QNX Floppy Tools? ==> Linux

[Colin Goodall]

I've been lurking away here on the list for a while now.  So I thought it
was time to chip in.

I have a 1982 CX500 Turbo (motorcycle).  It has its own EFI but its totally
black-box.  no info available whatsoever on how to "improve" it.  So I've
come to the conclusion that my best bet would be to build a new computer.

> What I'm surprised at is that there's not more talk of Linux on this
> list. By itself it could handle an EFI system and host it's own
> analysis software. With real-time Linux (www.rtlinux.org) this is now
> a certainty. Sooner or later someone will build a PC-104 (or smaller)
> EFI unit.

This is one option I seriously considered.  right off the shelf you can buy
PC104 processors anywhere from an 80386 and up to current PIII systems.
There are a vast array of "I/O" cards available.  including cards which
contain solenoid drivers (just whats needed for firing the injectors".

I figured you could build the whole thing out of off-the-shelf components
and run a linux OS on it.
  (Or even Windows NT if your brave,
      or Windoze 95 if your foolish!)

linux would be a great choice.  Easily extensible and tons of support if you
need to tweak the kernel.  And lots of tools available.  Their's even some
companies flogging versions of linux with a real time kernel.  But if you
had a fast enough processor Pentium series processor it wouldn't much matter
since it would just simply run more than quick enough.

Another nice feature would be using a CPU card with video for very very easy
debugging of the software.  Once your up and runnning just use a plain
vanilla CPU card with no video.  (But most modern CPU cards come with
EVERYTHING!, serial parallel, accelerated video, keyboard and mouse,
10baseT.  Forget the internet toasted, you've got an internet internal
combustion engine!)

If you mount the computer inside the vehicle you could plug in oone of these
new flat-screen LCD monitors and mount it on the dash.  Monitor the entire
system while your driving!

Obviously using PC104 opens up an enormous number of possibilites.

But there are 2 things to consider.

1) This setup would be a hackers paradise (for me no problem), but could be
a bit much for most of the people reading this list.  It strikes me that
most participants on this list are more experienced on the mechanical side,
while you are learning and working with the EFI you are not programmers to
begin with.  So the learning curve would be prohitively steep.

1) Cost.  Unless you are going to buy enough to build a couple hundred units
these cards can be expensive once you add up eveything you need.

> This would be a great project, but by the time you're done you could
> easily have bought an Electomotive or MoTec setup. Unless Lego comes
> out with EFI sensors for the Mind Storm....... :)
Yes, exactly!

Hope this helps
  Colin


+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Colin Goodall                |                                     |
| goodall at magmacom.com         | "Sometimes you're the windshield,   |
| http://www.magma.ca/~goodall |           Sometimes you're the bug" |
| (613) 258-3831               |                                     |
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