==== Installing Npemwin on a Soekris NET5501 ====

The Soekris net5501 is a small form-factor computer based on a 586
class processor.  Its low power requirements, fanless operation and
wide operating temperature of zero to 60 C make it a great system
to run Npemwin.

The model used in this deployment is a net5501-70.  It has a 500
Mhz AMD Geode LX CPU, 512 Mbyte DDR-SDRAM and four Ethernet ports.
The system uses comBIOS for full headless operation over a serial
port.  Although the net5501 is fully capable of booting embedded
OS distributions from its compact flash interface, this deployment
also includes the optional SATA drive mounting kit and a 64GB SATA
SSD.  The SSD permits using a regular OS distribution without quickly
experiencing the write limits of compact flash media.

Since the net5501 is based on a 32-bit processor, FreeBSD 9.0 i386
and the FreeBSD 9.0 i386 Npemwin package were used for this
installation.

=== Connecting to the Soekris ===

Because the Soekris computer is DTE, one must use use a
null modem serial cable to connect to it from another computer.

The default baud rate on the Soekris is 19,200 while FreeBSD is
9600.  For convenience and to simplify operation, change the Soekris
to 9600 using the comBIOS console:  CTRL-P on boot and then the
following from the Command Line Interface

<code>
set ConSpeed 9600
reboot
</code>

=== Installing and Preparing the Operating System ===

The net5501 supports booting from its single SATA interface,
a Compact Flash Card or using PXE.  It cannot boot from its USB interface.
This makes OS installation a little challenging.  Without a taking the time to
deploy a PXE server, one can take a shortcut by temporarily mounting
the SSD in regular PC to complete the OS installation there.  Use
the generic kernel.

Before removing the SSD and mounting it in the Soekris, make the
following changes:

  * Edit /etc/ttys - Change the ttyu0 entry from dialup to
vt100 and from **off** to **on**
  * Add the following lines to **/boot/loader.conf** (create it if necessary):

<file>
comconsole_speed="9600"
console="comconsole"
</file>

=== Special Consideration for Network Interface Configuration ===

If the network card in your installation PC is something other than VIA
Rhine, Rhine II, modify **/etc/rc.conf** to specify  **ifconfig_vr0**.

=== Npemwin installation ===

With the SSD installed in the Soekris, download the FreeBSD 9.0
Npemwin i386 package from noaaport.net and complete the installation as normal.

=== Performance Observations ===

A sample of the top command shows load averages:  0.67,  0.71,  0.63.
This seems typical.  When the programs that run under tclsh8.6 fire up
periodically, as one might expect, they take advantage of all of
the processing power of the 500Mhz Geode CPU.  For example, CPU:
68.9% user,  0.0% nice, 31.1% system,  0.0% interrupt,  0.0% idle

=== Storage Notes ===

The Soekris net5501 is capable of booting via a compact flash card, an
internal 2.5 inch hard drive or PXE.  One can even install the OS 
on a compact flash card and use the installed 2.5 inch drive as the 
primary storage volume for npemwin.  Instead, consider a simple 
installation with the OS, application and data on a 2.5 inch SSD.
Otherwise the performance of the system will generally track to the 
slower performance characteristics of the compact flash card instead 
of the faster 2.5 inch SSD.

When selecting an SSD for the net5501, consider an SLC SSD instead
of one of the more common MLC-based drives available.  In short, 
SLC-based drives typically exhibit higher performance and longer 
life--at a higher cost, though.  For background: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_cell#Single-level_cell|Single-Level Cell]] at Wikipedia.
The Intel 313 series is worth investigating.

=== Final Thoughts ===

To achieve the best performance on the net5501 with FreeBSD, one should
compile and use a customized kernel.  Add "options CPU_SOEKRIS" and
"options CPU_GEODE" to the kernel configuration file.
For more specific  guidance, visit the
[[http://wiki.soekris.info/Installing_FreeBSD#net5501|Soekris Wiki]].

For additional information, the FreeBSD Handbook has a very helpful 
section entitled
[[http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig-building.html|"Building and Installing a Custom Kernel"]]

-----
C Fincher <cfincher14@yahoo.com> - Tue, 25 Dec 2012