...making Linux just a little more fun!
Thomas Adam [thomas at fvwm.org]
Hi all,
[This might help drum up conversation here, if nothing else, but I appreciate it's not really Linux-centric.]
Some of you might recall some years ago the following:
http://linuxgazette.net/141/misc/lg/shuttle_sd39p2__should_i_buy_one.html
Unfortunately, said machine literally went up in white smoke just before Christmas. From what I can tell, an integrated circuit on the motherboard blew, as the PSU is still intact, according to my volt metre, as are the harddrives, etc. The point is, it's something esoteric, and not the usual suspects I would expect to have blown, else I could have replaced those parts.
However, because it's a Shuttle, replacing the motherboard outright is not
an option either, as it's an integrated system due to its cooling fans, etc.
Not to mention the apparent cost of doing so amounts to an equivalent cost
of the Shuttle overall. 
Buying a new machine therefore seems logical.
So, would anyone be able to help me in replacing my Shuttle with a modern equivalent? When I say equivalent, I mean:
* Must be of a similar size to the Shuttle (form-factor). If this implies mini-itx, that's fine. * Should be as low-powered as possible -- i.e., not consuming the planet. Think green. * Would need space for at least two hard drives minimum. * Minimum of two PCI slots (one of which must be an PCI-e slot.) * Support for dual-head graphics a must. * On-board wireless would be nice (without the need for an additional card)
I appreciate some of the above might not necessarily fit any one system, and
I'd be willing to sacrifice on-board wireless for one of the PCI slots (as
my Shuttle only had two PCI(e) slots anyway), but who knows what's possible?
I don't know an awful lot about hardware, so any thoughts/suggestions are gratefully received. Of course, the systems should support Linux/*BSD [1] -- I don't want to have to grapple with anything Windows-specific.
Any help is thankfully appreciated.
TIA,
-- Thomas Adam
[1] I've been using OpenBSD for a long time now, so anything to help further
that is definitely a bonus.
-- "It was the cruelest game I've ever played and it's played inside my head." -- "Hush The Warmth", Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.
Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]
On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 10:14:40PM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:
> > So, would anyone be able to help me in replacing my Shuttle with a modern > equivalent? When I say equivalent, I mean: > > * Must be of a similar size to the Shuttle (form-factor). If this implies > mini-itx, that's fine. > * Should be as low-powered as possible -- i.e., not consuming the planet. > Think green. > * Would need space for at least two hard drives minimum. > * Minimum of two PCI slots (one of which must be an PCI-e slot.) > * Support for dual-head graphics a must. > * On-board wireless would be nice (without the need for an additional card)
I don't have any pertinent experience - I've been living with nothing but laptops for the past X years - but have you considered another Shuttle? They're relatively cheap, from what I could find, and as I recall, you liked yours when you got it.
I'm still waiting for the IonicsPlug people to get their stuff together... or maybe for somebody in the US to start producing something similar. Darn it, I would really like to "dewire" my workstation as much as possible.
-- * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *