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List:       opensuse
Subject:    Re: [opensuse] Legacy hardware support in openSUSE 10.3
From:       Felix Miata <mrmazda () ij ! net>
Date:       2009-06-16 15:18:56
Message-ID: 4A37B7E0.4030608 () ij ! net
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On 2009/06/16 15:42 (GMT+0200) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

> I have had a request by a client to see if some legacy hardware is
> supported by openSUSE 10.3. Most of the things they asked about I could
> sort out. It just left me with this:

> 	ASUS P2B-S Motherboard (CPU - Pentium 2 350/512/100/2.0 S1)

> 	ATI Mach 64 PCI

> The system should run KDE 3.5. No fancy graphics effects. I suspect it
> could be pushing it with a 350 MHz P2. Even id the graphics card is
> decent. Aside from suggesting a hardware upgrade, any constructive
> opinions?

That's almost the same motherboard (P2B, not -S) & CPU of a system I set up
for my niece to use when she was living with me several years ago. It was a
very popular motherboard/CPU combination, with the best chipset of its era,
the i440BX. I upgraded the CPU to from PII-350 to PIII-600MHz (same as
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&&item=200256089865 ) along the
way, and the RAM from 256M to 384M. The video card was ATI, but AGP Rage Pro
8M. The last Linux installed was Kubuntu 8.04, which was released 6 months
after 10.3. It seemed perfectly adequate to me running KDE3 with no bling.

IIRC that motherboard supports PIII up to 800 MHZ at 100FSB with the stock
BIOS, faster with a special BIOS. Graphics performance from a PCI gfxcard
with a 350MHz CPU might not be acceptable. If that turns out to be the case,
I'd try to pick up a faster CPU and/or an AGP 1 (or 2 I think, but not 4 up)
card to use with it. Those common legacy parts should be available dirt cheap
or free many places, eBay or local computer shops that haven't thrown away
all the old stuff. PIII CPUs require a different cooler configuration than PII.
-- 
"Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to
the sky like an eagle."	       Proverbs 23:5 NIV

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/
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