Versalogic Cobra EBX-12 Onboard Computer

From MobileRobots Research and Academic Customer Support

Cobra EBX-12 computer (later revision with red board; earlier revisions had green boards)

Contact us for support, including any problems with the computer, additional drivers, or detailed specifications not found in the manual.

Information

General information is available at http://www.versalogic.com/products/DS.asp?ProductID=164

Manual

Download the EBX-12 computer manual at http://www.versalogic.com/Products/Manuals/MEBX12.pdf

Components

Ethernet

Onboard ethernet are two Intel 82551 ER interfaces (also called "Fast Ethernet 100 PRO" or "E100").

Download Windows drivers here; or use the bundle provided by Versalogic (see below).

Note, on most computers, MobileRobots has disabled the secondary ethernet interface (to improve IRQ compatability with some other devices which are sensitive to conflicts), and provided an external port for the primary ethernet interface. To enable the second port, enter the BIOS configuration on computer boot. However, on the EBX12, this will result in the external ethernet port on the robot now being the secondary port on the computer, with the unconnected port on the computer motherboard now being the primary.

Graphics

Onboard graphics chipset is Intel 82855 GME ("Extreme Graphics 2"). Drivers for Windows are available at http://downloadcenter.intel.com; or try the bundle provided by Versalogic (see below).

Audio/Sound

Analog Devices AD1981 in Intel 810 chipset, AC97 codec.

On Windows, use this driver: http://www.versalogic.com/Downloads/zip/3890-FLAT.zip

On Linux using ALSA (most current versions of Linux), use the included snd_intel8x0 and snd_ac97_codec kernel modules (in addition to snd_pcm etc.). If using plain OSS (older versions of Linux), use the i810_audio and ac97_codec kernel modules.

On Linux set "Line" as the recording channel for input, and adjust "IGain" to adjust recording level.

See Linux Audio Drivers and Audio levels, recording and playback on Cobra EBX-12 computer for more information.

Or, for drivers try the bundle provided by Versalogic (see below).

CompactFlash

The Cobra has an IDE/ATA interface for a CompactFlash (CF) storage device. See Versalogic Cobra EBX-12 Compact Flash for details.

Misc. Notes

• To boot from a CD-ROM, the CD must use the El Torrito format. See Connect and boot from CD-ROM drive on Versalogic Cobra EBX-12 computer for more information.
• The Cobra's Pentium M CPU does not fully support SSE3 instructions, so don't enable SSE3 when compiling (e.g. with GCC/G++, don't use -msse3, -msse4, and don't use -march, -mcpu, or -mtune options for specific CPUs such as atom or core2.) Programs compiled with SSE3 will encounter Illegal Instruction errors at runtime.

Versalogic Driver Bundles

Versalogic provides bundles with a set of drivers for various components of the Cobra computer for Windows XP at http://www.versalogic.com/software/Software_Search.asp?c=4&p=164

There is no similar Linux bundle; the standard Linux drivers work for the most part.

Product Information

Replaced by (except on Patrolbot)

Versalogic Mamba EBX-37 Onboard Computer

Part Numbers

For Pioneer/Peoplebot: ACT0012

For Patrolbot: ACT0012

For Seekur: ACT0300 (PC#1), ACT0301 (PC#2), ACT0302 (PC#3 plus additional power supply and ethernet switching), ACT0303 (PC#4), ACT0304 (PC#5).