Motherboards for new Ubuntu install

[Baruch Siach]

Hi Eliyahu,

On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 04:11:57PM +0200, E.S. Rosenberg wrote:
> 2012/12/26 Baruch Siach <baruch at tkos.co.il>:
> > Hi Eliyahu,
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 03:45:27PM +0200, E.S. Rosenberg wrote:
> >> Generally the linux drivers cover an equally large if not larger spectrum...
> >
> > Of course. But there is no guarantee that the covered range exactly overlaps
> > the Windows driver one.
> >
> >> I have an Atheros chip from that family on my laptop, it required me
> >> to install one more package for wired communication (wireless
> >> [different chip, also atheros] worked out of the box):
> >>
> >> 03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8162 Fast
> >> Ethernet (rev 10)
> >
> > Fast Ethernet is most likely 10/100, not GbE (10/100/1000).
> Correct, I now also notice that the official specs on this laptop say
> it's just 10/100, however that does not change the fact that according
> to atheros it falls in the same family of chips....
> http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/catalog/search/?csrfmiddlewaretoken=9ec89be3308015f25587de8fd4cd11ff&query=atheros
> >
> > What is the output of 'lspci -n'?
> 1969:1090
> >
> >> The weird thing was that the driver detection program didn't realize this...
> >>
> >> Either way the package that provides the 'alx' driver on Ubuntu 12.10 is:
> >> linux-backports-modules-cw-3.6-quantal-generic
> >
> > Are you sure it is not 'atlx'?
> my modprobe history don't lie ;) neither does lspci -v

You are right. This driver has not found its way to the mainline kernel yet.  
Its "homepage" is at 
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/networking/alx, and 
although it has been posted for mainline inclusion back in August 
(https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/1376841/) the authors have not followed 
up.  It is somewhat strange that this driver has found a (temporary) home in 
the compat-wireless package (https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/10/8/409), which is 
where you installed it from.  Maybe it is so because the compat-wireless 
maintainer, Luis R.  Rodriguez, is an Atheros/Qualcomm employee.

baruch

> >> 2012/12/26 Baruch Siach <baruch at tkos.co.il>:
> >> > Hi Amichai,
> >> >
> >> > On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 02:57:23PM +0200, Amichai Rotman wrote:
> >> >> Download the Windows drivers from the MpBo site, extract the files, look up
> >> >> the relevant strings in the .inf files and Google it for Kubuntu
> >> >> compatibility....
> >> >
> >> > I tried that. The trouble is that the Windows driver (according to its file
> >> > name: "mb_driver_lan_atheros_813x_815x_816x.exe") covers a wide range of NIC
> >> > chips. This is not a driver tailored specifically for this board. So the list
> >> > of PCI IDs in the driver's .inf file is not a indication for what is actually
> >> > installed on the board.
> >> >
> >> > baruch
> >> >
> >> >> How about starting a Linux-IL maintained HW DB - every member runs lshw on
> >> >> their machine and uploads it to a site with the Distro their running...
> >> >>
> >> >>   Amichai Rotman
> >> >>  Penguin - FLOSS Computer Service and Technical Consulting
> >> >>  +972-73-7962360 ||  +972-54-4605787
> >> >>
> >> >> On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 1:54 PM, Baruch Siach <baruch at tkos.co.il> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> > Hi Dotan,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 12:29:31PM +0200, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> >> >> > > On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 11:42 AM, Baruch Siach <baruch at tkos.co.il>
> >> >> > wrote:
> >> >> > > > You'll need to access a running
> >> >> > > > machine to extract the PCI ID information, though, since Gigabyte's
> >> >> > manual is
> >> >> > > > not very helpful.
> >> >> > >
> >> >> > > Is that the chicken, or the egg?
> >> >> > >
> >> >> > > In other words, if I did have access to a running system, I would
> >> >> > > already know if it works or not!
> >> >> >
> >> >> > This board surely runs Windows. You can extract the PCI ID from its "Device
> >> >> > Manager", or whatever it's called there.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Also, some BIOSes list PCI devices with IDs in the initial screen.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > baruch
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> >      http://baruch.siach.name/blog/                  ~. .~   Tk Open Systems
> >> > =}------------------------------------------------ooO--U--Ooo------------{=
> >> >    - baruch at tkos.co.il - tel: +972.2.679.5364, http://www.tkos.co.il -
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Linux-il mailing list
> >> > Linux-il at cs.huji.ac.il
> >> > http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
> >
> > --
> >      http://baruch.siach.name/blog/                  ~. .~   Tk Open Systems
> > =}------------------------------------------------ooO--U--Ooo------------{=
> >    - baruch at tkos.co.il - tel: +972.2.679.5364, http://www.tkos.co.il -

-- 
     http://baruch.siach.name/blog/                  ~. .~   Tk Open Systems
=}------------------------------------------------ooO--U--Ooo------------{=
   - baruch at tkos.co.il - tel: +972.2.679.5364, http://www.tkos.co.il -