Subject: Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO
From: [email-masked] (Fric)
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 15:02:44 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

[]
                     LINUX HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY HOWTO
                     ==================================
                                       
   Last updated: October 3, 1994
   
   Welcome to the Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO. This file will
   hopefully list most of the hardwares supported by Linux and help you
   locate the necessary drivers. If you know of any Linux hardware
   (in)compatibilities not listed here please let me know. Thanks.
   
   Sections marked =others= list hardwares with alpha or beta drivers in
   varying degrees of usability or other drivers that aren't included in
   standard distributions. Drivers can usually be found on tsx-11.mit.edu
   and/or sunsite.unc.edu. Check the Linux Software Map, or check the
   html version of this file at <http://ksc.au.ac.th:8000/hardware.html>.

   [The server that my httpd runs on is somewhat broken now so the page
   may be unreachable. The admins seem to have realized the problems so
   hopefully something will be done to fix it soon.]
   
   I need more info on:
     * video cards supported by XFree86 3.1
     * PCMCIA support - PCMCIA SCSI and sound cards
     * sound cards - OPL4 cards, Orchid Soundwave, SB16 daughterboards
     * ... and anything else you can send me.
       
   Comments, additions, changes, etc., send mail or find me on irc.
   FRiC <[email-masked]>
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Computers/Laptops/Notebooks/Motherboards/BIOS

   ISA, VLB, EISA, PCI (but read the PCI HOWTO)
   
   PS/2 and Microchannel (MCA) is not supported in the standard kernel.
   ALPHA test PS/2 MCA kernels are available but not yet recommended
   for beginners or serious use.
   
   Laptops should be able to run Linux with no problems. There are
   various patches for laptops, including PCMCIA, APM, power savings
   (WD7600 chipset), non-blinking cursor, and more. PCMCIA drivers
   currently support Databook TCIC/2, Intel 82365SL, and Cirrus PD67xx
   chipsets.
   
   Some laptops have unusual video adapters or power management, it is
   not uncommon to be unable to use the power management. Some laptops
   with 2.88 meg drives need very recent kernels.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
CPU/FPU

   Intel/AMD/Cyrix 386SX/DX/SL/DXL/SLC, 486SX/DX/SL/SX2/DX2/DX4, Pentium.
   Basically all 386 or better processors will work. Linux has built-in
   FPU emulation if you don't have a math coprocessor.
   
   A few very early AMD 486DX's hang in some special situations. All
   current chips should be okay and getting a chip swap for old CPU's
   should not be a problem.
   
   ULSI Math*Co series has a bug in the FSAVE and FRSTOR instructions
   that causes problems with all protected mode operating systems. Some
   older IIT and Cyrix chips may also have this problem.
   
   There is a patch to enable cache on Cyrix processors.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Video cards

   Linux will work with all video cards in text mode, VGA cards not
   listed below probably will still work with mono VGA and/or standard
   VGA16 drivers.
   
   If you're looking into buying a cheap video card to run X, keep in
   mind that accelerated cards (ATI, S3) are MUCH faster than
   unaccelerated or partially accelerated (Cirrus, WD) cards. Orchid
   Fahrenheit 1280+ (S3 801/805) and ATI Graphics Wonder (Mach32) are
   good low-end accelerated cards.
   
   Historically Diamond video cards were not supported by XFree86.
   However, as of September 27, 1994, Diamond has verbally agreed to
   provide The XFree86 Project, Inc. with detailed information about
   Diamond products.
   
  SVGALIB
     * VGA
     * EGA
     * ATI Mach32
     * Cirrus 542x
     * OAK OTI-037/67/77, OTI-087
     * Trident TVGA8900/9000
     * Tseng ET3000/ET4000
       
  XFREE86 3.1
  
   Accelerated support (8 bpp unless noted)
     * ATI Mach8
     * ATI Mach32 (16 bpp - doesn't work with all Mach32 cards)
     * Cirrus Logic 5420, 542x/5430 (16 bpp), 5434 (16/24 bpp), 62x5
     * IBM 8514/A
     * IBM XGA, XGA-II
     * IIT AGX-010/014/015/016
     * S3 911, 924, 801, 805/805i, 928/928-P, 864, 964
          + S3 801/805, AT&T 20C490 (or similar) RAMDAC (16 bpp)
            Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+ VLB, Actix GraphicsENGINE 32
          + S3 805 VLB, S3 GENDAC (16 bpp)
            Miro 10SD VLB/PCI
          + S3 805, Diamond SS2410 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip
            Diamond Stealth 24 VLB
          + S3 928, AT&T 20C490 RAMDAC (16 bpp)
            Actix Ultra
          + S3 928, Sierra SC15025 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip (16/24 bpp)
            ELSA Winner 1000 ISA/VLB/EISA
          + S3 928, Bt485 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip
            STB Pegasus VL
          + S3 928, Bt485 RAMDAC, SC11412 Clockchip (16 bpp)
            SPEA Mercury VLB
          + S3 928, Bt485 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip
            #9 GXE Level 10/11/12
          + S3 928, Ti3020 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip
            #9 GXE Level 14/16
          + S3 864, AT&T 20C498 or STG1700 RAMDAC, ICD2061A or ICS9161
            Clockchip (16/24 bpp)
            ELSA Winner 1000 PRO VLB/PCI
          + S3 864, STG1700 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip (16/24? bpp)
            Actix GraphicsENGINE 64 VLB
          + S3 864, 20C498 RAMDAC, ICS2595 Clockchip (16 bpp)
            SPEA Mirage P64 DRAM
          + S3 964, AT&T 20C505 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip (16/24 bpp)
            Miro Crystal 20SV PCI
          + S3 964, Bt485 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip (16/24 bpp)
            Diamond Stealth 64
          + S3 964, Ti3020 RAMDAC, ICD2061A Clockchip
            ELSA Winner 2000 PRO PCI
          + S3 964, Ti3025 RAMDAC, Ti3025 Clockchip (16/24 bpp)
            #9 GXE64 Pro VLB/PCI
     * Tseng ET4000/W32/W32i/W32p
     * Weitek P9000 (16/24 bpp)
          + Diamond Viper VLB/PCI
          + Orchid P9000
     * Western Digital WD90C31/33
       
   Unaccelerated
     * ATI VGA Wonder, 18800*, 28800*, 68800*, 88800 (Mach64)
     * Advance Logic AL2101
     * Cirrus Logic 6420
     * Compaq AVGA
     * Genoa GVGA
     * MCGA (320x200)
     * MX MX68000/MX68010
     * NCR 77C22, 77C22E, 77C22E+
     * OAK OTI067, OTI077
     * Trident TVGA8800, TVGA8900, TVGA9xxx (not very fast)
     * Tseng ET3000, ET4000AX
     * VGA (standard VGA, 4 bit, slow)
     * Video 7/Headland Technologies HT216-32
     * Western Digital/Paradise PVGA1, WD90C00/10/11/24/30/31/33
       
   Monochrome
     * Hercules mono
     * Hyundai HGC-1280
     * Sigma LaserView PLUS
     * VGA mono
       
   Work in progress
     * ATI Mach64 accelerated support
     * Compaq QVision
     * Number Nine Imagine 128
       
  OTHER X SERVERS
  
   Commercial X servers may provide support for cards not supported by
   XFree86, and might give better performances. Only cards not supported
   by XFree86 are listed here. Contact the vendors directly or check the
   Commercial HOWTO for more info.
   
   Accelerated-X ($199, X Inside, Inc., [email-masked])
   
     * ATI Mach64
     * Matrox MGA-I, MGA-II
     * Number Nine I-128
       
       16/24 bit support for many cards
       
   Metro-X ($150, Metro Link, [email-masked])
   
     * Diamond SpeedStar, SpeedStar PRO, Stealth, Stealth PRO
     * Matrox MGA-I, MGA-II
     * TI 34020
       
       16 bit support for S3 and Mach32
       24 bit support for S3 and Matrox
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Controllers (hard drive)

   Linux will work with standard IDE, MFM and RLL controllers. When using
   MFM/RLL controllers it is important to use ext2fs and the bad block
   checking options when formatting the disk.
   
   ESDI controllers that emulate the ST-506 (that is MFM/RLL/IDE)
   interface will also work. The bad block checking comment also applies
   to these controllers.
   
   Generic 8 bit XT controllers also work.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Controllers (SCSI)

   It is important to pick a SCSI controller carefully. Many cheap ISA
   SCSI controllers are designed to drive CD-ROM's rather than anything
   else. Such low end SCSI controllers are no better than IDE. See the
   SCSI HOWTO and look at UNIX performance figures before buying a SCSI
   card.
   
     * Adaptec AHA-1510 (ISA)
     * Adaptec AHA-152x (1510 with onboard BIOS) (all models)
     * Adaptec AHA-154x (ISA) (all models)
     * Adaptec AHA-174x (EISA) (in enhanced mode)
     * BusLogic (all models)
     * DTC 329x (Adaptec compatibility mode)
     * Future Domain TMC-16x0, TMC-3260 (PCI)
     * Future Domain TMC-8xx, TMC-950
     * NCR 53c7x0, 53c8x0 (PCI)
     * ProAudio Spectrum 16 SCSI (ISA)
     * Seagate ST-01/ST-02 (ISA)
     * SoundBlaster 16 SCSI-II (Adaptec 152x) (ISA)
     * Trantor T128/T128F/T228 (ISA)
     * UltraStor 14F, 24F, 34F
     * Western Digital WD7000FASST SCSI
       
   =others=
     * Acculogic ISApport / NCR 53c406a
     * Adaptec AHA-274x/284x, AIC-7770
     * Always AL-500
     * Always IN2000
     * DPT Smartcache (PM2011, 2012A, 2012B)
     * DPT Smartcache III (PM2021, 2022, 2122, 2322)
     * EATA-DMA protocol compliant SCSI (DPT/NEC/AT&T)
     * Iomega PC2/2B
     * Qlogic
     * Richoh GSI-8
     * NCR53c400 / Trantor T130B
       
   AMI is writing a driver for their Fast Disk VLB Cache SCSI Controller.
   Drivers for New Media Bus Toaster and Qlogic Fast!SCSI (PCMCIA) are
   being written.
   
   Parallel port SCSI adapters are not supported.
   Non Adaptec compatible DTC boards (327x, 328x) are not supported.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Controllers (I/O)

   Any standard serial/parallel/joystick/IDE combo cards.
   Linux supports 8250, 16450, 16550, and 16550A UART's.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Controllers (multiport)

     * AST FourPort and clones
     * Accent Async-4
     * Bell Technologies HUB6
     * Boca BB-1004, 1008 (4, 8 port) - no DTR, DSR, and CD
     * Boca BB-2016 (16 port)
     * Boca IO 2by4 (4S/2P) - works with modems, but uses 5 IRQ's
     * PC-COMM 4-port
     * STB 4-COM
     * Twincom ACI/550
     * Usenet Serial Board II
       
   =others=
     * Cyclades Cyclom-8Y/16Y asynchronous multiplexer
       
   DigiBoard COM/Xi and PC/Xe drivers are being worked on.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Network adapters

   Ethernet adapters vary greatly in performance. In general the newer
   the design the better. Some very old cards like the 3c501 are only
   useful because they can be found in junk heaps for $5 a time.
   (*) indicates an ALPHA test driver
   (n) indicates a footnote
   
     * 3Com 3c501(1)(2), 3c503, 3c505(*), 3c507(*), 3c509/3c579
     * AMD LANCE (79C960) / PCnet-ISA (AT1500, HP J2405A, NE1500/NE2100) (3)
     * Allied Telesis AT1700
     * Cabletron E21xx
     * DEC DEPCA and EtherWORKS
     * HP PCLAN
     * Intel EtherExpress(*)
     * NE2000/NE1000
     * Racal-Interlan NI5210(*) (i82586 Ethernet chip)
     * Racal-Interlan NI6510(*) (am7990 lance chip) - doesn't work with
       more than 16 megs RAM
     * PureData PDUC8028, PDI8023
     * SMC Ultra
     * Schneider & Koch G16
     * Western Digital WD80x3
       
   EISA and onboard controllers
     * Ansel Communications AC3200 EISA
     * Apricot Xen-II
       
   Pocket and portable adapters
     * AT-Lan-Tec/RealTek parallel port adapter
     * D-Link DE600/DE620 parallel port adapter
     * Zenith Z-Note / IBM ThinkPad 300 built-in adapter
       
     * SLIP/CSLIP/PPP
     * PLIP (parallel port, using "LapLink cable" or bi-directional cable)
       
   =others=
   
   ISDN
     * Diehl SCOM card (4)
     * Sonix PC Volante - only in asynchronous mode, not useful for some
       applications
     * Teles ISDN card
       
   Amateur radio cards
     * Ottowa PI2
     * Most generic 8530 based HDLC boards
       
       No support for the PMP/Baycom board
       
   PCMCIA cards
     * 3Com 3c589
     * D-Link DE650 PCMCIA
     * IBM Credit Card Adapter
     * IC-Card
     * Linksys EthernetCard
     * National NE4100
     * Network General "Sniffer"
     * Thomas-Conrad Ethernet
     * ... possibly more
       
   Xircom adapters are not supported.
   
    1. Obsolete and not recommended.
    2. Use the Linux 1.1.50 or higher driver for reliability.
    3. Be careful with clones. Not all are good clones and bad clones
       often cause erratic lockups under Linux.
    4. Requires an extensively modfied kernel by Matthais Urlich.
       
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Sound cards

     * 6850 UART MIDI
     * ATI Stereo F/X (SB compatible)
     * Adlib
     * Ensoniq SoundScape (SB/MPU-401 compatible, boot DOS to init card)
     * Gravis Ultrasound
     * Gravis Ultrasound MAX
     * Logitech SoundMan 16 (PAS-16 compatible)
     * Microsoft Sound System
     * MPU-401 MIDI
     * ProAudio Spectrum-16 (but see Incompatibilities)
     * PSS (ECHO-ADI2111) MIDI
     * SoundBlaster (version 1 and 2)
     * SoundBlaster PRO
     * SoundBlaster 16/ASP/MCD/SCSI-II
     * Sound Galaxy NX Pro
     * ThunderBoard (SB compatible)
     * WaveBlaster
       
   =others=
     * PC speaker / Parallel port DAC
       
   The ASP chip on SoundBlaster 16 series is not supported.
   SoundBlaster AWE32's special features (MIDI, effects) are not
   supported.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Hard drives

   All hard drives should work if the controller is supported.
   
   (From the SCSI HOWTO)
   All direct access SCSI devices with a block size of 256, 512, or 1024
   bytes should work. Other block sizes will not work (Note that this can
   often be fixed by changing the block and/or sector sizes using the
   MODE SELECT SCSI command)
   
   Large IDE drives will work fine with Linux. With kernels prior to
   about 1.1.47 you will need to run with LBA disabled which may confuse
   DOS if you wish to share the drive. Your boot partition must lie in
   the first 1024 cylinders due to PC BIOS limitations.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Tape drives

   SCSI tape drives (From the SCSI HOWTO)
   Drives using both fixed and variable length blocks smaller than the
   driver buffer length (set to 32k in the distribution sources) are
   supported. Virtually all drives should work. (Send mail if you know of
   any incompatible drives.)
   
     * QIC-02
     * QIC-117, QIC-40/80 drives (Ftape)
          + Most tape drive using the floppy controller should work.
            Check the Ftape HOWTO for details.
          + Colorado FC-10 is supported
            
     * these don't work...
          + Drives that connect to the parallel port (eg: Colorado Trakker)
          + Some high speed tape controllers (Colorado TC-15 / FC-20)
          + Irwin AX250L/Accutrak 250 (not QIC-80)
          + IBM Internal Tape Backup Unit (not QIC-80)
          + COREtape Light
            
     _________________________________________________________________
   
CD-ROM drives

   (From the CD-ROM HOWTO)
   Any SCSI CD-ROM drive with a block size of 512 or 2048 bytes should
   work under Linux; this includes the vast majority of CD-ROM drives on
   the market.
   
     * Kotobuki/Matsushita/Panasonic
     * Mitsumi
     * Sony CDU31A/CDU33A
       
   =others=
     * LMS/Philips CM 205/225/202 (does not work with CM 206)
     * NEC CDR-260 IDE CD-ROM drive
     * Sony CDU-535/CDU-531
       
   PhotoCD (XA) is supported.
   
   All CD-ROM drives should work similarly for reading data. There are
   various compatibility problems with audio CD playing utilities.
   (Especially with some NEC drives.) Some alpha drivers may not have
   audio support yet.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Optical/WORM/CD-R/Floptical/Removable drives

   All SCSI based drives should work if the controller is supported.
   
   Linux supports both 512 and 1024 bytes/sector optical disks.
   
   Iomega Bernoulli and LaserSafe drives attached to their proprietary
   PC2/2B SCSI adapters will work if the driver is installed.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Mice

     * Microsoft serial mouse
     * Mouse Systems serial mouse
     * Logitech Mouseman serial mouse
     * Logitech serial mouse
       
     * ATI XL Inport busmouse
     * C&T 82C710 (QuickPort) (Toshiba, TI Travelmate)
     * Microsoft busmouse
     * Logitech busmouse
     * PS/2 (auxiliary device) mouse
       
   =others=
     * Sejin J-mouse
       
   Newer Logitech mice (except the Mouseman) use the Microsoft protocol
   and all three buttons do work. Eventhough Microsoft's mice have only
   two buttons, the protocol allows three buttons. The mouse port on the
   ATI Graphics Ultra and Ultra Pro use the Logitech busmouse protocol.
   (See the Busmouse HOWTO for details.)
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Modems

   All internal modems or external modems connected to the serial port.
   
   A small number of modems come with DOS software that downloads the
   control program at runtime. These can normally be used by loading the
   program under DOS and doing a warm boot. Such modems are probably best
   avoided as you won't be able to use them with non PC hardware in the
   future.
   
   PCMCIA modems should work with the PCMCIA drivers.
   
   Fax modems need appropriated fax software to operate.
   
     * Digicom Connection 96+/14.4+ - DSP code downloading program
     * ZyXEL U-1496 series - ZyXEL 1.4, modem/fax/voice control program
       
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Printers/Plotters

   All printers and plotters connected to the parallel or serial port
   should work.
   
     * HP LaserJet 4 series - free-lj4, printing modes control program
       
   Many Linux programs output PostScript files. Non-PostScript printers
   can emulate PostScript Level 2 using Ghostscript. Ghostscript supports
   these printers (and compatibles):
     * Apple Imagewriter
     * C. Itoh M8510
     * Canon BubbleJet BJ10e, BJ200
     * Canon LBP-8II, LIPS III
     * DEC LA50/70/75/75plus
     * DEC LN03, LJ250
     * Epson 9 pin, 24 pin, LQ series, Stylus, AP3250
     * HP 2563B
     * HP DesignJet 650C
     * HP DeskJet/Plus/500
     * HP DeskJet 500C/520C/550C color
     * HP LaserJet/Plus/II/III/4
     * HP PaintJet/XL/XL300/1200C color
     * IBM Jetprinter color
     * IBM Proprinter
     * Imagen ImPress
     * Mitsubishi CP50 color
     * NEC P6/P6+/P60
     * Okidata MicroLine 182
     * Ricoh 4081
     * SPARCprinter
     * StarJet 48 inkjet printer
     * Tektronix 4693d color 2/4/8 bit
     * Tektronix 4695/4696 inkjet plotter
     * Xerox XES printers (2700, 3700, 4045, etc.)
       
       There is a patch for Canon BJC600 and Epson ESC/P color printers.
       
   SCSI printers?
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Scanners

     * A4 Tech AC 4096
     * Genius GS-B105G
     * GS4500 handheld scanner
     * Logitech Scanman 32 / 256
     * Mustek M105 handheld scanner with GI1904 interface
       
   Dr. G.W. Wettstein is working on support for Fujitsu SCSI-2 scanners.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Others

     * Built-in support for 2.88 meg floppy drives
       
     * Joysticks
       
     * VideoBlaster, Rombo Media Pro+
     * WinVision video capture card
       
     * VESA Power Savings Protocol (DPMS) monitors
       
     * APC Back-UPS (Read the Back-UPS HOWTO)
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Incompatibilities

   Both the ProAudio Spectrum-16 and the Adaptec 1542 use 16-bit DMA so
   they may have trouble working together. A program called SCSISEL.EXE
   may fix this. Check the Sound HOWTO for details.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Acknowledgments

   Thanks to all the authors and contributors of other HOWTO's, many
   things here are shamelessly stolen from their HOWTO's; to Zane Healy
   and Ed Carp, the original author and maintainer of this list; and to
   everyone else who sent in updates and feedbacks.
   
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   --end
   
   Trademarks are owned by their owners. No warranties.

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