On 03/07/07, Jimmy Johansson <jijo7845@student.uu.se> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> my computer, which I ran NetBSD 3.1 on, broke down while moving a few
> weeks ago, so now I'm looking at buying a new one.
>
> I am thinking about buying a Shuttle SD32G2 barebone, but only if the
> hardware in it is compatible with NetBSD 4.0 or better (NetBSD current).

The rest of the post implies -current all the way.

I won't be useful for AMD64 - I recently installed -current on a Tyan
S2895 m/b with very good results so far, but on my ICH7/Azalia/Intel
945 laptop I can install only i386, as it is just Core Duo.

>
> It has:
>
> * Built in Intel GMA950 graphics card.

 Intel 82945GM/PM/GMS Integrated Graphics Device; as far as I can see
from the chatter in tech-x11, yours should work as well.


> * Built in Realtek ALC882 audio.

Mine is  "Intel 82801GB/GR High Definition Audio Controller" and works
fine, for whatever I have tested it (well, I can use Skype with it, so
it must be OK...).

A few weeks ago I had some box for a while which turned out to be
Realtek azalia, don't remember the exact model, but it worked - again
just a brief test - after some fiddling with mixerctl.

> * Marvell 88E8001 network controller.

Don't know this. Mine is  Broadcom BCM4401-B0 10/100 Ethernet; works
fine with the exception that if I use Windows/XP first, I have to shut
it down completely and even disconnect the power supply to get it
working under NetBSD - otherwise it timeouts.


> * SATA II controller.

Mine is

ahcisata0 at pci0 dev 31 function 2: Intel 82801GBM AHCI SATA Controller

which I believe is SATA I. There is some speed improvement in
comparison to using the same controller in compatibility mode, but it
is less than 5%, which probably is within what is expected.

>
> I am thinking about buing a core 2 duo processor and 4 GB of ram and run
> NetBSD current for AMD64 on it. Are there any known problems with running
> NetBSD on a core 2 duo? I have read several threads on tech-x11 and
> noticed that NetBSD now has accelerated OpenGL, and it seems possible to
> run a GMA950 graphics controller in accelerated mode running Xorg under
> NetBSD current. I noticed that there has been some trouble with DRI on
> amd64, but [1] and the rest of that thread seems to indicate that this
> might be resolved?

I had to apply several patches to get the DRI working; it seems more
than reasonably stable, albeit not particularly fast; all the required
extensions are supported, though - with modular-xorg-7.3 - so I now
run things like beryl, bzflag and blender with full accelleration.

>
> [2] seems to indicate that the Marvell 88E8001 network controller will
> work under NetBSD but the bugs section in man sk(4) for current says that
> the driver is experimental and that performace for some Marvell adapters
> is poor. Does anybody run NetBSD with a 88E8001 and how is the performace?
>
> The Realtek ALC882 is supported according to man azalia(4), but [3] for
> example seems to indicate that there might be problems? Does somebody use
> such a audio card and know if there are any problems? I also ran "cvs log
> /usr/src/sys/dev/pci/azalia.c", but I could not glean the status of the
> driver from that...
>
> The sata controller is an ICH7 and [4] says that piixide(4) supports ICH7
> sata controllers, but not man piixide(4). [5] seems to indicate that there
> might be trouble? Does anyone know the status and performance of the ICH7
> support in NetBSD?

See above. I think it's fine.

>
> I also read [6] last week, do you thing this is something to worry about?

Kinda mirky... I'd like to see Intel's medium term response to this.

>
> Also, is there anything I have forgotten to think about?

USB2/IEEE1394 support - I have had problems with ehci under amd64 - in
fact, I had to disable it in order to get the machine booting at all.
Again, fine under i386, even on the same h/w.

>
> I'm sorry about the length of this email, but if it doesn't run NetBSD,
> then I don't want to buy it!

Fair enough. I got this laptop - HP NX6310 - at work by no choice of
mine - I had expected a ThinkPAD R60 or similar - but it turned out to
be just what I needed; I have been able to crash it on a few
occasions, although mostly through errors of mine.

>
> Jimmy
>
> [1] http://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-x11/2007/06/08/0000.html
> [2] http://www.webservertalk.com/message1330613.html
> [3] http://archive.netbsd.se/?ml=port-i386&a=2006-02&t=1775586
> [4] http://www.netbsd.org/releases/formal-3/NetBSD-3.0.html
> [5] http://mail-index.netbsd.org/current-users/2006/05/18/0002.html
> [6] http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=118296441702631
>

Chavdar Ivanov