From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <471CB696.9070607@free.fr>
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:41:26 +0200
From: Philippe Anel <xigh@free.fr>
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To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@cse.psu.edu>
Subject: Re: [9fans] Broadcom drivers, yet again
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I see what you mean, Jack. Thanks to virtualization, this is no longer a=20
problem. Newbies can
deal with Vmware or Qemu.
Regarding the fact vendors change their chipsets very often, I agree=20
with you, this is a very
anoying problem (especially with notebooks).
The fact is you cannot say precisely on which hardware plan9 will work,=20
because specs
are changing quicly.
However, there is only a few things to know :
    - Some SATA chipsets are now supported thanks to Erik, but you still=20
cannot install
    plan9 to SATA devices because 9load has not been recompiled to do so=20
(yet).
    - Only UHCI Usb controlers are supported, which means you can forget=20
AMD/ATI
    chipset if you have to deal with usb devices (other than kbd or mouse=
).
    - Thanks to VESA support, almost all graphic cards are working=20
(except you can have
    some freezes because realmode doesn't work well with mp).
    - Realtek and Intel networking controller are working quite well=20
(sometimes you have
    to add pci ids to the sources).

Phil;

Jack Johnson a =E9crit :
> Newbies have an expectation, even with non-commercial software now,
> that they can take a random box, pop in a CD, and if they have any
> problems it's likely that their display looks like crap and they can't
> print (think Linux or Vista).  What might be helpful for our newbies
> is to say something like hey, a Dell GX1 through GX260 should work off
> the shelf, or an HP/Compaq models L through X but not V, no Sonys,
> whatever.  Give everyone some arbitrary measure so when they're
> eyeballing a workstation at the store or in the garage or wherever
> they don't have to boot it to find out what the integrated chipset is
> and whether or not it's supported.
>
> The wiki used to do a better job in this regard, but the problem is a
> wooden boat.  Too many models, user pool is too small, vendors change
> their chipsets with their underwear.  But, users tend to have just two
> questions in this arena: will this work with my hardware, or what
> should I buy/find to work with Plan 9?
>
> It would probably be easiest to just say it up front:
>
> "Will Plan 9 work with my hardware?"
> "Probably not all of it.  But, your mind only works with 10% of your
> brain, so it's not a big deal."
> "What hardware should I buy to work with Plan 9?"
> "...NIC: Intel PRO/100 or PRO/1000..."
> "Hey, I have that already!"
> "You just saved $40."
>
> -Jack
>
>
>  =20