[talk] APU2 post-mortem options

[George Rosamond]

On 5/12/23 15:59, Isaac (.ike) Levy wrote:
> I have one option in hand,
> 
>> On May 12, 2023, at 2:09 PM, George Rosamond <george at ceetonetechnology.com> wrote:
>>
>> ideal hardware options after APU2/PCEngines go away
> 
> I've been hoarding PCEngines boards for years, please ping me off list and have bank routing numbers in hand, and don't get sassy when I state my prices.
> 
> I won't begin selling my APU2's until I depelete my supply of APU/i386 boards.
> 
> I may have a Soekris or two left as well, if you're lucky.  And if you'd like, I am able to paint the APU machines pea green, as an add on.
> 
> If you've read this far and don't yet understand I'm joking, please know I write this holding back tears that my favorite compute platform of all time is gone...  And Pascal is the best.

Ooops. You were banned after I read the first line.  Hope this email
finds you well!

Also in seriousness.. I do remember the last analog-based trading phone
systems slowly dying many years ago. A few people in NYC had decent
supplies to keep them going. Everyone went digital obviously, but at
that point there was a reliability in copper pairs over anything
internet based. Dropping packets was not an option for traders.

I didn't stop using Soekris for at least console servers until a few
years ago... and I assume my APU2s will keep chugging away for many
years. But just like the Soekris' specs were a drag, the APU2s were
showing it for a while already.

Getting those mSATAs was rough, and the underpowered CPUs were killing
me. Plus the heat dissipation was problematic. If anyone hasn't heard
the story, one production APU2 I had hit 113C.. Don't tell me "you could
fry an egg on it".. since it would burn too quickly.

I have a hard time opting for a replacement system meant for the
desktop. I don't want your wifi/bluetooth/HDMI or even VGA. I don't want
cabinet space wasted with those useless extras. And give me db9 or give
me death.

I think I speak for many others when I say it became natural and
comfortable to just order a bunch of APU2s when in need, and they always
seemed to come in cheaper than their quoted estimate, and they arrived
faster than expected.

And I had interacted with Pascal a number of times going way back, and
really appreciated what one engineer could do to satisfy the needs for
so many of our types. And PCEngines was a sponsor at NYCBSDCon 2008*

g

* http://www.nycbsdcon.org/2008/