I've been running slackware 13.37 64 my old Pentium D era machine without issues but having built a slightly more modern box, consisting of the following:

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
AMD FX-6300
16Gb @ 1600
drives retained from previous system, 3 x sata >160gb
Nvidia GTX 260 retained from previous system

I'm having no end of problems, not limited to graphical glitches, random window traces, generally poor performance in the graphical area, certainly worse than previous build. I have sound issues, most notibly being VERY quiet. Network problems, though I think I've fixed this by installing a different module/driver,Realtek r8168 as opposed to the 8169 which was loaded.

Additionally, before my question as such, I also run this distribution (and others) on an older Centrino based laptop without any problems what so ever, almost an out of the box install if I remember correctly.

So my basic question is this, is this simply a case of newer technology than the distribution/kerner was designed or able to natively support?
If so, what is the best way to approach such problems?

In the past, I've generally been installing on much older hardware, perhaps sheltering me from such issues.

All comments and help is appreciated.

Hi,

I suggest that you consider using 'Slackware64 14.0'. Look at http://www.slackware.com/getslack/;
If you choose to download the ISO from closest mirror then be sure to do a 'md5sum' check for the downloads ISO image then burn the image to a DVD;

Slackware members are seeding Slackware64 14.0: Slackware 14.0 Torrents! Please seed to relieve slackware.com and mirrors.

Torrent would relieve Slackware home & mirrors yet sometimes you will have to ftp download the ISO and related files.

My recommendation to use Slackware64 14.0 because you are using newer equipment. Major changes over the past 2 years.
Legacy hardware can also create problems but yours is most likely the selection of 13.37 on newer hardware. You could always build a new kernel for your 13.37. If you are upgrading 13.37 then be sure to read 'Slackware64 14.0: CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT and other text information on your 14.0 DVD or at http://slackware.oregonstate.edu/slackware64-14.0/

Hope this helps!

plisken

The steps for Slackware 14 are

BIOS UPGRADE
Model : 990FXA-UD3
Bios Version : FC
Bios Date : 02/05/2013
Bios ID : 8A02BG01

Processor : FX-8320 8-Core

P1 - BIOS Mother -> Peripherals -> IOMMU Controller -> Enables
P2 - Save and reboot.

P3 - Into the Slackware
P4 - cd /usr/src/linux
P5 - zcat /proc/config.gz > /usr/src/linux/.config
P6 - vi .config
CONFIG_PCI_ATS=y
CONFIG_PCI_IOV=y
CONFIG_PCI_PRI=y
CONFIG_PCI_PASID=y
CONFIG_HT_IRQ=y
CONFIG_ROADRUNNER_LARGE_RINGS=y
CONFIG_AMD_IOMMU=y
CONFIG_AMD_IOMMU_STATS=y
P7 - save .config
P8 - make oldconfig
P9 - make bzImage modules
P10 - make modules_install
P11 - cp arch/x86/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-20130622
P12 - cp System.map /boot/System.map-20130622
P13 - cp .config /boot/config-20130622
P14 - cd /boot
P15 - rm System.map
P16 - ln -s config-20130622 System.map

P17 - vi /etc/lilo.conf
P18 - add

image = /boot/vmlinuz-20130622
root = /dev/XXX !!!!!
label = SlackwareNEW

P19 - save /etc/lilo.conf
P20 - lilo
P21 - reboot
P22 - Network OK (I have a network card via and realtek)y USB OK.
P23 - Enjoy.

ProESKI's advice seems helpful. That gigabyte board is a really good board and I wouldn't trade it for something else if it's working (I'd trade it for the same board if something goes wrong).

Only other advice would be to try using a newer kernel (3.3.x or higher). Had problems myself with Glibc-2.15 and gcc 4.7.0 (slackware 14's default packages). If you use slackware 14 you should upgrade gcc to 4.7.3 (it's a lot better). Personally bootstrapped a slackware64 14 system with stock headers (using gcc-4.7.3 and newer binutils toolchain; everything installed is recompiled and re-installed at least three times or more on a local host) with amd's recommended gcc optimizations (glibc couldn't use march=native or mtune=bdver2 besides other optimizations). Looking for a free host in case people with piledriver are interested in a bdver2 slackware64 14 (personally think a fork of slackware sources should be hosted to make building an OS from scratch easier for those who wish to do so for their own architectures; some slackbuilds leave out patches that are needed to successfully compile or address other issues).

If you continue with problems maybe try Fedora or OpenSuse...

Regards