RE: Hardware Compatibility
At one time I had Linux installed on a (very ugly!) IBM Aptiva M50. It has the
video on board, and the sound card and modem are on a single BIG card.
As long as you know what chipset the video uses, you shouldn't have a problem.
Mine was a Trident, but I've seen S3's onboard as well. Ask the vendor for
the chipset (if it is on demo you can do it through Windows' Control Panel), and
check out the xfree86.org to see if it is compatable.
I had no luck with the modem part of my sound card, as it was a WinModem, and
ran in software. The sound I managed to get to work by first booting in to
Dos/Windows, then warm booting to Linux using Loadln to keep the sound drivers
in memory.
My current computer used to have a motherboard that had onboard sound -- but I
could hear the mouse rolling around through the speakers!! That was an Asus
P5A, but I have since switched for another normal motherboard and an SBlive!.
Basically, Linux treats onboard stuff like seperate cards. However, keep in
mind that those cheap systems often have "Windows only" hardware -- no drivers
for linux.
You shouldn't have to worry too much, but find out what kind of modem/sound
card is in there, and check out the kernel source / alsa / hardware-howto /
linux hardware database sites to see if other people have managed to get that
hardware to work.
I would stay away from this top contender -- all three on board probably is a
signal that it will be a hassle to get to work.
I hope that answers your question,
Wim.
On 02-Sep-99 Mark Hendriks wrote:
> Hello
>
> This is question that I couldn't find the answer to on either the Linux or
> Debian web site. I've also been considering FreeBSD, but I couldn't find the
> answer on their web site either.
>
> I am finally aproaching the day when I will replace the ancient piece of junk
> which I am currently using. As I do not have a large amount of money to put
> into a computer, I have been looking at some less expensive systems. The top
> contender so far in terms of price/value is one that has video, sound and a
> modem on the motherboard.
>
> How do I find out if Linux will run (and recognise the video chipset) on this
> type of motherboard? Would Linux distinguish between this type of
> motherboard,
> and a "standard" motherboard? If not, would Linux treat the video chipset as
> just another video "card?" What kind of video card?
>
> I don't even know if I need to worry about this, or if I'm asking the right
> questions.
>
> Any answers you can give would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Mark
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| Wim Kerkhoff
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| www.canadianhomes.net/wim
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