[conspire] How to check if a mobo is compatible with Linux

[K Sandoval]

Hello Rick, Hiya David, Hiya Everyone

Sorry to have missed this weeks CABAL meeting, And I was hoping to
find out what kind of pie Bruce brought along, DARN!!!.


I came down with a nasty stomach-bug last weekend, and I am still
recovering. And I did not want to run the risk of spreading this
virus/flu/bug around, trust me this one is no fun....   I am looking
forward to seeing you all at the next meeting.

David and Rick I wanted to thank you for emails. I am busy reading
them and making notes. I appreciate the feedback and
direction/guidance toward more information.

To: David
In regards to the feedback on the mobo, I had not really stopped to
think about PCI Slots and lack there of...  If I am thinking about
"expansion" I do supposed I should make sure I include the number of
PCI slots in my list of what I want.

The GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128084

listed here on Newegg does have more PCI slots (5) along with one PCI
Express x16 and one PCI Express x1 slot.  If I should need a video
card or other peripherals I would definitely have space to add on to
this board.

Thank you for your thoughts and feedback, much appreciated!!!

to Rick:

One of the main reason I am still looking at building a workstation is
so I can continue to utilize some of my current hardware, and also
utilize some hand-me-down (but still unused) hardware that I have
sitting around going unused.  And I thought it would be a learning/fun
exercise and so far it has been =D  !!!.

I already have 3 IDE/PATA drives.  Two of these drives I use with a
removable hard drive bay currently in my eMachine.  And then one
new/unused 350GB IDE Drive.  I had originally thought of using the 350
GB drive with the eMachine as a slave drive.  However I am not sure if
the eMachine has the ability to see/handle such a large drive. I know
I have a funky hacked BIOS in my eMachine, I found that out when I did
research into flashing my BIOS last year and found out there is no
such BIOS version listed anywhere. I guess I can always just plug in
the 350 GB drive, power it on and see???

I supposed I could price SATA HD and consider a new drive for the new system.

The idea of getting/purchasing an "external" CD/DVD Burner is
something I had not considered before but I can understand the
reasoning.  I do plan to get an ATX  case with lots of airflow, 2
fans, and I already have some of the "round" IDE cables. I have been
wanting to build myself a nice system for over a year now, and I have
been slowly gathering parts here and there.

Rick wrote: RAM:  If you're honestly expecting to max out the RAM over
time, make
very sure that you buy sticks with a sufficient memory density -- which
requires being mindful of of how many memory slots the motherboard has,
and what density of sticks they support.

Kai: Ok, I need to look into this RAM issue a bit more thank you for
the heads up.
I do agree that in regards to RAM it seems like the best bet is to
simply invest in the RAM now, and purchase two 2GB sticks with
"sufficient density" now verses upgrading later.


Rick: Floppy drive:  Seriously?  Why?
Kai: well...  Thinking, I guess I really don't "need" a floppy drive
:::looking at a box FULL of old floppies with old versions of DOS and
windows 3.1::::  Hey that's right I am a LINUX person NOW!!!  I can
learn to mount & boot from a thumb drive if necessary...  Floppies?!?
Floppies!?!  We don't need any stinken Floppies!!!

:::laughs::::


I am kind of leaning towards the GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35
ATX, but I am flexible right now.

I found some good post in regards to the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L however
I believe that is due to the fact that this mobo does not have any
on-board video, therefore removing on-board video as a potential
problem.

I will continue surfing the net to see what else I can find.  Thank
you again for your post and the good feedback.


Caio!

- Kai

-- 
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Ms.Kai Sandoval

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/677/a41
http://people.tribe.net/da12c6fd-0b2e-4ba6-ac41-b760bdbe9675