Advice please on APIC, and Asrock K7S8X or other m'board.

From: John Fryatt (jrf1_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 08/28/04 

Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2004 20:50:04 GMT

Hi,

I'm going to build a PC shortly. It will be dual-boot, running some flaour
of Windows for a few games I like (car racing sims) and Linux (don't know
what distribution yet).
I've settled on the Athlon XP2500 CPU, and I need the motherboard to have a
game port.
So....

1) What motherboard would you recommend?
I'm talking 'economical' here, and was thinking of the Asrock K7S8X or
K7S8XE.
Any problems with this choice? Any better alternatives. (Remember,
economical. I'm after something decent, but doesn't need to be the latest
super-mega-smokin' device <s>)
Would your better alternative motherboard not have the APIC issue (mentioned
below?)

2) The Asrock motherboard, and some others using SiS chipsets, seems to need
the APIC function to be turned off for Linux to work.
Is this still true? If it is, what disadvantage is there in having APIC
turned off? If you say 'none, what's it for then?

3) I've also seen this said for ACPI as well. Other messages say ACPI is ok,
or at least it is if you get a new Asrock BIOS. Any thoughts?

I'd appreciate any current advice offered. I have looked through newgroups
but I'm still a bit confused. It seems like you look at n posts and get n
slightly different answers. ;-(

Regards, John

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How to put together a home desktop computer for email and access to all the enhancements of vari
    ... > emphasis on all features and all enhancements, of varied web sites, ... > what motherboard would you look to for this device?... ... For each piece of hardware, do a Goolge search like "linux hardware ...
    (comp.os.linux.hardware)
  • Shuttle AN50R MB Hangs running linux
    ... We have tried to get the Shuttle AN50R working with Linux to no ... motherboard using the following configuration: ... The install goes fine. ...
    (Fedora)
  • Re: Officejet incomplete printing
    ... reinstall XP Home. ... We can't use the network connection on the 7310 as starting up iTunes causes the printer itself to blue-screen and crash Other than Windows having been reinstalled onto a new drive, all the cables and USB hubs are UNCHANGED from before. ... Maybe the Motherboard isn't communicating properly with the new hard drive now and then, but not so badly that it raises flags. ... I just got through diagnosing a bad motherboard after trying unsuccessfully to install a stable Linux on the hard drive on and off for about three months. ...
    (comp.periphs.printers)
  • Re: Epox EP-8RDA3+ motherboard
    ... Nvidia motherboard chipsets just aren't Linux-friendly -- because ... Linux can deal with basically any ol' CPU and any ol' RAM circuitry; ... but doesn't list the driver. ...
    (comp.os.linux.hardware)
  • Re: IBM to build massive 20 Petaflop supercomputer for NNSA
    ... modifications to the motherboard to run Linux". ... There is no such thing as a 'windows motherboard'. ... let's see an example of a "windows motherboard". ... scan all the hardware EVERY time it starts? ...
    (sci.physics)