I want to upgrade the MOBO/ CPU/ GFX on the box running Suse 9.3, and I'd really like to retain the configuration of the system since everything is working nicely (except the *!*&%^$%R internet dial up connection sharing )

What's the strategy? Can I simply change the hardware over and run the upgrade install to sort everything out, or will it be more daunting than that.

Appreciate your tips.

TIA

The SUSE kernel is highly modular, so the required drivers should be loaded automatically. You may run into some trouble with graphics, so I recommend to boot into graphical mode first and configure graphics before you start the X-server. But in general, it should not be required to run an installation procedure. However if you change the processor type, another kernel might be better. But this can also be done later. Another problem could be a non-standard HDD controller. These drivers need to be present in the initial ramdisk. But this could be done in advance (if you know the required drivers). Also you need to be aware of changes in drive/partition structure.

You should be able to simply install your existing hard drive into a new cabinet - just make sure that the drive remains in its current relative position (meaning that if it's the primary master on the old machine, it needs to be the primary master in the new machine.)

"Transplanting" Linux drives in this way usually works with little or no followup work, and it's something I've done a number of times. There may be some complicating factors if the other components (typically any onboard devices) use different drivers, but it generally should be fairly straightforward to just drop the drive into the new cabinet. Clearly, and as abisko00 described, if there are major differences with video cards, etc, then you may have some reconfiguration to do, but I wouldn't worry about that bridge till I cross it. Lastly, I'm assuming that when you say you want to upgrade the CPU, that you will be remaining in the same family. More specifically, if you're using a Pentium now and want to go to a completely different architecture, disregard these comments.

If you want to play it really safe, boot up each machine under Knoppix, run the lsmod command, print out the results, and if a given device doesn't work automatically on the new machine you may need to manually load the appropriate module. Personally, I'd just give it a shot; worst case scenario is that you can just put the drive back into the original cabinet. Good luck with it -- J.W.