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Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #90403

Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...)

From Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com>
Newsgroups comp.os.linux.misc
Subject Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...)
Date 2026-08-23 11:28 -0700
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <116fe4k$2530n$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (14 earlier) <116d87u$1gcgq$4@dont-email.me> <j72cnbdzwuctBBf3nZ2dnZfqnPudnZ2d@giganews.com> <4b2rlmx9i1.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <116es3j$1uon6$1@dont-email.me> <116esn8$1uqt1$2@dont-email.me>

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On 2026-08-23 06:31, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 23/08/2026 14:20, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> On 2026-08-23 04:32, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>> On 2026-08-23 08:57, c186282 wrote:
>>>> On 8/22/26 18:35, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>> On Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:36:42 -0400, TJ wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It goes against the grain, for me at least, to send perfectly good
>>>>>> running hardware off to the recycler, just because it is
>>>>>> "experienced."
>>>>>
>>>>> CPU generations (and entire architectures) get dropped from the Linux
>>>>> kernel because they can’t find anybody to step forward and maintain
>>>>> the support for them.
>>>>>
>>>>> That is how they tell that there are so few instances of those
>>>>> particular kinds of hardware around, that essentially nobody cares
>>>>> about them any more.
>>>>
>>>>    Sad, but quite correct.
>>>>
>>>>    Really not much call to run Linux-ish stuff
>>>>    on a 386/486 these days. How many people
>>>>    still USE those old boards for ANYTHING ?
>>>>
>>>>    MAYBE a few "industrial" monitor/control
>>>>    systems ... but REALLY they oughtta upgrade.
>>>  > >    However SOME won't because it might cost a
>>>>    few dollars. They'll run the old hardware
>>>>    until it literally bursts into flames - and
>>>>    then be SCREWED for days/weeks/months. But,
>>>>    the bean-counters will TELL them they're
>>>>    saving SO much money, now .......
>>>
>>> Industrial computers may have boards, like data acquisition boards, 
>>> to interface with motors and sensors (or cameras). If you upgrade the 
>>> computer, it comes with a new operating system, so their expensive 
>>> software does not run on it. The cards probably can not be plugged 
>>> in, so they also need replacing; the new boards will probably not be 
>>> compatible with the expensive software. So finally they need to 
>>> recreate the software (hopefully the company that created it still 
>>> exists and has the source files). And maybe there are a bunch of 
>>> computers to replace.
>>>
>>> The price is no longer minor.
>>
>> What you have to do is make sure you have one or two backup hardware 
>> packages, because when the computer breaks, you won't be able to buy 
>> one that works. (Just try to find a motherboard with ISA slots today!)
> 
> https://www.directindustry.com/industrial-manufacturer/isa- 
> motherboard-255106.html
> 
>> And with custom plugin boards, it is kinda too late to have them 
>> fabbed when the system is already down. And fire it up once a year to 
>> make sure it still runs.
>>
>> That may not guarantee that you can recover, but it vastly increases 
>> your chances.
>>
>> And when you put the reserve system into service, it is time to 
>> expedite developing a replacement!
>>
>> For PC systems, the big hurdle is that old 16-bit systems allowed
>> programs to do I/O to ISA bus peripherals without kernel programming, 
>> device drivers and OS hooks. When you "modernize" that ability is 
>> lost, and you have to rebuild with much more complicated programming.
>>
> That is a function of the operating system, not the chipset

Good luck finding a motherboard with ISA bus slots. For a very long 
time, motherboards had ISA bus parallel ports and serial ports, where 
all you had to do to access them directly was to populate the footprint 
for the connector. I think those went away around 2018.

I got a handful of machines with footprint for a legacy parallel port as 
refurbs after corporate desktop replacement rounds, and brought them to 
my PCB rework guy. I was very disappointed to learn that the PCB 
manufacturer had reduced the footprint from 2.5 mm pin spacing to 2 mm 
pin spacing, making the ribbon cables used for this application not fit.

-- 
Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California

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Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-16 03:47 -0400
  Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-16 18:54 +0000
    Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2026-08-17 08:46 +1000
      Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-16 23:46 -0400
      Open web (was: Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!!) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-17 09:42 +0100
    Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-16 23:44 -0400
      Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-17 03:54 +0000
        Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-17 01:24 -0400
        Linux 7.2 (was: Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!!) vallor <vallor@vallor.earth> - 2026-08-17 08:59 +0000
          Re: Linux 7.2 (was: Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!!) rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-17 17:39 +0000
            Re: Linux 7.2 c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-17 22:26 -0400
          Re: Linux 7.2 c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-17 22:21 -0400
            Re: Linux 7.2 Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-18 08:30 +0100
            Re: Linux 7.2 Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-18 13:51 +0000
              Re: Linux 7.2 not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2026-08-19 08:16 +1000
                Re: Linux 7.2 c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-18 22:57 -0400
                Re: Linux 7.2 Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-19 12:37 +0000
                Re: Linux 7.2 rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-19 20:08 +0000
                Re: Linux 7.2 Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-19 12:49 +0000
                Re: Linux 7.2 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-19 14:44 +0100
                Re: Linux 7.2 Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-19 17:56 +0100
                Re: Linux 7.2 John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-08-19 10:27 -0700
                Re: Linux 7.2 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-19 19:37 +0100
                Re: Linux 7.2 Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-20 13:51 +0000
                Re: Linux 7.2 The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-21 13:25 +0100
                Re: Linux 7.2 John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-08-19 08:45 -0700
                Re: Linux 7.2 Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2026-08-19 16:48 +0000
      Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2026-08-17 10:30 -0400
        Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-17 22:25 -0400
          Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-18 03:05 +0000
            Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-18 00:58 -0400
            Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-18 10:21 +0100
              Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-18 13:55 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2026-08-18 21:24 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-19 14:41 +0100
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-19 19:00 +0000
            Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-18 13:53 +0000
              Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-08-18 16:30 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-18 23:02 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-18 23:02 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-19 12:53 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-19 19:25 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-19 21:37 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-20 03:24 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-20 12:32 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-20 20:53 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-20 22:14 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-21 04:29 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-21 01:17 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-20 13:55 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-20 13:04 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2026-08-20 18:04 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-20 21:02 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-20 22:30 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-21 04:24 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-21 01:12 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2026-08-21 08:22 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam2616@zugschl.us> - 2026-08-21 16:01 +0200
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-21 15:22 +0100
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-21 23:55 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-21 18:18 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-22 01:56 +0000
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-22 10:17 +0100
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-21 23:31 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2026-08-22 08:36 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-22 13:44 +0100
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2026-08-22 17:06 -0400
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-22 22:35 +0000
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-23 02:57 -0400
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-23 13:32 +0200
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-23 13:10 +0100
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-23 14:47 +0200
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-23 14:26 +0100
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-23 18:34 +0000
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-23 21:40 +0200
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-24 01:24 +0000
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-24 00:54 -0400
                Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-08-23 06:20 -0700
                Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-23 14:31 +0100
                Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-08-23 11:28 -0700
                Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-23 19:58 +0100
                Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-24 01:06 -0400
                Re: Legacy computer in embedded industial systems (Re: Oh Gods ...) c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-24 01:01 -0400
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-23 23:19 -0400
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-23 12:46 +0100
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-23 18:41 +0000
                Re: Oh Gods - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-24 00:19 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-21 21:54 -0400
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-21 13:27 +0100
                Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-22 04:15 +0000
          Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2026-08-19 11:48 -0400
    Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-17 09:38 +0100
      Re: Oh Gawd - Now MX Linux "Security Verification" - NO !!! rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-08-17 17:14 +0000

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