[plug] Any kernel hackers out there...?

[Kim Covil]

> I would have through that something like the parport init code would be a 
> good place to start, since it does essentially the same thing, only with 
> parallel ports instead of serial. Other good hint-sources might be gpm (even 
> thought it's userland) and the PS/2 devices init (there might be code for 
> checking funny stuff, e.g. mouse/keyboard splitters and the like).

I will take a look there... hadn't thought of those... most of the
places I have looked for example code are quite wrapped up in their own
abstraction layers that it is hard to see what I need for my code...

> For hardware stuff, Ron Casotti (spelling?) is likely to be helpful, he's in 
> Floreat CSIRO somewhere. Software not so, he uses Windows and 8051-sized 
> microcontrollers (and BASIC Stamps).

Not really a hardware problem...
 
> So how come you get to play with ARMs at work while the rest of us have to 
> make do with power-hog x86 processors? (-:

*smile* it isn't anything to do with work... this is my empeg... the
serial device is the tuner module... http://www.riocar.org/ for more
info... though the product is end of line now and no longer produced.

It is basically a small computer running Linux on a Strongarm processor
with an IDE laptop drive (space for a second) designed to be installed
in a DIN slot in your car and play MP3s (and WAVs, WMA, and OGG soon to
come hopefully).

My empeg has a small hardware fault where it can't detect whether it is
in the car or running off mains in the house, so I am trying to detect
the presence of the tuner module (which is only available in the car) to
work around the problem. As the empeg is EOL I don't feel like opening
it up and taking a soldering iron to it to replace the faulty power
socket.

Cheers

Kim

-- 
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Kim Covil - CSIRO Exploration & Mining  E-mail:  kim.covil at csiro.au 
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