Quick and easy evaluation of 'USB2', and 'XPRS' products under Linux - from A to Z

Quick and easy evaluation of 'USB2', and 'XPRS' products under Linux - from A to Z



1. Where do I start?



We have a number of computer hardware where we want to evaluate under Linux - windows desktops, windows notebooks, apple mac mini , bare-bone motherboard+disk systems .
We want to test on all of them.

Linux distributions offer full versions based on one or more DVDs, and 'live' / single CD/USB drive based bootable versions.
A 'live' distribution boots the operating system and load programs directly from the CD/USB drive, without the need of installing to a hard disk.

In order to preserve the pre-installed operating system and programs on the variety of computer hardware where we want to evaluate under Linux, we select getting and using a 'live' bootable CD/USB drive Linux.

In addition, downloading time for a single CD/USB drive can be about 1 hour on a slow line.

The only requirement of using 'live' bootable CD/USB drive is that the hardware we test on allows booting from CD/USB drive.
This feature is available on all modern systems, however not present on 5+ years old systems.

If a particular system does not boot from CD/USB drive after power on, please enter BIOS and check settings - adjust, if needed.


2. Which distribution, where to get 'live' CD/USB drive from?



Linux, under the common name contains a wide variety of distributions. To select a particular one we put the requirements -

  • be mainstream - popular, have frequent releases, use latest kernels
  • free - anyone can download and test without conditions and limits
  • be fast on boot - optimized/minimized time for CD/USB drive boot
    We did download and evaluate a number of distributions including - Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, LinuxMint.

    Starting from around kernel 2-6-20 and later , distributions offered 32bit versions - i386/i686... , and 64bit versions - x86_64/AMD64... Currently we support run on 64bit versions.



    Distributions can be downloaded directly from the web site, or from a number of mirrors -
    - ubuntu - http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/
    - fedora - http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options#formats/
    - opensuse - http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/

    3. Boot, initial steps, install, run



    Our install software is packed in a single file - install2rel.zip . First time setup requires installing the system libraries packed in - install2libs.zip . Both files after unpacking have separate folders for Windows, Linux, and MacOS .

    The Linux software is installed from single executable files - arstech-libs.run , and arstech-utils-xyz.run .

    After booting with a 'live' cd//USB drive, we recommend copying of the 2 Linux install files in the - '/home/' folder.

    The 2 files need to be made executable -
    - through the file utility -> 'properties'
    - or, by running from 'terminal', for ex. -> chmod +x arstech-libs.run

    Installation is normally in 2 steps - after starting './arstech-libs.run', the installation completes in the local-user mode and prompts you to enter 'root' / 'super-user' mode.

    Generally 'root' mode is entered by 'su' command, however under Ubuntu releases you may need to type 'sudo su' command.

    In the same way, after starting './arstech-utils-xyz.run', the installation completes in the local-user mode and prompts you to enter 'root' / 'super-user' mode.

    4. Building, running, initial testing



    In the end of the installation the script runs our ARSTech Enumerator.

    In the Enumerator you can -
    - insert / remove USB2-ISA/PCMCIA and SSI2-ISA/PCI/PCMCIA cards
    - check what resources were detected - i/o ports, memory areas, irq and/or dma channels

    There is the 'ARSGui' allows manual access - read/write to i/o ports and memory areas of a peripheral card.
    We have the 'dosbox' environment allowing running binaries of DOS programs for peripheral cards mounted on USB2-ISA/PCMCIA .
    If the peripheral card has DOS software, you can test with it right away.

    More on our DOS support is available on - www.arstech.com/dosbox-rel.zip .



    5. Next steps



    Our user's guide is available in -
    - start - program files - arstech utilities -> user's guide
    - or, www.arstech.com/users-guide.pdf

    In this article we did describe testing / evaluating under one computer system.
    You can repeat the steps under as many computer systems as you like - desktops, notebooks, windows, mac os ... etc. systems.

    The software setup process creates a folder '4developers' which includes a basic API set and samples.

    You can use our basic API set included in our install software to build an application for the ISA/PCMCIA peripheral card, or port an existing application, as well.
    The description of the basic API set is in the 'ars-api.txt' and there is the implementation guide - 'impl-guide.txt' .

    We offer an extended API set in our 'sdkbus' product. More on it is available in - www.arstech.com/sdkbus.htm .

    Based on the knowledge and experience gained under the quick and easy evaluation on a 'live' cd/dvd, you can make a software build and then test on this specific Linux distribution.