Sunday, December 28, 2008

Implementation Details

The X58 chipset is rolling out and hopefully it will not be too disruptive to our efforts. I nudged Phil down a path to get his Gen2 training vibe sorted out - and I'm pleased he is making good progress. Our first date of X58 love will not arrive for another few days. In the mean time, I took a swing at trying to get either Linux or WinXP up on the uATX Intel DQ45CB motherboard. The idea is that if I can get a decent uATX platform with at least Gen1 x8 connectivity to an ML555 - we could offer a Space, Weight, and Power (SWaP) FPGA solution with COTS parts. Things seldom go as planned. Everything runs fine in WinXP "safe mode"; but in VGA mode, or with the latest Intel drivers, I fall into a lock up state like image below. Looks like Intel is revving the drivers almost weekly, so I'll just set this aside knowing it is most likely "software". Hopefully we can give it some Ubuntu love too!

Video Wedge on Intel DQ45CB (x45)