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rdaniels

AMD's new platform, Linux vs. Windows

I just recently completed my first computer build, and I'm quite proud of it.  Using an AMD Phenom and a Gigabyte board base on the 790fx chipset, I've got 2/3 of the Spider platform up and running.

Installing Windows XP went smoothly, updating took several hours due to sheer quantity.  Problem is, after installation, Windows will rarely boot.  It gets to the loading screen, then BSODs and reboots before I can get the error code.  Strictly speaking, this may not be related to the new processor and chipset.  Could be anything. No idea what the problem is, but I don't care much because I mostly use Linux.

 Linux also installed smoothly.  Took about a day to run through the build scripts, about a 30-50% improvement over my 4 year old Athlon 64 x2.  Boots perfectly and runs perfectly, no problems with hardware configuration or anything.  It's great.

I would like to get an ATI 3870 or 3850, just to see how the full Spider platform performs, but I have had issues getting ATI's drivers to work in Linux. (Actually, I still haven't managed it).  Maybe the driver situation has improved, but I haven't done the research and testing yet.  Right now I'm running an Nvidia 8800gt, and it performs flawlessly.

I just find it strange and wonderful that Linux has better support for some of the latest hardware than Windows, on top of already being better in almost every other respect.

Any other opinions on AMD's new platform, especially on Linux, feel free to comment!

Published Saturday, December 29, 2007 6:33 PM by rdaniels
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Comments

 

Blog Picks said:

AMD’s new platform, linux vs. Windows Linux performs better than Windows under AMD Platform. Created

January 3, 2008 4:42 AM
 

crazylocha said:

Actually, the tone of your comment might change if you research the facts. ATI/AMD does NOT embrace the Linux environment very well. Nvidia actually released their drivers early last  year in preparation for SuSE, Ubuntu, and Gnome updates. The limited interaction that occurred caused a new growth in buying of Nvidia products so they hired a few scripters for the fall release of Ubuntu and has payed off large dividends for them. ATI still hasn't let go of their  copyrights to allow outsiders to do "tweaking". The current culture of ATI's parent AMD is still hesitant of the open source driver projects occurring and may eventually change their ways. We are hoping this year.

I feel your pain. Just built a dual boot 5000+ Black edition system with Nvidia based Mobo along side an 8600gt. Main reason I went Nvidia was their ease of use with Linux. This machine will be used for web page design and maintenance.  As much $$ as I would have saved buying ATI's vidcards, wasn't worth the trouble for the Linux side while trying to maintain driver situation.

January 3, 2008 1:44 PM
 

rdaniels said:

I do realize that AMD/ATI hasn't supported Linux, especially ATI video cards.  That's why I didn't buy one.  All I was pointing out is that, in my experience thus far, AMD's new hardware is working better in Linux, whether they intended that way or not.

It would be nice if they worked with the Linux community more.  I think it could be an advantage for them if they could become the platform of choice for open source OS's, especially with their recent troubles.

January 3, 2008 2:32 PM
 

crazylocha said:

I agree that the overall AMD architecture designs work better regardless of O/S. Linux being more efficient anyway just adds to the overall speed, LOL. Hafta laugh at still being able to dual boot Windows inside of Linux and it being faster than a straight Win system, lmao. Am a big believer in the long term AMD/ATI prospects and think it would grow even faster sales worldwide if the embraced the open source commuity more. (odd note, look at AMD's job descriptions and am seeing more linux required for their dev teams, lol)

Was curious which distro of Linux are you using? Seems like some are doing better with ATI drivers than others. Gentoo, Suse, and Ubuntu come to mind as having some of the better driver support.

January 3, 2008 2:43 PM
 

rdaniels said:

I agree that AMD's long-term prospects look good, but only if they can survive the short-term.  I think they will, buts it's gonna be rough for a while.

I don't use a distro at all, actually.  I compile the system from source code, mostly based on directions from www.linuxfromscratch.org, although with a few differences.

The problems I was having with ATI drivers seem to be related to the toolchain versions I was using.  They were newer versions than the driver could use.  First was libstdc++, but that was easily fixed.  After that, the driver would try to load, but I got a bunch of undefined symbol errors, telling me either my kernel or my glibc was too new for the driver.  Gave up after that because I wasn't going to redo my whole system for a graphics driver.

January 3, 2008 4:25 PM
 

crazylocha said:

maybe you should try sending out some emails Alberto Milone's ENVY group. The higher recognition capability has won his group a few friends, lol. Seem to have a high success getting ATI drivers up and running. Most seem to be Debian based with having good luck. Am pokin around for more ideas, but am a script puppy myself. Will have time later this month to start digging further, but am quite satisfied with Ubuntu and Suse for now. Working in Retail, this has been my killer few months and now time to rest and recoup.

fyi:

http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

maybe good place to grab some ideas

January 3, 2008 4:38 PM
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About rdaniels

Mostly interested in computer software, especially operating systems and networking. I enjoy learning about the architecture, design, and protocols of these. I'm especially interested in Linux, which I love to use, but I also try to keep updated on happenings in the BSD and Solaris realms. Never been terribly interesting in hardware. The way I see it, hardware just sits there until software tells it to do something. Boring! (To those who like hardware, I'm grateful to you. Without people like you, my software wouldn't have anything to boss around!) Currently studying for a career in network adminstration, plan to also study programming and operating systems.

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