I can't seem to find such...I plan to build a new system and want to make sure every component runs well on Slackware especially the video card.

Welcome to LQ!

There is no such database. Slackware uses a vanilla kernel
from source from kernel.org. Slackware is presently at 12.1-rc1,
which is using the 2.6.24.4 kernel. If you look at the source,
you will see whether or not your hardware is supported. If you
need help with that, post the output of "/sbin/lspci" from a
Linux distribution you have installed, or from a Linux LiveCD.

You can also search this forum, as most of these questions have
more than likely been answered.

If it works on any Linux distro then it'll generally be able to work on Slackware (although it may require a bit of effort, depending on what it is). Your best bet is to just google the model number of each part and Linux to see if anyone has had problems or success (eg. to search for an nVidia graphics card, try "nVidia GeForce 7600 Linux" or some such thing [Note: any nVidia graphics card should work with Slackware and other Linux distros, but require the proprietary nVidia driver to get 3d acceleration. This was simply chosen as an example. ]).

ATI video cards have more trouble in Slackware, but can work with some effort. Intel video cards generally work under Linux as far as I know as well, but some specific models have difficulty.

The problem with creating a huge database, even for Linux in general, is that kernel development is ongoing and the hardware list would have to be changed often, plus certain hardware would work better than others, etc. It would be quite a large undertaking. Hence, googling for your part is probably the best way.

[edit]Forgot to mention that you should post your hardware specs, and preferably the output of /sbin/lspci as Bruce Hill said above (try using a recent LiveCD like Slax or some such thing).[/edit]

This seems to be a common mis-perception about linux, that hardware support is distro-specific. As the above posters have alluded, hardware support is primarily a _kernel_ issue.

Brian

And there is an HCL at linuxquestions.org
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/

if it works on some linux , then it will work on slackware (unless that distro adds some specific non - kernel stuff).

I really thought hardware compatibility is distro specific because as I have observed my built-in audio in my current system works in Ubuntu but not in PCLOS. Sorry for that. As for displaying my specs, I couldn't as of now because I have yet to buy the system where I am going install Slackware. I just started using Linux, and I heard Slackware is the best bet for learning... Thanks for the reply

that just means that ubuntu comes with better configuration/management software.

but H/W is at the kernel , so if the kernel code is same it should work across both.

I can't help but feel that this misconception is one that is happily perpetuated by certain distros. It's so frustrating to see newbies jumping from distro to distro just to find one that will work "out of the box" with some piece of hardware.

Unfortunately most people like yes or no answers to things, and to really understand this requires the attention span of at least a paragraph. Because while it is primarily a kernel issue, there is also a distro-specific aspect. By which I mean, the default kernel provided by the distro must support the hardware for the out-of-the-box experience to be successful. It's been a long time since I installed a non-Slackware distro, so I don't really know how many distros this may apply to, but if the default kernel of a given distro does not include the drivers for certain hardware, then the "out-of-the-box" experience will vary. Of course you can always drop in a new kernel, but that's where people looking for the out-of-the-box experience start to get blurry eyes. Another potential difference between distros would be proprietary drivers which some distros may include and others not.

So the real answer is "yes and no" not "yes or no". The fact than any distro _can_ run the same hardware does not mean that any given user is willing or able to make it work.

Brian

Nice image that conjures. Makes me wonder what's outside the "computer box" that makes so many people avoid leaving it (even in Linux).