Sort of try before you buy

[jhh]

Hi,

I have a spare machine with XP pro license - unfortunately the installation disk is damaged. Rather than buying a new license which is about the only way to replace the disk in order to be able to start all over I wanted to give the linux version a try.

I can understand the comment in the faq about the secure trial period - but as a somewhat experienced windows Sage user I know it works and what it looks like. What I don't know is whether the EPIA mainboard is supported.

If I can install gentoo and play an mpeg with acceptable sound and video quality is it reasonable to assume that Sage will work as well? The machine is supposed to be used as a client.

Jan

[nielm]

Most likely, your EPIA will not be supported: the Linux version requires Geforce 4 MX or more recent NVIDIA graphic card.

It is often possible to acquire XP pro install disks (without licences) from Ebay, as well as other *cough* sources... As long as your licence is valid, it does not matter where you get your install media from. (But note that OEM licences don't work with retail install disks and vice versa).

[jhh]

Nielm,

thanks for the suggestion on the install disks - I'll disk doctor my install disk once more and then I'll make up my mind.

I thought if I could get the distribution installed that would give an indication but it's probably easier to get matching hardware. Did some more reading and moving to another distribution seems to be a bit of a challenge. Moving Sage to a pre-installed Gentoo is probably not a lot easier.

I saw somewhere that emerging the KDE took several hours so I don't want to think what that would be on the Epia.

Also I still think that a trial makes sense not for what Sage looks like because that we already know but to verify the hardware you want to run on. Oh well, I can understand they don't want to go there given the reaction on the crippled MPV trial . I can say I would be perfectly happy if it only played/recorded 5 minutes of video because then I'd know it works.

Jan

[SHS]

Geforce 3 Ti200 works
If your installation CDrom is damaged call MS that if you really own it and they replace the disk for free.
I'm sure there do a trial one someday but like all things build a crippled ver may not be as eazy as you think after all Linux is OpenSource.

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by nielm

Most likely, your EPIA will not be supported: the Linux version requires Geforce 4 MX or more recent NVIDIA graphic card.

Could this not be overcome with a PCI video card instead of the onboard chip?

[laurenglenn]

Originally Posted by nielm

Most likely, your EPIA will not be supported: the Linux version requires Geforce 4 MX or more recent NVIDIA graphic card.

It is often possible to acquire XP pro install disks (without licences) from Ebay, as well as other *cough* sources... As long as your licence is valid, it does not matter where you get your install media from. (But note that OEM licences don't work with retail install disks and vice versa).

The GeForce 4 MX or higher is only required with the GUI interface, though. Use an MVP and you don't even need a video card other than the one embedded on your motherboard.

Originally Posted by jchiso

Could this not be overcome with a PCI video card instead of the onboard chip?

Instead of buying a new video card for about $40 or so, why not get an MVP?

It's hardware decoding is excellent and you don't have to worry about speed. It's more expensive than a cheap PCI video card, but the results are worth it, really....

I got mine running 3 tuners in a Pentium III 500 with 376MB of RAM using an MVP. No real noticeable slowdown. It's actually really nice..... and much quieter than my P4.

Lauren
Lauren

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by laurenglenn

Instead of buying a new video card for about $40 or so, why not get an MVP?

I was just asking about the functionality and/or limitations of the EPIA platform with a Linux-based system. Personally, I already have a PCI card, so I was curious. More importantly I was of the belief that the MVP does not play DVD content, and at the very least does not have a digital audio output. Also, you would be limited to 480i video outputs.