Re: KNOPPIX CD to check computer's linux compatibility?
On Monday 17 May 2004 08:35 pm, alex wrote:
> It looks like there is no shortcut to check compatibility with a
> KNOPPIX CD other than try to make all the devices work.
A suggestion. Grab the DeMuDi image from AGNULA. (No URL handy, but it's
easy to google up I'm sure.) It's a special version of Knoppix done up with
Linux audio applications in mind.
If you boot the thing, and if everything goes well, the first thing on your
screen will be QJackCtl. That means modern, next generation audio is
working. Video on-screen means video is working. Go into a Konsole and try
running "glxgears" and you know you have 3D support (or not). If you really
want to know more, you can find the KInfoCenter easily enough, which is a
really handy little utility that provides the equivalent of catting around
in /proc to look at stuff, and a very spiffy memory status display.
Boom. You'd have to spend a lot longer trying to do it some other way, I'd
think. It's not that fast to boot up far enough to get to the point where
you can run these few commands, but you'd have to issue a *lot* of commands
to come up with the same info you can get by just letting it do its thing.
You'd either have to do a lot of typing, or go to the trouble to figure out
how to do up your own hacked version of Knoppix to run your custom "show me"
scripts. Or put the scripts on a floppy, maybe, if the computers still have
floppies.
Besides, think of it this way. Someone will be looking over your shoulder.
Wouldn't you rather show them KDE, glxgears, and KInfoCenter than a bunch of
cryptic messages on a text screen? :)
> But, I haven't tried the CD on a computer with integrated video
> or audio so I have no idea how that would show up during bootup.
I have. It works fine. i810 video, i845 video, ac97 audio, sis900 ethernet,
maybe some other stuff. All the usual "crap hardware" offenders. I haven't
tested it *extensively*, but I've looked at enough different computers to be
really impressed with how well it works. It even supported a USB mouse, I'm
almost positive. (That box actually had two mice, and I'm only mostly sure I
was using the USB one.)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <dmmcintyr@users.sourceforge.net>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
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