On Wednesday 29 July 2009, Frank D. wrote:
Onboard video also doesn't stop you from getting
another video card.
I've had motherboards in which it wasn't possible to disable the
onboard video. It still allowed adding another videocard, but then
created IRQ conflicts.
IRQ conflicts? Can you please explain how and what the effects of that were?
I've also never seen a motherboard where it was impossible to disable the
onboard video.. regardless, I fail to see how you could even have an IRQ
conflict on a system that isn't 15 years old.
In what way is an nVidia 8 series GPU "troublesome," to support
under Linux?
At the time Joe got the board that blew up the default kernel that
came with Ubuntu didn't contain a driver necessary to get the board
working under Linux. To install it, he would have had to know how to
build an custom kernel [that contained the driver for it] using a
*another* system and then how to either build a boot disk or a custom
Ubuntu install CD. I consider neither of these things to be common
knowledge.
What driver? The nVidia driver doesn't require a custom kernel, only that
you have agpgart if it's an AGP system. AFAIK Ubuntu kernels already export
the needed symbols and have the pci_find functions. Regardless, if he asked
in the mailing list I know I'd help him out with a config, even to the point
of sending him a configured or even built kernel/modules in a tarball.. I'm
also sure that I'm not the only one who would do it. Is that really that
troublesome? Even if Ubuntu did lack the required kernel options I hardly
blame that on Linux in general.
What qualifies as a hefty CPU? Is an X2 5200+ Brisbane "hefty"?
When I try to play 1080p on a single 2.8 GHz core it cannot keep up.
A 2.8GHz AMD, or Pentium 4, or something else? How is a current low-end CPU
(ie dual 2.7GHz core Brisbane for $50 or less) "hefty?" I'm already
considering replacing my dual core CPUs in my Linux boxes. If you're talking
about the P4, it was a terrible processor even for its time, especially if
it didn't have Hyper Threading.. and not all 2.8 P4s did. You can even get a
5050e dual 2.6GHz Brisbane for $60 with free shipping and that's only a 45w
TDP processor.
> Consider the way that Nvidia drivers currently work -- they're
> periodically split off into separate packages which are then not
> supported, and the newer drivers deprecate older cards. Then
> what happens is that both the Linux kernel and X.org are updated
> such that the old driversthat are no longer supported require
> updating before they will function again. :-/ (I'm currently
> dealing with this problem with several older Nvidia cards, all
> of which are in different states of brokeness.) Repeat that
> cycle a few times and you can understand why having an open
> source driver that others can support is a big deal. And this
> also explains why binary blobs can _never_ fully fit our needs.
How old are the nVidia cards? I don't have any problem with the
7-series, 185.14 is the newest driver IIRC, I just installed it.
Tell me that again a couple of years from now.
I seriously doubt I'll still be running an AGP board in a couple years,
won't be worth the power. That machine is DEFINITELY getting a new
motherboard sometime soon. Besides, the 6150 is HOW old already anyway??
C'mon! It's 3 generations of nVidia tech old! Tinkering on old hardware is
fine, but it's a waste of power. Newer stuff uses less even at peak, does
what it needs to do in less time since its faster, and therefore spends more
time idling at a lower power state. You can usually make up the cost of
current low end hardware in power usage.
I don't mean to sound excessively argumentative, I actually am at a loss as
to what you mean by some of your comments. Beyond that, I do disagree on a
few points. I hope this is coming across as a friendly (and constructive?)
conversation.
-Frank
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