Table Of Content

00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page i Linux Hardware Handbook Roderick W. Smith A Division of Macmillan USA 201 West 103rd St.,Indianapolis,Indiana,46290 USA 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page ii Linux Hardware Handbook ACQUISITIONSEDITOR Neil Rowe Copyright © 2000 by Sams Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced,stored in a DEVELOPMENTEDITOR Laura N. Williams retrieval system,or transmitted by any means,electronic,mechanical,photo- copying,recording,or otherwise,without written permission from the pub- MANAGINGEDITOR lisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information Charlotte Clapp contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book,the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or PROJECTEDITOR omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use Carol Bowers of the information contained herein. COPYEDITOR International Standard Book Number:0-672-31918-7 Mary Ellen Stephenson Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:00-100061 INDEXER Printed in the United States of America Sandra Henselmeier First Printing:July 2000 PROOFREADERS Katherin Bidwell 03 02 01 00 4 3 2 1 Daniel Ponder Trademarks TECHNICALEDITOR All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service Roman Rochelt marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be INTERIORDESIGNER Anne Jones regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. COVERDESIGNER Warning and Disclaimer Anne Jones Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible,but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on COPYWRITER an “as is”basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor Eric Borgert responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages aris- ing from the information contained in this book. 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page iii Overview Introduction 1 PART I Core Systems 7 1 The Central Processing Unit 9 2 Motherboards 31 3 Memory 75 4 Case and Power Supply 103 PART II Storage 133 5 Hard Disks 135 6 Removable Disks 167 7 Optical Drives 191 8 Tape Backup 227 9 SCSI Host Adapters 257 PART III Audio/Video 279 10 Sound Cards 281 11 Audio Input/Output 313 12 Video Cards 335 13 Video Capture and AV Input Hardware 357 14 Monitors 377 PART IV Input/Output 401 15 Keyboards and Mice 403 16 Parallel and Serial Ports 435 17 Network Hardware 453 18 Modems 483 19 Scanners 511 20 Printers 529 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page iv PART V Prebuilt Systems 553 21 Store-Bought Non-Linux Systems 555 22 Linux Workstations 573 23 Notebooks 587 PART VI Appendixes 605 A Linux Device Drivers 607 B Hardware Manufacturers (List of Hardware Manufacturers) 625 Index 649 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page v Contents Introduction 1 PART I Core Systems 1 The Central Processing Unit 9 CPU Architectures ................................................................................10 CISC Versus RISC ..........................................................................11 x86....................................................................................................12 Alpha................................................................................................12 SPARC..............................................................................................13 PowerPC ..........................................................................................13 Other Architectures..........................................................................14 Generations of x86 CPUs......................................................................15 The Stone Age:8086 Through 80286..............................................15 80386:The Earliest Linux-Capable CPUs ......................................16 80486................................................................................................17 Pentium-Class ..................................................................................18 Pentium Pro Through Pentium III....................................................21 Advanced Non-Intel x86 CPUs........................................................23 Mixed-Generation CPUs..................................................................24 Linux CPU Requirements......................................................................24 Supported CPU Architectures..........................................................25 Requirements for Minimum Functionality......................................25 Requirements for Adequate Performance........................................27 The x86 CPU Marketplace....................................................................27 Intel CPUs........................................................................................28 AMD CPUs......................................................................................28 VIA/Cyrix/IDT CPUs......................................................................29 Transmeta CPUs ..............................................................................29 Summary................................................................................................30 2 Motherboards 31 Matching the Motherboard and CPU....................................................33 CPU Sockets and Slots ....................................................................33 CPU Bus Speeds..............................................................................35 CPU Voltage Requirements..............................................................36 CPU BIOS Support..........................................................................37 Motherboard Busses..............................................................................38 ISA Bus............................................................................................39 MCA Bus..........................................................................................42 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page vi vi LINUXHARDWAREHANDBOOK EISA Bus..........................................................................................42 VL-Bus ............................................................................................43 PCI Bus............................................................................................44 AGP Bus ..........................................................................................45 PC Card Bus ....................................................................................46 Motherboard Form Factors....................................................................46 AT and Baby AT ..............................................................................47 ATX,Mini-ATX,Micro-ATX,and Flex-ATX ................................48 NLX..................................................................................................52 Proprietary and Rare Layouts..........................................................53 Motherboard Chipsets............................................................................53 Identifying Your Chipset..................................................................54 ALi Chipsets ....................................................................................56 AMD Chipsets..................................................................................58 Intel Chipsets....................................................................................58 SiS Chipsets......................................................................................58 VIA Chipsets....................................................................................62 Onboard Ports........................................................................................65 Keyboard and Mouse........................................................................65 Serial and Parallel............................................................................66 Floppy ..............................................................................................67 EIDE ................................................................................................67 USB..................................................................................................69 Optional Extras ................................................................................69 Memory..................................................................................................72 Summary................................................................................................73 3 Memory 75 Linux Memory Requirements................................................................76 Minimum Memory Requirements....................................................76 Adjusting Memory Estimates for Your System’s Uses....................78 Using Virtual Memory......................................................................79 Memory Module Types..........................................................................81 SIMMs..............................................................................................82 DIMMs ............................................................................................84 RIMMs..............................................................................................85 Error Detection and Correction........................................................86 Memory Electrical Types......................................................................87 FPM DRAM ....................................................................................87 EDO DRAM ....................................................................................87 SDRAM............................................................................................88 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page vii vii CONTENTS RDRAM ..........................................................................................88 Exotic and Non-Motherboard RAM Types......................................89 Matching Memory to the Motherboard ................................................89 Checking Supported Memory Speed................................................89 Mixing Memory Types ....................................................................91 Miscellaneous Additional Factors....................................................91 Cache Memory......................................................................................92 What Is the Cache Memory?............................................................93 L1 Cache..........................................................................................93 L2 Cache..........................................................................................94 ROM......................................................................................................96 Motherboard ROMs and ROM Variants..........................................97 The Importance of the System BIOS ..............................................99 ROMs on Plug-In Boards ................................................................99 Summary..............................................................................................101 4 Case and Power Supply 103 Case Designs........................................................................................104 Desktop Designs ............................................................................104 Tower Designs................................................................................106 Slimline Cases................................................................................107 Specialty Cases ..............................................................................109 Matching the Case to the Motherboard ..............................................111 Motherboard Layouts and Cases....................................................111 Ensuring Adequate Case Size........................................................112 Expansion Room..................................................................................113 Free Drive Bays..............................................................................113 Back Panel Cutouts........................................................................116 Beware of Non-Standard Designs..................................................117 Expansion in the Face of Insufficient Space..................................118 Evaluating Computer Cases................................................................118 Construction Materials ..................................................................118 Checking for Cut Corners..............................................................119 Evaluating Ease of Access..............................................................121 Cooling ..........................................................................................122 Power Supply ......................................................................................124 Estimating Required Capacity........................................................124 On/Off Switches ............................................................................127 Power Supply Quality....................................................................129 Power Protection............................................................................130 Summary..............................................................................................132 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page viii viii LINUXHARDWAREHANDBOOK PART II Storage 5 Hard Disks 135 Linux Disk Space Requirements ........................................................136 Minimum Space Needed................................................................136 Estimating Space for Your Needs..................................................137 Tips for Disk Partitioning ..............................................................138 Swap Space Requirements ............................................................142 EIDE Versus SCSI Disks ....................................................................143 EIDE Controllers............................................................................143 Characteristics of EIDE Disks........................................................146 Characteristics of SCSI Disks........................................................148 Using EIDE and SCSI in a Single System....................................149 The 1024-Cylinder Limit................................................................150 Evaluating Disk Performance..............................................................151 Disk Seek Times ............................................................................151 Disk Transfer Rates........................................................................152 Disk Cache Size..............................................................................155 Hard Disk Form Factors......................................................................156 2.5-Inch Disks for Portables..........................................................156 3.5-Inch Disks for Desktops..........................................................156 5.25-Inch Disks for Desktops........................................................157 Disk Heights ..................................................................................158 Tuning Disk Performance in Linux ....................................................158 Using hdparmto Activate Advanced Features................................158 Using Multiple Disks for Better Performance ..............................162 Linux RAID Support......................................................................163 Summary..............................................................................................165 6 Removable Disks 167 Types of Removable Disk....................................................................168 Floppy Disks..................................................................................169 Iomega Zip Disks ..........................................................................171 LS-120 SuperFloppies....................................................................173 Magneto-Optical Disks..................................................................173 High-Capacity Removable Disks ..................................................174 Choosing an Appropriate Interface......................................................174 The Floppy Interface......................................................................175 EIDE/ATAPI Interface....................................................................175 SCSI Interface................................................................................176 Parallel-Port Interface....................................................................176 USB Interface ................................................................................177 00 0672319187 FM 6/26/00 9:00 AM Page ix ix CONTENTS FireWire..........................................................................................178 PC-Card Interface ..........................................................................178 Linux Compatibility with Removable Disks ......................................178 Kernel Options for Accessing Drives ............................................178 Using Appropriate Device Files ....................................................182 Exchanging Media with Other OSs ....................................................184 Removable Disk Partitioning Schemes..........................................184 Filesystem Drivers for Foreign OSs ..............................................185 Direct-Access Tools and Miscellaneous Utilities..........................187 Summary..............................................................................................189 7 Optical Drives 191 Optical Media Overview......................................................................192 CD-ROM:The Granddaddy of Optical Media..............................192 CD-R:Making Your Own CD-ROMs............................................196 CD-RW:Erasable CD-Rs ..............................................................197 DVD:The Next Step in CD-ROM ................................................198 Recordable DVDs..........................................................................199 Drive Interfaces....................................................................................199 SCSI Interfaces ..............................................................................200 EIDE/ATAPI Interfaces..................................................................201 Older Proprietary Interfaces ..........................................................201 Parallel-Port Interfaces ..................................................................202 USB Interfaces................................................................................203 CD Versus CD-R Versus DVD............................................................203 Choosing CD for Speed or Cost....................................................203 Choosing CD-R or CD-RW for Capability to Record ..................204 Choosing DVD for Access to New Media ....................................206 Evaluating Optical Drive Performance................................................207 Spin Speed......................................................................................207 Head Movement Times..................................................................208 Digital Audio Extraction Capability..............................................209 Choosing a Recordable Drive..............................................................211 Do You Need Rewritable Functionality?........................................212 Disk-at-Once Versus Track-at-Once ..............................................212 Checking Compatibility with Linux CD-Creation Tools ..............213 Accessing Optical Media in Linux......................................................214 Accessing Optical Devices ............................................................214 Optical Filesystem Options............................................................218 Burning a CD-R or CD-RW Disc in Linux ........................................219 Using Command-Line Tools..........................................................219 Using X-CD-Roast ........................................................................221 Summary..............................................................................................225