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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 23:31:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Troy Smith <tdsmith@topeka.cjnetworks.com>
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: hardware not listed on web page--compatible?
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I know you don't have much time for these things, so if I don't receive a 
response, I understand.

I have a Pentium system that I've been considering running FreeBSD on, 
but I don't want to try my 2.1.0 release on it.  I've run 2.1.0 
successfully before on my 486 (sadly, currently running '95), but this 
system is sufficiently different that I belive 2.1.0 won't run at all on 
it.  Here's the rundown:

Tyan Tomcat I, bios 2.12
P5/133
512K cache
128MB RAM
Buslogic BT-958 (ultra/wide)
Seagate ST32155W (2G ultra/wide SCSI drive)
Matrox Millenium 4MB (reportedly supported under latest revision of XFree)
NEC 4x4 IDE 4 disc changer (has BIOS support!)
MultiTech 2834BC (aka 2834ZDX) v.34 modem
3Com 3C900 Etherlink XL combo card
HP 4C color flatbed scanner w/ bundled Symbios Logic 8-bit SCSI card
HP DeskJet 660C
HP4L laser printer

These last three items will live quite happily on the 486 under '95, so 
they're not critical (although I would prefer that they operate under 
FreeBSD).  For the remainder, is there a distribution of FreeBSD that 
supports this hardware?  I'm not a programmer, so writing my own driver 
code is out of the question, but kernel config mods are certainly 
reasonable and doable by me.  I'm running NTWS 4.0 SP1 on this box right now 
and have considered SunSoft's "competitive upgrade" offer, but I'd much 
rather support your efforts, since they seem to stem from love of the 
activity and not from the ever-spiraling chase of dollars.  Also, I'm OK 
with a running Unix installation as a user (enough so to be rather disgusted 
with SCO, in comparison to FreeBSD, OSF/1, AIX, Ultrix, Solaris, Linux, 
hell, even VMS, VM/XA, and MVS/ESA!), but setup can be a bit daunting at 
times, so ease of installation is also of importance.  Do you offer a 
product that meets the above requirements?  Admittedly, it's a tall order 
for a product that bills itself as free (I would order from Walnut Creek, 
just like I did for 2.1.0--no complaints, and I hope you guys see some of 
the money!), but they're requirements, nonetheless.  If I need to wait 
for an upcoming release, that's fine--I just don't want to jump in the 
wrong direction or jump too soon.

Thanks for your input,

Troy Smith