Re: IBM to build massive 20 Petaflop supercomputer for NNSA

Quite often someone on this newsgroup will provide someone else a clue,
i.e., a good starting point for further research. [1] Earlier in this
thread I provided a clue, a short one, given free-of-charge. Paraphrased
for screaming obviousness, it was this:

If you're having what looks like a main-board-related problem running
Linux, instead of being a hardware incompatibility which must be resolved
by fixing the OS, it might be caused by data in the board's BIOS, and the
problem might not be insurmountable. [2]

Your "You're full of ***" reaction is baffling, given that in your last
post you relate having seen *that very problem* yourself. [3]

Now, as much as I enjoy the troll-baiting [4] you folks get up to here it
isn't something in which I choose to participate this weekend. Every now
and then it's appropriate to behave like a grown-up. Learn when.

-- RLW

[1] I recently received an excellent clue about numerical integration,
which saved me a lot of random reading, at a time when the subject was
foremost on my mind. Clues are just as useful for Web research as they
are for library research.

[2] Further clues involve things like what a simple data tables looks
like when it's been chewed on by a cheap disassembler. How to receive
supplementary clues: express polite interest.

[3] I'm flat amazed that you have the sort of customers who'll tolerate
being told, "Well, this *is* the latest BIOS version. You'll just have
to suck it up and wait a few months for the manufacturer to fix it."
Where the hell do you find folks who'll pay for that sort of advice?

[4] No, I'm not being mordant here, it really is fun, sometimes, to read
you folks' pitched battles with the Oversimplifiers and the Mythopoeic
Dreamers. I'd love to see it become America's Fastest Growing Indoor
Sport. Beats football any day. Even politics, sometimes.



On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:44:34 -0800, Eric Gisse wrote:

On Feb 8, 7:10 am, Lofty Goat <rlwatk...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 04:48:23 -0800, Eric Gisse wrote:
On Feb 7, 10:55 am, Lofty Goat <rlwatk...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:38:13 -0800, Eric Gisse wrote:
You are high - and stupid - if you think you have to "make
modifications to the motherboard to run Linux".

He's probably referring to boards on which the BIOS has to be
modified in order to run Linux.  They do exist, and they are a great
annoyance.

Name one board that the BIOS needs modification in order to run
Linux.

Here is the *very first result* from a Web search for "linux problem
bios table":

"SL300 : BIOS has bugs, violates ACPI specs, causes Linux
problems"http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?
board.id=SL_ThinkPads&thre...

To find half-dozen message-board threads on the subject took all of two
minutes.  While CS/IT isn't your metier, you could have done likewise.

CS/IT _is_ mine, as much if not more than physics.

Motherboards that have a BIOS which have a bad ACPI DSDT table is
_annoying_ and rather silly in this day but not quite the same thing as
'requiring modification in order to work'.

Not everything works with Linux - I have a crappy wireless card that
won't work on x86_64, but then again not everything works with Windows
either. Linux -will- run on that laptop but power management will be
funky unless someone fixes things.


As for me, personally?  I know of the problem (bad BIOS table, hoses
the HAL) because I've had to figure it out and fix it.

I've heard of those problems in passing while learning how to maximize
power savings on my laptop, things like bad DSDT tables and incompatible
hardware. I've never seen them, and [rightfully] regard them as a
relative rarity.


I'll resist comments regarding posters who spout off about subjects of
which they know little more than what they've read in glossy magazines.

Still, et tu, Mr. Gisse?  I expected better of you.

Why? I can't be responsible for every corner case that violates
standards.


BTW, IIRC the one I fixed was an MSI X9 something-or-other.

Look for a BIOS update or user-supplied DSDT fixes.

.

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