Project: Ultra-portable PC (handheld like OQO or Tiqit)

T

tom61

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
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Here's most of the components I'll be using:

apr15_06.jpg


Top row(left to right):
20GB laptop HD
PCM-9574 embedded socket 370 board w/ Via C3 800MHz
PSOne Screen

Second row:
PS2 (as in the game console) mini USB keyboard
Power Ramp Mite gamepad (simulates a keyboard)

Size comparision:

apr15_07.jpg


Sega Game Gear on left, mother board, and PSOne screen on right.

Plan of Attack:
Probably will have the processor facing the back, probably partially exposed heat-sink, or possibly swap it for a 1U heatsink with a vent/intake hole.

Hack up PSOne screen and connect to VGA out of the embedded board (then set X11 and framebuffer to use 15kHz to get the screen to display)

Put in two 128MB SODIMMs (laptop memory)

Connect 20GB drive, probably behind the board, set to counter-balance the heatsink.

Build breakout connectors for USB, VGA, sound, and PS/2 (keyboard/mouse)

Get a trackpoint stick for mouse substitute. (found one, but need to make a minimum order to get it :( )

Hack up the Power Ramp Mite to fit on both sides of the screen.

Figure out a case.

Pick out a battery


Specs:
Advantech PCM-9574 motherboard Socket 370 (P3/Celeron/C3) board that takes mostly laptop parts (has mini-IDE and SODIMM slots). 2.5MB integrated video (no sharing with main RAM), not great, but plenty for 2D stuff. Via C3 processor, not the fastest performer, but makes Celeron look power-hungry by comparision. The really neat thing about this board is that it only needs +5Volts, it converts every other voltage needed internally.

Storage: 20GB laptop drive will serve as storage.

RAM: 256MB (2x 128MB SODIMMs)

Removable media: CD or DVD will not be integrated, I'm considering building a dock for a slim-line (think laptop) drive I have. Or hook one up to USB.

Connectivity: WiFi via USB connection

Battery: TBD

Case: custom, probably a card board prototype first

OS: Linux primarily, Windows to show off and for portable Launchcast.

Need to order still:
Connectors for PS/2 and USB
Trackpoint mouse thingy
 
How much space do you need for HDD? You could do one of those 2.2gb CF Microdrives (There's also a 4gb one isn't there?) on an IDE converter. Should cut down on space a bit. Unless you need more than that, then stick with the laptop drive.


Get your [H]s here!
 
this will be cool if you can do it! Tought about adding wifi? That'd add another use
Can't wait to see how it turns out
Glen
 
this looks so good, maby you should have a card reader at the side then you can put games on the card and plug it into the side, maby where the game slot is
 
I am curious as to where you aqcuired this PCM-9574? This would be perfect for a car project I am putting together. Hooking up to ODB2 and then displaying infor on cahracter LCDs... On a budget. =P
 
mr_ouija: CF HD cards are quite expensive, especially considering their limited space (5GB max in the remotely affordable range). I need more space than 5GB really for my intended uses.

thisisglen: Wifi will be added, using USB. I just haven't purchased the adapter yet. One of the main uses planned is web surfing.

zapperfish: The Game Gear was just shown for size comparision, the board won't fit in it. I don't really see much point in having a memory card slot, otherwise I'd bring out the Compact Flash slot on the bottom of the board to the outside.

New Oddity: It came up during a Froogle search for something else, they have long since sold off thier stock of them. Try Ebay, boards like this come up now and then.
 
Give up on the drive bay already? Too bad, was hoping to see what you could come up with. This one sounds interesting, too.

New Oddity, I've got a similar setup listed in my FS/T thread that uses a slightly smaller board and a Celeron 500. Take a look, might be within your range.
 
widefault said:
Give up on the drive bay already? Too bad, was hoping to see what you could come up with. This one sounds interesting, too.
Click to expand...

Finished all the hard/interesting stuff on the drive bay system, even had a prototype out of cardboard. Then, I lost interest doing all the mundane stuff, like making all the wireing needed to hook it up. This mod will require less wireing, and I'll be doing that first.

I may bring back the drive bay PC idea, as I've recently aquired an even smaller (but less powerful and expandable)board that could fit in a CDROM, not just a bay, but a hollowed out CDROM. It might make an interesting folding or dist-cc box.
 
hmm... this looks to be very interesting. can't wait to see what happens with this one.
 
Mysticcal said:
I'll look into this one, one question.... power?
Click to expand...

I'm keeping an eye out for a cheap, light and powerfull battery. Sony has some decent batteries for camcorders that I'm looking into. I only need 5 Volts, so any battery 5V or higher will work.
 
tom61 said:
I'm keeping an eye out for a cheap, light and powerfull battery. Sony has some decent batteries for camcorders that I'm looking into. I only need 5 Volts, so any battery 5V or higher will work.
Click to expand...

If you plan to use the PSOne LCD, wouldn't you need at least 7.5 volts?
 
that boards not too bad as long as you don't wanna do too much. it hates any high res video.
 
Timmee said:
If you plan to use the PSOne LCD, wouldn't you need at least 7.5 volts?
Click to expand...

The PSOne screen has a 7805 inside it that takes the 7.5 volts and drops it to 5 Volts, AFAIK. Bypass it and it'll run on 5 Volts.

Minor update: I tried looking for a suitable 2mm harddrive connector I could salvage, desolder and cut down to fit in the USB and VGA headers from a couple of old laptops. Neither were usefull, one wasn't shaped right (harddrive plugged into it, not vice-versa) and one had 1mm leads. So, I'll be needing to order the header parts from Digi-Key.
 
GAH!!! Digi-Key is out of stock for the connectors I need! I need one 8-pin and one 16-pin 2mm pitch IDC (like a notebook IDE connector). I need to find an alternate source. Any ideas?
 
Veerrrrryyyy innnnteerrrresttting.

If it works.. you should see how well it folds ;)
 
Have you checked Jameco.com? Pretty sure I saw some of those in the latest catalog.
 
i was ondering where i might get one of those keyboards, and would also like to see an update
 
widefault said:
Have you checked Jameco.com? Pretty sure I saw some of those in the latest catalog.
Click to expand...

I can't find them on thier site, the closest were 2.36MM, if you have catalog handy could check to see if 2mm are listed, and if so, what the part numbers are?


zapperfish said:
i was ondering where i might get one of those keyboards, and would also like to see an update
Click to expand...

http://www.gameexpress.com/product_detail.cfm?UPC=837742005709 is where I bought mine.

Current status: stalled. Those two connectors are critical, and can't continue with this board without them. The 16-pin is for VGA, and the 8-pin is for USB. I might play around other SBCs I have, but this one was the optimum size/power.
 
After a quick checkthrough, all I found were the 44 pin IDC crimp connectors. Not workable.

Hmmm, somewhere around here I have a 44-40 pin drive adapter cable that has individually crimped pins on the 44 pin side. Something like that would probably work, no?
 
widefault said:
After a quick checkthrough, all I found were the 44 pin IDC crimp connectors. Not workable.

Hmmm, somewhere around here I have a 44-40 pin drive adapter cable that has individually crimped pins on the 44 pin side. Something like that would probably work, no?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a dead notebook IDE to desktop IDE adapter that the 44-pin connector could be trimmed down as well. I can't find it, though. I've also looked at the connectors in my USB notebook drive enclosures, which at first looked the same, but the pins are really short, but the solder leading up to them is longer. If the solder were pins, I could take one of them apart.
 
tom61 said:
Trackpoint mouse thingy
Click to expand...
You could get a usb touchscreen overlay for that psOne screen. Your plan looks good, well thought out. Should be cool when it's done. Keep us updated!
 
F'ing great, connectors I need aren't just out-of-stock, they're non-stock at digi-key.

Product marked with NON-STOCK in the "Quantity Available" column is typically Not Stocked. This product is available for purchase but because of its limited customer base is usually subject to higher minimum quantities. Digi-Key's rationale for offering non-stocking product follows:

Digi-Key currently stocks more than 200,000 electronic components and is adding new product daily. This is arguably the broadest product offering backed by inventory in the industry.

But there are literally tens-of-thousands of additional components that are available from our suppliers. Although we cannot justify stocking all of these products because of their limited marketability, we believe it is in the best interest of our customers to know that they are available. Our goal is to give our customers information on the maximum number of product options, and let their choice be based on specifications, price, availability and minimums.

Note that by checking the box to the right of "Items in Stock", just below "Keywords", you may limit your view to product available for off-the-shelf delivery.
Click to expand...

The minimum order for the 2mm IDC is 1,500 if I'm, reading the page right. :mad:

Well, at least I got a lead for an alternate source in my post in the electronics forum.
 
The alternate lead didn't pan out.

However, I managed to find Advantech's online Store, and found a wiring kit that is compatable (I hope) with my board. I'm not sure it has USB included in the kit, though. I could maybe add a small USB 2.0 card if that's the case. High shipping and a URL ending in .tw, so I'm guessing it's going to be awhile before it gets here.
 
Still no ship notification on the cable set, sent them an email today, and hopefully I'll hear something back soonish.
 
I really like the MOD....but can you overclock it :)

I have had to order some parts from DigiKey before. I hit upon one of those pages where they say you have to order by the crate. Contacted them and worked it out so I could buy a smaller amount. Might try that.
 
I didn't think of that. If I don't hear back from Advantech on the full cable set, I'll see what I can work out with Digi-Key.
 
It seriously couldn't hurt. Even if you get the run around chances are you will eventually find someone who has a clue. If you do make SURE you write their name down so you can call them next time you need 1 of a wiz-bang part instead of a crate.
 
As soon as I get digital camera I'll have some new pics. I made a non-functional prototype out of cardboard. Revised some of the design. Hands-on with the prototype helped hammer out some things (like the layout of the buttons for the mouse/trackpoint).

Problem is how to incorporate the keypad... not really usable in the center. If I used a vertical layout, I could use it just fine, but the way things are, it'd put a fair bit of weight on the wrists.I could use it rotated, and just type sideways, as I've done with my Zaurus when I had it. A big kludge, but workable. I may swap it out for a larger keyboard, though, as there's a small-ish PS2 keyboard that might just fit inside the case without making it much bigger.

I decided not too use the gamepad in the first picture, too much circuitry all over the place, so no remotely easy way to tear it into parts to redistribute. I think I may go with some resistors (what the older PC joysticks/gamepads are in reality) and a PC joystick to USB adapter.

As far as optical drives, I think I may only use them to install games, which means I won't need them very often, so I'll just network it to my main rig when needed.
 
Score!

I found at Wal-Mart a 5400mAh 9V Li-Ion cell, intended for portable DVD players, on clearance for about $30. These things used to be about $80! To add to the sweet score, I found a pretty nice 48 hard-shell CD holder that is the right size to hold the guts of my uPC for $20!
 
Sweet! Shipping notice on the wiring harness today! My Ultra-Portable could be coming together real soon.

A friend should be bringing by a digi-cam soon so I can post pics of what I have so far.
 
I was gonna to stop by tonight, but it didn't happen. I'll be getting back into town late tomorrow (I put in an offer on the house today) and hopefully can come by.
 
Wow, this is a truelly [H]ard modd thread!!!

Would that CD case be safe for ESD? That would really be a bummer.
 
I'll be making sure everything that will be making contact with the electronics will be non-conductive. I've moved around the case a fair bit, with the cd holders flopping around, and no static seems to have built up, so once the flaps are removed I should be fine as far as internal ESD. For outside ESD, the case is mostly metal, and should be able to protect its contents.
 
Took some pics, but most didn't come out well. I did what I could to make them viewable. Click an a picture for the larger version. (Warning: may look worse when enlarged)

Since it's the only picture that turned out decent, here's the 48 CD holder that I'll be using for the final system:


Old prototype next to the future case (came out so bad I had to make the image B & W):


The card board prototype bottom, showing the heatsink sticking out:


Here's a pic showing the battery powering the screen:


Here's a pic of a test fit of the LCD in the new case:


Pic of test fit of motherboard:
 
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