Your reply-to causes my replies to go to limbo and bounce. On Sat, 22 Jul 2000, you wrote: > That gets to my next question... While shopping, I ran across a lot of > boxes with motherboards that have onboard sound & video. What's your > take on those? Do they tend to require funky device drivers that Linux > may not have? > > Seve > The server I use at work ... K6-2 450 is on a Shuttle HOT-599. The sound is on the Yamaha 740 and did not work until the newest version of harddrake was released. I was going to keep that one and puzzle out a driver, but my employer needed a reliable server, so I lent it--Now he's buying it to avoid interruptions in mail service. The FIC PAG 2130 runs A legacy SB where either the SB or the legacy or the whole thing can be disabled. You have to disable the right combo to get the 82C686 to work. Super-7 boards with the all-in-one feature and the following brand names PC100, TIger MS571, PCChips, Amptron, Alton, Eurome, Houston Tech Are not worth buying at any price. They are manufactured by corner-cutting and poor quality control. Socket 370 boards using Intel810 Chipsets are OK and work with 7.1 with a few provisos: 1. Certified Memory 2. Avoid the same previously mentioned brands PLUS the brown-boxed (OEM) version from Intel, for the same reasons NEC has a Super-7 inside a 15-in monitor/speaker case which took 7.0 very smoothly. It was originally a Packard Bell Design but constructed with NEC quality. I have NOT found a NIC or modem that will fit inside the case, but a USB ethernet works acceptably. There are no all-in-ones for Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot A, or socket A that I have tested. In fact I have never seen any for sale. HEre are some general observations: 3D acceleration on the built-in AGP is poor or nonexistent. All of the built-in AGPs are pretty well supported (ATI or Trident Cyberblade) Sound configurations now all should be supported. The most recent harddrake should be used. Check the cooker archives. Tatung produces a super-7 for up to a 500MHz processor called the TTE3156 which includes a very neat Micro-ATX Case and power supply. The video memory in that case is not shared main memory and is 8Mb. The model I had for testing was defective though there were plenty of tantalum capacitors and several inductors indicating good design (watch out when you see ONE inductor and all electrolytics--that is deliberately cheap) but I have no evidence to suggest goot quality control. Ah well, the case was worth the price I paid and I made a dandy computer of it with an FIC PAG 2130 and a K6-2 500. So, in conclusion a. Watch out for poor manufacture and QA (Always good advice) b. SiS 530 and 620 Chipsets seem very reliable c. VIA MVP4 also work well d. Your installer may choose the framebuffer kernel--reject it cause all of these are supported video cards. e. If you run across SiS 540 or 630 chipset boards from someone reliable (ASUS, Shuttle, Soyo), they are preferable--very linux friendly Civileme
