MINI ITX & PC104 FAQ ANSWERS

This page contains answers to frequently asked questions about our PC104 accessories and about using our products with small form factor systems like Mini ITX and PC104. For a list of the questions, please return to the main FAQ index page. If you still have questions after reading this page, email them to info@symres.com and we'll be glad to answer them for you.

Q: What are Mini ITX and PC104 ?

Many industry standards with the goal of defining the size, shape, and connectors for small PC systems have been proposed and implemented over the years.

Two of the more popular standards have been the PC104 at 3.5 x 3.75" and more recently the Mini ITX at 6.7 x 6.7". Each of these two standards have their own advantages. Both are compatible with SR A/D products.

Q: Does SR supply Mini ITX and PC104 turnkey systems ?

No. You will need good PC skills and hardware experience in order to set up a successful Mini ITX or PC104 system. However, if you are comfortable setting up a desktop machine you will have no problem setting up a Mini ITX. Somewhat more skill is required for PC104 systems because of nonstandard connectors. Since these systems are typically used for remote field situations, power and remote or untended operation also become important issues.

Q: What skills are required to setup a Mini ITX or PC104 system ?

To set up a Mini ITX system you will need modest mechanical skills to open the case and install a hard disk. You must also be comfortable with correctly connecting ribbon cables. Once the initial mechanicals are done, you must also be comfortable with installing the Win2K/XP or Linux operating system. Overall, working with a Mini ITX system is much like working on a desktop machine.

PC104 systems are typically more involved. Depending on the PC104 motherboard you are using, the connectors to keyboard and video may be very nonstandard. Also, installing the OS is usually more involved because of nonstandard CMOS and BIOS interfaces on many PC104 cpu cards. You will want to be in contact with your PC104 cpu card manufacturer to get support with these issues.

Q: Do you sell any PC104 related products ?

Yes. We offer a line of PAR4CH/PC104 accessories that can be used when building your own custom PC104 equipment stack. These include adapter boards making it easy to connect a PC104 CPU card to the PAR4CH, a disk mount board for adding a 2.5" hard disk, and a power distribution panel allowing plenty of options for getting power to the other boards in the stack. All these boards are the same size as the PAR4CH.

Q: Where can I buy other Mini ITX or PC104 products ?

Both complete Mini ITX and PC104 systems and their individual components are sold by many vendors. We list a few on our third-party page, but there are plenty of other good Mini ITX and PC104 vendors that are not listed.

The Mini ITX systems shown on our site were purchased from CaseOutlet. We have used them in our lab and at trade shows with good results. We also have several customers successfully using them in field systems they designed and put together themselves.

Q: What features should I look for when buying Mini ITX or PC104 products ?

When choosing a PC104 CPU card, it is best to select one that has a bi-directional parallel port located at one of the standard 0x278 or 0x378 addresses.

Other features to check are whether or not Ethernet connections are supported and how much power is required. Often increasing the CPU speed means more power is needed. Mini ITX systems equipped with the Eden C3 processor typically require less power than similar PC104 cpus.

Q: Can I use a 2.5" hard disk in my Mini ITX or PC104 system ?

Yes. In fact, 2.5" disks are preferable because they use less power than the 3.5" disks. This power savings can be on the order of 0.5 amp. The savings comes partly because the 2.5" disks are smaller and lighter and partly because they tend to spin at slower speeds.

You can always use a 2.5" disk in place of 3.5" disk as long as you can make the mechanical and electrical connections. For custom PC104 stacks, our PAR4CH-PC104-DISK card provides mounting holes for a 2.5" disk and a pair of headers so you can use either 2mm or .1" cable to conveniently connect with which ever PC104 CPU card you've selected.

Q: How much power does it take to run a Mini ITX or PC104 system ?

We have tried various PC104 cpu cards at different times. One PC104 cpu card from Ampro ran a 25 MHz 386 and idled at about 350 milliamps. Another PC104 cpu card from Megatel ran a 100 MHz 486 and idled at more than 1.0 amp. Both of those numbers without hard disks. Increasing CPU speed and adding more memory both tend to increase the power requirements.

The power consumption for PC104 cpu cards can also vary quite a bit from one PC104 manufacturer to another, even for the same cpu speed. However, none that we've seen so far have power specs as good as those for the Mini ITX systems.

For example, the sample Mini ITX system shown on this site, set up in a headless configuration (i.e. no keyboard or video), ran on less than 1 amp and included:

   • Fanless Via Eden C3 533 MHz CPU
   • Ethernet connection
   • 30 Gb Hitachi 2.5" hard disk
   • PAR8CH

Q: Can I run scope.exe on a headless system ?

No, you should run simp instead. Scope is a graphical program that requires a video display when it opens windows and dialogs. But, when a Mini ITX or PC104 system is run "headless" it has no video or keyboard attached. Simp, on the other hand, is text only and works well on headless systems.

You will probably want to configure your system so simp is one of the tasks that runs automatically on start up. Alternatively, you can start it manually over your remote Ethernet connection. In either case, you'll want simp to be running in the background so be sure the simp DisplayData and DisplayInfo ini file options are set to OFF. When running under Linux and using telnet, use the ampersand character (&) at the end of the simp command line to request background processing. When running under Win2K/XP, you can run simp in the background by using the task scheduler to start simp.

Once simp is running and acquiring data, you can copy the data files to your local computer using a file transfer program like FTP under Linux or Explorer under Win2K/XP. You can then use the Windows GUI view.exe program to playback and review the acquired data in a graphical display similar to that of scope.

Return to the FAQ Index for links to more answers.

http://www.symres.com/support/faqsmsys.htm