Re: Starting with Linux

From: Valentin Guillen (usenet1_at_myrealbox.com)
Date: 11/15/05 

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:29:59 -0700

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 01:15:59 +0000, rod s wrote:

>
> There may be a clue in the boot process when amongst all the many lines of
> writing is one which refers to DMA not being enabled on the hard disk. I
> cannot read the detail of this as the writing scrolls too quickly.

Another poster has addressed the issue of DMA access on your system.

> Alas I find that the new version is so slow - like walking through a lake
> of treacle. It takes about 15 min to boot and all actions - like bringing
> down a menu take about a minute. Version 7.3 worked quite quickly - if
> anything faster than Windows.

What we haven't addressed here is the question of your *hardware*; i.e.
the speed and age of your computer system. If you had 7.3 from some time
ago, and it has been on your hard drive for all this time, that indicates
to me that your hardware is several years old.

> Could this be a clue and does anyone have a solution... or do I forget
> about version 10 and go back to version 7.3?

I remember 7.3 fondly.....

Here's my advice: Enable the DMA access on the hard drive, and ascertain
whether this makes any appreciable difference in the speed. My guess is
that it will not. That then brings us to your very observant question,
the decision about whether to revert back to 7.3 Version 7.3 was
optimized for hardware which was current at the time of its release.

This is the rub: Current releases of both Windoz, OSX, and Linux are
really dependent upon today's generation of processor speeds, common
memory usage quantities, etc. Today's software runs like molasses, if at
all, on previous generations of processors and RAM memory ammounts. You
are witnessing this first hand. Don't let any amount of posts here
attempt to convince you otherwise. So if it is older hardware, I would
really recommend you revert back to 7.3. The trade off is this: There
are many programs which, after learning a bit about Linux, you may wish to
use. They will in all probablility, not be available for such an old
distribution. I sure wouldn't let that stop me. The distribution of 7.3
came with a full stable of software, all of it emminently usable, even
today. You may not find a repository of additional software on ftp
servers anymore, of that age, to supplement your base software which is on
the CD, but that is not really much of an issue.

Your quest is to *learn* Linux, and that version, with all of the software
available on the CD, is sufficient to surf, do Multimedia, Office-related
word processing, etc. Certainly there are several categories of
specialized software you may not find currently available for a distro of
that age, but anything you're likely to want to do as a novice, or
intermediate level learner of the OS, you'll be able to do with the base
software selection which you'll find on the CD. And there may be other
posters here who know of ftp archive sites where you can find additional
software available for that release. The more you learn of Linux's vast
possiblities, the more impetus it will provide you to eventually upgrade
your hardware, and your SuSE version, at some point in the future.

My 7.3 provided me, back then, with a full range of possibilities
regarding all I wanted or was able to do. So certainly don't let the
*mere* age of the distribution be a deterrent to using it and learning to
use SuSE. You'll find KDE to be fully functional, and you'll even find
GNOME there too, albeit far less refined and developed than today's GNOME.

And remember that we're all here to serve as your guide and mentor in your
new learning quest! I have a nearly complete archive of all of the SuSE
distributions beginning with version 6. I may even load an older version
on one of my old boxes, just to be able to provide guidance.

I sincerely hope that this advice will serve both to inspire you with
whichever version you decide on, and that it will also guide you in making
an informed decision regarding which way to proceed!

Regards, and the best of luck on your new quest...

Valentin

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Blue Chip Technology + MagnumX?
    ... Can you not use DMA instead? ... Yes, when we did filtering of samples during the capture, the counter was used to determine the period between samples. ... capable of dealing with 32K and larger transfers fully under hardware ... I'm not in a position to design any hardware really - just select something that's already out there. ...
    (comp.arch.embedded)
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  • Re: Blue Chip Technology + MagnumX?
    ... We've been investigating the ColdFire MCF5475EVB for some quite simple ... a DMA transfer from a PIO port to memory, ... capable of dealing with 32K and larger transfers fully under hardware ... I'm not in a position to design any hardware really ...
    (comp.arch.embedded)