Ali M. wrote: > Greetings, > > I will (hope) to buy a new laptop in a couple of months, how to make > sure that the one I pick will work under OpenBSD. > I understand that there is a list of supported hardware at: > http://www.openbsd.org/i386.html > > So should I check the laptop detailed specs and make sure everything > in on that list! > Is this how everyone does it, is there another way?
see below. > How up to date is that list, the laptop I get will be new (again I > hope ;), what if I don't find its component on that list? usually, if a developer just added support for something tricky, they put it on the list. If it is something completely uninteresting, it may never get on the list...it's just kinda assumed the basics are going to work. > Any tips like > is there specific brands (Asus, Dell, etc ... ) that are known to be > more OpenBSD friendly than others! > is there brands I should avoid, components and specs that should be > warning signs, I read for example on the OpenBSD site that I should > avoid Nvidia etc .... > > It would be helpful, if you bought a laptop recently that run Openbsd > smoothly to tell me the model by the time someone can say, "this model works really well", it's discontinued. > As i see that > http://www.openbsd.org/i386-laptop.html > is now dead it never was, nor could it ever be, properly maintained for new hardware. For used hardware, maybe. Here's my suggestion: Get yourself a USB flash drive, load it up with OpenBSD, fully bootable, load whatever apps you want on it. Take it with you to the store. Tell the sales person that you will buy the machine /today/ if it boots and runs OpenBSD as you like, and you brought along a flash disk. Swear on a spindle of dual layer DVD+Rs (TCP/IP Illustrated, vol 1 will do, if you would rather use printed material) that you won't write to their hard disk. Insert the flash drive, boot, and try things out. If it works to your satisfaction (other than speed, the flash drive will be REALLY slow), say "Thanks, I'll take one", but make sure it is the EXACT model you tested (make sure it is available BEFORE you do the test, however). Things to check: * Wireless: is the chipset well supported? dmesg and the man page will tell you...and wow, look at that, it's on the flash disk you made! If it isn't, can you replace it easily? (load up a bunch of firmware files onto your flash drive in advance) * ACPI: does it look more-or-less sane? Is the machine running too hot? (suspend isn't going to work now...wait for it). * X: does it have a functional (non-NVidia) chipset? Does it work? Can you get X running with just a "startx" and is it using the screen properly? If not, can you poke xorg.conf to make it work? * Audio: does it work? (you put an mp3 player and a few mp3 files on the flash drive, right?) Using the walk-in store for testing and then ordering mail-order for $20 less is a really sleazy thing to do. As someone who used to work in the retail computer business, if you do this, I hope the manufacturer has two totally different versions, and you buy the one that doesn't work and have to talk to someone with a totally unintelligible accent reading off a mindless script to resolve the problem (evil laugh). The dealer won't be too eager to let you stick your flash drive in their demos, so you really need to convince 'em you are ready to buy, so make sure you are. I'm not too fond of the "Buy brand X"/"Don't buy brand Y" recommendations, I've been in this business long enough to know that most manufacturers have made some great machines, and all of them have made some real stinkers. And..not all machines fit all people the same way. I got a first-generation six-cell Acer Aspire One, and absolutely love it (it's name is Suzy). You might think the screen too small, the keyboard too small and the trackpad "odd", and the non-functional wireless makes the thing useless, but it does exactly what I want it to do: be small and portable and completely self-sufficient -- no mouse, no power pack needed for field operation for many hours (and...it will use a LOT of manufacturer's old power packs...so I've got something like five power packs for it, total investment of about $30. I leave 'em in the likely places where I will be -- home, work, GF's house -- but in the field I rarely have to carry it with me) None of this is relevant to you, as it is unlikely you can buy the same Acer Aspire One that I got...but I did check it out before buying with a USB flash drive. :) Nick. (waiting for suspend/resume to work so I can say... "Wake up, little Suzy, wake up!" You were waiting for me to say that, weren't you?)
