On Saturday 20 March 2010 15:02:40 T. Valent wrote: > Hi! > > We're using OpenBSD 4.3 kernels on a larger number of machines. > > (For us there is no reason to update to newer versions of OpenBSD yet. > On the contrary, maintenance is a lot easier for us if we try to keep > all systems on the same versions for as long as possible.) > > Yet we have been using Intels DQ35MP motherboard which has been > discontinued a while ago. We're now looking for an alternative. The > DQ35MP has been using Intels Q35 chipset. We didn't find any more boards > with this chipset on the market and tried boards with Q45 chipsets. They > didn't work for us (HD access issues, probably SATA problems, I don't > know the exact reason for sure). > > Does anyone have a recommendation for a board that's compatible with > OpenBSD43 and which has onboard VGA, 1GB LAN (preferably not a Realtek!)? > > Help will be appreciated very much! > > Regards, > T.
Allow me to ask you to think on a few things. OpenBSD gets better with each release in terms of the hardware it supports, and new hardware is just about always going to have new stuff on it. Given this you don't want to try and stuff an older version onto new hardware--you won't save any more (your time in researching this is worth sometime)--and you won't have as good a selection of hardware sensors, etc. If you have to make a new system you might as well use the latest. OpenBSD *easy* to install. For an existing system replacement you ought to be able to install the OS in 9 to 25 minutes depending on the size of the disks, take your backup of /etc/conf (and /var/www/conf, plus others?) for config stuff, add the packages, and move your data over. Testing, proper testing should take longer than everything I mentioned. The changes to modern op systems between releases needs to be understood. Look at http://openbsd.org/plus.html and you will see nearly 2400 changes between 4.3 and 4.7, and those are ones that were logged. Don't be afraid of change. --STeve Andre'
