NetCPU or DotNetCPU DB200 anyone?

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

I have a DB200 that seems to be from NetCPU, or dotnetcpu.com,
though the domain seems not to exist.

Pretty much nothing comes out in a google search.

It would be nice to know the processor (it is missing from the
board, but I believe everything else is there).

A little documentation would be nice, too.

The board has USB, serial, A/D, D/A ports, an LCD display, and
a big breadboard area to add your own circuits. Power from USB,
external supply, or 9V battery.

Would be fun to try out, but I need a little more information.

-- glen

 

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

(snip, I wrote)

I have a DB200 that seems to be from NetCPU, or dotnetcpu.com,
though the domain seems not to exist.

Pretty much nothing comes out in a google search.

It would be nice to know the processor (it is missing from the
board, but I believe everything else is there).

A little documentation would be nice, too.

(snip)

I did some searching and found this link...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/04/12/14/0316213/a-net-cpu

I think I found that, too, but it didn't seem to have anything
related to a DB200.

which has a link to a "website"

http://www.dotnetcpu.com/

Which takes me to...

http://devicesolutions.net/

You might try asking them about it. They seem to be making CPU modules
and motherboards so maybe there is some compatibility still... ? But
this is a 10 year old product. You could probably have more fun (and
less frustration) with a rPi or something.

Thanks. Yes, I haven't tried one of those yet.

From some other search, there is a hint that it might be an ARM7
CPU (as I said, the CPU isn't there). Anyone know if they come
in a 32 pin DIP? (Seems a rare package size to me.)

-- glen

 

[rickman]

On 9/17/2014 6:21 PM, glen herrmannsfeldt wrote:

I have a DB200 that seems to be from NetCPU, or dotnetcpu.com,
though the domain seems not to exist.

Pretty much nothing comes out in a google search.

It would be nice to know the processor (it is missing from the
board, but I believe everything else is there).

A little documentation would be nice, too.

The board has USB, serial, A/D, D/A ports, an LCD display, and
a big breadboard area to add your own circuits. Power from USB,
external supply, or 9V battery.

Would be fun to try out, but I need a little more information.

I did some searching and found this link...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/04/12/14/0316213/a-net-cpu

which has a link to a "website"

http://www.dotnetcpu.com/

Which takes me to...

http://devicesolutions.net/

You might try asking them about it. They seem to be making CPU modules
and motherboards so maybe there is some compatibility still... ? But
this is a 10 year old product. You could probably have more fun (and
less frustration) with a rPi or something.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 9/17/2014 7:00 PM, glen herrmannsfeldt wrote:

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

(snip, I wrote)

I have a DB200 that seems to be from NetCPU, or dotnetcpu.com,
though the domain seems not to exist.

Pretty much nothing comes out in a google search.

It would be nice to know the processor (it is missing from the
board, but I believe everything else is there).

A little documentation would be nice, too.

(snip)

I did some searching and found this link...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/04/12/14/0316213/a-net-cpu

I think I found that, too, but it didn't seem to have anything
related to a DB200.

which has a link to a "website"

http://www.dotnetcpu.com/

Which takes me to...

http://devicesolutions.net/

You might try asking them about it. They seem to be making CPU modules
and motherboards so maybe there is some compatibility still... ? But
this is a 10 year old product. You could probably have more fun (and
less frustration) with a rPi or something.

Thanks. Yes, I haven't tried one of those yet.

From some other search, there is a hint that it might be an ARM7
CPU (as I said, the CPU isn't there). Anyone know if they come
in a 32 pin DIP? (Seems a rare package size to me.)

Hmmm... 32 pin DIP? I don't recall ever seeing a 32 pin DIP at all.
ARM7 sounds right for the time frame. Makers from that time would
include Atmel, NXP and a German company I can't recall. I don't think
Atmel produced DIPs, maybe NXP. I believe the German company produced
DIPs. I'll see if I can find the name. They were making automotive units.

--

Rick

 

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

On 9/17/2014 7:00 PM, glen herrmannsfeldt wrote:

From some other search, there is a hint that it might be an ARM7
CPU (as I said, the CPU isn't there). Anyone know if they come
in a 32 pin DIP? (Seems a rare package size to me.)
Hmmm... 32 pin DIP? I don't recall ever seeing a 32 pin DIP at all.
ARM7 sounds right for the time frame. Makers from that time would
include Atmel, NXP and a German company I can't recall. I don't think
Atmel produced DIPs, maybe NXP. I believe the German company produced
DIPs. I'll see if I can find the name. They were making automotive units.

Going by one comment in the Slashdot thread, it would have been a BGA
chip mounted on a carrier board:
<http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132691&cid=11080091>

-a

 

[mnentwig]

and a German company I can't recall
Temic semiconductors, maybe?

---------------------------------------
Posted through http://www.FPGARelated.com

 

[rickman]

On 9/18/2014 2:50 PM, mnentwig wrote:

and a German company I can't recall
Temic semiconductors, maybe?

No, that doesn't ring any bells, but maybe this bell is old and makes
very little noise anymore. I want to say they had a narrow product line
mostly around automotive. They used bigger packages and 5 volt
supplies. They may have been absorbed by now.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 9/18/2014 6:58 AM, Anders.Montonen@kapsi.spam.stop.fi.invalid wrote:

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:
On 9/17/2014 7:00 PM, glen herrmannsfeldt wrote:

From some other search, there is a hint that it might be an ARM7
CPU (as I said, the CPU isn't there). Anyone know if they come
in a 32 pin DIP? (Seems a rare package size to me.)
Hmmm... 32 pin DIP? I don't recall ever seeing a 32 pin DIP at all.
ARM7 sounds right for the time frame. Makers from that time would
include Atmel, NXP and a German company I can't recall. I don't think
Atmel produced DIPs, maybe NXP. I believe the German company produced
DIPs. I'll see if I can find the name. They were making automotive units.

Going by one comment in the Slashdot thread, it would have been a BGA
chip mounted on a carrier board:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132691&cid=11080091

Anyone notice the "~450,000 instructions per second"? That is pretty
slow even by Z80 standards. Must be a mistake.

--

Rick

 

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

(snip, someone wrote)

Going by one comment in the Slashdot thread, it would have been a BGA
chip mounted on a carrier board:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132691&cid=11080091

Anyone notice the "~450,000 instructions per second"? That is pretty
slow even by Z80 standards. Must be a mistake.

There is something about a processor directly executing C# code,
or compiled C# code.

It might be the 450,000 instructions/second isn't bad if they
are complicated enough instructions.

-- glen

 

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone notice the "~450,000 instructions per second"? That is pretty
slow even by Z80 standards. Must be a mistake.

The speculation in the same thread was that this meant CIL bytecode
instructions.

-a

 

[Jon Elson]

rickman wrote:

You could probably have more fun (and

less frustration) with a rPi or something.

The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the
Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't
currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've
used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and
now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new
Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers
in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to
replace a very old PC using a DMA board.

Jon

 

[rickman]

On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:

rickman wrote:

You could probably have more fun (and
less frustration) with a rPi or something.

The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the
Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't
currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've
used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and
now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new
Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers
in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to
replace a very old PC using a DMA board.

I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about
Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true
newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it
to take off, but I would need support for the software.

I'm not sure the rPi is much better for *real* support I guess. I've
been nosing around the rPi forum and other than pissing off a few of the
regulars I have not gotten much info. Someone pointed me to a project
written up in Magpi about interfacing a fast ADC, but the guy sets up a
10 MHz clock for the ADC sample line and then goes into a tight loop
reading the data with *no* synchronization.. what???

I used to belong to the BB support Google Group until I quit using
Google groups. Even the group owner hated GG because they keep changing
stuff and breaking it for him. But he won't find another way to do his
support.

--

Rick

 

Den lřrdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:

rickman wrote:



You could probably have more fun (and

less frustration) with a rPi or something.



The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the

Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't

currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've

used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and

now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new

Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers

in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to

replace a very old PC using a DMA board.



I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about

Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true

newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it

to take off, but I would need support for the software.

nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the
technical details?

You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq
on MicroZed for example

I knew nothing about linux except having used unix at uni many years ago, but it wasn't *that* hard with the help of google to figure out how to build linux kernels, tweak drivers, and talking to the hardware


-Lasse

 

[rickman]

On 9/20/2014 6:47 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den lřrdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:
On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:

rickman wrote:



You could probably have more fun (and

less frustration) with a rPi or something.



The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the

Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't

currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've

used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and

now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new

Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers

in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to

replace a very old PC using a DMA board.



I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about

Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true

newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it

to take off, but I would need support for the software.



nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the
technical details?

You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq
on MicroZed for example

I have zero interest in working with the Zynq. My understanding is they
lock you to their tools for many aspects of the design, a rather
autopilot thing. It's also everything about FPGAs that I have little
interest in, physically large, power hungry, expensive...


> I knew nothing about linux except having used unix at uni many years ago, but it wasn't *that* hard with the help of google to figure out how to build linux kernels, tweak drivers, and talking to the hardware

When it comes to compiling Linux stuff my experience has been that there
are so many details that aren't given that it is a chore figuring out.
Maybe I'm just old and cranky anymore. I like working next to the metal
where I can read the manual about the registers and figure it out. It
just seems like the software side these days has gotten much more
complex than it needs to be.

--

Rick

 

Den søndag den 21. september 2014 01.24.45 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/20/2014 6:47 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den l�rdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:



rickman wrote:







You could probably have more fun (and



less frustration) with a rPi or something.







The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the



Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't



currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've



used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and



now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new



Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers



in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to



replace a very old PC using a DMA board.







I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about



Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true



newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it



to take off, but I would need support for the software.







nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the

technical details?



You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq

on MicroZed for example



I have zero interest in working with the Zynq. My understanding is they

lock you to their tools for many aspects of the design, a rather

autopilot thing. It's also everything about FPGAs that I have little

interest in, physically large, power hungry, expensive...

You wouldn't have to use Zynq my point was that there seems to be many reasonably straight forward description on how to get linux up and running
i.e. download these repositories from github, set the variables to do cross compiling, here's how to compile the kernel, a driver, uboot, make a devicetree
and where to put the resulting files on an SD card to get the thing running

The tools to use the Programmable logic is obviously Xilinx only, all FPGAs are

But everything else seems to be open source stuff and gcc

The Zynq on a microzed is a 400pin bga, about the same as most other dual core ARMs, the one I have running her eon the table uses ~1W running linux

I knew nothing about linux except having used unix at uni many years ago, but it wasn't *that* hard with the help of google to figure out how to build linux kernels, tweak drivers, and talking to the hardware



When it comes to compiling Linux stuff my experience has been that there

are so many details that aren't given that it is a chore figuring out.

Maybe I'm just old and cranky anymore. I like working next to the metal

where I can read the manual about the registers and figure it out. It

just seems like the software side these days has gotten much more

complex than it needs to be.

I hear you, but those big chips with heaps of peripherals are complex so while it seems like it I'm not sure the software is really more complex than needed.


-Lasse

 

Den mandag den 22. september 2014 22.13.36 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/22/2014 3:52 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den søndag den 21. september 2014 01.24.45 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/20/2014 6:47 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:



Den l�rdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:



On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:







rickman wrote:















You could probably have more fun (and







less frustration) with a rPi or something.















The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the







Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't







currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've







used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and







now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new







Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers







in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to







replace a very old PC using a DMA board.















I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about







Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true







newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it







to take off, but I would need support for the software.















nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the



technical details?







You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq



on MicroZed for example







I have zero interest in working with the Zynq. My understanding is they



lock you to their tools for many aspects of the design, a rather



autopilot thing. It's also everything about FPGAs that I have little



interest in, physically large, power hungry, expensive...







You wouldn't have to use Zynq my point was that there seems to be many reasonably straight forward description on how to get linux up and running

i.e. download these repositories from github, set the variables to do cross compiling, here's how to compile the kernel, a driver, uboot, make a devicetree

and where to put the resulting files on an SD card to get the thing running



Uh, why do you list all that as if it is all trivial?

what would you consider trivial? even the smallest mcu you have to figure out
how to compile, link, program etc.

The tools to use the Programmable logic is obviously Xilinx only, all FPGAs are



But everything else seems to be open source stuff and gcc



I haven't looked myself, but I was told that they require you to use

Xilinx tools to load the code. Maybe that is to load the code from the

bitstream.

only making the bitstream, but you don't need a bit stream to run linux and
use the buildin peripherals, thought number of IOs are very limited if you don't use the programmable logic

and while you have to use Xilinx tools to make a bitstream, their free tools
supports everything but the very biggest Zynqs

The Zynq on a microzed is a 400pin bga, about the same as most other dual core ARMs, the one I have running her eon the table uses ~1W running linux



Yes, that is large and power hungry. I don't typically do project that

use such large devices.

Then what do you need linux for?


-Lasse

 

[rickman]

On 9/22/2014 3:52 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den søndag den 21. september 2014 01.24.45 UTC+2 skrev rickman:
On 9/20/2014 6:47 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den l�rdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:



rickman wrote:







You could probably have more fun (and



less frustration) with a rPi or something.







The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the



Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't



currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've



used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and



now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new



Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers



in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to



replace a very old PC using a DMA board.







I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about



Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true



newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it



to take off, but I would need support for the software.







nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the

technical details?



You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq

on MicroZed for example



I have zero interest in working with the Zynq. My understanding is they

lock you to their tools for many aspects of the design, a rather

autopilot thing. It's also everything about FPGAs that I have little

interest in, physically large, power hungry, expensive...



You wouldn't have to use Zynq my point was that there seems to be many reasonably straight forward description on how to get linux up and running
i.e. download these repositories from github, set the variables to do cross compiling, here's how to compile the kernel, a driver, uboot, make a devicetree
and where to put the resulting files on an SD card to get the thing running

Uh, why do you list all that as if it is all trivial?

The tools to use the Programmable logic is obviously Xilinx only, all FPGAs are

But everything else seems to be open source stuff and gcc

I haven't looked myself, but I was told that they require you to use
Xilinx tools to load the code. Maybe that is to load the code from the
bitstream.


> The Zynq on a microzed is a 400pin bga, about the same as most other dual core ARMs, the one I have running her eon the table uses ~1W running linux

Yes, that is large and power hungry. I don't typically do project that
use such large devices.

I knew nothing about linux except having used unix at uni many years ago, but it wasn't *that* hard with the help of google to figure out how to build linux kernels, tweak drivers, and talking to the hardware



When it comes to compiling Linux stuff my experience has been that there

are so many details that aren't given that it is a chore figuring out.

Maybe I'm just old and cranky anymore. I like working next to the metal

where I can read the manual about the registers and figure it out. It

just seems like the software side these days has gotten much more

complex than it needs to be.


I hear you, but those big chips with heaps of peripherals are complex so while it seems like it I'm not sure the software is really more complex than needed.


-Lasse

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 9/22/2014 5:46 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den mandag den 22. september 2014 22.13.36 UTC+2 skrev rickman:
On 9/22/2014 3:52 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Den søndag den 21. september 2014 01.24.45 UTC+2 skrev rickman:

On 9/20/2014 6:47 PM, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:



Den l�rdag den 20. september 2014 03.42.21 UTC+2 skrev rickman:



On 9/19/2014 2:53 PM, Jon Elson wrote:







rickman wrote:















You could probably have more fun (and







less frustration) with a rPi or something.















The ultimate hacking paradise, in my opinion, is the







Beagle Bone! LOTS of gpio pins, the only thing that is doesn't







currently support well is 3D graphics acceleration. I've







used the earlier Beagle Boards in some one-off projects, and







now the Bone in a couple, and they are really great. The new







Bone board has two 200 MHz (200 MIPS) 32-bit microcontrollers







in it, that can do fast I/O. I used this in my latest project to







replace a very old PC using a DMA board.















I have been wanting to get into the BBB, but I know *nothing* about







Linux and I don't see nearly as much "getting started" info for the true







newwbies. I'd really like to roll an I/O card and see if I can get it







to take off, but I would need support for the software.















nothing about linux as in never used it or as in never looked at the



technical details?







You might want to look at what there is around for working with Xilinx Zynq



on MicroZed for example







I have zero interest in working with the Zynq. My understanding is they



lock you to their tools for many aspects of the design, a rather



autopilot thing. It's also everything about FPGAs that I have little



interest in, physically large, power hungry, expensive...







You wouldn't have to use Zynq my point was that there seems to be many reasonably straight forward description on how to get linux up and running

i.e. download these repositories from github, set the variables to do cross compiling, here's how to compile the kernel, a driver, uboot, make a devicetree

and where to put the resulting files on an SD card to get the thing running



Uh, why do you list all that as if it is all trivial?


what would you consider trivial? even the smallest mcu you have to figure out
how to compile, link, program etc.



The tools to use the Programmable logic is obviously Xilinx only, all FPGAs are



But everything else seems to be open source stuff and gcc



I haven't looked myself, but I was told that they require you to use

Xilinx tools to load the code. Maybe that is to load the code from the

bitstream.


only making the bitstream, but you don't need a bit stream to run linux and
use the buildin peripherals, thought number of IOs are very limited if you don't use the programmable logic

and while you have to use Xilinx tools to make a bitstream, their free tools
supports everything but the very biggest Zynqs


The Zynq on a microzed is a 400pin bga, about the same as most other dual core ARMs, the one I have running her eon the table uses ~1W running linux



Yes, that is large and power hungry. I don't typically do project that

use such large devices.


Then what do you need linux for?

I think we have gotten off target. Your use of Google groups makes it
impossible to read the thread in this message.

I think I said I was interested in the BeagleBone and that morphed into
the Zync. BeagleBone is a board, not a chip. I'm looking at the
potential for building a daughter card for it.

--

Rick