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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 15:35:26
Message-ID: 4A37BBBE.1090600 () ij ! net
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On 2009/06/16 16:37 (GMT+0200) Roger Oberholtzer composed:

> ...as the systems work so well, they really do
> not want to change them. But there has been a hardware failure in a
> subsystem (a VME-based PC), and the replacement hardware is only
> supported by a newer OS.

PII is still fully supported by current kernels, as long as proper compile
options are set, which was the case in 10.3 and remains even in 11.2/Factory.
Right now on the Fedora list there is discussion about dropping support for
older systems, including the PII. The objections are strong. I don't think
the arguments to drop outweigh those to keep. Since openSUSE is more
conservative than Fedora, I suspect openSUSE's stock legacy kernels will
continue to support PII for quite some time to come.

The biggest obstacle to good performance on a P2B is the disk I/O. The
onboard piix controller is Ultra DMA 2 aka UDMA33, capable of about 1/3 the
throughput of the last made PATA disks. These controllers were the last PATA
not to require 80 wire cables for reliable performance at max speed. I used
to use SCSI instead of PATA on i440BX to get around that bottleneck, but took
the last of my 100FSB systems out of service several months ago.
-- 
"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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