Hi Michael,

Yes I was disappointed the serial header did not work for me, perhaps it is a 
Linux thing or just my board, but I'm betting it is a BIOS issue.  There is a 
knockout in the case rear for the serial male connector.

Lonnie

On Feb 27, 2014, at 10:05 PM, Michael Knill wrote:

> Looks good but I really need my Serial interface sorry. Nice price though. 
> Lets see how reliable it is!
> 
> Regards
> Michael Knill
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 28/02/2014, at 2:43 PM, Lonnie Abelbeck <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> We have added a new addition to our "Generic x86 Boards and Appliances" 
>> hardware list...
>> 
>> OEM Production 2550L2D-MxPC (MINIX) Atom D2550
>> http://doc.astlinux.org/userdoc:board_oem_2550l2d-mxpc
>> 
>> Also known as: MINIX Mini HD PC Intel Atom D2550 Barebone
>> 
>> The key features of this system (referred to as "MINIX" herein) are the 
>> *price*, Broadcom NIC's and 13 Watts when idle .
>> 
>> Executive summary:
>> 
>> -  Intel Atom D2550 (1.86 GHz, 2Cores, 4 Threads)
>> -  2x Broadcom 57788 PCIe NIC's
>> -  SATA 3.0 Gb/s
>> -  Metal case with power button
>> -  Power Adapter
>> -  Price: $130 USD
>> 
>> OEM Production 2550L2D-MxPC Intel NM10 2 x 204Pin Intel GMA 3650 Black Mini 
>> / Booksize Barebone System - OEM
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007
>> 
>> Add a stick of RAM and SATA flash storage, you have a powerful AstLinux 
>> system.  BTW: AstLinux 1.1.2 or later is required which supports the latest 
>> "tg3" Broadcom NIC driver from source.
>> 
>> Details:
>> 
>> In my testing lab, for well over a year I have used a Jetway NF99FL-525 / 
>> M350 case / 2 GB SATA Flash Module, to test full AstLinux builds containing 
>> Asterisk 11.  I decided to replace this box with the MINIX for comparison.  
>> Fortunately both the RAM and SATA Flash Module worked equally well in the 
>> MINIX (remembering to remove 70-persistent-net.rules and enabling "tg3" in 
>> rc.modules before the switch).  On first boot I had the exact same system 
>> running on the MINIX !
>> 
>> I have eth0 on the external interface, and three internal interfaces, eth1 
>> (untagged), eth1.10 and eth1.50 .  Performing iperf tests (Mac -> eth1 -> 
>> eth0 -> Mac) were at Gb line speed, (920 Mbps) at 78% idle (via top), 
>> essentially the same as the Jetway NF99FL-525 Intel 82574L NIC's, and 
>> somewhat interesting the Broadcom NIC's slightly outperformed the Intel 
>> NIC's when handling tagged (VLAN) frames.
>> 
>> Another difference, the Jetway NF99FL-525 total idle power was 21 Watts, the 
>> MINIX is only 13 Watts.
>> 
>> The MINIX steel case is of lighter weight than the M350 case, but solidly 
>> riveted and easy to remove top, plenty sturdy.  The board looks 
>> professionally designed and manufactured.
>> 
>> Quite surprising, comparing the Intel Atom D525 vs. D2550 in a PHP benchmark 
>> script, the D2550 is 6% faster...
>> ++
>> == D525 (Jetway NF99FL-525) ==
>> Start : 2014-02-24 08:36:03
>> Server : @
>> PHP version : 5.3.28
>> Platform : Linux
>> --------------------------------------
>> test_math                 : 8.887 sec.
>> test_stringmanipulation   : 9.351 sec.
>> test_loops                : 6.641 sec.
>> test_ifelse               : 4.398 sec.
>> --------------------------------------
>> Total time:               : 29.277 sec.
>> 
>> == D2550 (MINIX) ==
>> --------------------------------------
>> test_math                 : 8.193 sec.
>> test_stringmanipulation   : 8.624 sec.
>> test_loops                : 6.406 sec.
>> test_ifelse               : 4.266 sec.
>> --------------------------------------
>> Total time:               : 27.489 sec.
>> ++
>> 
>> The MINIX comes with a small CPU fan, typical 5000 RPM annoying small fan.  
>> It appears for typical AstLinux applications (no video, flash storage) in a 
>> climate conditioned location the fan is not necessary, you decide.  The 
>> MINIX contains a Winbond W83627DHG-P chip for hardware monitoring (not the 
>> Fintek F71808 as the docs suggests), and "coretemp" provides accurate 
>> results.  My system (at idle) with the fan removed shows the following:
>> ----------------
>> coretemp-isa-0000
>> Adapter: ISA adapter
>> Core 0:       +59.0 C  (crit = +100.0 C)
>> coretemp-isa-0002
>> Adapter: ISA adapter
>> Core 1:       +61.0 C  (crit = +100.0 C)
>> w83627dhg-isa-0a00
>> Adapter: ISA adapter
>> CPUVCORE:     +1.23 V  (min =  +0.20 V, max =  +2.04 V)
>> 12V:         +12.14 V  (min = +10.82 V, max = +13.20 V)
>> 3VCC:         +3.33 V  (min =  +2.98 V, max =  +3.63 V)
>> 5V:           +5.09 V  (min =  +4.51 V, max =  +5.50 V)
>> 1.5V:         +1.58 V  (min =  +1.35 V, max =  +1.65 V)
>> Vbat:         +3.50 V  (min =  +2.98 V, max =  +3.63 V)
>> SYS Temp:     +43.0 C  (high = +90.0 C, hyst = +85.0 C)  sensor = thermistor
>> ----------------
>> 
>> The MINIX works as expected in every way except for a small detail, for fun 
>> I attached a cable to use the serial port header on the board to access the 
>> console... started getty on /dev/ttyS0 and properly get my terminal 
>> characters echo'ed back but no other output.  It seems the MINIX is not 
>> handling the "Data Set Ready" pin input (which is set).  Either something is 
>> electrically wrong or the BIOS is not setting the UART properly.  Of course 
>> the video console works fine using either the VGA or HDMI port on the back 
>> panel.  I suspect all users will use the "geni585" (video console) image for 
>> the MINIX.
>> 
>> The MINIX BIOS is from AMI, but not as complete (fewer options) as the 
>> Jetway BIOS is.
>> 
>> In my testing environment I find it very useful to define ALERT_SOUNDS, so I 
>> added a small piezo speaker to the speaker header, works perfectly.  The 
>> board does not include a piezo speaker.
>> 
>> Summary:
>> 
>> The MINIX is not a "fits all" AstLinux hardware solution, but leveraging on 
>> it's high-volume, generic PC design, the performance per cost value is 
>> excellent.  The build quality seems quite good, time will tell. The missing 
>> CF card slot or third/fourth NIC can be overcome with SATA adapters and 
>> VLAN's if desired.  Overall an AstLinux hardware solution that should be 
>> considered, particularly for price sensitive applications.
>> 
>> Unlike the general mini-ITX from scratch solutions, the MINIX is ready to go 
>> except for RAM and flash storage.  Adding a 2.5" SSD is the simplest as that 
>> is the default configuration.
>> 
>> Keep in mind I have tested this box for less than a week.
>> 
>> Lonnie
>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Flow-based real-time traffic analytics software. Cisco certified tool.
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>> Customize your own dashboards, set traffic alerts and generate reports.
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>> 
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>> [email protected].
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Flow-based real-time traffic analytics software. Cisco certified tool.
> Monitor traffic, SLAs, QoS, Medianet, WAAS etc. with NetFlow Analyzer
> Customize your own dashboards, set traffic alerts and generate reports.
> Network behavioral analysis & security monitoring. All-in-one tool.
> http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=126839071&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk
> _______________________________________________
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> 
> Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to 
> [email protected].
> 
> 


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flow-based real-time traffic analytics software. Cisco certified tool.
Monitor traffic, SLAs, QoS, Medianet, WAAS etc. with NetFlow Analyzer
Customize your own dashboards, set traffic alerts and generate reports.
Network behavioral analysis & security monitoring. All-in-one tool.
http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=126839071&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk
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