EtherLab will run on almost any hardware that runs a Linux kernel.

Mainboard and CPU

We recommend using a hardware that is labelled as industrial PC (IPC). Our experience shows that problems with the timing can result from system management interrupts (SMI), that are common on PCs designed for desktop use, like laptops and workstations.

Ethernet hardware

The type of Ethernet chipset matters once you are using the EtherCAT master. When using the masters' generic Ethernet driver, any Ethernet hardware can be used, that is supported by the Linux kernel. When using other realtime extensions like RTAI or Xenomai (not recommended), the generic driver is not usable and a native Ethernet driver must be used. The availablity of native drivers can be seen here