Is it possible to run a device without OS

chioski Posts: 17

2013-08-20 22:18 edited 2013-09-05 06:35 in General Discussion

Hi Friends.,

Is it possible to Run an electronic device(for example finger print device,biocrypt device)run with webservice application without OS.CAn i do this,is it possible.Please clarify this doubt.

Thank you..

Comments

Heater. Posts: 21,230

2013-08-20 23:40 edited 2013-08-20 23:40

Yes,

Check out what these guys do with the ARM processor on the Raspberry Pi working on "the bare metal". (The PI normally runs Linux). http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=72&sid=b2ec8aa3f21af7ea7e501b1f7f3bdc5a

Of course many an MCU, like the Propeller is, used without an OS. Just create or acquire all the software you need to talk to external devices, add your applications code and build it into a single program that the MCU runs from boot up.

Back in the old days, that how we did things. It still goes on today.

Of course if you are talking web servers and such you might find you need a lot of functionality that an OS gives and creating all that will take longer than getting to grips with an OS.
chioski Posts: 17

2013-08-21 00:25 edited 2013-08-21 00:25

Thanks for your prompt response.

But propeller is like as fan(Rotating shaft). But i am going to use one finger print device,normally this type of device,when we plug after it will boot using specify OS(like windows XP)but is it possible to directly connects to run with web service?
Heater. Posts: 21,230

2013-08-21 00:41 edited 2013-08-21 00:41

No idea.

To answer that we would need to know more about whatever that device it is.
What is the physical connection? Serial, USB, other....
What is the protocol over that connection?

And so on.

My guess is that your device is USB and comes with a Windows driver that does whatever kind of complex stuff it has to. You are not going to have a good time trying to talk over USB over the Prop. It can be done, just about.
But then what does that Windows driver do? Who knows.
Gadgetman Posts: 2,436

2013-08-21 04:17 edited 2013-08-21 04:17

It's not possible to run any CPU/mCU-based product without an OS.

OS = Operating System. A layer of software that handles resource allocation, simplifies access to external resources and does task monitoring.

Of course, in some systems, there's no difference between the OS and the Application.
chioski Posts: 17

2013-08-22 04:00 edited 2013-08-22 04:00

Oh fine,Am using USB biocrypt device,Normally i should boot this device using Windows xp os then i will connect with web service for my application.But i didn't know how to connect this device with web service without OS....
LoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537

2013-08-22 08:16 edited 2013-08-22 08:16

The USB interface is an application layer that requires a USB host to communicate with it. That isn't a whole OS, but it will limit what you can talk to and how.
chioski Posts: 17

2013-08-22 22:02 edited 2013-08-22 22:02

I accept your point Loopy Byteloose.,

The USB need to communicate with host but the same time if we access the usb in web service we need one supporting OS am right???
Mike Green Posts: 23,101

2013-08-22 22:15 edited 2013-08-22 22:15

One example of a "non-OS" USB host interface is FTDI's Vinculum chip which Parallax uses in their Memory Stick Datalogger. In addition to its normal use as a USB host attached to a "thumb drive" or other mass storage USB device, this chip has the capability of interfacing to Human Interface USB Devices and simple USB printers (see FTDI's documentation for details). The Vinculum provides the interface via a serial port to a microcontroller like a Stamp or Propeller. One possible microcontroller is the Spinneret which is a Propeller with an Ethernet interface and an internet stack so it can act as a web server. It would be easy to attach the two and write the necessary code to serve up USB joystick or USB keyboard or other HID information via a web server. There's no OS involved in either device, but you'd probably have a difficult time interfacing other types of USB devices. It's possible to interface some USB devices directly to a Propeller, but the Propeller USB stack uses non-standard techniques and is limited in what devices it can talk to.
chioski Posts: 17

2013-09-04 21:29 edited 2013-09-04 21:29

Thank you Mike.But my question is i already stored my data into webserver,and also i connect one device with server using one serial port.

For example, i missed my id card ,third person get my ID card when he type my id number my all details are shown for him.But this process was run without OS.How is it possible...Please share your ideas..

Thank you..
Mike Green Posts: 23,101

2013-09-05 06:35 edited 2013-09-05 06:35

I understand what you want to do. It's possible IF you can get detailed documentation on the internal registers and USB protocol used by the biocrypt device. You essentially have to duplicate the work done by the Windows USB driver that comes with the device. Sometimes people "reverse-engineer" this protocol by monitoring the USB signal as the device does its work, then try to figure out what it's doing from that data. It's a lot of work and isn't always successful.

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