Rick C <gnuarm.deletethisbit@gmail.com> wrote:
> The unit only really needs one serial port, but it is more convenient to have two connectors, so I guess it needs to ports. One port will only receive and the other only transmit, no handshaking.
>
> The function is pretty simple. A sensor sends a line of about 50 chars, at 9,600 bps, once per second. This box counts 20 lines and adds a header. So nothing fancy is required of the MCU. There are parameters set when starting operation.
>
> The main thing I'm having trouble finding, is this needs to be in a box as a unit, not a board and a box to be assembled. Google hasn't been much help returning all sorts of things that aren't useful.
>
> Anyone know of such a box? The programming might be contracted out, if you are interested. There's a prototype using an Arduino nano, but some of them are flaky and it would not hurt to start over from scratch.
>

The boxes sell refurbed at 49 Euro
https://www.itsco.de/thin-client-lenovo-thinkcentre-m625q-amd-7th-gen-e2-9000e-2x-1-5ghz.html
and have "2x seriell RS-232 Tiny"

--
Uwe Bonnes bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt
--------- Tel. 06151 1623569 ------- Fax. 06151 1623305 ---------

On 29/03/23 02:37, Rick C wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 12:22:01 AM UTC-4, Clifford Heath wrote:
>> On 28/03/23 14:41, Rick C wrote:
>>> On Monday, March 27, 2023 at 9:58:27 PM UTC-4, Clifford Heath wrote:
>>>> On 28/03/23 11:59, Rick C wrote:
>>>>> On Monday, March 27, 2023 at 7:36:33 PM UTC-4, Clifford Heath wrote:
>>>>>> On 28/03/23 09:40, Don Y wrote:
>>>>>>> On 3/27/2023 3:05 PM, Rick C wrote:
>>>>>>>> On Monday, March 27, 2023 at 4:17:29 PM UTC-4, Don Y wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 3/27/2023 1:03 PM, Rick C wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I was playing the game, where questions are asked, until the
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> other person sees the absurdity of
>>>>>>>>> -------^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Ah, so you're not an engineer. Not a technician. Comedian??
>>>>>>>>>> what they were saying. You still haven't figured that out.
>>>>>>>>>>> I gave the only answer that anyone COULD give to your silly question.
>>>>>>>>>>> Were you hoping someone here was USING the exact same board AND had
>>>>>>>>>>> explored that issue in enough detail to yield a pin number? Instead
>>>>>>>>>>> of just "Gee, I dunno. It worked WHEN I PLUGGED IN THE CABLE!"
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> You still don't get it. In the post you replied to, there was a
>>>>>>>>>> board referenced. It even gave the same general info YOU provided in
>>>>>>>>>> response, about TXD, RXD, DTE and DCE. BUT IT DIDN'T SAY DIDDLY
>>>>>>>>>> ABOUT WHICH PIN WAS INPUT AND WHICH WAS OUTPUT!
>>>>>>>>> And my answer fits that dfescription.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Here, Master Rick. Please, in clear English sentences of no more than
>>>>>>>>> 3 syllables, explain what you want from us. And, WHY YOU EXPECT
>>>>>>>>> SOMEONE HERE
>>>>>>>>> to have that information.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I don't expect anything from you, and so far, you have not disappointed.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Do you think one of us designed the board?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What board? The one with insufficient information? No, but you still
>>>>>>>> fail to understand that I never expected an answer to the question.
>>>>>>>> It was a question that would have led any intelligent person to the
>>>>>>>> realization that the question could not be answered, which was the
>>>>>>>> point I was trying to make to the person who posted the link to the
>>>>>>>> board. But, in your usual way, you jumped in to fix what YOU thought
>>>>>>>> was the problem, while you knew no more than anyone else.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ah, so now we know -- you're just here to waste our time.
>>>>>>> I'm so glad you admitted that! I'm sure people will keep
>>>>>>> that in mind as they consider whether or not to answer
>>>>>>> future questions that you pose!
>>>>>> I long ago gave up trying to answer Ricky, though my resolve sometimes
>>>>>> stumbles. He has a kind of willful incomprehension that prevents him
>>>>>> from receiving input, either on technical subjects or about his own
>>>>>> incapacities... even the excellent and succinct feedback from David
>>>>>> Brown. I suspect it's a flavour of autism.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Rick, no need to answer. I'm not talking to you, but about you.
>>>>>
>>>>> Oh, dear god. Another one who can't understand, no matter how carefully I explain it.
>>>> I have precisely zero interest in your question or the foregoing
>>>> discussion, which I haven't read and do not wish to understand.
>>>>
>>>> I'm only commenting on some of the various personality defects on display.
>>>
>>> Which completely changes because you don't understand the issues being discussed.
>>>
>>> I'm happy to receive input. But I also expect to be able to give feedback when people don't understand what is being discussed.
>>>
>>> Interestingly, no one has provided any feedback at all, on the technical issues I've pointed out. Only that I'm wrong. DCE/DTE is what it's all about and that my personality is defective. If they don't listen to what I'm saying, they can't possibly understand the issues.
>>>
>> It is *your behaviour* that has made it impossible for anyone to answer
>> you to your satisfaction. Nothing else. RS232 signals bored me over two
>> decades ago, when I last had to worry about how things should be. We
>> encountered equipment that was made with every possible combination of
>> errors, and we all just figured it out and got on with our lives, in
>> exactly the way you seem unable to.
>
> Still misunderstanding the conversation

It's not possible to misunderstand something I haven't read.

I just came late to observe the interpersonal argy-bargy your feisty
incompetence *always* creates. Seriously mate, take a long hard took at
yourself. This is not about RS-232 (which has always been badly
designed, implemented, documented, and misunderstood - a fact we've all
known for decades). It's about you.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4:53:51 PM UTC-4, Uwe Bonnes wrote:
> Rick C <gnuarm.del...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > The unit only really needs one serial port, but it is more convenient to have two connectors, so I guess it needs to ports. One port will only receive and the other only transmit, no handshaking.
> >
> > The function is pretty simple. A sensor sends a line of about 50 chars, at 9,600 bps, once per second. This box counts 20 lines and adds a header. So nothing fancy is required of the MCU. There are parameters set when starting operation.
> >
> > The main thing I'm having trouble finding, is this needs to be in a box as a unit, not a board and a box to be assembled. Google hasn't been much help returning all sorts of things that aren't useful.
> >
> > Anyone know of such a box? The programming might be contracted out, if you are interested. There's a prototype using an Arduino nano, but some of them are flaky and it would not hurt to start over from scratch.
> >
>
> The boxes sell refurbed at 49 Euro
> https://www.itsco.de/thin-client-lenovo-thinkcentre-m625q-amd-7th-gen-e2-9000e-2x-1-5ghz.html
> and have "2x seriell RS-232 Tiny"

Thank you for the link. I can't find a way to use English on the site. itsco.com brings up an english version of the site, but it doesn't seem to include any equipment sales. Maybe it's not the same company?

I see companies selling these on Ebay. Do you know if they will boot up and operate with no keyboard, mouse or video connected? I would run these on Linux and they would have to boot stand alone.

--

Rick C.

+++++ Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
+++++ Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209

On 2023-03-29 2:12, Rick C wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4:53:51 PM UTC-4, Uwe Bonnes wrote:
>> Rick C <gnuarm.del...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> The unit only really needs one serial port, but it is more
>>> convenient to have two connectors, so I guess it needs to ports.
>>> One port will only receive and the other only transmit, no
>>> handshaking.
>>>
>>> The function is pretty simple. A sensor sends a line of about 50
>>> chars, at 9,600 bps, once per second. This box counts 20 lines
>>> and adds a header. So nothing fancy is required of the MCU. There
>>> are parameters set when starting operation.
>>>
>>> The main thing I'm having trouble finding, is this needs to be in
>>> a box as a unit, not a board and a box to be assembled. Google
>>> hasn't been much help returning all sorts of things that aren't
>>> useful.
>>>
>>> Anyone know of such a box? The programming might be contracted
>>> out, if you are interested. There's a prototype using an Arduino
>>> nano, but some of them are flaky and it would not hurt to start
>>> over from scratch.
>>>
>>
>> The boxes sell refurbed at 49 Euro
>> https://www.itsco.de/thin-client-lenovo-thinkcentre-m625q-amd-7th-gen-e2-9000e-2x-1-5ghz.html
>>
>>
>> and have "2x seriell RS-232 Tiny"
>
> Thank you for the link. I can't find a way to use English on the
> site. itsco.com brings up an english version of the site, but it
> doesn't seem to include any equipment sales. Maybe it's not the same
> company?
>
> I see companies selling these on Ebay. Do you know if they will boot
> up and operate with no keyboard, mouse or video connected? I would
> run these on Linux and they would have to boot stand alone.

One of the customer reviews on the site says "Das Ganze wird am LAN ohne
Monitor, Tastatur und Maus betrieben" = "All of it runs on LAN without
video, keyboard and mouse", under Debian 11. I would assume that also
means it can boot up in that configuration, but the review does not say
that explicitly.

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 2:07:03 AM UTC-4, Niklas Holsti wrote:
> On 2023-03-29 2:12, Rick C wrote:
> > On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 4:53:51 PM UTC-4, Uwe Bonnes wrote:
> >> Rick C <gnuarm.del...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> The unit only really needs one serial port, but it is more
> >>> convenient to have two connectors, so I guess it needs to ports.
> >>> One port will only receive and the other only transmit, no
> >>> handshaking.
> >>>
> >>> The function is pretty simple. A sensor sends a line of about 50
> >>> chars, at 9,600 bps, once per second. This box counts 20 lines
> >>> and adds a header. So nothing fancy is required of the MCU. There
> >>> are parameters set when starting operation.
> >>>
> >>> The main thing I'm having trouble finding, is this needs to be in
> >>> a box as a unit, not a board and a box to be assembled. Google
> >>> hasn't been much help returning all sorts of things that aren't
> >>> useful.
> >>>
> >>> Anyone know of such a box? The programming might be contracted
> >>> out, if you are interested. There's a prototype using an Arduino
> >>> nano, but some of them are flaky and it would not hurt to start
> >>> over from scratch.
> >>>
> >>
> >> The boxes sell refurbed at 49 Euro
> >> https://www.itsco.de/thin-client-lenovo-thinkcentre-m625q-amd-7th-gen-e2-9000e-2x-1-5ghz.html
> >>
> >>
> >> and have "2x seriell RS-232 Tiny"
> >
> > Thank you for the link. I can't find a way to use English on the
> > site. itsco.com brings up an english version of the site, but it
> > doesn't seem to include any equipment sales. Maybe it's not the same
> > company?
> >
> > I see companies selling these on Ebay. Do you know if they will boot
> > up and operate with no keyboard, mouse or video connected? I would
> > run these on Linux and they would have to boot stand alone.
> One of the customer reviews on the site says "Das Ganze wird am LAN ohne
> Monitor, Tastatur und Maus betrieben" = "All of it runs on LAN without
> video, keyboard and mouse", under Debian 11. I would assume that also
> means it can boot up in that configuration, but the review does not say
> that explicitly.

Thanks again. I will consider these. I found them on Ebay and other sites at similar prices. It seems there are variants with different I/O, including no serial ports. So, I'll have to be careful to check that.

I still prefer a system with no OS and low power. So the Arduino or rPi Pico is my preferred option at the moment. But those need cases. I guess the vast majority of such small units are sold for amateur use, where a case is not important. I believe they sell a version of the rPi for commercial use with have some level of assurance of continuing supply. I might want to look at that harder, but again, there's not as much support for operation without an OS.

I took a look at the Forth tools available for the AVR. Other than Forth Inc. the supply is very limited. The ARM, of course, has wide support. But this program is so simple, it could be written in any language, without concern. I'm just much more familiar with Forth these days.

--

Rick C.

- Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging
- Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209