[sdiy] Another new hard to find part....

[Scott Gravenhorst]

Rainer Buchty <buchty at cs.tum.edu> wrote:
>> I have 3 boxes that I use as Linux servers, but they won't support the
>> GUI in anything more than the basic SVGA mode, which denies me the full
>> resolution of the video cards.
>
>Which makes me wonder what kind of exotic video cards you're running.

SiS.  Well known banes, I found this out too late, they are cheap, but not
ubiquitous.  I bought the boxes before I got into Linux.  I can't afford to
keep buying hardware for computers.  I've tried installing Linux with GUI
support on each and every one of the six boxes I have and all default to
crappy SVGA with limited color and resolution support.  HCLs for RedHat
(which I know and understand) don't mention the video hardware I have.  If
I could go back in time, I would have bought different hardware, but I've
yet to find the flux-capacitor I need to build a time machine.

I also don't like knobless synths.  And I don't want to BUY more hardware
for MIDI to do the knob thing.

>Under Linux, you might be a turn or two late when it comes to
>state-of-the-art graphics cards and getting access to their special
>features, but *at least* resolution setting works fine. There might be
>issues with 3d acceleration, but that's another story.
>
>ATI and nVidia actively support Linux nowadays; and all the other stuff is
>quite nicely handled by the standard xsvga driver.
>
>So far I ran a fair share of graphics cards under Linux, from stone-age
>S3-Trio, a more recent S3 Savage/MX, ATI RageIIc, Matrox Milennium and
>some more recent nVidia. Never had a problem with *resolution*, but
>couldn't get the 3D acceleration for the Savage/MX to work two years ago
>(or better: didn't want to go the hassle to build a special Xserver
>version needed for a special package which might have enabled 3D
>acceleration). There might be an out-of-the-box solution present these
>days.
>
>> To run Linux with the GUI, I'd yet again have to go out and buy either
>> another box, or at least another video system.  What's the point of the
>> free software when I can't use it on the 6 freaking computers I already
>> own?
>
>Until proven otherwise, I'd rather say you're doing something wrong or
>you're using some really weird piece of hardware.

Cheap stuff purchased at the computer swaps that was designed for and works
for WinBlows, but that linux finds issues mainly with the video.  I'm tired
of constantly upgrading and buying new bits for these things.

>If resolution is all what you care for, then you always have the
>possibility to use the framebuffer device and speaking plain VESA with it.
>
>> I also don't want to tink around with a kernel that I am not qualified
>> to tink with and could likely break it.
>
>Then go with a distribution which does all the update stuff automagically
>for you, like e.g. SuSE Linux. I'm quite sure, RedHat and Mandrake offer
>similar mechanisms.

Perhaps, but I still can't do crap without the GUI and my hardware won't
support anything more than SVGA.

Building little circuits works, has real knobs, doesn't need upgrades,
doesn't need a team of developers, doesn't crash, sounds like what I want
to hear, doesn't cost a lot, can be repaired by me and can be modified in
minutes, by me.

>Rainer
>

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-- Scott Gravenhorst | LegoManiac / Lego Trains / RIS 1.5
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