On 4/9/08, Jeffrey 'jf' Lim <jfs.world@gmail.com> wrote:
quoted text
>
>
> http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/pressrelease.jsp?press_release_no=2088
>
> would this be good news for the community? This is really mainly
> Linux-related, but i'm hoping that their mention of "technical
> documentation" will be good enough for Open to be able to support them...
>
> -jf


I'm running dual mini-ITX Migrus C787-1.5G motherboards in a 1U case - both
have the Via C7 1.5 GHz processor and a gig of RAM each.  Aside from the
issue of versions of OpenBSD up to 4.2 not liking the three-port gigabit
ethernet daughter boards very much, the machines are just downright
painfully slow.  Slow like molasses, and the OS doesn't seem to matter as I
have tried several OpenBSDs, both Enterprise and Desktop editions of Ubuntu
4.07 and 4.10, and even Windows XP Home, Pro, and Server 2003.  Nothing
speeds them up and even drawing a window using any manager is sometimes more
than the things can handle.

I can't help but think that the C7s aren't as i386-compatible as Via would
have us believe, even though they were billed as great for home media center
PCs that could handle encrypted and copy-protected media better than
anything else with the build-in decryption hardware.  I wasn't interested in
this particular application - I needed something very small and minus
towering heat sinks to fit in the 1U case.  The ml was full of Soekris
router throughput issues at the time, so I didn't consider them to be the
best option.

I bought them to be part of a 6U portable rack that served out VSAT
non-military internet access to my unit when deployed, and while they did
the job they about killed me with frustration in the process.  I could be
persuaded to part with one of the motherboards if someone in the project is
interested in doing development work for this arch.

JC