Does DELL play nice with SuSE

ccin1492 · 04-14-2006, 01:36 PM

I'm interested in purchasing a DELL machine and then installing SuSE. Is there a setup (product line) that is more compatible with SuSE than others? If you've done this, what is you experience or recommendation?

Thanks!

apachedude · 04-14-2006, 02:37 PM

Everything in my Dell Inspiron 6000 works fine, except for suspend to RAM (sleep) and the internal SD card reader. Suspend to disk (hibernate) works fine, although I occasionally get error messages about unloading the usb_reader. External USB SD card readers work fine. And I can't get my ATI card to have 3D acceleration.

SuSE is definitely much better than any distribution of Linux I've used so far in terms of configuring everything right away.

ccin1492 · 04-14-2006, 03:24 PM

The Inspiron is a laptop right? I'm interested in a desktop, so I think I can probably choose NVidia over ATI. I have a NVidia card in my current system and 3D acceleration is enable. THanks.

apachedude · 04-15-2006, 02:09 AM

Desktops are much better. You can probably use other distributions which may or may not be more stable or faster. I think SuSE is definitely easiest to configure though.

ahmerhussain · 04-15-2006, 01:19 PM

I've been ablt to get Fedora, Ubuntu/Kubuntu and Suse running on my Dell Demension 2400.

Fedora (core 4) was a little slower than Suse but worked a little better.

Ubuntu worked the best but the whole sudo thing just bugged me.

fragos · 04-15-2006, 03:09 PM

I haven't found a desktop that SuSE won't run on, including a few Dell varieties. This isn't a guarantee but an indicator of highly likely. You can prove without installing with a "Live" CD or DVD.

ccin1492 · 04-15-2006, 06:08 PM

Everyone, thanks for the advice. DELL actually sells a "open source" line where they don't install any software at all. The HDD is unformated, so I'm thinking of going with that. The model is E510n. The only downside is that it comes with a ATI card. I'm hoping I can get them to swap out the ATI for an NVidia card ;-)

ccin1492 · 04-16-2006, 11:35 AM

The card that comes with the E510n is a PCIe ATI Radeon X600 SE. I talked with a rep and they're claiming that for this model the ATI is the only card available. Mind you, if you get the E510 pre-installed with WinXP, then you can choose between a nVidia and ATI. Why do they have to make things so hard? In any case, If I'm unable to get a nVidia card, does anyone have any experience with this card? Any advice on setup, drivers, etc.?

Thanks.

fragos · 04-16-2006, 05:20 PM

IMHO -- I for one have tired of the limits place on us by even quality venders like Dell. I build my own from components. That way I get exactly what I want and don't have to settle for the low cost supplier of basic components. Why not get exactly the video board you want or perhaps 4 DIMM slots instead of 2. PCclub is my supplier of choice. They're on the web and local in many areas. We even have one in Fresno CA.

ahmerhussain · 04-16-2006, 05:36 PM

If you haven't bought the computer yet, I suggest you put your own computer together so you know EXACTLY what's in it.

The open-source dells are a rip off. I've had a really bad experience with them on other things as well.

If you want an already made computer then I would go with HP they're pretty nice to linux people. I also recommend Apple computers.

ccin1492 · 04-16-2006, 08:05 PM

I've built my PC's in the past, so I have no issues with that. In fact I've already compiled my parts list with prices. I was not impressed with the way DELL handled my request, and it put a bad taste in my mouth. I'll take a look at HP, but It looks like I'll end up building my own PC.