Sarissi

Well, I finally got my Mandrake 10.0 CE Powerpack installed and more importantly: running! Now I am extremely happy... I thought I would have to swap CPUs and go back to factory defaults in the BIOS. All I did was go back to the original ram modules and set the cpu offset dip switches for the 2500+. Now to set thing back to preferred configuration.

Don't know about free, but, System Commander or System Commander Personal Edition (comes with Partition Commander) works well. In your case it would have to be installed in WinME, which must be the first primary partition on the first HDD. Then you hide the WinME boot partition, and make the XP boot partiton (primary) Active. Install XP, then use the Utility Disk One to re-install SC/SCPE. Now you can install Linux. However, you do need to have the XP boot partition BEFORE the Logical partition. Otherwise, it will see anything other than the partition you want it in, as C:. By hiding the WinME boot partition, XP sees it as a NON-DOS partition during install. Very Important, unless you want XP to take over the WinME installation. Same is true with any 2 versions of Windows. In my case, they are Win98SE and Win2000 Pro. Also, do not use EZBios, cause Linux will throw a hissy fit. You also need to set your hdd(s) geometry to LBA in BIOS for Linux.

It does not matter right now for me. Mandrake refuses to install with my new hardware setup (2 new hdds). All my hdds are ata133 if that matters. Mandrake hangs at installing bootloader (where I normally place it, in the root superblock). So, I am temporarily off Linux, and on a Win98SE and Win2K Pro dual boot (using System Commander Personal Edition). Once I get the few items I need for the second system, Mandrake will be installed and that will be my internet PC.

The only Asus I ever had, was an ASRock K7VT2, and Mandrake loved it. I have had mobos by Epox (1) - super socket 7, Tyan (2) - super socket 7 and Slot A (original Athlon), Gigabyte (2) - Socket A, and Chaintech (1) - Socket A. The only mobo that actually came with a Linux distro in the box, is the Chaintech 7VJL Deluxe Apogee (Very nice mobo, but, doesn't like the NEC ND2500A all in one DVD/CD burner, at least as an internal). All of them worked nicely with Mandrake. Only my current Gigabyte GA-7N400-L has the nForce2 chipset. The rest are Via KT/VT series chipsets.

Here I am in Win98SE after several attempts to install 10.0 CE Powerpack. Durn install keeps hanging at installing bootloader in first sector of root partition. Never happened before to me! I just upgraded my two 61 GB Maxtors to two 120 GB Maxtors, 15 inch TFT to 19 inch flat screen CRT, and GeForce 4 MX440SE dual VGA to GeForce FX 5200 128 MB, 8X agp. I was naturally wondering what in heck is the problem. I had used Partition Commander to copy my /home partition from hdd to hdb for the hardisk upgrade, then copied it back. All that data is gone. Next time I do this, I am going to format a DVD+RW in k3b and copy everything over. This is the only time I did not copy stuff to my fat32 archives partition. and most definitely Most everything got Crosslinked. I am glad I have been able to find most of my user/password data (on paper), and I fortunately have a slightly older copy of my bookmarks. Don't you just hate it when this sort of thing happens? This is not the first time I have lost ALL of my email, though the first time in Linux. Unfortunately, Mandrake Move does not see the old /home partition.

Cyberjackle, I have to concede the overclocking ability of the 2500+. I would rather get a better CPU, than take the chance of frying the one I have. I can't afford to fry CPUs. Well, the two 512 MB DDR333 modules just arrived. Time to move that heavy DMP printer stand (w/printer) - made of 2 x 4s and 3/4 plywood, and not on casters. Then unhook computer (fulltower on floor, and on casters). I did find out that all of the stuff I requested from the family trust (see list below), has been approved, and it will hopefully be this week. (all from Staples) Envision EFT920 Flatscreen 19 inch CRT 2 Maxtor 120 GB ata133, 7200 RPM hdds (replacing my two 61 GB hdds) Tripp Lite 1000 VA 8 outlet UPS (replaces my Internet Office 500) twinpack HP 15 (black) cartridges one HP 78 (color) cartridge 1 case of 10 reams, Staples 30 percent recycled copy paper My GeForce FX 5200 128 MB 8X AGP will be delivered on Wednesday. Waiting for 2 software apps from Curious Labs: Poser Pro Pack and Carrara Studio 3 Sidegrade from any Poser. Well, I guess it is time for me to shutdown and do the RAM upgrade. hehehe Edit: Well, the additional ram works fine. In Windows 2000 Pro and Linux, though Win98SE choked at boot. I am going to try a reinstall of 98SE to see if that will work (works fine with 1 GB).

Well, nVidia has full OpenGL support. ATI does not. Not even ATI's FireGL cards (Workstation) have Full OpenGL support, and that is in Windows! ATI is targeted more at Gamers than 3D CGI, and the apps that use hardware Acceleration, use OpenGL, even in Windows. Oh, the nVidia Quadro FX 500 has both DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0 support! When it came to OpenGL, ATI let me down, as well as a friend of mine.

The AMD version of Mandrake is for AMD64 (Athlon64, Opteron, etc). That said, Intel Loves High Prices (sort of like Microsoft Pricing). The interesting thing, is that AMD consistently outperforms Intel at Lower Clock speed than Intel, and, costs about half of what Intel charges. Example: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 333 Mhz Front Side Bus Clock speed: 2.167 Ghz Performance Minimum: Intel Pentium 4, 3.0 Ghz, 800 Mhz Front Side Bus Current price for Retail unit via eBay: $149.99 + s & h (AMD CPU) That is what I paid for mine from a reputable company. Basically, AMD is high performance on a budget. Other than pricing, the primary differences are in the internal architecture of the cores. It is the same with the G4 and G5 PPC (higher performance at lower clock speed).

Zero0w; In 3D CGI, stability is paramount, especially when rendering. The reason, is that the cpu is crunching all those numbers to render the scene. High performance + stability is even better. Benchmarks can be misleading, as the 3D CGI ones use Newtek Lightwave and Maya for those. I have neither and cannot afford either (Lightwave is somewhat cheaper than Maya). Besides, for Maya you need a Workstation card (nVidia Quadro), and a very high end system. Even Daz Studio uses Hardware OpenGL in the workspace (UI). Lest folks get confused: gamers think rendering is strictly a graphics card thing. For 3D CGI, it uses the CPU to do the number crunching, while Preview render (in the UI) can use the graphics card. Preview is so that you see what you are working on, textures and all. I will have to install Daz Studio Public Beta again to see what the new render time is. With the 2500+ the default scene took 3 minutes and 26 seconds to render. In Linux you have a choice of Maya, Houdini (maybe some other commercial mainstream apps) on the high end, and, Blender and I think PovRay on the low end (price wise).

Very interesting, indeed! I love PowerDVD.

Cyberjackle; As a matter of fact, I do. It is going to go into my 'everything else' system, where the high level of performance is not needed, since Bryce won't be on that one. I don't do overclocking. I am not even an avid gamer. I'm not even into animation. Just single frame renders (think picture, like a painting), only using 3D CGI, instead of 2D. For me, $149.99 (+ s & h) is the most I have paid for a brand new CPU (retail pack or OEM). In fact, once I get another case, this whole setup gets transferred to the new case, and the Chaintech goes into this case.

I just replaced my Athlon XP 2500+ 333 FSB with an Athlon XP 3000+ 333 FSB. What I did not expect, was a truly significant performance increase. Everyone here who has used Win98SE knows how long it can take for everything to load in the System Tray. With the 2500+ it took a while. However, with 3000+ it so fast loading everything in the System Tray, that it boggles my mind. Similar boot time decreases are noticable in Win 2000 Pro and Mandy 10.0 CE Powerpack! If I were not into 3D CGI, I probably would not have considered upgrading the CPU. Decreasing Render times is a worthwhile goal, particularly if you use Bryce 5, which is notorious for looooooong render times. Depending on what you are doing, it can take over 30 hours to render a scene in Bryce 5. I was looking to strictly upgrade from 1 GB ram to 2 GB ram, na dmade the 'mistake' of browsing the cpu section on eBay. So I ended up getting the 3000+ retail (NIB) for $149.99, 2 x 512 MB DDR333 for $149.98 (total), and a Geforce FX 5200 128 MB 8X AGP for $49.00 (all + s & h). Not a bad compromise, as it turned out. The compromise, is going to 1.5 GB ram, instead of 2 GB (2 x 512 + 2 x 256 MB).

Another thing is to leave the monitor choice alone in the post install configuration. Don't try to set a specific make/model of monitor. Setting specific make/model of Monitor is grounds for instant grief. All you really need to do is set resolution and color depth (high or true color).

When did the Marble Mouse gain 2 more Buttons??? The one I had, only had 2 buttons, and it was my first optical mouse, and saved me a bunch of money, cause I ground through 2 mice per month (mechanical).

Gmac, you have hit most right on the head. Microsoft wrote the OS and probably BASIC interpreters and such for the TRS-80 models 1, 2, 3, and 4. That goes back before the IBM Personal Computer (so-called, since it was never intended by IBM for Individuals. Just Small Businesses.). I remember drooling over advertisements for the Imsai Altair 8080 (see War Games, with Matthew Broderick), when it was in Kit form and very new on the market. I also remember drooling over the TRS-80 Models 1, 3, 4, 4P, Commodore Executive Portable (C64), Heathkit H8, DEC PDP-11 in Kit form, and many others. IBM and Microsoft actually brought some order out of the 'personal' and home computer markets' Chaos of propietary systems with the PC's popularity. Not all that far back. Heck MS-DOS only goes back to the late 1980s at best, if my recollection is anywhere near corect. Be thankfull that Linux is not stuck in a text connsole, and maybe we will get a more unified method for installation of software and drivers across distros. Remember that if Linux were only a single Distro, then Microsoft would have destroyed it by now. The seeming 'Chaos' of Distros and such, is the great Strength of Linux, cause everyone has different needs.

Cool! Seems they had to join the Club to get support, huh?

How can anyone compete with that?! :D :lol: ...really! What would that cost? :o MojoWorld costs around $250 US. A friend I got looking at Blender3D and it looks like a full blown 3D CGI app now. I originally thought it was for doing morphs (morph A into B sort of thing). The Python scripts are making it look very interesting, indeed. It does polygon meshes, NURBS, animation, and much, much more. Current version is 2.33a, and not only has its own internal render engine, but can export to Yafray and Renderman (Pixar) among others. The linux version has both Static (no hardware OpenGL), and Dynamic (hardware OpenGL). I have the dynamic build running in Mandrake 10.0 CE Powerpack just as sweet as can be. The 'fun' will be to see if we can port the Poser stuff to Blender, and I am talking about figures, conforming clothing, sets/scenes, props, etc., and make them work properly. The reason I brought up this 3D CGI thing in here, is that those companies' attitudes do have bearing on this topic. As much as I would truly love to be able to do all of this in Linux, it is impossible for now (at least for me).

Well, I was on the internet for some years before I finally got to the point of using Linux for all (with rare exceptions) of my internet. So, most of my spam is a result of that.

The NEC ND2500A all in one burner is a very nice burner. I do know that my Chaintech 7VJL Deluxe Apogee mobo does not like it at all. However, my Gigabyte GA-7N400-L gets along with it, just fine.

Gowater, unfortunately the programs are Closed Source: Poser (mostly for posing human figures and what most of the stuff is available for) Carrara Studio 3 + Transposer (import Poser scenes for rendering via Transposer) Bryce (3D Landscape program. Formerly Corel, now owned by Daz3D.com) Terragen (another 3D Landscape app) MojoWorld (generates entire planets) Daz Studio (currently in public Beta) Various utilities (Windows only) None of these are going to be in a Linux version. If I could afford to get a Mac, I could get Maya Complete for Linux, or Houdini, or Lightwave (no linux version that I know of).

I didn't have that problem. Then again, my ISP (Roadrunner Cable) knows that I use Linux for the Internet, and also know that Linux users don't have these problems (being spam zombies and infested with virii, malware, worms, and trojans). They also know that Linux users don't need OS support, and if a connectivity problem shows up, it is not the user's computer (instant transfer to Level 1 Tech support - Tech in the Server Farm), cause the problem is either their equipment, or, somewhere else. Kind of nice troubleshooting and not have to wade through tons of Windows questions. Harvested email addies are either from OE addy books, or from websites (forums included)..

Why not, you say? That is easy. There is a snobbery that says Linux is for Business NOT Home users. Even Desktop Linux is focused on Business usage. Home use is Entertainment, either as games or as streaming media, or, controlling your entertainment center (XP Media Center). Home users do not use a computer for anything else (except email and an occasional letter). BULL!! (I could add the other part of that, but, I won't) I am a Home User, and I happen to be disabled. My interests are in 3D CGI, and I certainly can't afford things like Maya or Houdini which come in a linux version (only for certain versions of Redhat). Sure, there is Blender. However, what I have to use only comes in Windows and Macintosh versions. This forces me to use either 2000 Pro or XP Pro. What I use Linux for, is the Internet. Much safer that way. Though I need to spend less time in Linux surfing the Net, and more time working on my art (and learning the programs). Attitudes about Linux, is what is wrong with Linux, since they drive the development focus.

I wonder how many people blame the OS (or a particular program) when it is a hardware problem? It doesn't make any difference which OS it is. In Windows, RAM problems usually causes a reboot. Linux is less forgiving of bad or flakey hardware than Windows. My system only gets shutdown either for really bad thunderstorms, or when I need to work on it (change some hardware), or for a power outage (I have a UPS).

For K3B to support DVD +- RW, you need KDE 3.2 or higher. K3B will even format DVD +- RWs, though I have yet to get up the courage to format one of mine under K3B.

You may also need to get different RAM, if that Intel uses rambus. AMD Athlon XP mobos (most) use DDR, while some older ones also use PC133 (DDR or PC133).