Cheapest Harddrive Solution that works?

I've read about CF cards being used(the atom 525mw boards don't use IDE?), cheap ebay DOMs being used, and a few other things.
However, what is the cheapest solution that doesn't risk reliability?

Hi

Just buy a small branded SSD, prices are coming down all the time. Dont need more than 32GB, smaller if you can get it and it is cheaper.
(However the way things work with computer hardware, you might even find a 64GB say is cheaper than 32GB, because they make more of them)

Fast, silent, dust and shock proof

Cheap is not everything, a few extra doubloons for something that will last is worth it

regards

You're right, having something go wrong can be far more costly then spending $50 or so on something that won't fail. I shouldn't compromise, I've already bought a PicoPSU, have the "right" motherboard, a gig of ram, and so forth. I also have a PCI WIFI card, but I hear they can cause latency issues. Are they confirmed to cause issues, and if so could I simply create a script that shuts it(or whatever service within Linux) down when I open LinuxCNC?
Thanks for the input

I also have a PCI WIFI card, but I hear they can cause latency issues. Are they confirmed to cause issues, and if so could I simply create a script that shuts it(or whatever service within Linux) down when I open LinuxCNC?

You will have to determine for yourself if latency suffers with the card installed, there are dozens of different ones. A lot are purely windoze with no linux drivers and even the ones with some support, like RaLink can be variable.

The post which I presume you refer to does have a python script to load and unload
www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/forum...-this-hardware#28991
Then search birchys other posts for his script

I would advise using cabled ethernet ( via homeplugs if a long way from the router ) if you can. That is what I do, apparantly so does Andy from his last post on the above thread.
Wi-Fi will very often not work at all if you have a motor running in the shop, it doesn't like metal or concrete walls.
I fitted a filter to the mains supply to my mill with a VFD to get rid of noise and can now get full speed internet and make file transfers, irrespective of whether anything is running, in a workshop 200ft from the house.

regards

might not be everyones cup of tea but you can boot from usb on modern mobos so why not a flash drive? not as fast as a modern ssd and not as reliable as any intel ssd but cheap, small, power efficient, fast (compared to a mechanical drive), and you likely will already have one for the install to begin with. just partition it in the installer since the image will leave a lot of unallocated space then you should be able to install to the new partition then delete the install image and extend the new partition, this may need some tweaking in fstab and the grub config files as well but it's doable. it would be easier with a different drive from the installer though

the wifi card may or may not be an issue. many wifi card manufacturers don't provide linux drivers, however there are many cards that use the same chipsets from many manufacturers so installing drivers for another card can work if you do research on the chipset, and there is also the ndis wrapper option that somehow manages to use windows drivers for linux (just the actual driver, not the front end) which is pretty cool. so in reality there may be many different drivers you can use (or none) and one may work and another may not.

I bought a new 60 gig intel ssd and 1 gig of ram for $90 shipped. That SSD is what I'd want in my desktop I have in the house(yet couldn't justify the cost :/). I have spent a total of $170 on my machine, I can't wait to dump my ailing P4 setup

I currently have my desktop machine in a garden shed 100 feet from the house (another bonus is less electrical usage with the atom on my strained extension cord), running ethernet cable there won't work. For my spindle I just run a Bosch Colt and don't need the internet anyways when the machine is running. Currently I don't want to have run back and forth when I forget something, need to tweak something in Meshcam, or so forth.

I thought about using a USB flashdrive, however, it seemed rather slow to boot up, and it seemed to unconventional. I was thinking about one of intels Z Value drives, there are a few 1 gig models, but the 4 gigs ones, the ones that would work are $40, but I'm thinking it would be wise to have another machine to be a place to a few gigs of my CNC files.


Thanks guys for the help, I'll start a thread on my setup when I get the new computer up.
It's nothing to be awestruck about in all honesty, but it has worked for a year straight running LinuxCNC, and is a cheaper setup that puts out nice work.

Well I didn't have luck with the PCI wifi card although people seem to get it to work.
The leds on it won't power up, therefore I guess there is a hardware incompatibility.
I also tried two usb based wifi dongles without luck.
So I will purchase something that works with Ubuntu
Otherwise everything works great (just need to wire a button up to start the machine instead of a paper clip), I don't have a case or anything, so I am playing with a model of a case that will be made from 3 pieces of wood.
Two pieces with tongue and groove, along with a slot for a custom backplate.
I don't know how well my efforts will work on that end though.
I'll post pictures as I said before, I just need to get the case done.

Hmmmm
The paralel port isn't work!
I have a header, and the cable for it.
When I connect it the Xylotex's steppers power up.
It should work, but I'm not sure why.

I've had very little luck in getting PCI Wifi cards to work with Linux. I either use an Ethernet/WiFi game adapter or a WiFi router. Routers are cheap and are easy to set up as clients instead of access points if needed. A directional antenna on a point to point (house to shed) link can help:
martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/
www.wallacecompany.com/biquad/

If you get a WiFi router that is compatible with OpenWRT you can use the router for other purposes:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenWrt
wiki.openwrt.org/about/start

such as a file server or webpage server.

I have also used cheap USB thumb drives on LinuxCNC. I have found that bootup is faster than with a hard drive. I also have used CF drives:
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186061
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208340

The eight gig CF card allows one to have two or three partitions, so one can boot LinuxCNC, plain Ubuntu or W_____s if needed.

As for the parallel port you can check to see if the port is set up during boot up by checking dmesg in a terminal window.I got this on my computerThis shows there is a port at 0x0378. If I had a PCI parallel port card installed, it should also show up and have a port address. LinuxCNC will need to know the address for your loadrt parport command in the main .hal file.
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?LinuxCNC_Supported_Hardware (look for PCI parallel port card heading)
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?NetMos

--
Kirk Wallace
www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/index.html

I was a tad paranoid about something happening. Such as a software issue resulting in a stall then I scrap $30 in material, which would start to mitigate any costs being saved. Hearing from you that they work, I would have gone that route though. I'm hoping to buy another machine this year, so I'll definately go that route. I feel like I'm almost wasting that nice Intel SSD that is giving me under 10 seconds to boot Ubuntu.

I'll pickup an older Linksys router, I see them everywhere, and I think they are openwrt compatible. That would be great, since I'm tired of running around with flashdrives, and can use dropbox to get things where I need them..
There are a ton of people here that seemingly toss things away that work fine,
so I'll pickup a few of them for a dollar or three each.

I figured out the paralell port issue, it's actually an issue with either the motherboard or the brand new DB25 cable I bought. I "hot" wired the Y step to the X step, and behold it works. Along with the P4 right next to it that works.
So I'm hoping to just solder two wires from where the A axis would be to the X step and dir, then call it a day.
When I get all this stuff put back together I'll show off my humble shed
Then i can get back to making things instead of saying this is a representation, and you will be next in line on my online venue.