Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 15:54:51 -0500 From: Jerry Dunham <dunham@dunham.org> To: Doug Young <dougy@gargoyle.apana.org.au> Cc: Joe Warner <jswarner@uswest.net>, cal@rushe.aero.org, Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>, Michael Smith <msmith@FreeBSD.ORG>, Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au>, newbies@FreeBSD.ORG, James Diefenderfer <james@worldly.org> Subject: Re: Still No FreeBSD Message-ID: <20000613155451.L22659@rider.dunham.org> In-Reply-To: <064201bfd4e4$e5167730$847e03cb@ROADRUNNER>; from Doug Young on Tue, Jun 13, 2000 at 01:10:09PM %2B1000 References: <200006100634.XAA15122@calamari.aero.org> <20000610202611.H22659@rider.dunham.org> <3942F563.9613BCE7@worldly.org> <20000610212117.N22659@rider.dunham.org> <3942FA1C.68246759@worldly.org> <20000610213641.P22659@rider.dunham.org> <3943EB0B.CB3B <064201bfd4e4$e5167730$847e03cb@ROADRUNNER>
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On Tue, 13 June 2000 at 13:10:09 +1000, Doug Young wrote: > G'day James :) > > Hey I'm certainly no expert on this stuff, but there's no way I'd even try > installing > ANY unix in a laptop unless it used really basic videocard / soundcard > /network > card etc. For some reason laptop designers seem to feel its obligatory to > dredge up > the weirdest bits for their products .... certainly all the ones I've looked > at had > oddball rubbish componentry like SiS video, unknown weirdo soundcards, & > something like those "broken even when new" RealTek NIC's, etc etc that > are > difficult enough to get working properly even in Win98 !!!! > > I guess a lot depends on ones philosophy ..... if you are like certain geeks > of my > acquaintance you may well appreciate a challenge, however what I want most > times > is the simplest possible way to get the thing working properly. > > Lots of things are probably "do-able" by experts, but virtually impossible > for newbies. > Whilst I do occasionally "have a go" at installations in borderline > machines, 90% of the > time its just not worth the aggro .... far easier to assemble a system with > nice standard > (and easily obtainable) bits like Intel CPU, S3 / ATI video, SB16 sound, SMC > / > 3-com / Intel NIC that work in virtually all operating systems. Other bits > *might* work, > but the only way to know is put the time in & see what happens. I'm usually > very short > on time so as far as I'm concerned those el junko taiwanese garbage generic > disasters > are best left in the shop. > > I thought there was a hardware compatibility list somewhere ..... or was it > just a list > of suggested bits & pieces by one of the FreeBSD guru's (Jordan himself as I > recall)?? > ... whatever it is / was I'm certain it contained well known breeds of > components. My > only objection was the recommendation for Matrox videocards, and that simply > because > (at least in OZ) one needs to mortgage the house to buy one. I've found ATI > ones give > virtually the same result at something like 20% of the cost. FWIW, Dell notebooks have historically used a lot of the very components you seem to like, though you might need to be careful to make sure a particular one has the combination you need. Until recently most Dells used NeoMagic video (once a problem, but no longer), but they've been switching over to ATI. SoundBlaster audio was replaced by some Crystal Audio thing, though I think I saw a third supplier recently. SMC and 3COM NICs have been typical for the built-in E-net in docks. Non-PCMCIA E-net in the notebook itself has not been available in Dells, though that has recently changed for the Inspiron line. I know less about them, but I believe Fujitsu and at least some IBM note- books are FreeBSD-friendly as well from what I've heard. I've read a lot of problem stories involving Compaq notebooks. Considering their mixed parentage, I'd expect HP notebooks to be a mixed bag. At least some Sonys seem to work well with FreeBSD, but I've read too little about Gateway to hazard a guess. One that's guaranteed NOT to work with FreeBSD is the iBook. :-) -- Jerry Dunham FreeBSD (512)335-0674 (H) jdunham@fc.net jerry@dunham.org To vacillate, or not to vacillate, that is the question ... or is it? To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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