Re: Starting out...
> Hi folks!
>
> I've just finished the hardware part of building my very own PC Compatible
> (AMD K5-166, Amptron PM8600 motherboard, 32MB RAM, S3 Trio64+ 2MB video
> card, Creative Labs SoundBlaster Vibra16 audio, Hitachi 7730 IDE 4X CD-ROM,
> Quantum Bigfoot 4.3GB IDE HD, Teac 1.44MB HD, soon to be getting a Seagate
> [Conner] 800MB Tape Drive) and am tweaking Windows95 into submission.
Item per item:
Processor: OK
motherboard: No idea, probably fine.
video: OK. I've heard of some problems with the latest XFree and
the S3 server, though ; you may want to check the mailing
list archive.
sound card: OK. If it's PnP, you'll need isapnptools to configure,
unless your BIOS is smart enough to do it.
CD-ROM: OK.
Hard drive: OK, but be wary of partitions >2GB (it's not your case right
now, but you may want to expand) as some Linux utils still
have problems I think (it was the case for cfdisk at
one time).
Tape drive: No idea, but it should be fine if it's an IDE tape.
[snip]
> Are there still any pitfalls to using Debian Linux with the K5 chip or any
> of the other hardware I mentioned above? Eventually I plan on upgrading to
As mentioned, shouldn't be any problems AFAIK.
> the K6 chip...I've heard some Linux horror stories about the K6 not
I upgraded to a K6 last Wenesday. No problems so far, and I've put
some load on the system (compiling the kernel with emacs and netscape
loaded, while playing Quake... :), though I'll have to make an effort
to really load it (32 MB is HARD to fill!).
Interestingly enough, Linux gave a few messages about unknown PCI
devices but still kept booting and has been working flawlessly since.
However, Win95 refused to boot in anything but safe mode after the
motherboard upgrade, and I had to reinstall (the lack of diagnostic
messages made it totally impossible for me to troubleshoot the
problem).
Overall, I'm very satisfied with the upgrade so far. Note that I
upgraded the whole system unit in one shot (CPU/motherboard/memory).
Also note that if your motherboard comes with an USB port, make sure
you can disable it through the BIOS setup program ; Linux seems to
dislike USBs.
> working. Anyone on this list use PowerBoot to dual boot? I'm gonna need a
> *lotta support* from you folks, and I promise when I become a Linux guru I
> will help the newbies on this list.
No idea about how PowerBoot works. I have, however, used the OS/2
Boot Manager while I was still young and innocent. :)
If PowerBoot works in a similar way, it's not too difficult to make
Linux work with it. Basically, you must install LILO (Linux's own
boot loader) in the Linux partition's boot record (*NOT* the master
boot record) and point your boot manager to the Linux partition. The
boot manager will find LILO, which will boot Linux.
You could also use LILO for the whole drive, which is what I'm doing.
However, the interface is a bit plain, and if someone who's not used
to it tries to boot the computer, it might confuse the hell out of
him/her.
Good luck with your installation.
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