Re: Are there motherboards Linux can't use?

From: Moritz Franosch (mail_at_Franosch.org)
Date: 10/21/03 

Date: 21 Oct 2003 14:16:56 +0200

"Steve Wolfe" <unt@codon.com> writes:

> > Someone told me she bought a new computer and found its motherboard was
> > incompatible with Linux.

> The most common reason is that their version of Linux doesn't have
> drivers for necessary hardware.

> That's why Windows and most all distros of Linux provide a
> way for you to load a third-party driver during the installation process.
> ; )

I have never seen a way for loading a third-party driver during the
installation process, be it Linux or Windows. With (Suse) Linux, you
can load network and SCSI drivers that may be needed for the
installation process, but these are only drivers that come on the
installation CDs/floppies.

To load a driver, the system must run already, even if its early in
the installation process. So the board should at least boot
Linux. Whether you then get the best performance (e.g. IDE DMA can be
enabled) or whether all on-board hardware (e.g. sound) works is
another thing.

Moritz 

-- 
Dipl.-Phys. Moritz Franosch
http://Franosch.org

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