DBE60
The DBE60 retained the NSC Geode SC2200 used in the ThinCan Classic, repackaged into an affordable flat box form factor.
Artec has still some DBE60 ThinCans in stock (DiskOnChip versions DBE60 and DBE60-1, without CF connector, EtherBoot BIOS flashed into DoC), that can be obtained for 100EEK / 6.39€ (+ VAT + shipping). Minimal quantity 2pcs per order. Contact us for details.
Contents |
Specification
| CPU | NSC Geode™ SC2200 @ 266MHz |
| Mass Storage | 16MB (DBE60) or 32MB (DBE60-1) M-Systems DiskOnChip™ Millennium Plus |
| Memory | 64 MB 64bit SDRAM |
| Network Controller | NSC DP83816 Fast Ethernet |
| Video Resolution | up to 1024x768 |
| Audio | AC97 rev 2.0 compliant |
| Approximate Dimensions | 145mm x 95mm x 32mm |
| Approximate Weight | 380g (without Power Supply) |
| External Power Supply | 9V to 16V DC |
| Power Consumption | approximately 5W |
| Operating Temperature | 5°C to 40°C |
Variants
- DBE60: 64 MB SDRAM, 16 MB M-Systems DiskOnChip flash.
- DBE60-1: 64 MB SDRAM, 32 MB M-Systems DiskOnChip flash.
- Production models sold under the trademark ThinCan SE booted entirely from the DoC media, which was used as a normal HDD containing both the bootloader and payload.
- Production models sold under the trademark ThinCan XSE instead had a 256kb boot ROM at U4 to load the OS from CompactFlash media present on the optional CF socket.
Driving the DBE60
- The ThinCan Classic and DBE60 are covered by GX1 and SCx200 Linux kernel modules and by the "nsc" X.org driver module.
- The Realtek RTL8139 network controller used in the standard ThinCan Classic is covered by Linux kernel modules 8139cp and 8139too.
- The Intel 8255xER/82551IT network controller used in the ThinCan Classic with dual Ethernet is covered by Linux kernel module e100.
- The NSC DP83816 network controller used in the DBE60 is covered by Linux kernel module natsemi.
- The DiskOnChip flash is covered by CONFIG_MTD_NAND_DISKONCHIP driver (16MB only, 32MB not supported in Linux yet!)
Booting the DBE60
Like the ThinCan Classic, the DBE60 boots off the DOC media using Clara, a proprietary bootloader designed by Artec. There are existing BIOS binaries for booting DBE 60:
- from network using Etherboot
- Linux from local DoC chip
Coreboot v3 could be easily ported to this model, using an earlier Coreboot v1 port to the similar SC1200 platform, as a starting point.
Etherboot
Most DBE60 models are shipped with an old version of Etherboot as the payload. User should prepare the tftp-bootable NBI image using WrapLinux or mknbi tools.
Artec has built BIOS images for both bootstrapping DBE60 from dongle and for installing etherboot BIOS into DBE60 DoC ROM. The Etherboot BIOS images can be downloaded from [3]
To install Etherboot BIOS into DBE60 DoC ROM, use M-Systems' doc-tools [4]:
dformat -win:c800 -ipl:iplfile.bin -bdkf0:biosfile.bin -bdkn0:CLRA -y
WrapLinux
WrapLinux can be downloaded from [5].
Use WrapLinux to package newer than 2.6.22 kernels; mknbi does not work!
An example of netboot image creation for Etherboot:
wraplinux -o nbi.img -i initrd.img-2.6.32-29-generic vmlinuz-2.6.32-29-generic
MKNBI
It can be downloaded from here. Newer kernels and mknbi do not work anymore. Use WrapLinux!
An example of netboot image creation for an USB rootfs:
mkelf-linux /path/to/bzImage --rootdir=/dev/sda1 --append="rootdelay=10" >dbe60.ether.nb
CompactFlash
The ThinCan Classic and some DBE60 models instead have Clara installed on a small boot ROM, which then loads the OS payload from an IDE CompactFlash. On these models, DMA access must be disabled in the IDE driver to prevent disk errors. This is generally done by passing an option to the appropriate Linux kernel module:
Old IDE driver (sc1200)
With the old IDE kernel subsystem, either use the cmdline argument "ide=nodma" (if both ide_core and sc1200 are compiled inside the kernel) or create a file called e.g. /etc/modprobe.d/ide_core_sc1200.conf with the following content (if both ide_core and sc1200 are compiled as modules):
options ide_core options="ide=nodma"
New ATA driver (pata_sc1200)
With the new ATA kernel subsystem, either use the cmdline argument "ata.dma=0" (if both libata and pata_sc1200 are compiled inside the kernel) or create a file called e.g. /etc/modprobe.d/libata_pata_sc1200.conf with the following content (if both libata and pata_sc1200 are compiled as modules):
options libata dma=0
Serial console
The DBE60 offers a serial console, for firmware debugging purposes, on internal connector J2 (TTL signal level). Pin 1 is rightmost, square pad (all others are round pads).
1: VCC - 3V power
2: RXD
3: TXD - data from DBE60
4: RTS
5: CTS
6: GND - common ground
