[gentoo-amd64] Re: experiences with Tyan S4881?

[Duncan]

"Tamas Karpati" <tkarpati@×××××.com> posted
bd453d7f0606200445o335db209rc64b9a3940c22314@××××××××××.com, excerpted
below, on  Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:45:39 +0000:

> I have good experiences with Gentoo on dual AMD (both Athlon and Opteron)
> systems,
> as well as with dual core Intel so I just want to be sure before
> recommending the
> S4881+Gentoo combination for scientific computations...

Tyan is one of the better choices for high-end multi-socket solutions on
Linux.  They tend to be one of the more Linux friendly board
manufacturers.  

I'm not running anything quite as high end as this board, but I am running
a dual-socket s2885 that I've been /very/ happy with, originally
single-core but now dual-core ready due to a BIOS update (I'll probably
be upgrading to dual-cores later this year). Before purchase, I verified
that Linux supported the chipset and various board hardware had drivers.
Tyan even had an lm_sensors config file for the board!  They also have
various Linux specific support pages. After purchase, I noticed the manual
even listed certifications on Red Hat, TurboLinux, and SuSE.  

I haven't checked recently but back then (~2 years ago now) the Linux
support pages did still assume access to an MSDOS floppy for BIOS updates.
I wrote in, asking about FreeDOS for BIOS updates, as I no longer have
anything MS around, noting that one manufacturer (ASUS maybe? IDR)
actually shipped FreeDOS BIOS update floppy images. The reply was friendly
but non-committal. After I went ahead and tried it, I wrote back
confirming that it worked, and suggesting they at least add it to their
Linux documentation pages as a suggestion from a user, or something of the
like.  Again, I've not checked to see if they actually did it or not, but
I've used FreeDOS images for all my updates since then, mounting the
generic FreeDOS OEM image and copying the BIOS updater to it before dd-ing
the image directly to the floppy.

Checking the tyan pages for that board, I don't see the 4881 listed for an
lm_sensors config file (there's one for the 4882).  I'd verify the chipset
and hardware has Linux drivers, then, given the price of that class of
solution, I'd mail Tyan directly and ask about it.  As I said, they are
quite Linux friendly and will likely be able to tell you it's certified
with various Linux distributions.  If not, they'll almost certainly be
able to point you to one that is.

Or...  try the 4882-D, if you don't specifically need PCI-E and can use
PCI-X instead.  It's the same base AMD chipset I'm running in my 2885, and
it does have an lm_sensors config available on the Tyan site, so support
for it should be a given.  If I were in the market for a 4-socket model,
I'd certainly not hesitate on it, given my experience on this one.

Meanwhile, there's another angle you can try.  A number of Gentoo devs
(and users) have participated in the Gentoo exhibit at various
conferences.  Given the from-source nature of Gentoo, it's popular with
various hardware exhibitors as well, and I recall mention in GWN and on
the dev list of at least a couple times when Gentoo was installed on 4-way
or higher systems "live" at the conference exhibit.  Going back thru the
GWN issues and getting in touch with the devs involved to get the details
on what the hardware was exactly might be informative and give you
additional specific details of Gentoo on specific hardware.



-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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