Nuts n Boldt's on
Getting Started With Linux Hardware

Thoughts about Hardware

Most PC hardware is made with Windows in mind. Its crazy not to. In fact after they write the Windows driver, most hardware makers send it to MS for certification. Some manufacturers also write Linux drivers, but most of the Linux drivers are written by the open source community. For that reason the latest hardware does not always function in Linux. Or for that fact even some older hardware, I've seen enough talk about flatbed scanners and Lexmark Printers.

Its ok to use your newest most important computer. The one with all your pictures, finical data, birthdays, and all the other stuff it would take days to reassemble, if it could be recreated at all. Its perfectly safe and anybody can do it.

You know there are people that do just that. They get their hands on a Linux install CD, put it in the drive, run the install with no problem. For a lot of people it works that way. But there is a reason that most if not all Linux forums have a very active install and upgrade forum.

Get a Cheep Computer

For your first Linux installation attempt I recommend finding a cheap older desktop machine. There are plenty of P4 computers out there to be had for less that 100 bucks. They probably are low on memory, have a small hard drive and have Windows 95/98/ME installed. All of that can be fixed.

Get a Book

Not on Linux, but a book on PC Hardware. The Idiots Guides are good or any of the "A+" study guide books are good. My favorite hardware author is Mark Minasi. There are to many variables and configurations to try and describe here. Around here we have a book chain called Half Price books that sells used books. Remember your going to use an older computer so an older book is ok. A decent book will give you some important bits of information.

What the various internal parts of a computer look like and how to add and remove them.
What the BIOS setup screens look like and what the important options do and some cases how and what to set them to.

Recommended minimum hardware configuration

CPU Pentium 4 1.2gHz.: You could get by with less. I see used Pentium 3 CPU's sitting in a basket for $5. If your computer is a Pentium 3 your in good shape the slowest P3 I have seen runs at 433 MHz
Memory 512 MB: Most P4 computers I have see use SDRAM Put as much in as you can there will probably be 2 or 4 slots for memory.
Hard drive 30 gig maybe more.: Most Linux distributions are happy to fit on a 5 gig drive. That doesn't leave much room for data but a large drive can be put in later.; Caution some older BIOS's do not support drives larger the 30 gig. The machine I am writing this on just flat refused to even boot after I put a 40 gig hard drive in it.
Floppy Drive: Most older machines have a floppy drive installed. Go ahead and spend the ten bucks to replace it if its not working
CD Rom: CD-R is a must. CD-RW,DVD_R,DVD-RW are nice.
Video: Just use whatever came with the PC. I have seen some problems with some of the graphic accelerator cards. But I have not had a problem with a plain old PCI Video card.

Make it easier