No distro is able to detect...
 

Hi All
I have tried many distros , MANDRIVA, Damn Small Linux, Open Suse , Puppy Linux, etc etc. but none of them have made me feel at edge as one or two of my system hardwares were not detected in those. like puppy didn't detect my Sound card, DSL is not able to figure out my Networking port & MODEM, Mandriva was good, but again its my sound card.

I have the configuration as following.

ACER 4500, AMD Turion 64x2, NVedia graphics, 1 GB RAM, 160GB Hard Disk

Please suggest a distro which can support my configuration, also
I am confused if any 64bit distro will provide some better performance than 32 bit OS.

Also I would like to thank LinuxQuestions.org for this wonderful forums on Linux.

I guess Ubuntu has the drivers for Nvidia in the repositories. So you can install it and then connect to net and download the drivers for Nvidia.

Will U Suggest UBANTU live CD or complete installation
 

Hi & thanks:cool: for the quickest reply possible. But should i go for a live cd or a complete installation. Also can u suggest me a version or edition or service pack of Ubantu to download, which is easy on RAM, B'coz I have heard that to make linux fast, it completely loads itself to the RAM:tisk: (incase of LIVE CD).

Maybe this will help for Ubuntu??: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bi...erHowto/Nvidia

A full install of Ubuntu is better in my opinion. Version 8.04 or 8.10 of Ubuntu are OK. http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Rather than installing different systems, try the LiveCD versions first. Even if all your hardware isn't "detected" out of the box, it is often just a case of some minor configuration issues before you're up and running - it is a little-known fact outside of the Linux world, but Linux works with more hardware than any other OS.

As for loading into Ram, that is often an option, but not a requirement - if you're just experimentint with distros to determine which one feels better to you, there is no need to load it into ram, as long as you realize that it'll be a bit slow because it'll have read from the CD.

Also, don't go on what you've "heard", go on what we folks here at LQ "know". There is a lot of mis-information regarding Linux out there in the wild. Here at LQ, you may get varying opinions on different matters, but these opinions are usually based on experience, and a lot of the members here have a lot of experience.

As for 64-bit distros, it's not something I can speak directly to, but I'm under the impression that, just as is the case with Windows, they're not 100% "complete." But I don't think that should prevent you from trying them out. However, I would begin with the stable 32 bit distros, find one that you feel comfortable with, get it working, then move on to a 64-bit distro. You can always dual-boot (or tri-boot, etc).

Good luck with your experimentation. If you're like most of us here, you'll come to love the fact that it is now YOU, and not some faceless behemoth of a corporation who is in CONTROL of your system.

cheers,

Nicest reply, thank you, but.......
 

When we completely install a Linux, Linux will ask you to rewrite the boot sector. But I don't want to install it on to my LAPTOP hard drive. I want to install it on to my external hard drive & it should boot only when it is connected to the LAPTOP at the booting time. Please suggest a way to do that .... also after all your recommendation I:newbie: am now all set to Download Ubuntu. So before installing , if you guys have any warnings or suggestions, that can help me !!:p

Yeah one Warning. Linux is addictive you may not be able to give it up ;-).
When you install Ubuntu it will ask for the partitions where you need to install. Select you external drive and install your boot loader there. But remember to choose manual partition method while installing.

Ubuntu8.10 runs well on my laptop except wireless card~