OpenBSD Journal

OpenBSD Plextor install via serial console

Contributed by deanna on from the hardcore hw dept.

Diana Eichert was one of the first OpenBSD users to try out the OpenBSD/landisk port. She writes:

This original install used a max3232 level shifter chip cable but all subsequent installs use a USB cell phone data cable from an Audiovox 9100. Now I just just add pin headers to the system board, cut the cable off the cell phone end of the cable and attach a connector to the cable to mate to the pin header on the system board. I snake the USB side of the cable out the space where I'd installed the RJ10 on the original setup.

And shares these pictures (kindly hosted by todd@) Enjoy!

(Comments are closed)


Comments
  1. By Ian McWilliam (202.7.166.168) kaosagnt at tpg dot com dot au on

    Cool, What sort of performance you get out of one of these units?

    Comments
    1. By Jason Taylor (207.61.43.5) on

      It's not great. These boxen are definitely not performance oriented. They are small, quiet and low power. I use mine as a serial console server for my off-site cabinet. Performance and high bit rates are not very important there but using as little space and power is very desirable.

      Comments
      1. By Anonymous Coward (24.89.228.211) on

        > It's not great. These boxen are definitely not performance oriented. They are small, quiet and low power.

        Out of curiosity, how much power do they use? (I really think power-consumption is more important than performance for a whole host of tasks these days even though it isn't sexy to talk about)

        Comments
        1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

          > > It's not great. These boxen are definitely not performance oriented. They are small, quiet and low power.
          >
          > Out of curiosity, how much power do they use? (I really think power-consumption is more important
          > than performance for a whole host of tasks these days even though it isn't sexy to talk about)
          >

          I'm staring at the Plextor power brick and it's power ratings are:

          5v 1.5A
          12v 1.5A

          So that would be worse case.

          diana

        2. By Anonymous Coward (81.193.145.10) on

          > Out of curiosity, how much power do they use?

          Datasheet states 15W.

          I wish it had 2 NICs, it would make a great PF router for simple home use or, at least, one would hope so.

          Comments
          1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

            > > Out of curiosity, how much power do they use?
            >
            > Datasheet states 15W.
            >
            > I wish it had 2 NICs, it would make a great PF router for simple home use or, at least, one would hope so.
            >

            Depending on your connection speed to the outside world you could consider using a USB 2.0 NIC,
            I have several Linksys USB NICs, work fine for my needs.

            diana

          2. By Anonymous Coward (24.37.242.64) on

            > > Out of curiosity, how much power do they use?
            >
            > Datasheet states 15W.
            >
            > I wish it had 2 NICs, it would make a great PF router for simple home use or, at least, one would hope so.
            >
            >

            You should consider using a WRAP device - cheaper alternative to Soekris and works great.

          3. By Anonymous Coward (66.131.96.58) on

            These aren't as well-suited to that type of work. Not that they wouldn't work well, there are just cheaper / better platforms for that (soekris, WRAP, et al). This is more for leaf-node work not routing work.

            It is good for running spamd.
            It makes a good off-site DNS server for lower volume domains
            or a master DNS for the internet-connected secondaries.
            Add a USB2 802.11g stick and you have a neat little fixed wireless scanner
            It could be used as a syslog collector for a site
            I think it is ideally suited as a serial-device farm, like my console server or as any sort of network-accessible USB device host.

    2. By Anonymous Coward (63.227.47.85) on

      > Cool, What sort of performance you get out of one of these units?

      For simple comparison someone could publish the results of
      md5 -t
      sha1 -t

      easy, in the default install, and gives you a feel of how fast the cpu is.

      Comments
      1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

        > > Cool, What sort of performance you get out of one of these units?
        >
        > For simple comparison someone could publish the results of
        > md5 -t
        > sha1 -t
        >
        > easy, in the default install, and gives you a feel of how fast the cpu is.

        Just to let you know, their performance is awful if you're thinking in terms of modern desktop/server
        grade h/w. However they are pretty damn good at serving up DNS requests, remember we drove the
        internet on early Sparc h/w for years.

        diana

  2. By Jason Taylor (66.131.96.58) on

    I am still hunting for a mini-USB connector for that spot. That way, I just use the same cable that I do for my camera, multi-card reader, gps, etc. Keeps the cable count down and will fit in there nice and neat.

    Comments
    1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

      > I am still hunting for a mini-USB connector for that spot. That way, I just use the same cable
      > that I do for my camera, multi-card reader, gps, etc. Keeps the cable count down and will fit
      > in there nice and neat.

      I spent quite a bit of time looking for an inexpensive mini-USB bulkhead feedthru, but never found
      one. There are some available but they are pricey in small quantities, so I just snake the cable out
      through the place I mounted the "RJ" connector in the original install.

      One thing I forgot to mention, there is an issue with the USB solution. If the USB side is not
      connected the USB - RS232 chip is unpowered, and garbage can show up on the input(Rcv) side
      of the Plextor, this causes the Plextor to halt at the boot loader. I didn't find this out until the first
      USB modified unit was a days flight away. The quick and dirty fix is to plug the USB end back into
      the Plextor, just don't try to access the console port from the Plextor. :-) The correct way to fix
      this issue is to solder a 10k pullup resistor between Rcv and Vcc on the on the Plextor. However
      I'm to lazy to do that.

      diana

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