The latest line of industrial computers from Siemens are all x64 architecture for systems larger than the Nano family (still 32 bit for Nano systems). This includes the IPC427, IPC477, IPC 647, IPC 677, IPC 547, IPC 847 and larger systems. Systems like the IPC477 have integrated touch screen and with the proper options, no moving parts for harsh environments.
The issue is that Siemens does not provide an image for these systems for Linux. The concept is easy, just load a version of Linux like OpenSUSE and run! Not exactly easy, as I discovered.
The touch screen devices are using the Intel chipset for the LCD panels. These panels have a backlight function. When the system boots, you can see the screen fine (in 1024x786 mode), but when you log into the Linux OS, the screen disappears! At first, I thought it was trying to use the resolution for the external video port, which is much better than the panel. The issue is that Linux is using the acpi calls to manage the backlight. That only works on the external port. For the internal port which drives the panel, it uses only the intel functions.
1. install Linux with an external monitor attached
2. I used OpenSUSE 12.3 x64 and choose the default installation minus the Office and Games software.
3. After the installation is finished, go to Software Management and search for "Sax3", install this additional utility
4. Use Sax3 to set the resolution for the panel, not the external monitor, leave the advanced settings blank
5. Open YaST, System->Boot Loader->Boot Loader Options
6. in the field "Optional Kernal Command Line Parameter" at the end, add a space after the last command and add exactly this: " acpi_backlight=vendor"
With those changes, you can then boot directly to the panel with or without the external monitor attached.
Todd Malone
Siemens HMI CoC USA