On 7/19/2012 11:08 AM, Jon Elson wrote: > Lester Caine wrote: >> The 'problem' is with the graphics 'chipset' used. >> But Intel do not even specify which one is fitted to the D525MW on the >> website, >> it just says VGA port > But, we KNOW, by exhaustive testing, that the D525 works fine with the > 10.04 LinuxCNC > install, I have never heard of a problem with that combination. > > Jon >
Gentle persons: The devil is in the details. As I read the raft of recent messages about the DN2800MT and other Intel Atom-based motherboards I am struck by how little actionable information they provide. Come on folks, take time to document the system you are complaining about. To quote my wife, "be specific to be terrific." The specific graphics issue with the DN2800MT is that it does NOT use an intel graphics controller. Rather, Intel chose to embed a PowerVR SGX 545 GPU. Not just Linux drivers, but lots of A/V related drivers in various Windows O/S releases are having trouble putting this proprietary GPU into its advanced modes. As Andy has said repeatedly this does not affect the DN2800MT's ability to run in non-accelerated 2D VGA mode; hence it should (I don't have one at hand so I can't check myself) run LinuxCNC as well as do some of my old dumpster boxes. Whether the board is a good choice depends on its intended use. Intel paid a proxy to port the proprietary Windows 7 driver to Linux. That's the good news. The bad news is that the port was specifically for MeeGo and the 3.0 kernel. I gather from the wonderful world of Google hits that it can be pressed into service in non-Meego systems by recompiling the kernel but it's not going to be backported to the 2.6 kernel. See http://www.linuxtech.net/reviews/intel_DN2800MT_cedarview_atom_power_draw.html for one example of measurements made on this board. Such is life in the world of PCs as entertainment boxes. I and others have commented repeatedly on this growing problem in the past. We technocrats will never become such a powerful force that Intel starts designing boards that meet our requirements. I doubt that the total number of boards we buy annually is even detectable in their quarterly financial reports. The Intel D525MW includes the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150. A single click got me to that info once I was on the Intel website. Generally speaking, every nitty-gritty technical detail I ever wanted to know about Intel products and supporting drivers I have found on the Intel website within a few clicks. The only place I don't get satisfaction is in their online "communities" where I can always find birds of a feather (like when we on this list were struggling with the crappy bios not dealing with parallel port modes properly) but never get productive responses from Intel folk. As for the booting process, some years ago, Intel passed its modern replacement for the antique BIOS, which it called EFI, to the general community which has extended and rebranded it as UEFI (uniform extensible firmware interface). This stuff is all out there for us to see. The major threat to us here is that with (U)EFI the booting process can be locked down so it excludes Linux in general and LinuxCNC in particular, but I see it as a problem only with Windows-certified packaged systems and not bare motherboards. See http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/shuttleworth-on-ubuntu-linux-fedora-and-the-uefi-problem/11270 for one discussion of what Ubuntu and Fedora are arguing should be the solution. As was the case for other Atom boards, software upgrades from Intel for the DN2800MT have been fixing some booting problems and not others. It's my opinion that one gets assigned to writing a BIOS or UEFI for a specific motherboard as punishment duty and that's why the results are frequently buggy. An aspect of UEFI that is irksome to me is that, as I understand it, a 32-bit UEFI can boot only a 32-bit OS and a 64-bit UEFI can boot only a 64-bit OS. Hence, if you read the Intel description of the DN3200MT you'll find the OS compatibility list includes only 32-bit versions of Windows. Again, such is life. Regards, Kent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
