From owner-freebsd-embedded@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Sep 27 16:31:51 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-embedded@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8AB7D106564A for ; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:31:51 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from olli@grabthar.secnetix.de) Received: from grabthar.secnetix.de (grabthar.secnetix.de [212.17.241.225]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EEFB48FC16 for ; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:31:47 +0000 (UTC) Received: from grabthar.secnetix.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by grabthar.secnetix.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id q8RGQ6S4011608; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:26:07 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from oliver.fromme@secnetix.de) Received: (from olli@localhost) by grabthar.secnetix.de (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) id q8RGQ6nS011607; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:26:06 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from olli) Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:26:06 +0200 (CEST) Message-Id: <201209271626.q8RGQ6nS011607@grabthar.secnetix.de> From: Oliver Fromme To: freebsd-embedded@FreeBSD.ORG X-Newsgroups: list.freebsd-embedded User-Agent: tin/2.0.1-20111224 ("Achenvoir") (UNIX) (FreeBSD/9.1-PRERELEASE-20120811 (i386)) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Cc: Subject: Looking for hardware advice X-BeenThere: freebsd-embedded@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Dedicated and Embedded Systems List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:31:51 -0000 Hi, I'm sorry, this is probably off-topic, but I couldn't find much useful information on the web. I'm looking for a small board that's well supported by FreeBSD (head or stable/9). It should ... - ... be as small as possible (physical size). - ... be available to the public without having to order a crate of 1000. I need only one, maybe two. - ... work out of the box with head or stable/9, without requiring a soldering iron, without having to patch firmware with a hex editor and similar adventures. :-) - ... run from a single power line, preferably 12V DC or something like that, with as low power consumption as possible. I wouldn't mind if it could run from a bunch of batteries either. - ... Support USB and some kind of wireless communication, preferably Bluetooth (either built-in or via a USB-to- Bluetooth adapter). - ... boot from flash (SD card, CF card or USB stick). - ... have a bunch of GPIO pins to play with. Actually I would like to port an old piece of software that used the good old parallel port (in bit-bang mode), so I need at least 12 or 13 I/O pins. Alternatively I could use a USB parallel port adapter, but I'm not sure if those support bit-bang mode. (And such an adapter would add to the overall size, so I'd like to avoid that.) I do NOT need ethernet, VGA, audio, and so on. In fact I'll probably compile a kernel without networking support. Performance is not an issue, I don't intend to run number crunching stuff or folding@home. ;-) RAM should be sufficient to boot a stripped-down kernel with the modules and software that I need (Bluetooth stuff, a shell, some small programs). Something like the Raspberry Pi would be cool (except that the Pi has many features that I don't need, and it's not supported by FreeBSD as of today). Any advice will be appreciated! Best regards Oliver -- Oliver Fromme, secnetix GmbH & Co. KG, Marktplatz 29, 85567 Grafing b. M. Handelsregister: Registergericht Muenchen, HRA 74606, Geschäftsfuehrung: secnetix Verwaltungsgesellsch. mbH, Handelsregister: Registergericht Mün- chen, HRB 125758, Geschäftsführer: Maik Bachmann, Olaf Erb, Ralf Gebhart FreeBSD-Dienstleistungen, -Produkte und mehr: http://www.secnetix.de/bsd With Perl you can manipulate text, interact with programs, talk over networks, drive Web pages, perform arbitrary precision arithmetic, and write programs that look like Snoopy swearing.