[sf-lug] Linux CDs

Sat Mar 3 17:20:24 PST 2007

The private was a pure accident. I pressed "reply" instead of "reply all" by
mistake. My apologies.

On 3/3/07, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> A list-member wrote me offlist to ask me what laptop I would recommend
> for Linux use, that ordinary humans can afford, doesn't weigh too much,
> and has reasonable battery life.
>
> (No offence taken, but discussion threads should remain on-list unless
> you have some reason for privacy.  If you have the latter, please begin
> by explaining _why_ you've gone offlist into private discussion.  Most
> of us participate in these public forums to benefit the community.  If
> you want private help, it's called "consulting":  You should offer to
> pay hourly consulting rates, and not expect professional work from
> strangers for free.)
>
> I'm not going to give a "buy this" endorsement, but I can help teach how
> to select hardware (and how not to).  My guiding star in this area is
> what I call Moen's Law of Hardware:  "Use what the programmers use."
> http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/lexicon.html#moenslaw-hardware  (Cited URL
> elaborates on that point.)
>
> You are unlikely to _literally_ know what Alan Cox, Dave Jones, Jeff
> Garzik, et alii are using today -- but you can learn enough about
> hardware to learn what they probably _would_ consider junk to be
> avoided (and why), and that is what one should do, generally speaking.
>
> For reasons cited at that essay, slightly _older_ gear (especially where
> laptops are concerned) is likely to be less problematic than new gear.
> I'd generally aim for a 1-2 year old model.  (To be more clear about
> that, buying a spanking-new laptop model means you're either a Linux
> hardware expert, or a masochist, or feeling really lucky.  Smart, lazy
> people buy used.)
>
> You can also benefit from other people's write-ups, based on their
> experience:
>
> http://www.linux-laptop.net/
> http://tuxmobil.org/
>
> It's useful to bring a notepad, pen, and Knoppix disc with you, as you
> look at laptops.  Boot Knoppix, and jot down significant chipset
> identities.  What's a chipset?  Let me illustrate using the server that
> SF-LUG's mailing list runs on.  (Only selected return values are shown
> for commands below.)
>
> # dmesg | more
>
> CPU: Intel Pentium III (Katmai) stepping 02
>
>    OK, it's a single-proc PIII.
>
> ..... CPU clock speed is 498.7724 MHz.
>
>    Running at 500 Mhz.
>
> Serial driver version 5.05c (2001-07-08) with HUB-6 MANY_PORTS MULTIPORT
> SHARE_I
> RQ SERIAL_PCI enabled
> ttyS00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
> ttyS01 at 0x02f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
>
>   Two serial ports.
>
> SCSI subsystem driver Revision: 1.00
> sym.0.13.0: setting PCI_COMMAND_PARITY...
> sym.0.13.1: setting PCI_COMMAND_PARITY...
> sym0: <875> rev 0x37 on pci bus 0 device 13 function 0 irq 10
> sym0: No NVRAM, ID 7, Fast-20, SE, parity checking
> sym0: SCSI BUS has been reset.
> sym1: <875> rev 0x37 on pci bus 0 device 13 function 1 irq 5
> sym1: No NVRAM, ID 7, Fast-20, SE, parity checking
> sym1: SCSI BUS has been reset.
> scsi0 : sym-2.1.17a
> scsi1 : sym-2.1.17a
>
>   Symbios model 875 SCSI chip (later revealed to have full model
> designation 53c875).
>
> blk: queue cfe38174, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
>   Vendor: QUANTUM   Model: QM39100TD-SW      Rev: N491
>   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
> blk: queue cfe38274, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
>   Vendor: QUANTUM   Model: QM39100TD-SW      Rev: N491
>   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
> blk: queue cfe38374, I/O limit 4095Mb (mask 0xffffffff)
> sym0:3:0: tagged command queuing enabled, command queue depth 16.
> sym0:4:0: tagged command queuing enabled, command queue depth 16.
> Attached scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 3, lun 0
> Attached scsi disk sdb at scsi0, channel 0, id 4, lun 0
> sym0:3: FAST-20 WIDE SCSI 40.0 MB/s ST (50.0 ns, offset 16)
> SCSI device sda: 17783250 512-byte hdwr sectors (9105 MB)
> Partition check:
> /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target3/lun0: p1 p2 < p5 p6 p7 p8 p9 >
> sym0:4: FAST-20 WIDE SCSI 40.0 MB/s ST (50.0 ns, offset 16)
> SCSI device sdb: 17783250 512-byte hdwr sectors (9105 MB)
> /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target4/lun0: p1 p2 < p5 p6 p7 p8 >
>
>   Two Quantum model QM39100TD-SW SCSI hard drives.  And, oooh!  They're
>   each a full 9 GB -- the very pinnacle of 1997 technology.
>
> usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
> usb.c: registered new driver hub
> uhci.c: USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v1.1
> uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x10c0, IRQ 5
> usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
> hub.c: USB hub found
> hub.c: 2 ports detected
>
>   Two UHCI-type USB ports.
>
> Intel(R) PRO/100 Network Driver - version 2.3.43-k1
> Copyright (c) 2004 Intel Corporation
> e100: selftest OK.
> e100: eth0: Intel(R) PRO/100 Network Connection
> e100: selftest OK.
> e100: eth1: Intel(R) PRO/100 Network Connection
>   Hardware receive checksums enabled
>   cpu cycle saver enabled
>
>   A pair of Intel e100-compatible PRO/100 ethernet ports.
>
> # lspci | more
> 0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX
> Host bridge (AGP disabled) (rev 03)
> 0000:00:0d.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c875
> (rev 37)
> 0000:00:0d.1 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c875
> (rev 37)
> 0000:00:0f.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet
> Pro 100]
> (rev 05)
> 0000:00:10.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9 [Ethernet
> Pro 100]
> (rev 08)
> 0000:00:12.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev
> 02)
> 0000:00:12.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev
> 01)
> 0000:00:12.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB
> (rev 01)
> 0000:00:12.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
> 0000:00:14.0 VGA compatible controller: Cirrus Logic GD 5480 (rev 23)
>
>    This confirms what we knew before, and gives more detail:  It's an
> Intel 440BX motherboard (dating from 1998[1]).  We also find out that
> the integrated video is Cirrus Logic GD 5480.
>
> The 82371AB chip is what's termed a "southbridge" chip, the motherboard
> chip serving most of[2] the I/O ports.  The 82443BX "northbridge" chip is
> where
> the CPU and system RAM attach.  (Together, they comprise the bulk of the
> 440 BX motherboard design.[3])
>
> If this had been, say, a laptop you were interested in buying, as
> opposed to just an old server, you would now be armed with the
> identities of the constituent chips, and could ask around (or read on
> the sites mentioned) about likely problem areas.
>
> Also, Knoppix's hardware auto-probing is advanced enough that it can
> tell you a tremendous amount just from seeing what it does and does not
> support properly, upon bootup.
>
>
> [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_440BX
> [2] In later Intel designs, _all_ of the I/O ports moved to the
> southbridge.  In 1998, the northbridge still connected to video,
> network, and other very high-speed devices.
> [3] http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/hardware/mobo-guide-1.ars/3
>
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>
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