long-winded: booting an embedded computer

[Alex Eisenhut]

I found what turned out to be an embedded PC while thrifting. A chunky little blue slab with fins and DB connectors all over. I thought maybe a 486 because it looked old to me. It was 20$ with a 12V 5A adapter and a USB LCD/button interface.

Model AEEON TF-AEC-6822-C3-1010, turns out to be a 1.6GHz Intel Atom based thing with 1G RAM and 4G CF.

I don't know anything about embedded PCs and what makes them different besides the form factor.

This little guy powers up and emits a continuous series of identical beeps within 2-3 seconds of power up. No video on the VGA port, there's no other video output ports.

The USB display is a Crystalfontz XES635BK-TFE-KU, apparently worth the 20$ on its own, and it shows as a serial port on my PC and I can see it's sending me junk at 115200 when I press keys and the display lights. But it does nothing on the AEEON. (however the support from the company is very good, I found a complete manual with code and everything, it might yet be useful)

The motherboard itself is a GENE-9455 which led me to another manual. Apparently there's an Award BIOS in there and this code means defective memory. The boot up is the same if I remove the memory and the CF drive. And I tried several times and pressed hard to get the memory in. The contacts are all perfectly shiny and intact.

I thought maybe the manual would include more in-depth information than a consumer PC but nope.

So I measured the 12V adapter, it measures 12V. Then I poked around the various larger SMT caps on the board but the voltages are all likely numbers like 2.5V, 1.5V, 1.0V, stuff I'd expect. The CMOS battery measures 3V.

The manual describes a watchdog timer which I guess makes this industrial, is that something that can prevent booting?

I'm not too sure I want to buy a 1G DDR2 stick or whatever just to find out it's expecting a watchdog dongle or something that didn't come with it.

So what makes a PC "embedded"? Can I expect something from any of the 4 serial ports on boot up? I can't use a POST card as there is no ISA or PCI connector. (There is an unpopulated spot for a mini PCI)

Besides finding the datasheets for the chipset and maybe finding a reference design, how should I proceed with reviving this thing?

Visually it looks new. No liquid damage, no dents, no loose wires. (everything is siliconed in place, it looks like it was meant to take a wallop)

Heatsinks over the chipset seem to work ie they seem to contact the respective dies, or at least the dimple in the heat pad suggests it.

It's just a beeping lump of metal right now. Oh and most of the connectors on the metal box still have the plastic covers on them, only two serial ports are exposed and one USB connector for the LCD.

So chances are this thing was "headless" and never even hooked up to a monitor. The LCD display would display enough info.

Maybe I should review all possible jumper settings?

The main problem is that it's designed to be in its case, if I run the board in a way to access the jumpers and connectors, the chips have no heatsinks, they're part of the case.

So would you invest time to revive it or it's a bookend?

[Alex Eisenhut]

Aliexpress DDR2 arrived today, the 1GB gave a long beep, no video, the 2GB finally booted the little monster into a French Windows Embedded Standard. It's asking for a login. Very interesting.

No way to enter the BIOS I can see, there is no PS/2 connector, only USB. AFAIK you need to configure the BIOS to look for USB keyboards, so a catch-22. According to the motherboard manual there is a connector for keyboard/mouse. It's not populated.

I guess I'll remove the CF drive and see if I can install an embedded Linux of some ilk.

[macboy]

Is there a serial port? Either DE-9 Or maybe a RJ45 jack labeled console.
I have couple embedded x86 devices which provide access to the BIOS setup using this console serial port. The setting is almost always 115200 8N1.

[Alex Eisenhut]

There are 4 serial ports but as far as I can tell there's no activity on any of them on boot up.

[coromonadalix]

here  they are or where used as  MEV   cashier recordings and against tax evasions    loll  as you may know  since you are in canada

i have one sitting duck on a bench for a long time,  don't know what to do with it

yes they have gene 9455 motherboard in them, cant recall the version, 1.1 or 1.2   svga out, not the dvi  board model

In thoses we have here in Quebec,  they are crippled in the bios, i was able to find an almost identical one, minus the lpt port who does not work at all,  they used Crystafontz  2x16  lcd remotes on them

after bios flashing,  i was able to install an real XP on them,  instead of the embedded one
 
4gb compact flash drive,  they max out at 2gb of ram,  witch i have put in it,    Atom N270  if i recall

for the crystalfontz   lucky you  loll, i dont have one, but it will activate once the driver is loaded, it is not supposed to react before a complete boot

This display could be used on your pc  once connected to an usb port, and have  some lcd display softwares


@op  you want it   loll  pay a small fee and the shipping  and have fun with it  loll


you can use it outside it's designed enclosure, you need to put it against a dissipating surface for the cpu  thick plate,  check the ones on ebay ... you'll see   

attached photo  of how they look outside the enclosure,   it is not the same revision tough, the second one is the model you're supposed to have in it

[Alex Eisenhut]

Thanks. I figured there's something special about the BIOS. Do you know if there's something special about the flash drive too? It doesn't get recognized in a CF reader.

I didn't anticipate this complexity/annoyance when I bought it.

Another 20$ well wasted.

edit: c'est quasiment un serpuarien, j'va le maudire au eco centre...

[coromonadalix]

loll  ah un Quebecois ....    loll 

normally  its a compliant  bootable compact flash card

With another almost identical bios, once un-crippled, i was able to install a full fledged XP with the bios "boot" options, with external devices  like usb cd-rom, or crafted  bootable xp  usb key  ...

if you're going to trash it send it to me with the crystalfontz  interface ?   Quebec city ?   ill give you the 20$ and the Canada post Shipping ?

J'aimes les causes perdues  loll      vu que celui que j'ai dors depuis 1 an ... mais fonctionel 

[Alex Eisenhut]

Ha ha no, I will try a few more things. I found GENE-9455 BIOS images, I suppose I have to use the special programming connector to flash the BIOS?

[coromonadalix]

no need  you can try uniflash  and other windows or dos  related tools to flash it  like i did


be careful with the gen bios, there are board revisions .. and some may not fit yours ...   

eh   if you ever want mine,  just pay the shipping and i'll toss the MEV to you   i absolutely do nothing with it  ....    live in quebec  loll ?

[Alex Eisenhut]

C'est gentil mais non ... j'ai assez de stock qui traine a terre... 

I will put this thing in a box and get back to it later.