade cards

[...]

solder a header is OK, but do that on pins is a work
I'd avoid, if I can, sorry

Post by Roy
if you need so high computing power then use normal computer
you probably can find some 100mhz pentium for free or very cheap

the problem is the power source (AT/ATX). big, heavy,
you have to take a long power cable to the unit

PoE is handy and that's one of the reasons one would
use an AP instead of a computer

Post by Roy
so the best would be to design some isa flash card to aviod
using hdd (or use ide flashdisk)

I already do that on some computers ;-)

Post by Roy
I think it is much better than working on obsolette platform
which is not possible to buy anywhere

they appear from time to time... last time I saw they were
bellow US$50, new, on U.S. shop (not in ebay)

Post by Roy
also this way probably wont become obsolette because uses pc platform.

:-)

Cheers
!3runo

Roy

2004-01-31 02:27:57 UTC

Probably this is fastes conversatuion her ;-)

Post by Tom Parker
Hi

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
you problably missed but there is a hack to add more

flash,

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
and from what Keith said, perhaps adding 4MB flash

would

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
let us use an uncompressed filesystem and get a few

Post by Bruno Lopes F. Cabral
CPU cycles from the units

If you are talkink about the same page
http://www.wiresncode.com/projects/wireless/openap/
then you are wrong
this project REPLACES flash it does not add anything

yes, but the basis to add more is there :-)

not exactly right it, this way is no good.
it is better to use similar flash types , else it will be hard to use.

Post by Roy
this ap have 1mb as before.
This project had good idea how to avoid using sram but nothing

else

Post by Roy
and I still dont understand authors motivation to replace

exsisting

Post by Roy
flash chip with aditional board forever.

the original SRAM card was pricey, US$200 or so, and besides
pretec US$65 one he made a cheaper alternative with spare
parts he have. a good work!!

Yes I dont say everything he did is useless, but he can use this addon board
to flash exsisting ship and remove it like I do,
Actualy his project was wery usefull for me, since I even cant get sram card
anywhere
and I wont pay 200$ for it when I ewen dont have laptop.
But I se similar addon board in diferent way
I flash exsisting chip and remove it. Now I think I could make
flash sram card if i would find pcmia connector

Post by Roy
yes, maibe you will increase userspace response
but who cares about it?

the unit is now only capable of about 350-450KB/s,
but with original firmware it does more. so if unix
turn the unit SLOWER, we must know the reason,
don't we?

with original firware its capacity was 450 for me
and this is hostap driver problem
also you can squeze some speed by increasing cpu speed
it adds 50 kbytes/s for me (from 33 to 66)

Post by Roy
it is not so slow anyway. it wont increase througput at

all.
well, I have 486 notebooks with similar hardware
running much better than eumitcomm board...

I suppose that you know that eumitcomm 33mhz equals
laptop 16mhz or (maibe even 8mhz but probably not)

Post by Roy
and if you are still going to upgrade memory you should
be ready to solder the same type chip on top of old flash
there wont be any upgrade cards

[...]
solder a header is OK, but do that on pins is a work
I'd avoid, if I can, sorry

actualy this way is most simple it was recomended wery old time ago
to increase ram if old zx spectrum(sinclar) type computer
and even comercialy used
unfortunately smd chip is not very good for such things but still posiible
to bend once
--------------------------
I also was thinking about instaling ppoe, but afterall this unit dont have
enough memory
and speed also my servers are always so complex that such weak cpu wont
handle all jobs anyway.

just imagine what nust do at least simple server for inet sharing:
ppoe, firewall, trafic shaper, statistic logging, management.

I am more worried about stability, which is incredibly bad, watcdog is
useless at boot time,
and actualy useless everytime since needs to be togled unresonably fast.

Bruno Lopes F. Cabral

2004-01-31 13:19:52 UTC

Post by Roy
Probably this is fastes conversatuion her ;-)

:-)

Post by Roy
I am more worried about stability, which is incredibly bad, watcdog is
useless at boot time, and actualy useless everytime since needs to be
togled unresonably fast.

I suppose you didn't included softdog daemon on your units?

a few days ago I downloaded latest linuxap from Keith Smith's
site. he converted shell cgi-bins to C, which increase their
speed a lot (according to the docs, will need to do some
tweaking here because I modified mines a bit too much).

one thing I noticed (and I'm glad off) is that (finally)
update (flash) is fixed so the major drawback early revisions
had (sometimes between erasing flash and rewriting it, unit
hanged and you get an boot-without-any-configuration unit)

Thanks Keith!

Cheers
!3runo

Tom Parker

2004-01-29 07:40:11 UTC

Hi,