Asus k8n4-e deluxe mainboard

I'm a relative newbie to linux so apologies if this is not the correct place to post such a question (I have previously played a little with a windows xp/Suse 9.3 dual-boot setup on an old pc).

I would like to build a Suse-only pc and am looking at getting an Asus K8N4-E Deluxe mainboard with a Sempron 2600 and a single sata drive for now running Suse 10.

I have been to the Suse site to check for compatability but this mainboard doesn't seem to be listed.

Is anyone able to assist on whether this would be a platform on which I could install and use Suse 10?

Thanks for your help.

Originally posted by blueygreen@Dec 29 2005, 02:21 AM
I'm a relative newbie to linux so apologies if this is not the correct place to post such a question (I have previously played a little with a windows xp/Suse 9.3 dual-boot setup on an old pc).

I would like to build a Suse-only pc and am looking at getting an Asus K8N4-E Deluxe mainboard with a Sempron 2600 and a single sata drive for now running Suse 10.

I have been to the Suse site to check for compatability but this mainboard doesn't seem to be listed.

Is anyone able to assist on whether this would be a platform on which I could install and use Suse 10?

Thanks for your help.

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i cant say with the K8N4-E Deluxe but i know fora fact that the Sempron 2600+ and the K8V-MX makes a exalent combo for Linux (i have inatalled both SuSE and Ubuntu on mine and it found everything right out of the gate.

I doubt you'll have any problems with that MoBo, I have GigaByte GA-7N400 Pro2 not listed as supported for 9.3 (at least wasn't at the time I installed it) yet everything has worked out of the box without any kind of problems (including GigaByte RAID).

The hardware list (I believe) is never up to date and/or contains only confirmed ones, but where that list is gathered, I don't know.

Originally posted by blueygreen@Dec 29 2005, 10:21 AM
I would like to build a Suse-only pc and am looking at getting an Asus K8N4-E Deluxe mainboard with a Sempron 2600 and a single sata drive for now running Suse 10.

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I also can't categorically state whether an Asus K8N4-E Delux would work, but I do know my ASUS A7N8X (and Athlon-2800) works with SuSE-9.3. My wife, on a different PC, has a Sempron 2600, and it works fine with SuSE-10.0.

From what I have read, the biggest problem with hardware in installing SuSE often comes with an ATI graphics card (trying to get the drivers sorted). Perhaps check to see what graphic card this PC will have.

I've also read of the occasional problem with SATA drive's, and Novell-SuSE do not offer the same level of support for SATA drives that they do for IDE. Presumeably this is because SATA drives sometimes require more effort/attention to get running? But that is wild speculation on my part, so take it with a grain of salt. Still you may wish to research (if possible) the SATA drive, to learn model# / make of drive, and also, if possible, the chipset ( ? ) of the SATA controller. Then post that information, and see if anyone has been successful installing SuSE-10.0 with that.

Thanks for all your help - sounds as though I should be ok.

I was intending to go for a lower range graphics card - probably a GeForce 6200 PCI Express for now. That card seems to be fully supported according to the hardware list on the Suse site.

The hard-drive is one I already have - a 160GB Hitachi (Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 160GB S150). I've looked up the chipset of the SATA controller on the Asus website and it appears to be a Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller if that means anything to anyone?

Thanks again for your help - it is much appreciated.

Originally posted by blueygreen@Dec 30 2005, 11:06 PM
Thanks for all your help - sounds as though I should be ok.

I was intending to go for a lower range graphics card - probably a GeForce 6200 PCI Express for now. That card seems to be fully supported according to the hardware list on the Suse site.

The hard-drive is one I already have - a 160GB Hitachi (Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 160GB S150). I've looked up the chipset of the SATA controller on the Asus website and it appears to be a Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller if that means anything to anyone?

Thanks again for your help - it is much appreciated.

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I have no experience with SATA, and anything I know is from reading the linux forums, or the occasional surf. From what I have read, the Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller is highly regarded. As to its linux compatibility, I don't know much other than to note that by doing a google search for "Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller Linux" I obtained a lot of hits. I only looked at a few hits, and I did read of Fedora users getting it to work (with the RAID disabled).

For example, here is a link to a fedora site where a linux user (fedora) notes they got the Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller on the ASUS K8N-E Deluxe motherboard to work with linux:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archiv...p/t-32999.html

I also read of gentoo users getting the Silicon Image 3114 RAID Controller to work (as opposed to difficulty with a nVidia SATA controller):
http://gentoo-wiki.com/ASUS_K8N-DL_d...on_motherboard

As an aside, here is a good linux site for SATA:
http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html

And another:
http://linux.yyz.us/sata/sata-status.html

From what I have read, SuSE-10.0 has a somewhat "spotty" record in easily handling SATA. I have read of many SuSE users getting SATA to work without difficulty, and read of some others being put through a lot of technical hoops and loops, before they finally got it to work. ... I myself am hopeful that SuSE-10.1 (and 10.2) will address a lot of the driver difficulties that are being encountered in SuSE-10, making it more user friendly for SATA users (and more friendly for ATI graphic users). Still, reference the SATA you are considering, with my having typed my concerns, there is probably a good chance that SuSE-10.0 will function with the Silicon Image 3114 RAID controller. (It would be nice if someone who actually uses this controller with a SATA drive would type something here).

I doubt you'll get the 7.1 sound working with in Linux, but if you're satisfied with 2 speaker sound you might be alright. Worst case would be to add a sound card and disable the onboard. The Asus A7N8X Deluxe with onboard sound is not supported in Linux. The only way to use that board is with the addition of a sound card and disabling the onboard soundcard as well. But other than that you should be good to go.

Originally posted by 1inxs@Jan 3 2006, 06:58 AM
The Asus A7N8X Deluxe with onboard sound is not supported in Linux. The only way to use that board is with the addition of a sound card and disabling the onboard soundcard as well. But other than that you should be good to go.

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Not working??? Really ??? I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe. I don't have a sound card. And my audio works, straight out of the "box". It worked on SuSE-9.1, 9.2, and 9.3, in all cases immediately after installation (no special effort required). I have not yet tried SuSE-10.0 on it.

Originally posted by oldcpu@Jan 2 2006, 10:52 PM
Not working??? Really ??? I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe.* I don't have a sound card.* And my audio works, straight out of the "box".* It worked on SuSE-9.1, 9.2, and 9.3, in all cases immediately after installation (no special effort required).* I have not yet tried SuSE-10.0 on it.

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NOT supported in Linux

Yes, Really!! If you need more Technical data to back up my post, then do a google. The onboard sound is supposed to be 6.1 surround. Just because you have 2 channel sound does not mean it works. I've seen hundreds of posts over the past year, all stating that it worked. I and some very savvy Linux programmers pounded the A7N8X sound issue for months, with no success. Sorry, It is NOT supported in Linux.

So basically, the sound works but you will not have full use of 6.1 sound. If this doesn't bother you then yes it is supported. If this does bother you then no it isn't fully supported.