If you would like to learn x86 asm...
HollyMinkowski
Posts: 1,398
The 3rd edition of Jeff Duntemann's x86 asm book is out! 
It's an all Linux version of his x86 book this time and Ubuntu and NASM
are featured heavily.
The most powerful controller you can use is an x86 mobo with SSD booting Linux.
And you can squeeze out every bit of goodness combining x86 asm with C.
For about $80 you can get an Atom mobo at 1.8ghz with 3d vga, sound, ethernet,
8 USB ports, serial and more. These mobos are pretty small and work well as the
heart of an intense project. You can get 8gb SATA SSD drives on Ebay for about $30.
Typically the Atom mobos do not need cpu cooler fans...just a hefty aluminum
heatsink. If you go all the way with a much more powerful quad-core board
you will have to worry about fan reliability. Power supplies are extremely cheap
and also can be found in every discarded pc for free.
You can find plans for making your own I/O cards for a mobo on the web and a
great many are available for purchase.
A mobo plays well with a controller like a prop, AVR or ARM. The controller can
power up the mobo easily using a single io pin and communication can be by serial
USB or direct to an I/O card.
x86 asm is actually easier than asm on a controller because of the more powerful
free tools that are available...if you do prop asm then x86 will not be hard at all.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"
It's an all Linux version of his x86 book this time and Ubuntu and NASM
are featured heavily.
The most powerful controller you can use is an x86 mobo with SSD booting Linux.
And you can squeeze out every bit of goodness combining x86 asm with C.
For about $80 you can get an Atom mobo at 1.8ghz with 3d vga, sound, ethernet,
8 USB ports, serial and more. These mobos are pretty small and work well as the
heart of an intense project. You can get 8gb SATA SSD drives on Ebay for about $30.
Typically the Atom mobos do not need cpu cooler fans...just a hefty aluminum
heatsink. If you go all the way with a much more powerful quad-core board
you will have to worry about fan reliability. Power supplies are extremely cheap
and also can be found in every discarded pc for free.
You can find plans for making your own I/O cards for a mobo on the web and a
great many are available for purchase.
A mobo plays well with a controller like a prop, AVR or ARM. The controller can
power up the mobo easily using a single io pin and communication can be by serial
USB or direct to an I/O card.
x86 asm is actually easier than asm on a controller because of the more powerful
free tools that are available...if you do prop asm then x86 will not be hard at all.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"
Comments
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
· -- Carl, nn5i@arrl.net
The same ones in a pc.
They are so mass produced that they have become extremely cheap for the
power they deliver. And they are getting pretty small and that makes them nice
for projects as they can fit in a small case. Just think of them as the supercomputers
of the embedded world
Here is a fanless atom mobo with on board ram...this is made by an Israeli
company and is about 150.00 ..a bit more expensive than a standard atom
mobo but it is very cute...can boot Linux from the sd slot if I'm not mistaken.
Full-featured PC single board computer, tiny and power saving
Intel Atom Z530 CPU @ 1.6 GHz
Intel US15W chipset
1GB DDR2
DVI Digital display interface, up to 1920x1080
Harddisk interface
PXE (Ethernet) and USB boot capability
HD Audio, line-out 2.0 / mic in / line-in
1000 BaseT Ethernet port
802.11b/g/n WiFi
Six USB 2.0 ports
miniSD Socket
IR receiver
Phoenix BIOS
Single 12V supply, 5W, fanless operation
Dimensions - 104 x 101 x 23 mm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Atom
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"
Post Edited (HollyMinkowski) : 9/26/2009 2:07:34 AM GMT
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Steve
Propeller Tools
-dan
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Arguing with myself--sometimes me, myself, and I don't always agree.
Of the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
Just look at the properties of the jpg of the mobo.
It's on the website that sells the board
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"
On the Israeli co's website, the pictured fitpc2 (basic, no options) is ~$250, any quantity. The similar CM-iAM is ~$150, for 1000 units. The single unit price is 2x or about $300.
Yours is quite a bit more expensive. But it does have the x86.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Ain't gadetry a wonderful thing?
aka G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse] 黃鶴 ] in Taiwan
Post Edited (Loopy Byteloose) : 9/29/2009 2:58:58 PM GMT
Hmmm, I thought that was what we paid for the board in quantity.
Perhaps it was another model, I'll have to check.
We do a lot of work with these guys, maybe it was a special buy.
The image does not really give you a feel for how small the mobo is.
They fit into very small cases....very powerful things these boards!
Don't shy away from using a mobo for a project that outgrows whatever controller
you are using. It's actually easier to do a big job this way...so much power
and you have just about every capability on the board...so much speed
you don't have to work hard to tweak everything. And free Linux and
numerous free compilers and tools.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"
Using NASM is cheating, real men (and women) use gcc's syntax
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Visit some of my articles at Propeller Wiki:
MATH on the propeller propeller.wikispaces.com/MATH
pPropQL: propeller.wikispaces.com/pPropQL
pPropQL020: propeller.wikispaces.com/pPropQL020
OMU for the pPropQL/020 propeller.wikispaces.com/OMU
There is always hope
Seriously, if you have an interest in x86 asm get the new book by Duntemann.
And NASM rules
I started with the old Turbo assembler because someone recommended it.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
"Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?"