PC 104 systems for XPE

[Ryan Riel]

I am trying to find a low cost PC 104 system to run XP
embedded. I have used a digital logic systems with a
pentium III 700 MHz processor and it works great. I have
another system from advantech the PCM 3350. The system
has a geode GX1 300 Mhz processor. I can't get XPE to
boot off the system and I am wondering if it is hardware
related. I know XP embedded recommends a pentium II class
microprocessor or higher. And from what I can find the
Geode GX1 does not support XPE. If any one has more
information about the Geode system I would be very
interested and grateful. I would also like to find a PC
104 system that is a little less expensive than the
digital logic system and will run XPE.

Thanks

Ryan

 

[KM]

Ryan,

No speaking about PC104, I have had an XPe image(s) up and running on
national Geode GX1. Did not have many problems with it.

Before looking into the XPe platform support, were you able to install XP
Pro and run it there? If you were, the answer to your question below is
possitive and you should you look at your XPe image configuration to find
the problem.
You may also post your boot errors info in this NG. If anybody has seen the
same, you'll be helped.

KM

RR> I am trying to find a low cost PC 104 system to run XP embedded. I
RR> have used a digital logic systems with a pentium III 700 MHz
RR> processor and it works great. I have another system from advantech
RR> the PCM 3350. The system has a geode GX1 300 Mhz processor. I
RR> can't get XPE to boot off the system and I am wondering if it is
RR> hardware related. I know XP embedded recommends a pentium II class
RR> microprocessor or higher. And from what I can find the
RR> Geode GX1 does not support XPE. If any one has more information
RR> about the Geode system I would be very interested and grateful. I
RR> would also like to find a PC 104 system that is a little less
RR> expensive than the digital logic system and will run XPE.

RR> Thanks

RR> Ryan

 

[Stephen Medlin]

We're in the process of developing XPE for a Kontron Venus 786LCD/ST SBC
that has PC104/Plus on it. We need a low power, highly rugged system for
process analyzer installations. So far, we've had pretty good luck with the
computer itself after getting onto the XPE learning curve. This is a nice
board because it has standard connections on the back of the motherboard (a
very nice feature when one needs to hook devices to it and try to use the
mini/non-standard connectors that another EBC used). The only thing that I
don't like about this particular MB is that while it has a socket for
M-System's DiskOnChip, you can't configure the memory address for the DOC.
We ended up NOT being able to use the DOC2000 with this motherboard. What
we did end up using was M-System's IDE3000 solid state HD (which was a
better solution anyway).

All in all, a pretty nice board. There are probably others out there, and I
have no personal affliation with Kontron.

Stephen

 

[volker]

Hi KM,

I've got XPE running on a Kontron Geode GX1 but I can't
find a graphics driver for the Geode.

Any idea?

Thanks
Volker

and >-----Original Message-----

 

[Ryan Riel]

I am running a partitioned hard drive. One partition has
Windows 2K and the other has the embedded image. When I
try to boot from the XPE image it will run through the
first windows startup with the white bar at the bottom.
Then I get a blue screen of death stating
BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO

Any ideas?

Thanks

Ryan

 

[Brad Combs]

Ryan,

Overwrite your ntldr, and ntdetect.com with the version created by target
designer. It will still allow booting of Win2K, but will also allow the XPe
to boot. It may also improve the booting performance of your Win2K machine
since the XP versions support overlapped device init.

HTH,

Brad Combs
Imago Technologies

 

[Guest]

I don't know what you mean by low cost but you might want to check out the Beckhoff CX-1000. It's an industrial PC with integrated I/O. (See http://www.beckhoffautomation.com/, expand out 'Embedded PC' in the left tree-view.) You can get it with several peripherals including sound and USB, either Windows CE or XPe, and 32Mb, 64Mb or 128Mb. It also has support for the .NET Framework (Compact Framework on CE). It too uses a NI Geode processor but I think it's only a 200Mhz version. It has build in support for Compact Flash or microdrives. It typically comes with a runtime license for Beckhoffs "soft-PLC" called TwinCAT which you may not need. This is an "off-the-shelf" solution and may not be as cheap as individual components but I have a mantra - "When compared to labor, hardware is cheap."