install RHEL 3.0 WS on VIA C3 processor

[anybody1234]

Hello all

I am trying to make dual boot partition on my Windows XP machine with VIA C3 machine ....

I want to install Linux with dual boot option

AS I have already done some such dual boot installation , I started with manually allocating partitions ( specifying boot and swap partitions )

After allocating partitions installer asks for root password and after giving this info
This goes to read packages for some time and then it gives me error saying

" this machine architecture is not supported by RHEL workstation"
and then simply exits
But I have seen some people running FC3 on VIA C3 machines
Whats problem with RHEL 3.0 work station ??

Well The VIA C3 architecture is x86
and RHEL installation CD also FOr x86 arch.

But this simply comes out stating above error

Is it a known error on VIAC3 machines or with RHEL 3.0
work stations ?Or

because as WIN XP prof SP2is already installed ..?
Please guide me in overcoming this error

Thanks

JON

[Ricky]

well.. It appears this is due to an i686 vs i586 CMOV instruction ...RHEL doesn't appear to ship with any kernel that'll run without CMOV.Seems exactly like a Fedora Core 2 problem from last year.


See follwoing for more details:
bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=120685

[anybody1234]

Hi

Thanks very much for your reply,

But I need a good suggestion  from you


Since I need to make dual boot partition , Without disturbing Windows XP Proff SP2 , I thouhght RedHat is the best option

I need tio install Linux on my PC with dual boot option ....., but since becuase of this problem with RHEL, it seems
I cannot go with it on my processor architecture....

Can I go for distributions below FC2 like FC1 or RH9.0 etc.. ?

Or Can I go with Suse distribution ..

But I have no idea regarding Suse installer will make dual boot partions as
simple as in case with RedHat distros

Would you let me know what options I can go for as far as Linux distributions are concerned

[Ricky]

As far I know, with Suse.. even you will find dual booting so simple.
See --> Triboot the computer

You will then find some hints.

[anybody1234]

Hi
Thanks again
Yes
I installed SUSE 9.2 on my machine with dual boot option
Indeed it was very much easy than I thought
I have one more question
I want to run KDE and Gnome environmnet on it
I have 256MB of RAM
And I found that whenver i start kde applications my pc simply hangs  
What is the minimum amount of RAM required to Run KDE or GNOME applications ?
and also
with cat /proc/cpuinfo shows my processor speed as 398MHZ  :shock:
whereas it is actullay 796 MHz VIA C3 processor
What could be the reason ...?

BTW I have no problems  in running windows XP with this dual boot setup ..

I am at present I am using it only on shell prompt for the moment
and with top -d 1 it show the load avg at aroung 1.5 initailly and after some time it comes back to 0.10 But still whever I start any GUI application it hangs immediately and  I need to reboot it again

Did I go anywhere wrong while setting partitions or is this because I selected too many Desktop applications while installing ?

I gave 1GB swap partition and I have 256MB RAM and /boot partition with
150MB Is there anything wrong with it?

[Ricky]

There is no problem with your installation, but actually LINUX GUI application are really very resource intensive, as your processor is only 796 MHz, and RAM is only 256 then no doubt its insufficient.

I have 2.5Ghz. computer and 512 MB RAM .. then only I am able to run GUI smoothly but earlier when it was 256 then it was running but really was irritating , there was lots of hd swaping, so you need to increase your RAM.

About computer showing less speed. .. I think VIA CPU architect is not properly supported by that kernel.

[anybody1234]

Hi

I want to upgrade my RAM but I have still one doubt left…:?

Even when I stopped xdm with /etc/init.d/xdm stop...
And no X applications or any GUI based applications are ruining and
I start working in Linux command line then too the PC hangs within
Some 10-15 minutes....

I can work even in command or shell only for maximum of 15 minutes..

I even asked the VIA support forum they suggested some tweaks in CMOS
Setup
Which did not work and finally they blamed Suse for not having proper kernel support...

I was amused to find in Red Hat web site that VIA Cyrix 3 arch was supported but any way at least RHEL 3.0 is not supported

My friends suggested that Mandrake or Mandriva is  also having  issues with device drivers....


Is this a Linux device driver related issue?

Because at least in command line mode it is not supposed to hang when I have altogether stopped all major services(GUI) that are not being used...

Please give me some explanation as to why this happens...

[anybody1234]

I got to know from VIA forum that their architectures are generally under rated for linux systems......

Now they also recommend using linux distro's like Ubuntu or Slackware
instead of "box" type ditros's like Redhat or Suse or Mandrake.....

But I am not very sure about these disrtibutions

Any one using these type of distributions share their experiences please

also mention along with it the cpu arch used for best performance;;  :idea:

[Ricky]

Ubuntu is actuall RHELs binary those are compiled under GNU's terms.. You can use Ubuntu instaed of RHEL always.

[anybody1234]

Hi

I made a few changes in the list of bootup services and removed on boot services  especially I removed powersaved, and hwscand from list of bootup services with insserv -r servicename

Now after this I get pleasant result from Suse and it shows the correct values for processor speed etc....

Even I can run GUI applictions and my PC does not hang and it works well even with openoffice applications...

Could you explain the significance of powersaved service and without this service running would there be any bad effect on hardware ..?

btw ..Till now it is working fine...

[Ricky]

Well.. its simple, I think it is incompability with those services, those were not able to recognize the hw properly and hence was malfunctioning