> applying a patch to something other than an actual computer

what do you mean??

if i wanted a maxmsp based installation that ran for a long time, wouldnt a computer be a bit overkill? when the computer will only be doing one thing. couldnt the max runtime and the patches be embedded in a chip or something that wouldnt require as much power and would be small and out of sight?

Ok, now your question is more clear. interesting. i was wondering about that some times ago.

i don't know but i imagine that what is needed is only a little PC mother-board with sound output using an SSD drive... if you don't need a screen, right ? (well, at least you would need a screen on the first configuration : To automatically load your patch at Windows start.)

What you may need is a good geek. And I'm sure some maxers must have think about this before. Maybe you could post a new topic on this forum, but with more a precise title, for example :

"a very small PC chip to run a max patch ?"

("running a patch ??" is absolutely not a good title, because if a maxer already use a chip like this, he won't necessarily open this topic while looking at the topic list.)

If you find the solution, I will be interested by it in the future, so, thanks by advance if you can post it back in this forum.

thanks for the help, il take your advice and repost.

cheers Alexandre