I am a long time Linux user, and after 10 years a buddy (guru) and I are building a pair of "mirror" computers. Originally I started thinking of using the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P motherboard, but after finding virtually no information about this particular mobo and Linux , and what I found was discouraging, after even more research I "discovered" that the ASUS M5A97-R2 are extremely similar, not totally but close enough. I found a place that lists which ASUS motherboards are compatible with Linux and Discovered that the M5A97-R2 can run Fedora 17, which is far more encouraging than anything I found out about the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P. During my research, I also discovered that there is a problem with most modern boards and it deals with the so-called and UEFI BIOS and IOMMU which by default is normally disabled. IOMMU is supported on Linux based systems to convert 32bit I/O to 64bit MMIO. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled].

Has anyone set up a M5A97-R2 to run either Fedora, or CentOS?? Did you have any troubles? Are there any "Gotchas" I need to know, and if so how did you solve them??

In the "Ethereal World" these Mirror Computers will have the ASUS M5A97-R2 motherboard, running a AMD FX3600 six core processor, with initially 4-8GB of RAM, and 1TB 6GB/s hard drives. Before we get too far down the road in this project I want to know if there any Bogymen lurking in the shadows waiting to ambush us. Any information you could provid would be greatly appreciated.

I run the "bigger brother" of that board (M5A99X Evo) and have no problems at all (Slackware and Gentoo), the BIOS has a legacy mode for cases when you want to install distributions that have problems with UEFI (this shouldn't be the case for Fedora, but I don't know about CentOS) and the IOMMU option is only relevant if you want to use PCI passthrough in virtual machines (if you don't, just disable it).

I was just wondering this myself, I remember seeing all the talk about UEFI. I'm looking at a small board like http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AM1IA/specifications/

Difficulties with UEFI are mostly a thing from the past, nowadays almost all distros support UEFI out of the box, some support even Secure Boot. Also, most mainboards have a "Legacy BIOS" option to run OSes without UEFI support.

UEFI is not an issue
it is the " Frankenstein's MONSTER " Microsoft created with "secure boot"

others will have more "colorful" language for that monstrosity called "secure boot"

TRUE!!! That said the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P seems to have a bug with UEFI and the implementation of IOMMU, which may or may not have something to do with "secure boot". I am trying to avoid boards that are going to pitch a hissy fit the second you try and install Linux on them, and there seem to be a lot out there, with Linux users having to come up with obscure and creative ways to get around the problem. We want to buy boards that are readily going to say "Linux: Cool!!!" M$ has way too much sway over motherboard OEM's and secure boot is just one example how they are trying to throw road blocks up that make it a "challenge" to install anything other M$ Windoze on the computer. I shuddered when I read on all the major boards we are considering -- MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, et al --" Windows 8.1 ready". If something is Windoze Anything, what does it mean for Linux?? Secure Boot is just one example, and how do you get around it?!? With this ASUS M5A07-R2 -- Windows 8.1 compliant -- what happens when we try and install Fedora or CentOS, which uses GRUB?!? IOMMU, UEFI, and other terms cause me to break out in a cold sweat. My current system was built 10 years ago and is based on an ASUS SK8V motherboard with an Opteron 246 processor and 2.5 GB of RAM. Ten years ago it was a state of the art Workstation, now a days my sister's wimpy Intel duel processor w/ 4GB of RAM made by Dell runs rings around trusty workstation, ergo the need to at long last upgrade it. Now it is back to doing the necessary research to find the best components we can find, but now I live on a limited budget. The ASUS M5A97-R2 *sounds* like a good mobo, throw in the AMD FX3600 6 core processor and an initial 4-8 GB of RAM, and you have a good base system, given that you have extra headroom which will allow us to expand to an 8 core processor (!!!), and up to 32 GB of RAM if necessary, well... The M5A97-R2 *sounds* like a good base, but I'm really trying to anticipate the bogymen that might jump out to greet us the second we try to install Linux on a board that has M$'s fingerprints all over it, ergo the post. And yes, we will be running virtual machines. But first we have to be able to something simple such as install and then boot from GRUB, without having to resort to jumping through complex hoops that will take days if not weeks to solve, if at all possible -- basic install and boot. With M$ around who knows what bugs will be introduced intentionally or unintentionally.

Looks like a decent mobo, and I don't see any particular issues with it. The reviews that I see for it suggest some possibility for DOA (dead on arrival) for this board (and other ASUS boards in my recent research for my own computers that I build). DOA is not specific to ASUS boards as it can happen with mobos from any company, it's just the percent of reviews that describe it for ASUS boards is increased. Check this yourself.

Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131873

Actually it means that Linux should run just fine with those mainboards, since the manufacturers have to implement the options to disable Secure Boot and use custom keys if you don't want to disable it if they want to use the Window 8 logo for advertising their hardware.

It will run just fine.
It is.
I guess you mean the FX6300, which I wouldn't call a six-core CPU, but rather a 3 module CPU (each module consists of 2 integer cores and one floating point unit).
Again, those are rather 4 module CPUs than 8 core CPUs.
Running virtual machines will go just fine with those mainboards. IOMMU will only be needed for PCI passthrough, which is still in its infancy and only works with a few selected parts. Mostly at this point only something viable for servers, but not desktop machines.
MS is not implementing UEFI firmware, so it is impossible to introduce bugs for them.

Yep , saw that, but with some other manufactures it is even worse. If it is DOA it will be replaced, the single BIGGEST issue is will it run Linux, or cause you to pull out your hair. There is no solution for a badly designed board. I have now tentatively check marked the M5A97-R2 as the board I'll recommend that we use.