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Re: alternatives to Dell Optiplex 320 mini-tower

From: Ian Burrell <ianburrell(at)gmail.com>
Date: Thu Jan 31 2008 - 18:59:55 EST

Dave Burns <tburns <at> hawaii.edu> writes:

>
> A few months ago, I tried to install fedora on a Dell Optiplex 320
> mini-tower. After some problems and googling, I found out that this
> model's bios, graphics setup, and(something else I forgot) seem to
> resist mightily the idea of running fedora. People seemed to have
> problems getting grub running and the SATA disk in that model doesn't
> like LVM. This guy
>

(http://wirelessness.wordpress.com/2007/02/07/installing-fedora-linux-on-a-dell-optiplex-320/)
> claims to have gotten fc6 running on a 320, after 19 hours of
> tweaking. I tried following his advice, but didn't get far.
>

I am running Fedora 8 on an Optiplex 320 and have been since Fedora 6 or so. The first big problem was getting the installer to recognize the SATA drive. Back in Fedora 6, it needed the "pci=nomsi" option added to the kernel boot line. With Fedora 8, that problem has been fixed. It needs "clocksource=acpi_pm" to boot.

The next big problem is that GRUB does not work with the BIOS. Even with the most recent version of the BIOS. It hangs while booting. The only solution I have found is to use LILO. I installed the lilo rpm from Centos 4. Lilo works fine and the kernel updating works.

> Now I am wondering whether anyone on the list can suggest either a
> comparable PC from Dell that will not be so annoying, or perhaps the
> whole issue has become moot since then (fc8?) and I should try again?
> The workstation 490s have given me no trouble, but they cost more.
>

I haven't heard of people having the GRUB issue with the Optiplex 740 and 755.

> By the way, knoppix runs fine on the 320 - what's up with that?
>

Knoppix doesn't use Grub. I think the SATA support is broken but that isn't immediately noticeable with a LiveCD.

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Received on Thu Jan 31 19:00:48 2008

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