FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY, Batavia, IL FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY, Batavia, IL
Computing Division
Operating Systems Support Department
One of the most important decisions one makes when deciding to run Linux is what hardware to select. Fermi Linux is based on REDHAT and thus the most complete place to go is to the Red Hat Hardware Compatibility page. There are rapid changes being made in PC hardware. These cause challenges for hardware selection as these newer products maynot be fully supported. We are trying to keep up with these changes and have documented our findings below. There are 4 areas that need special consideration. These are Ethernet, Video, Scsi Add On, and motherboards. The Monitorslist is just a list of some monitors that people have liked. There are certainly other good monitors out there. If you find a a good or bad monitor please let us know. We will put it in the list so that others may share in this knowledge. Lists has been created of Linux hardware that has been used at Fermilab. Some have had problems while others have worked well. These lists are intended to help one decide what hardware to select. One of the problems with the "generic" linux hardware support lists is they do not always indicate problem areas such as performance problems. We are always looking for input. The vendors listed below are listed as only examples of places where I have found these components and do not suggest any endorsement of these companies. Also the prices indicated are only a price that was once available. Prices will vary.
There are a couple of areas that we do not support. We do not support any sound cards. This may change in the future. We also do not support any tape drives on the desktop. We may support tape drives in the future for data transfer. We will be only supporting CD qualified scsi tape drivesat that time.
|
Vendor |
Description |
Part No. |
status |
chip |
price |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Netgear |
10/100 PCI |
good |
tulip |
30.00 |
Good 10/100 PCI Choice |
|
| Intel | 10/100 PCI | good | 8 | 90 | OK | |
|
Kingston |
EtherRx 10/100 PCI |
KNE100TX |
not tested |
tulip |
|
|
|
3Com |
Etherlink III - ISA - 10 TX |
good |
3com |
|
Good 10 only ISA choice. |
|
|
3Com |
PCI 10/100 XL tx |
3C905-TX |
not so good |
3com |
90 |
OK at 10. At 100 driver hangs. Micron and Gateway sell. |
| 3Com | PCI 10/100 XL tx | 3C905B-TX | not so good | 3com | 90 | Problems with card being recognized. |
|
SMC |
Etherpower PCI 10/100TX |
|
good |
tulip |
|
good choice but has been replaced with the II |
|
SMC |
Etherpower II 10/100 |
SMC9432TX |
not so good |
epic |
|
Not as good. but does work. See above for better. |
|
LinkSys |
Etherfast 10/100 PCI TX |
tested/2 versions available |
tulip |
|
works, 2 versions |
|
Vendor |
Model |
Chipset |
Support |
X Product |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Many | S3 Virge | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | Good Solution, Cheap | |
| Many | S3 Trio | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | Cheapest. | |
| Many | Nvidia Riva | Reserved YES | XFree 3.3.2 | Install Problem. Does not share interrupts. Solution is to arrange PCI cards until it works. | |
| Many | Rendition Verite | ||||
| Many | Intel 740 | NO | XI - $100 | NO FERMI SUPPORT | |
| Diamond | 3D 2000/3000 | Virge | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | good card. Been workhorse. |
| Diamond | Viper330 | Riva | Reserved YES | XFree 3.3.2 | Install Problem. See Riva above. |
| Diamond | G460 | Intel 740 | NO | XI - $100 | NO FERMI SUPPORT |
| Diamond | Fire GL1000 | Permedia 2 | NO | X SUSE | NO FERMI SUPPORT |
| ATI | Xpert XL | Rage Pro | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | |
| Matrox | Mystique | Matrox | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | |
| Matrox | Millinnium II | Matrox 2164 | YES | XFree 3.3.2 | |
| STB | Velocity 128 | Riva | Reserved YES | Xfree 3.3.2 | Same problem as Diamond Viper 330 |
| Diamond | Monster 3D | Voodoo | NO | Not a standalone video card. Does work with Linux Quake. NO FERMI SUPPORT | |
| Creative | 3d Blaster Voodoo | Voodoo | NO | NO FERMI SUPPORT |
|
Vendor |
Model |
Size |
Resolution |
Status |
Price Range |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitachi | SuperScan | 19" | Excellent | |||
| IIyama | VisionMaster 450 | 19" | 1600x1200@80 | Excellent | 700 | Local Vendor - Eternal Graphics |
| Hitachi | SuperScan | 21" | Excellent | 1000 | Micron 21 | |
| IIyama | VisionMaster 501 502 |
21" | 1600x1200@75 1800x1440@74 |
Excellent | 1000 1060 |
|
| CTX | PL7 | 17" | 1280x1024 | Good | 270 |
|
Vendor |
Model |
CPU's |
Chipset |
Scsi |
Video |
Ethernet |
Fermi Support |
OS Version |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel | DK440LX | 2 | LX | Adaptec 7895 | no | Intel 8 10/100 | YES | 5.0.2 | local vendors |
| Intel | N449BX | 2 | BX | SYMBIOS 876 Dual | CL | Intel 8 10/100 | YES | 5.0.2 | local vendors |
| Intel | AL440LX | 1 | LX | no | no | no | YES | 5.0.0 | Used by Dell, Micron, Gateway |
| Intel | SE440BX | 1 | BX | no | no | no | YES | 5.0.2 | Used by Dell, Micron, Gateway |
| Intel | NL440BX | 1 | BX | SYMBIOS 875 | no | no | YES | testing | |
| DTK | 77 | 2 | BX | no | no | no | NO | no rec | Does not find cdrom on install. Not Recommended |
|
Vendor |
Model |
Fast/wide |
SE / Diff |
Uses |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYMBIOS | SYM20810 | Narrow | SE | cd-r, exabyte | Cheap , tests good |
| SYMBIOS | SYM8751SP | Ultra/Wide | SE | Fast Disks | tests good |
| SYMBIOS | SYM8751D | Ultra/Wide | Diff | Fast External Disks | |
| Bus Logic |
The PCFARMS have used many different motherboards and other hardware.
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