diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'en/preparing/needed-info.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | en/preparing/needed-info.xml | 191 |
1 files changed, 140 insertions, 51 deletions
diff --git a/en/preparing/needed-info.xml b/en/preparing/needed-info.xml index 4c13446f0..e642466ff 100644 --- a/en/preparing/needed-info.xml +++ b/en/preparing/needed-info.xml @@ -154,7 +154,9 @@ The manuals that come with each piece of hardware. The BIOS setup screens of your computer. You can view these screens when you start your computer by pressing a combination of keys. Check your manual for the combination. Often, it is the <keycap>Delete</keycap> -or the <keycap>F2</keycap> key. +or the <keycap>F2</keycap> key, but some manufacturers use other keys +or key combinations. Usually upon starting the computer there will +be a message stating which key to press to enter the setup screen. </para></listitem> <listitem><para> @@ -211,6 +213,7 @@ networking and e-mail. <entry>Partitions where other operating systems are installed.</entry> </row> +<!-- <row arch="not-s390"> <entry morerows="5">Monitor</entry> <entry>Model and manufacturer.</entry> @@ -222,7 +225,9 @@ networking and e-mail. <entry>Color depth (number of colors) supported.</entry> </row> <row arch="not-s390"><entry>Screen size.</entry></row> +--> +<!-- <row arch="not-s390"> <entry morerows="3">Mouse</entry> <entry>Type: serial, PS/2, or USB.</entry> @@ -230,27 +235,21 @@ networking and e-mail. <row arch="not-s390"><entry>Port.</entry></row> <row arch="not-s390"><entry>Manufacturer.</entry></row> <row arch="not-s390"><entry>Number of buttons.</entry></row> +--> <row arch="not-s390"> - <entry morerows="1">Network</entry> - <entry>Model and manufacturer.</entry> + <entry morerows="0">Network interfaces</entry> + <entry>Type/model of available network interfaces.</entry> </row> -<row arch="not-s390"><entry>Type of adapter.</entry></row> <row arch="not-s390"> - <entry morerows="1">Printer</entry> + <entry morerows="0">Printer</entry> <entry>Model and manufacturer.</entry> </row> -<row arch="not-s390"><entry>Printing resolutions supported.</entry></row> <row arch="not-s390"> - <entry morerows="2">Video Card</entry> - <entry>Model and manufacturer.</entry> -</row> -<row arch="not-s390"><entry>Video RAM available.</entry></row> -<row arch="not-s390"> - <entry>Resolutions and color depths supported (these should be - checked against your monitor's capabilities).</entry> + <entry morerows="0">Video Card</entry> + <entry>Type/model and manufacturer.</entry> </row> <row arch="s390"> @@ -276,58 +275,132 @@ networking and e-mail. <para> -Many brand name products work without trouble on &arch-kernel;. Moreover, +Many products work without trouble on &arch-kernel;. Moreover, hardware support in &arch-kernel; is improving daily. However, &arch-kernel; still does not run as many different types of hardware as some operating systems. -</para><para arch="any-x86"> +</para><para> -In particular, &arch-kernel; usually cannot run hardware that requires a -running version of Windows to work. +Drivers in &arch-kernel; in most cases are not written for a certain +"product" or "brand" from a specific manufacturer, but for a certain +hardware/chipset, regardless of the "brand" it is used in. Many seemingly +different products/brands are based on the same hardware design; it is not +uncommon that chip manufacturers provide so-called "reference designs" for +products based on their chips which are then used by several different +device manufactureres and sold under lots of different product or brand +names. -</para><para arch="x86"> +</para><para> -Although some Windows-specific hardware can be made to run on Linux, -doing so usually requires extra effort. In addition, Linux drivers -for Windows-specific hardware are usually specific to one Linux -kernel. Therefore, they can quickly become obsolete. +This has advantages and disadvantages. An advantage is that a driver for one +chipset works with lots of different products from different manufacturers, +as long as their product is based on the same chipset. The disadvantage is +that it is not always easy to see which actual chipset is used in a certain +product/brand. Unfortunately sometimes device manufacturers change the +hardware base of their product without changing the product name or at least +the product version number, so that when having two items of the same +brand/product name bought at different times, they can sometimes be based on +two different chipsets and therefore use two different drivers or there +might be no driver at all for one of them. -</para><para arch="any-x86"> +</para><para> -So called win-modems are the most common type of this hardware. -However, printers and other equipment may also be Windows-specific. +For USB and PCI/PCI-Express/ExpressCard devices, a good way to find out on +which chipset they are based ist to look at their device IDs. All +USB/PCI/PCI-Express/ExpressCard devices have so called "vendor" and +"product" IDs, and the combination of these two is usually the same for any +product based on the same chipset. </para><para> -You can check hardware compatibility by: +On Linux systems, these IDs can be read with the <command>lsusb</command> +command for USB devices and with the <command>lspci -nn</command> command for +PCI/PCI-Express/ExpressCard devices. The vendor and product IDs are usually +given in the form of two hexadecimal numbers, seperated by a colon, such as +"1d6b:0001". -<itemizedlist> -<listitem><para> +</para><para> -Checking manufacturers' web sites for new drivers. +An example for the output of <command>lsusb</command>: "Bus 001 +Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub", whereby 1d6b is +the vendor ID and 0002 is the product ID. -</para></listitem> -<listitem><para> +</para><para> -Looking at web sites or manuals for information about emulation. -Lesser known brands can sometimes use the drivers or settings for -better-known ones. +An example for the output of <command>lspci -nn</command> for an Ethernet +card: "03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. +RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 06)". +The IDs are given inside the rightmost square brackets, i.e. here +10ec is the vendor- and 8168 is the product ID. -</para></listitem> -<listitem><para> +</para><para> -Checking hardware compatibility lists for &arch-kernel; on web sites -dedicated to your architecture. +As another example, a graphics card could give the following output: +"04:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee +ATI RV710 [Radeon HD 4350] [1002:954f]". -</para></listitem> -<listitem><para> +</para><para> -Searching the Internet for other users' experiences. +On Windows systems, the IDs for a device can be found in the Windows device +manager on the tab "details", where the vendor ID is prefixed with VEN_ +and the product ID is prefixed with DEV_. -</para></listitem> -</itemizedlist> +On Windows 7 systems, you have to select the property "Hardware IDs" in the +device manager's details tab to actually see the IDs, as they are not +displayed by default. + +</para><para> + +Searching on the internet with the vendor/product ID, "&arch-kernel;" and +"driver" as the search terms often results in information regarding +the driver support status for a certain chipset. If a search for the +vendor/product ID does not yield usable results, a search for the chip +code names, which are also often provided by lsusb and lspci +("RTL8111"/"RTL8168B" in the network card example and "RV710" in the +graphics card example), can help. </para> + + <sect3> + <title>Testing hardware compatibility with a Live-System</title> + +<para> + +&debian-gnu; is also available as a so-called "live system" for certain +architectures. A live system is a preconfigured ready-to-use installation +in a compressed format that can be booted and used from a read-only medium +like a CD or DVD. Using it by default does not create any permanent changes +on your computer. You can change user settings and install additional +programs from within the live system, but all this only happens in the +computer's RAM, i.e. if you turn off the computer and boot the live system +again, everything is reset to its defaults. If you want to see whether +your hardware is supported by &debian-gnu;, the easiest way is to run a +&debian; live system on it and try it out. + +</para><para> + +There are a few limitations in using a live system. The first is that as +all changes you do within the live system must be held in your computer's +RAM, this only works on systems with enough RAM to do that, so installing +additional large software packages may fail due to memory constraints. +Another limitation with regards to hardware compatibility testing is +that the official &debian-gnu; live system contains only free components, +i.e. there are no non-free firmware files included in it. Such non-free +packages can of course be installed manually within the system, but there +is no automatic detection of required firmware files like in the &d-i;, +so installation of non-free components must be done manually if needed. + +</para><para> + +Information about the available variants of the &debian; live images +can be found at the <ulink url="&url-debian-live-cd;">Debian Live Images website</ulink>. + +</para> + + + </sect3> + + </sect2> <sect2> @@ -335,9 +408,10 @@ Searching the Internet for other users' experiences. <para> -If your computer is connected to a network 24 hours a day (i.e., an -Ethernet or equivalent connection — not a PPP connection), you -should ask your network's system administrator for this information. +If your computer is connected to a fixed network (i.e. an Ethernet or +equivalent connection — not a dialup/PPP connection) which is +administered by somebody else, you should ask your network's system +administrator for this information: <itemizedlist> <listitem><para> @@ -376,24 +450,39 @@ Service) server. </para><para> -On the other hand, if your administrator tells you that a DHCP server -is available and is recommended, then you don't need this information +If the network you are connected to uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration +Protocol) for configuring network settings, you don't need this information because the DHCP server will provide it directly to your computer during the installation process. +</para><para> + +If you have internet access via DSL or cable modem (i.e. over a cable tv +network) and have a router (often provided preconfigured by your phone or +catv provider) which handles your network connectivity, DHCP is usually +available by default. + + +</para><para arch="x86"> + +As a rule of thumb: if you run a Windows system in your home network and did +not have to manually perform any network settings there to achieve Internet +access, network connectivity in &debian-gnu; will also be configured +automatically. + </para><para arch="not-s390"> -If you use a wireless network, you should also find out: +If you use a WLAN/WiFi network, you should find out: <itemizedlist> <listitem><para> -ESSID of your wireless network. +The ESSID ("network name") of your wireless network. </para></listitem> <listitem><para> -WEP or WPA/WPA2 security key (if applicable). +The WEP or WPA/WPA2 security key to access the network (if applicable). </para></listitem> </itemizedlist> |