HP linux compatible hardware list?

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a used / offlease HP small form factor desktop, of recent vintage, compatible with Linux Mint 19. Is there a list or database somewhere that I can check HP model numbers against their reputation for running Linux in general or Mint in particular?

Suggestions also about Linux friendly vendors, particularly in the Toronto Canada area would also be of interest.

Thanks,

Brian H.

There used to be lots of Hardware Compatibility Lists (HCLs) for Linux, but they have generally become of less and less usefulness because Linux compatibility is really not the issue it used to be. (If I remember correctly, there used to be an HCL here at LQ that was dropped for lack of usage). The primary exceptions these days, based on what I have read here, are certain wireless and graphics chipsets and a few makes of printers whose manufacturers provide inadequate support for Linux.

The odds are that the machine will work with Linux.

You might try doing web search for "[computer make/model] linux" or posting the make/model to this thread. The odds are high that doing so will get you the information you are looking for.

If you're looking at the 1L-sized HPs, ServeTheHome did some reviews of those a while back, and I believe most of their testing was based on linux (see here for more: https://www.servethehome.com/introdu...ab-revolution/). I'd pay attention to what graphics the device has - usually those boxes have IGPs which will mean AMD or Intel, both of which are well supported, but AMD lagged on updating their IGPs for a few generations and so you may not get Vulkan support if you end up with a Terascale-based IGP (I think this is through the 6000-series chips from AMD, and 7000+ got GCN which can support amdgpu and therefore Vulkan). I'm not sure where the 'line' is for Intel - I've had no issues with my 5th gen though (and FWIW Apple also lists the 4th gen as Metal compatible, and the Apple requirements for Metal mirror the requirements for Vulkan on the AMD side). I'm not saying any of these will be stellar performers, just thinking about broad compatibility.

On the wifi side I'd be less worried - if you end up with something that has spotty support, that can be either replaced entirely (if the system uses a mini-PCI card) or supplimented with a USB dongle that is better supported.

Overall, as frankbell said, you shouldn't worry too much though - things are pretty well supported these days, and its not unreasonable to expect graphics/sound/etc to work out of the box with a modern desktop distro like mint (which is based on Ubuntu, so you might also try searching for compatibility there - at one point Ubuntu maintained a QVL as well).

Originally Posted by bjh Is there a list or database somewhere that I can check HP model numbers against their reputation for running Linux in general or Mint in particular?

http://linux-hardware.org E.g., HP Desktops: Last Month

Suggestions also about Linux friendly vendors, particularly in the Toronto Canada area would also be of interest.

Computer vendors that pre-install Debian

Originally Posted by obobskivich at one point Ubuntu maintained a QVL as well

They still have this: https://ubuntu.com/certified

If I were to guess, I'd say almost every HP office system can run linux.