Hi All,

I must admit with certain trepidation I'm posting this, you all must be bored to death with similar questions, or... perhaps not. So, here it goes:

I want to use my spare Duron 1GHz to build a PC which I could use to learn Linux on. I'm considering something cheap, with everything on board.
I've narrowed my choice to either MSI 6378 or Jetway 830CF boards.

The first one is a VIA KLE 133 based while the second, sporting a rather useless AGP port, uses SiS 730.
I'v tried searching the net but found nothing in regards of these boards and Linux.

I've tried to convert my old Abit BX6-2 to a Linux box but never succeeded in running the OS on it. It won't boot from CD-ROM, I get kernel panics during installation with boot floppy. All from a board I thought was 'mainstream'.

If anybody could post a NO message against the MSI or Jetway or perhaps either of the chipsets it would save me a few zloty

Cheers

Andrzej

Hereunder the next coming products based on Intel chipsets ... hold you on something, coz you'll need it !

Code D875PBZ
Name "Bonanza"
Chipset i875P
Turbo mode PAT
Socket S478 (mPGA478)
FSB 800MHz
Memory DDR400 dual channel
Standard SATA
Standard RAID
6 PCI Slots
AGP 8x
6x USB2

plus some nice overclocking features ...

I'm not bound-to-brand but some would-be companies will have to review their plans I guess.

I have Abit KA7-100 and an ABIT TH7II-RAID. They both work in LINUX. The only time Kernel panics happened to me is when I install LINUX on the Highpoint controller.

Your motherboard models that you selected are ok, but I stay away from Jetway. Why do you want a motherboard with on-board everything (VGA, sound, LAN, etc). If you want a AMD based board I would stay away from VIA, AMD, and SIS chipsets. nForce chipsets does not have tons of problems like those chipsets.

I recommend MSI K7N420 (MS-6373). It comes with everthing on-board. Also it is supported in Mandrake 9.

Up until about a year ago when Nvidia got in on it, AMD, VIA and SiS were the only chipsets for AMD at all, heck the VIA KT133 and later the 266 set the standard for the self-assembled Linux/AMD geek for a year or more there. Not only that, but the KT400 was supported by the kernel properly before it hit the street, and the AMD8100, the Hammer chipset, won't even be available for another 2-400 months and already works with kernel.

The KLE and the SIS730 are supported chipsets in the kernel, the issue is with the peripherals, got some links?

The good thing is that with old boards, you most likely won't have to deal with anything unsupported and bleeding edge.

Cheers,

Finegan

You should have a closer look :
i875P is none of the chipset you mentioned, it's an Intel one.

Thanks for your responses guys!

Electro,
I bought my Abit and thought it was the best choise, belived it to be near the top of the heap at that time, trusted it would be "futureproof".
It now transpired it won't let me boot from CD-ROM, a BIOS update ended in disaster (the EPROM had to be transferred to another machine in order to be flashed). The latest BIOS (which is supposed to fix something for Linux memory management[?] just wouldn't make it; several times I attempted to install Linux on it only one succeeded, didn't last long though, resulted in som problems which I was unable and unwilling to try to solve - I'm a complete beginner.

Enough was enough, I decided not to buy the choicest hardare that time and went for a cheap and cheerfull Jetway V266A which happened to be a nice, problem-free board and a 1GHz Duron. The combo serves me fine.

Now, I'm getting rid of the Abit rig and getting an Athlon for the Jetway. The spare Duron needs a new home but I cannot justify a great expense

Both the 830CF and MSI 6378 can be had here cheaply and are old enough for me

Finegan,

The information found at:
http://www.webit.at/~twinny/linuxsis630.shtml
discouraged me from from the SiS solution (gosh, do I like this word! )
I also found the VIA cheapset the 6378 uses mentioned - some problems with XFree86, I think, solutions were posted on the site (I lost the URL).
I really like MSI web site, never had an MSI board before so there is a chance for me now to use this opportunity before I get forced (they don't understand the need of learning cool OSes, women!) to use cash on something /silly pointles

I like your point about the avoidance of bleeding edge solutions (again! ) I'm getting more and more conservative as far as computers are concerned - the M$ world has tought me - me an Amiga enthusiast

Cheers

I got a great deal on a GigaByte 7VAX. All I had to do was add video. The big plus with this one is the dual-bios. No more corrupted bios 'cus I've got a spare. Integrated lan and sound. I got it retail for $79.

It did go cheap in christmas `01 for my son's first computer. I got him a PC Chips 810LMR. It had everything onboard except a toaster. LAN, SiS730 video, AMR modem ( don't have a need, but came anyways), and AC'97 sound. All I had to do is add a hard drive and CDROM ( floppies are a waste). It now dual boots WinMe and Mandrake 9.0. The only thing to be concerned about in linux is hardware 3D support for the video card. Software based GL works, but is too slow for gaming. Check pricewatch for barebone systems. The system does have a 2X AGP slot if you want to throw a card in later, and 2 PCI slots.

The board is not a top performer, but it has been reasonable stable.

For a cheap solution integrated is fine, but if you go with integrated video, make sure it has an additional AGP slot. You can always pick up a cheap GeForce 2 MX card for $30-40 with linux drivers supported.

Cheers,
Pete

membrax, please read AndK first post again. AndK said


I have a unused ASUS K7V-T but it uses a Slot A processor. Its for just in case if the capacitors blow in my KA7-100 board. The temperature of the capacitors are about 75 degrees F under normal and near 80 degrees F while playing a game. Still within capacitor's specs.

See
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...5E2344,00.html