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Re: To Linus or not to Linus???
de Achim Nolcken Lohse 04/23/2006 01:07
On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:52:55 GMT, Craig <netburgherAT@gmail.com>
wrote:
>beenthere wrote:
>> "Dookus" <jmo2208no-spm-fools7@bigpond.com.au> wrote in message
>> news:y2h2g.12413$vy1.4704@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>>
>>>So my point is .. should I find time to enjoy a LINUS distribution and use
>>>a
>>
>> sniiped some
>>
>>
>> I`ve just tried for the fifth time to install a version of Linux,
>> and for the fifth time I`ve failed.
>> The reason ?.
>> I`ve got a Creative x-fi sound card, and it`s not supported !
>> I`ve got a PrinterScannerCopier that`s not properly supported !
>> Both these items work perfectly in XP.
>> Of course Linux is OK if your hardware fits, but check it out
>> first.
>>
>
>[OT ALERT! OT]
>
>This is a stellar piece of advice for those looking to *use* Linux as
>opposed to "take it for a spin," etc.
Well, it's the best reason for taking it for a spin via a "live-CD"
distribution.
In fact, you can't rely on the hardware compatibility lists either, at
least not when they refer to older hardware.
I discovered the hard way that essential device drivers that had been
working for years in the Linux installers somehow get corrupted
migrating from one version to another, and are never fixed, probably
because the developpers don't use the hardware anymore themselves,
don't give a hoot about it, and don't ever bother to test the
installer to see if it still works for all the methods "documented".
I ran into this problem a few years ago while trying to install Linux
on a laptop without an internal CD-ROM. I didn't have broadband
available, so a net install was out. By turns I tried to install a
dozen versions of several distributions via Backpack CD-ROM (ie.
parallel port), PCMCIA SCSI adapter, and finally via Hard Drive
install.
All of these methods were documented as working with the devices I
had. It took several days, some all nighters, and I finally got one
single distro to install (I believe it was Red Hat 7.1 or 7.2), and
then only by improvising. And then I found out that the kernel was
defective, and wouldn't boot! I then had to go online to download the
repaired kernel, redo the install, and then replace the kernel before
shutting down.
But it was all a waste of time anyway, because I could never find out
how to get the sound chip working.
So you don't only need to check for hardware compatibility, you also
have to check the errata to see if there isn't some fatal flaw that
will make the distro unusable on your PC.
And even that is no guarantee. One of my earlier installations of Red
Hat turned into a terrible ordeal because both the print manual and
the Red Hat site said very explicitly that a certain video card was
supported by an included commercial driver.
I knocked myself out trying to find out why I couldn't get a graphic
interface. The distro was already a couple of years old (still
"supported", and still widely used, since it was one of the more
stable ones -5.1, I think), so it never occurred to me that the
information on the website would not have been corrected by then.
But that's exactly what I found out when I finally contacted the
publisher of the driver. Red Hat had made a mistake and never
corrected it. And I had wasted my time for nothing trying to do the
impossible because I trusted those bozos (the publisher grandly
offered to sell me the driver for more than I'd paid for my whole host
system). I finally got the distro installed by buying another video
card. And no - it wasn't all worth it in the end.
Save yourself a lot of frustration and go with distros that offer a
Live-CD version. I just did this with Suse 9.1 Professional recently.
A friend had given me his boxed set, and I downloaded the Live-CD
version. I popped the Live-CD in my main desktop's DVD drive (this is
the only one of four systems I run that supports bootable CDs) and
watched it boot up in verbose mode (where you see the startup process
described textually). It got about five minutes into the process and
stalled. Who knows why? There were no error messages, everything had
gone swimmingly up to that point. The only red line was that Suse
couldn't find any pcmcia devices.
I popped the Live-CD out and gave it and the whole Suse 9.1 box to an
acquaintance the next day (with a warning, of course). After trying
the Suse Live-CD, I tried Knoppix 3.8 on the same system, and it
booted up and ran without a hitch, unless you count the fact that in
twenty minutes of trying I couldn't figure out how to load a jpeg file
into GIMP (tip - don't bother trying drag and drop).
--
Achim
_____/)
axethetax