Linux-Hardware Digest #854, Volume #10 Mon, 26 Jul 99 20:13:36 EDT
Contents:
Re: Linux newbie seeks hardware advice (Jonathan Toomim)
Re: Qube, NetWinder dead? What equivalent for office short of space? (Kenneth P
Kennedy)
Re: Qube, NetWinder dead? What equivalent for office short of space? ("Lee Sharp")
Need help with ppa (ZIP) error message (Bijan Nemati)
Re: Opinions? New Box. ("Bobby D. Bryant")
Re: Mouse causes netscape to crash! (Alex Burger)
Re: Asus vs. Abit (Jonathan Toomim)
Re: sblive hauppauge wintv no sound? ("R.K.Aa")
Re: Need advice on Building Linux-only box. (Gerald Willmann)
Re: aureal vortex sound chip (Jonathan Toomim)
Re: Need advice on Building Linux-only box. ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jonathan Toomim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux newbie seeks hardware advice
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:55:02 -0700
I'm still a Linux semi-newbie, but here's what advice I can give:
CPU: Any x86 CPU that is still manufactured will be fine, but as with all
things, the faster the better. I'd go for a K6-?, or if you will be doing
heavy floating point (like 3D games), then a Celeron or PII/III. You also
might want to look into getting a dual CPU config I've heard Linux works
very well in SMP envinronments. I'm not sure what that P6DGE mobo is, if
it's super7, socket 370 or slot1, and if it's dual or not.
RAM: The more the merrier, but I'm sure you know this.
HDD: If it's IDE, it will work. If it's SCSI, and your SCSI adapter is
supported by Linux, it will work. You would need at least one HDD for a
dual boot Linux/NT, I'd say at least 5 gigs, but 2 would be nice, or even
more than that. NT supports software RAID, ya know.
CDROM: If it's ATAPI, it'll work. All IDE CDROMS faster than 4x that
weren't in a Packard Bell/Dell/Compaq etc. computer should be ATAPI.
SCSI card: Due to lack of funds, I've never touched SCSI in my life.
Sorry :(
Sound card: Whatever you get will be a major pain in the @$$. If you can
find a true legacy SB16 (NOT PnP) that would be easiest. If you can't get
one of those, you should look for an SB16 PnP or an Awe 32/64, as there is
a fair amount of documentation about setting up those cards. If you can't
get a hold of one of those either, try to get an ISA card if possible.
Otherwise, you might want to try getting an SB Live!, but the drivers for
it are still in the early beta stage, and they're being released in binary
only form. Do NOT get an Aureal Vortex based card, because they are not
supported and Aureal has no plans of releasing drivers or documentation.
Basically, the older, the better.
Vid card: nVidia Riva 128 cards have drivers supplied with most distros,
and drivers for TNT(2) based cards aren't too hard to get. From what I've
heard, Voodoo 3 / Banshee cards work, but they're a pain in the butt to
configure with Linux. I would stay away from them unless you don't mind
spending a few days hacking.
Network card: Stick to brand name cards (3Com, Intel) and you shouldn't
have any trouble. Some generic cards have support, but no guarantees. As
always, the more money you spend, the happier you'll be :)
Modem: Don't get a Winmodem. Try to get a ISA or external modem if
possible. You might want to try the USR Courier 56k. Again, if you can
avoid PnP, that makes life easier.
Monitor: Get a big one =)
> I've just purchased a SC-750A Supermicro case, a P6DGE board and Teac
> floppy and SCSI CDRom - thats all I have. I'm trying to get my head
> around exactly what I'll require to run Linux and NT together - server
> project + games + vid. edit.
> Any advice/comments on processors/HD's/SCSI cards etc..
------------------------------
From: Kenneth P Kennedy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.security.unix
Subject: Re: Qube, NetWinder dead? What equivalent for office short of space?
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:31:54 -0600
Netwinder's webpage is at http://www.netwinder.org . The hardware is now
sold through a company called REBEL.COM . I was not able to reach their
website, however. Hopefully it's just temporarily down. Cobalt's website
is at http://www.cobaltnet.com . Good luck!
-ken-
"You're one of those condescending Unix computer users!"
"Here's a nickel, kid. Get yourself a better computer" - Dilbert.
On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, James Knowles wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I've SOHO (small office/home office) packed full of six computers right
> now. It's a space nightmare. One machine is acting as a bastion firewall
> to a dedicated line. I'd like to set up two more machines, one for an
> outer firewall (to create a DMZ) and one as a private web server inside
> the DMZ. (I'd like to give access to some internal info while at client
> sites -- without opening up the bastion at all.) I'm running Linux on
> all machines save a couple which dual boot to Windows NT/98.
>
> I've hunted for web pages for small computers like the Cobalt Qube and
> the NetWinder, but have not found anything. I presume they've gone out
> of business?
>
> Are there other tiny Linux-capable computers with horsepower like these
> two? Space is at a premium, otherwise we'd just toss in a couple of
> normal machines.
>
> Thanks for your suggestions!
>
> James
>
>
------------------------------
From: "Lee Sharp" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.security.unix
Subject: Re: Qube, NetWinder dead? What equivalent for office short of space?
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 18:06:57 -0500
John A. Stewart wrote in message <7nil15$nmu$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
|In <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> James Knowles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
|>I've SOHO (small office/home office) packed full of six computers right
|>now. It's a space nightmare. One machine is acting as a bastion firewall
|>to a dedicated line. I'd like to set up two more machines, one for an
|>outer firewall (to create a DMZ) and one as a private web server inside
|>the DMZ. (I'd like to give access to some internal info while at client
|>sites -- without opening up the bastion at all.) I'm running Linux on
|>all machines save a couple which dual boot to Windows NT/98.
|>I've hunted for web pages for small computers like the Cobalt Qube and
|>the NetWinder, but have not found anything. I presume they've gone out
|>of business?
|The Netwinder is still sold by Rebel.com and details should be available
|at www.rebel.com. However, their DNS appears to be hosed right now so
their
|web site is unreachable. They definitely exist since they were a
|major sponsor of the first Linux Syposium held here in Ottawa, Canada just
|a few days ago.
You can try the Calibri. An old link is
http://yulia.com/hardware/index.html but I have not tried it in a while. It
seems to be down at the moment, but...
Lee
--
SCSI is *NOT* magic. There are *fundamental technical reasons* why it is
necessary to sacrifice a young goat to your SCSI chain now and then. * Black
holes are where God divided by zero. - I am speaking as an individual, not
as a representative of any company, organization or other entity. I am
solely responsible for my words.
------------------------------
From: Bijan Nemati <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Need help with ppa (ZIP) error message
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:07:15 -0700
Hi,
I just installed Redhat 6.0 and attempted to use my zip drive with it. I
used insmod to install the parport and ppa modules and it seemed at
first like it worked.
For some reason I now get the following error message:
% insmod parport
% insmod ppa
/lib/modules/2.2.5-15/scsi/ppa.o: init_module: Device or resource busy
This is what an lsmod command yields:
% lsmod
Module Size Used by
parport_probe 2884 0 (autoclean) (unused)
parport 7092 0 [parport_probe]
nfsd 150936 8 (autoclean)
lockd 30856 1 (autoclean) [nfsd]
sunrpc 52356 1 (autoclean) [nfsd lockd]
3c575_cb 17736 2
cb_enabler 1928 1 [3c575_cb]
ds 5740 2 [cb_enabler]
i82365 21956 2
pcmcia_core 39720 0 [cb_enabler ds i82365]
nls_iso8859-1 2020 2 (autoclean)
nls_cp437 3548 2 (autoclean)
vfat 11516 2 (autoclean)
fat 25664 2 (autoclean) [vfat]
I'd appreciate any pointers/advice as to what may be going wrong.
Thanks,
Bijan Nemati
Pasadena, CA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: "Bobby D. Bryant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Opinions? New Box.
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:25:11 -0500
Jim Shearer wrote:
> My current primary system is a 40mHz linux box. I'm sorry if this has
> induced catatonia in some of you.
Is that "four zero" ? It's nice to hear that Linux runs on it. And
congratulations on your upcoming upgrade.
> -Matrox G200 (8 or 16MB -- some trouble with the 16s?)
I have a G200 8Mb w/ +8Mb upgrade, and no problems at all. The 3D support is
still "pre alpha", but if you like to live dangerously check out
http://glx.on.openprojects.net/ (actually, it doesn't seem to be all that
dangerous if you stay away from the DMA stuff, and even that is shaking out
pretty well now).
> Can anyone
> offer monitor shopping tips?
I don't know how it's price/feature combo rates, but I use NEC MultiSync
E700, and it gives me a superb 1280x1024 display at 76.25 vertical refresh
with my G200. Slap down some Propaganda wallpaper, and you're half a step
away from heaven.
Good luck with it.
Bobby Bryant
Austin, Texas
------------------------------
From: Alex Burger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup,comp.windows.x.kde
Subject: Re: Mouse causes netscape to crash!
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 23:28:55 GMT
Other than running Netscape inside of X, my system was perfectly stable.
It's:
Celeron 266
128meg RAM
S3 video card
My entire computer would practically always crash shortly after starting it
up and clicking on something.
By putting my screen resolution down to 8 bit colour, and it pretty much
got rid of the errors. 16 or 24 bit colours would crash all the time.
I've tried 3 different model of S3 cards and they all gave the same thing.
In the end I replaced my PCI S3 card with a Matrox G200, and it works 100%
now. Strange thing is that the S3 will work in my other computer which is
basically the same setup except for a different revision on the
motherboard.
Even if your video card seems to work flawlessly on another computer or
when using svgalib applications (like Quake2), still try another video
card. It worked for me.
Alex
Rob Stockley wrote:
> The Problem
> ===========
> I am having problems with netscape crashing too often. Crashes are
> always immediately preceeded by some sort of mouse interaction, ie.
> clicking somewhere on a netscape client. Netscape has never crashed
> without this mouse involvement.
>
> The System
> ==========
> Standalone i686 desktop PC. The exact details are towards the end of
> this message.
>
> Step One - Dejanews
> ===================
> It doesn't appear that anyone else is having this same problem. Found
> and applied the java/fontpath solution but I never had a problem with
> that despite my fontpaths being awry.
>
> Step Two - Updates
> ==================
> I've recompiled the kernel several times since installation so I'm
> satisfied that the kernel options match my system. I visited
> ftp.RedHat.com and applied lots of updates - specifically anything to do
> with netscape, kde and networking. See the list later for the exact
> packages.
>
> Step Three - Code
> =================
> Brrrrrr! I don't know enough about the XFree86, KDE or Mozilla projects
> to seriously look for a code level incompatibility.
>
> Step Four - Hardware
> ====================
> None of my kde apps have noticeably crashed but I have found the odd
> core file in my home dir. gdb -c reports sig 11 Segmentation Fault as
> the cause. Remebered a post about this and the dejagods dutifully took
> me to http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/. After reading this I wrote two
> scripts. The first simply kept compiling kernels looking for a sig11.
> After the 40th recompile with no obvious problems I rewrote the script
> to check a few more things.
>
> The Script
> ==========
> Basically it repeatedly compiles the kernel. The output from make is
> piped to a separate log file for each iteration and the testing progress
> is logged to a running log. After the first iteration the size of the
> log file and zImage is checked against the first ones. The complete
> script can be found towards the end of this post.
>
> The Result
> ==========
> The make log files are identical to the first as reported by diff. The
> file length is naturally the same also. However, the filesize of zImage,
> as reported by ls, varies +/- 1 byte. What I can't figure out is if this
> signals a problem. It can't be a seed as that would not affect the
> length of the kernel. I am at a loss to explain this anomally if indeed
> it is an anomally.
>
> What Next?
> ==========
> I have already tried extra memory wait states in the bios. I'll try
> reducing the lilo append statement by another megabyte in case its a
> memory overflow. I'll also try the test with the CPU running at 300MHz
> although I've had it at 450MHz for months now with the only noticeable
> changes being a rise in temperature of about 1.7 degrees normally
> peaking at a maximum (observed) 43.2 degrees under load. In every other
> repect my system is stable (to the eye) without any unresolved errors on
> system or X startup. I've got a new mouse on order just in case its the
> mouse driver feeding bad data to netscape from a faulty mouse (I think
> this is unlikely as mice seem to either go or they don't).
>
> Can anyone help shed some light on this one? I'm running out of ideas.
>
> Rob Stockley
> Christchurch, NZ
> Email: robstockley@<spam-buster>bigfoot.com
> ICQ: 37780545
>
> Hardware
> ========
> CPU: Intel Celeron (Mendocino) Stepping 00
> Detected 451024205 Hz processor. # yes its an overclocked 300A
> Memory: 95892k/98304k available #100ns SDRAM
> (**) Mouse: type: MouseSystems, device: /dev/mouse, baudrate: 1200
> - need more detail? just ask.
>
> Software
> ========
> RedHat 6.0 including
> Linux version 2.2.5-15 # as shipped with RH6.0
> gcc version (egcs-2.91.66 19990314/Linux (egcs-1.1.2 release))
> xfree86 3.3.3.1-49
> kde-1.1.1-1
> netscape 4.61
>
> Updates
> =======
> kdeadmin-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdebase-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdegames-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdegraphics-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdelibs-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdemultimedia-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdenetwork-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdesupport-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdetoys-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> kdeutils-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> korganizer-1.1.1-1.i386.rpm
> net-tools-1.52-2.i386.rpm
> netkit-base-0.10-31.i386.rpm
> netscape-common-4.6-1.i386.rpm
> netscape-communicator-4.6-1.i386.rpm
> wu-ftpd-2.5.0-2.i386.rpm
>
> Test Script
> ===========
> #!/bin/bash
>
> rm -f ~/sig11/runlog ~/sig11/log.*
>
> cd /usr/src/linux
>
> if ! [ "$1" = "" ]; then
> i=$1
> else
> i=1
> fi
>
> logsum=""
> imgsum=""
>
> logchk=""
> imgchk=""
>
> # dummy file bambi will never exist so loop forever
> until [ -f bambi ] ; do
> echo -n "Iteration " | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> echo $i | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> echo -n " at " | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> date | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> # flush the memory
> dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/null bs=1024k count=96 &> /dev/null
> echo " make dep" | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> make dep &> ~/sig11/log.$i
> echo " make clean" | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> make clean &> ~/sig11/log.$i
> echo " make zImage" | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> make zImage &> ~/sig11/log.$i
>
> # Find out how big the log and zImage files turned out to be
> logchk=$(ls -l ~/sig11/log.$i | awk -f ~/sig11/awk.scr)
> imgchk=$(ls -l ./arch/i386/boot/zImage | awk -f ~/sig11/awk.scr)
>
> # Setup the initial file checksums, assume if we haven't set one
> then
> # we haven't set the other either
> if [ "$logsum" = "" ] ; then
> logsum=$logchk
> imgsum=$imgchk
> fi
>
> if [ $logchk = $logsum ] ; then
> echo -n " logfile..........checksum correct " | tee -a
> ~/sig11/runlog
> else
> echo -n " logfile..........checksum failed<<<<<<<<<<<
> " | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> fi
> echo $logchk | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> if [ $imgchk = $imgsum ] ; then
> echo -n " zImage...........checksum correct " | tee -a
> ~/sig11/runlog
> else
> echo -n " zImage...........checksum failed<<<<<<<<<<<
> " | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
> fi
> echo $imgchk | tee -a ~/sig11/runlog
>
> # Don't forget to increment the iteration counter
> i=$[$i + 1]
> done
>
> Awk Script
> ==========
> BEGIN { FS = " " }
> { print $5 }
------------------------------
From: Jonathan Toomim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Asus vs. Abit
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:35:53 -0700
Well, I've built systems from an Abit BX6 and 3 BH6s before, and on the
BX6 and 2 of the BH6s I've had a problem with RAM. On the BX6, a brand
spankin new 64MB SDRAM DIMM just plain wouldn't work. I had to send it
back to the vendor to trade it for 2 32MB DIMMS. On the first BH6 it
screwed up when I put in 3 DIMMS. Works fine with 2. Second BH6 worked
fine. Third BH6 I worked with for a friend. 2 of the 3 DIMM sockets
won't work, no matter what I throw at it. Of course, I believe that my
difficulties have been harsher than normal, and once I get the problems
worked out, they purr like kittens. BUT...
Jonathan Toomim
PS: If you want to email me, just don't say anything stupid... jk
------------------------------
From: "R.K.Aa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: sblive hauppauge wintv no sound?
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 01:36:13 +0200
Wolfgang Denk wrote:
>
> "Travolta666" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> >although (finally) i got sound under my Linux system (suse6.1 / 2.2.7) I
> >canīt find a way to LISTEN to the televison programs in kwintv. solutions
> >welcome
>
> Probably not a hardware problem?
>
> Same problem here with aWinTV-Radio trying both xtvscreen and xawtv:
> soundcard working, TV working, but without any sound :-(
xawtv:
In the xawtv "rc" file you must add the sound source. This can vary -
according to the devices your soundcard use. Look in the file in your
homedir called ".xawtv" and see if it has a line defining the sound
device.
It turned out "mixer = vol" did the trick in my case. If this doesn't
work - try the "stupid way" and force an error: set it to "mixer =
mixer". This (at least in my case) caused an error output when i started
xawtv, listing the possible devices. Try your ways with those - it's
bound to be one of them.
kWinTV:
the sound is configured from menu-level and is likely to be "line-in" on
a Hauppauge card. Right click in the tv-app, choose options, general
options, then the mixer-tab: there's a button-menu in that again,
allowing to choose various devices - try if not "line-in" does the
trick. At least my own Hauppauge is plugged to the "Line In" connector
on the sound-card.
However - after upgrading the multimedia pack and other rpm's from
RedHat, the sound doesn't stop after quitting kWinTV. Perhaps that's a
local problem - perhaps not. Used to work OK before that. A quick
"solution" is to force the sound device to be used again to "take over"
the sound. (And another thing...start kWinTV without active capture if X
freeze when you start it with capture on.)
K.
-- To E-mail, delete "spam" --
------------------------------
From: Gerald Willmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Need advice on Building Linux-only box.
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:32:09 -0700
On Mon, 26 Jul 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I'm in the process of building a Linux only box (this will be my first
> box that i've built myself). I plan on using an AMD K6-2 processor for
> it and I'm looking for some advice on the rest of the hardware. In
> other words, what kind of motherboard should I consider getting for
> this box to avoid hardware incompatabilities. Please also take into
> consideration that I'm a college student who is on a limited budget. I
> already have a 44x IDE cd-rom and floppydrive (knowing that both are
> already linux compat).
I wouldn't go AMD - build three K6 boxes recently and wouldn't do it
again. If you are really on a budget consider buying a good used PC, ie
ASUS mobo plus good components such as matrox video card, ibm or seagate
harddrive. If you insist on AMD, www.indybox.com sells them with linux
(and nothing else) preinstalled at a pretty good price.
Gerald
--
------------------------------
From: Jonathan Toomim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: aureal vortex sound chip
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:36:43 -0700
It doesn't exist.
Ric Stephens wrote:
> Has anyone seen a driver for soundcards based on Aureal Vortex chip
> besides the $30 one from OpenSound?
>
> I have a Diamond Sonic Impact S90 that I'd like to make work under
> Linux.
>
> Thanks in advance!
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Need advice on Building Linux-only box.
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 23:13:32 GMT
ASUS P2B-F, Matrox Millenium G200, IBM Deskstar 6.4GB, 64 MB RAM
drop the AMD and buy a Celeron 333-128KB-Slot1, cabinet+PS
Total: $400-500.
------------------------------
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