[NMLUG] Asus M2V not for Linux

[havoc at harrisdev.com (havoc)]

Steve Browne wrote:
> Hi All:
> 
> I've been going through my biennial system upgrade for both Linux and
> XP. I use HDD mobile racks, and interchange operating systems, so the
> first qualification for a new mobo is that it work well on BOTH OSes.
> 
> Since AMD slashed its prices on most Athlon CPUs, I've moved up to x2
> 3800+. But I thought I'd try to go even one better with a Socket AM2
> 4200+; AMD is discontinuing  Socket 939 but not AM2.
> 
> Why AMD and not Intel? For one thing, the large surface area of the x2
> (and Opteron) CPUs enable them to run relatively cool. And AMD created
> AM2 to utilize DDR2 memory modules, the latest configuration.
> 
> So I needed a mobo for AM2 and I'm trying to stick with VIA chipsets
> (and not Nvidia)  to preserve bootability with my current system HDDs.
> For AMD I look to Asus first. And there was the M2V:
> http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=101&l3=0&model=1171&modelmenu=1
> 
> Socket AM2, PCI-E x16 slot with three "old" PCI slots, four DDR2 slots
> up to 8Gb, and all the other usual frills. AND the latest VIA chipsets
> - K8T890 Northbridge and VT8237A Southbridge. (Actually, VIA has
> offered the K8T900 since the beginning of 2006, but no mobo I can find
> uses it.)
> 
> So I put together my prize system and installed Mandriva 2006. Or
> tried to. (I'll cover Linux distros in another post). This uses the
> 2.6.12 kernel. Mandriva installed off the CDs just fine, but then the
> HDD WOULDN'T BOOT. Checking on the 'Net, it appears that kernel 2.6.12
> doesn't fully recognize the K8T890 and/or the VT8237A. So my M2V is
> back on the shelf, waiting for Linux to catch up to it.
> 
> I hope this saves some of you from wasting money. I'm curious to know
> what (recent) CPUs/motherboards you IT professionals are using.
> Probably Opterons. I didn't want to get into server mobos such as made
> by Tyan and Iwill because of the expense. Iwill has one board with
> SIXTEEN DDR slots! (but it costs $15,000). Is that what Peter Jackson
> uses?   :-)
> 
> Steve
> Stephen B. Browne
> sbrowne@ix.netcom.com
> "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

I went with the AM2 socket on the ASUS M2N-E when my old system started 
cratering. It's got the Nvidia chipset, but I'm good with that.

I just pulled the drives out of the old box and fired them up in the new 
(Kubuntu 6.06). After I got the nvidia-legacy drivers replaced with the 
current nvidia drivers, and quit trying to overclock the Athlon64 3500+ 
(single core), everything seemed to line out and run just fine. (I went 
with the low-end chip because it was an emergency rebuild, and cash was 
tight.)

I'm running 2GB of Kensington DDR2, and I just stayed with the 32-bit OS 
already installed on my drives rather than mess with upgrading to the 
AMD64 install because any increased performance is nominal until some of 
the software starts getting written to take advantage of the new 
instruction set.

havoc
-- 
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