This is a quick overview of what I ran into after my friends got their
WalMart/Microtel/Mandrake8.2 PC...
Pierre
---------
Hopefully the installation issues in the following will be addressed by
Mandrake if they don't want their distro viewed in a bad light...
Recently, I suggested to a friend that she and her hubby buy a
WalMart/Microtel/Mandrake PC... They did. Here's some of what I found
in trying to setup the system for them...
First... the hardware side...
Hardware: AMD Duron 1300, built-in LinkSys ethernet, 256MB, 40GB HD, 56K
modem and CD-RW.
The hardware (mobo, chassis, etc) is very clean.
On the funny side, this was the first time I'd heard of a mouse being
delivered with a "ball cover"... yup! a plastic daisy that plugs the
mouse's ball hole -- no wonder they complained the cursor wouldn't
move... :^)
Since the box was purchased for 'net access... tried to fire up the
modem... ttyS0 was recognized; but not the modem... no obvious sign of
damage, the modem card was fully plugged in; but wouldn't be recognized.
After chatting with Microtel support, I was told it was a s/w modem...
but when I asked "what kind? There's no Lucent, or other chip that I
recognize on the card... Just an 'IC+', a couple of minor chips and a
PROM..." --> "Oh... that's a h/w modem"... long story short: unplug
the modem from the mobo and reseat it -- now works... but it has never
connected at a rate faster than 21kb -- will check into this after
installing 9.0.
Next... the packaging...
The documentation included:
Microtel documentation -- not much beyond their 800 number was of any
use.
Mobo manual -- seems to be standard fare for most mobos.
CD-RW manual & CD Recording manual: didn't have time to review; but
appeared to be Windows oriented.
Included CDs:
- "56K Linux Modem" -- WOW!! What total BS! Lots of M$ and Mac files;
but only 2 files in the Linux folder... one calls an ELF executable,
removes the /dev/modem link and relinks it to ttyS2 which does not exist
in this config. The executable is based on libc5!!! ANCIENT -- won't
work on delivered 8.2!
- "CD Recording Software" -- this is for Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP, NT4;
but NOT Linux...
Finally... the Mandrake installation...
The software installation on the other hand... I hope Mandrake did not
participate in the mess I ran into... on the other hand, if they didn't
help set up this product, they should have.
40GB drive [badly IMO] partitioned into:
hda5 190MB /mnt/hd (updated RPMs)
hda6 128MB swap
hda7 2.6GB / (incl /usr, /var, /tmp)
hda8 34GB /home
Networking was set to try to bring up eth0, with no modem setup...
Startup stalls for a couple of minutes trying to bring up eth0
xpp: not installed correctly -- removed & re-installed
"init 3" does not shut down X
Other minor issues I don't recall...
I did some basic end-user training and promissed to return on my next
trip with LM9.0 and re-build the system from scratch... [If I can burn
9.0 CDs... (another thread)]
Bottom line: Hardware is fine; Microtel's LM8.2 installation is a poor
hack, IMO; more of a "get a product out the door" impression. The
failure to pay attention to what additional components are included
("56K LInux Modem" CD which has NO relationship to what is actually
shipped; etc.) makes it look even less professional.
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
