I am trying to figure out a couple things;

1. If there is support for all of the components in my PC that is free
2. Which Distro include the most support for the components


My System setup/components are as follows:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+
DFI NF11 400AL MOTHER BOARD W/-nVIDIA nforce2 400 chipset
4-USB 2.0 PORTS IN REAR
1-USB 2.0 PORTS IN FRONT
10/100 ETHERNET PORT IN REAR
WESTERN DIGITAL 80 Gb HARD DRIVE
512 Mb DDR PC-3200 SDRAM MEMORY
NVIDEA GFORCE2 64 Mb VIDEO / AGP
BTC 52X 24X 52X CD-RW DRIVE / 16X DVD ROM / 7in1 FLASH CARD READER DRIVE
BTC 52X CD-ROM DRIVE
VIA AC-97 2.2 S/PDIF STERO AUDIO / ON BOARD (6 CHANNEL )
AIRLINK K56K-V92 MODEM / PCI (not currently needed)
WMP54G - Wireless-G PCI Adapter
Logitech USB Mouse
Standard Keyboard

I am sure most of this really is going to be a problem with linux, but I barely know any linux and want to pick one that would be the easiest install and the easiest to run.

I will be dual booting. So, if there is programs not easily run on the distro Im not worried. Currently the Wireless adapter is my main concern. I am leaning towards mandrake as I have used it some and know the most about it over the others.

can anyone tell if any distros have drivers for the WMP54G - Wireless-G PCI Adapter includined in the install.

Mandriva would be the best bet. The powerpack version would have the best chance at the wireless card. That's the only one you're likely to have too much trouble with...

Mandriva supports wireless network cards and drivers.

thank you, I have been checking into mandriva already see as it is/ or was mandrake.

Hmm, try knoppix first. The DVD version. If it supports everything, then with smoe meddling you will be fine with Debian. Oh, I got a way worse situation than you, I got a GF6200, not supportes by NVidia drivers...! But I work normally, in vesa mode. But afaik GF2 is supported with hw. acceleration.

The gf6200 is supported by the latest nvidia driver...

Yea,right. I got them. Well... 3...2...1... 640x480x8! No way to change that! Even tho I have st Modes "1024x768" set up! It will never be supported... Although the drivers work on BeOS 5 PE MAX! 3.1 Beta1

The 6200 has been working since 7667 or before? I've always had good results with the nvidia drivers.

Out of curiousity, why do you say this? The fact is that modern distributions have relatively few problems with hardware.

I would recommend that you start with a free distro--eg Ubuntu, Fedora, Mepis, Knoppix, etc. You will likely be trying others before settling down.

I think that was a typo and he meant most would NOT be a problem - aside from the wireless...

Well, there are always unified alternate drivers! If there is an adaptec SCSI controller driver in the kernel, you don't have to hav an Adaptec -- every other compatible/compliant one will be supported!

it was a typo, and am know using distro Mandriva 2006, no luck with the wireless adapter though, no good support found yet.

I can however plug into the switch ports integrated with my wireless router, kinda limits my placement of my box, but I can connect.

install ndiswrapper and use the windows drivers for your card

did,(took an hour for it to recognize that the card and the driver went together) no connection possible, the ndiswrapper/windows driver doesn't work right.


It has atleast a little to due with the options the driver gives in mandriva, I can't choose the same options as what is available in windows. Might be able to get it to work at some point, but I have to learn a bit more mandriva, before I can fix it most likely.