[luau] nForce2, KM266 & Business Linux Desktops

[Hawaii Linux Institute]

Thanks for sharing your experience Eric.

The so-called "tweaking" is really not nearly as bad as I sounded.

With KM266, if it doesn't install (i.e., no video during 
installation--typically experienced with RH9 or MDK9, no problem with 
earlier versions), all you need to do is to make sure that you specify 
using the VESA driver before installation.  Then after installation, 
edit the XF86config file, by changing the driver from "vesa" to 
"savage", and adding an option: "useBIOS" "no".  The latter is the fruit 
of my working with VIA engineers and is CRITICALLY important.

With nForce2, there are two separate tasks involved: installing the 
drivers (for sound, USB, and NIC), and patching the kernel.  The first 
task is very straightforward.  Just follow the instructions.

With the new paging mechanism, patching the kernel is substantially 
simplified.  All you need to do is run the "correct" rpm.  To make sure 
that there is no conflict (and that the rpm is optimized for your CPU), 
the best way is to download the source rpm, then rebuild the binary rpm 
using the following command (this is where nVidia screwed up):

rpmbuild --rebuild NVIDIA_nforce-xxx.src.rpm

This will create a binary rpm.

You have to repeat the process every time you update your kernel.  But 
for desktop applications, I really don't see any need to update the 
kernel.  Of course, the 2.6 kernel is a different story.  I haver heard 
awesome stories about running desktop applications under the 2.6 kernel, 
and I can't wait to see it becoming "stabilized".


Wayne


Eric Hattemer wrote:

> I have the nforce 1, and its not particularly tricky on linux.  The 
> graphics chip boots RH7.2+, I believe.  If you want to use the onboard 
> pci devices, I would suggest the .src.rpm.  rpm -ivh *.src.rpm, then 
> go into the directory it dumps it to.  I think that's 
> /usr/src/RedHat/SOURCES.  Go into the Nvidia directory in there, and 
> read the file in there called something like README.  It says 
> something like to do a ./configure then a gmake; gmake install.  
> You'll need to redo this after every kernel upgrade.
> -Eric Hattemer