Intel motherboards

When you say 'won't work' what do you mean? Won't install? Won't boot?

What distros DO work with the 915 or 925 boards, if any?

Al

The network card is not recognized and same with onboard sound. Cannot get it to recognized these items. Can get system to install and boot but no network card and sound support. I noticed too that there is a new release that says new support for intel motherboards. I will test this today and post later.
Thanks Greg

Hi
I have downloaded new mepis release this morning and tried. I still have same problems. The video is not support so can only run from command line startx will not work. The video on all the new Intel boards is PCI Express this is where all the video is going these days. Still no network card or sound. Nework card is Intel on board and so is sound. In checking with so the large resellers the model of board D915 GAVL board is sold the most standard PCI Express with on board Intel 10/100 nework card and 5.1 sound. Thanks Greg

Do you get any error msg. when you do startx?

Is there any way you can try the latest 2.6.11 kernel?

I know this is dumb, but have you tried the 2.4 kernel?

Have you tried the Kanotix distro/CD? Maybe K/Ubuntu? I know that Kanotix is 'optimized" for 686 hardware so instead of fighting Mepis, I'd burn that CD and see if it runs. Let us know, if it does (or doesn't).

I'm at a loss here. You should write the Mepis developers and see if they know about this problem. I can understand sound and the network not working, but X should be able to be configured for just about everything.

Let us know if you try something else and it works. If so, I'd like to see the X config file for it.

Al

I do get error messages for X because it won't start. Someone emailed me and said that PCI Epress is only supported in kernel 2.6.11.6 and only for test. That seems so behinded because PCI Express has been out for awhile now and most new system now have this setup. If this was so Mepis or Linux will have a hard time with most new workstations and servers. I have been waiting to see what is up with the server version of Mepis. As I deal alot with new server systems and these too have new chipsets for the new processors that Intel has released. Mepis server version will need to address this and raid controllers as these are important. When I get the chance I will try and update kernel. This is a pain because no network card support I will have to get another card and install on motherboard and get working to get internet. Will follow up later.
Thanks Greg

Ok, at last someone else is asking. I thought I was a voice in the wilderness for weeks.. LOL

If you check the hardware part of this forum, you will find some posts by me about this very problem, along with a list of all the distros that DO support intel 915 series boards out of the box.

SimplyMEPIS 3.3.1-1 maintenance release (a couple of days ago) now supports the video side.

It doesn't support it in default mode like Knoppix, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Beatrix Suse 9.2 and a couple of others we tested, but it does in failsafe (vesa) on the 2.4.x kernel, and it probably does with the 2.6.x kernel if you pass the command xdrvr=vesa (just check how xdrvr is spelled before you try..)

I got it up and running using failsafe, but had to install Linspire 5 because we are supposed to finish a report on it this week.

Xandros also needs the vesa mode to run these boards (hold down the shift key at lilo screen and select it from menu).

So far, network card and video work in all except MEPIS, but on-board sound has not worked in any of them, despite intel releasing the linux drivers for the sound chip in February 2004 and again in March or May 2005.

Anyway, that's the good news.

I did post to this forum when I got the latest MEPSI running on the intel 915 board, but you may have missed it.

RossD.

I can't believe that this chipset has been out on the market for over a year, and there's so little Linux support for it...

There are drivers from Intel for Red Hat, Suse, & Red Flag. However, there don't seem to be any drivers for Debian based distros.

This has been a real disappointment for me. For the first time, I bought an Intel motherboard, figuring that it would have the most support from vendors. It has been a very rude surprise that I've found such limited support for it.

I've spent the last two days trying different Live CDs. Mepis, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS. I especially wanted to try Mepis & PCLinuxOS. As already noted, video doesn't work with 3.3.1 - I haven't tried the maintenance release. PCLinuxOS & Ubuntu recognize the video & network, but not the sound card. And oddly, PCLinuxOS runs dog slow. I've seen this with some Fedora kernels as well with this mobo, taking 8-15 minutes to boot to the login prompt.

I posted info in the thread I started on this, regarding intel's release of drivers. The Linux drivers were made available by intel ages (like last year) ago for this chipset, and have been revised.

That is why many of the Debian based distros have been supporting LAN and Video for some time. I even have Knoppix 3.7 and xandros 2 running on one of these boards, but sound doesn;t work with the on-board card.

I've given up on MEPIS for new stuff, especially as the latest "maintenance' distro killed access to my camera, MP3 player and USB RAM drives. I still use it on old systems, and if the guys ever listen to users and decide to support newer 'common' chipsets, I will be able to use it again.

For now though, MEPIS has stopped being a viable distro. I am having a lot more success with Knoppix.

But that is another topic.

RossD.

Where has Intel made these Debian drivers available? I haven't been able to find them anywhere. I checked the Intel.com site - nothing. Can you please post where they are available?

I figured that the reason why the network & video worked for some Debian distros was because they were using some lowest common denominator driver rather than a D915 chipset-specific driver.

Thanks.

Have you tried kanotix?

Why not go on their #kanotix IRC and ASK if it will run. A lot of the chatter is in German but most of them also speak English. The man who did Kanotix really KNOWS hardware so it might be worth it to ask there. He comes on the list each day. Name is 'kano'. Let us know what you find out.

EDIT: I just posted your question on #kanotix and Kano was up early (in Germany) and answered. Said you should go on the board, ask for him and he will send you the link to the beta release candidate of kanotix 2005-04 rc2. I have it and it runs very well on the live CD. But I don't have your chipset on my intel board. Worth a shot.

Al

http://forum.kanotix.net/viewtopic.php?t=9789&highlight=

The Kanotix folks say that their distro runs on these intel mobos, as does mepis, so I'm not sure what the story is. I usggest you burn a Kanotix live CD and see what happens on your machine. Won't take long.

I did about as much as I can on this. Let us know what you find out.

Al

Thanks for the additional info Al! I have tried Kanotix, the current non-beta release 2005-3. I can't get it to even boot to the login screen even with the failsafe options. I'll post to their forum to see what I can find out.

I'll see if I can get the beta you mentioned.

At this point, I think that I will stick with Ubuntu. The video and network works with the current version. The only thing that doesn't work is the sound, but I can get around that by just sticking in a Sound Blaster card into a PCI slot.

I really wanted to give PCLinuxOS a shot, since this seems to have the spit & polish that might actually exceed Mepis. However, it has a problem with this Mobo where it runs dog-slow with 1GB of DDR2 memory. I've seen the same problems with Fedora2 kernels as well. 512k, OK, but 1GB, extremely slow. 7-15 minutes to boot-up to a login screen vs. 1 min normally...

Cosmo

Cosmo:

If you have IRC chat, why not go to the freenode #kanotix channel and raise the question. Most of the German guys speak good English (probably better than me!) Worth a try. I'm just curious as hell as to why you can't run Mepis or Kanotix on your mobo. I assume you've tried all the boot codes... like noapic nolapic acpi=off etc. ? I wonder if it is a DMA issue? Doubt it. My money is on video. The rc2 of the beta has xorg and maybe that will help. Also you might want to write Kano. His address is at bottom of:
http://kanotix.com/files/kanotix/

I would give you the link to the rc2 iso, but it's not for public knowledge yet and I don't want to get in trouble with the Kanotix folks. I've already been banned by www.mepislovers.org, I don't want to piss off yet another distro!!!!!!!!!

------> EDIT: Kano says you should try these boot codes:
xmodule=fbdev or xmodule=vesa

Al

This chipset is very popular most new systems for the desktop are based on this. Dell uses Intel chipsets on there desktop they are selling. Can not get Mepis to work with this one and I bet all the newer chipsets they have just came out with for dual core. I can't understand how they are not supported yet. They have been out more than a year so not bleeding edge and its the motherboard not a single piece of odd hardware. Maybe someone knows how can Linux keep up here with this hardware. If you have this board or boards you cannot run linux well enough so have to use windows til supported. Makes it hard to tell new clients go find a old board which will now cost more because not working with all the new stuff coming out.
Thanks for all the information.

Greg, I just don't know. I read a lot of the Linux boards and the news and other Linux 'stuff' and this chipset issue has not crossed my radar. In the last year there have been several kernel updates and I find it hard to believe that Linux can't be run on a year-old mobo/chipset. I've seen postings on other distro boards saying that 'their' Linux runs fine. Are you 100% sure this is not a 'personal' problem with your machine or video card?

Al

Hi Al
My company sells many desktop and server systems. I have tried Mepis on many of the Intel systems that come thru here. All the same no video and sound support. I have used the D845 and D865 chipsets with mepis works great I have some running Mepis right now. But will not work with new chipset. Last board I tried was a model D915GAVL very popular board. Last count like 15 motherboard models at Intel with D915 chipset. No video or sound will work with Mepis. I do not want or have a lot of time to try all the other disto's. I had kind of settle on Mepis as it is a great distro and great to get people on the desktop at businesses. I was really looking forward to simplyserver for some of these customers but no real word on this at this site yet. There serveral chipsets for the Intel servers also and wonder about this as it is very important for server products.
Thanks for you input.

I believe it.

Perhaps you should have researched the supported hardware before you got it.

If manufacturers would provide Linux drivers or perhaps provide the information for developers to create linux drivers then Linux users would be more likely to purchase thier product.

I'm sorry your having trouble with your hardware.

I suggest if you plan to use any OS be sure that you either have hardware that is supported, or plan to get hardware that is.
This will save you a lot of trouble until you become more familiar with adding drivers / modules and updating your kernel.

Thats my 2 cents on this topic.

This is hardware that my company sells and motherboards most hareware companies are selling. This is the intel chipset that is on most boards today. Also most everyone who sells motherboards uses Intel chipsets. Linux needs to run this hardware as it is the most common. If they want to make a dent in the desktop you have to support what is on the desktop today. I sure it will be at somepoint but you would think it would be something you would test as this product is out mass sold everywhere.
Thanks

I say again. This hardware has been out over a year. Others can run Linux on this hardware. Therefore, this is a local problem with your machine, configuration, etc.

In all the google research I've done on this chipset with respect to Linux I've found only a handful of people who have posted problems. If this hardware is as widespread as you say there would be thousands of folks reporting the problem.

Is it possible there is something YOU have not done? Or that you have configured incorrectly?

I'll be the first to say that not all distros run on all hardware. But most distros run on all Intel hardware mainly because it is so widespread. If you had some off-the-wall mobo from East Patagonia I might understand. But I just believe that there is something else going on here. I've been wrong before on these things... but I was wrong just last week and I doubt I'm going to be wrong twice in one month

Let's figure this out. Lets go step by step. You get a grub menu, right? What boot parms if any are you using? Have you tried both 2.4 and 2.6 kernels? What happens? Do you get a kernel panic? Does it just hang? I think we can fix this if we all take a look at it step by step.

Al

I'll toss in my three cents (cost-of-living increase). I 've had issues with Mepis 3.3.1 installs on two new stock Dells, using the 915 chipset, integrated components and sata drives, in the last month or so. No video, no auto nic configuration. These were for customers, however, so I didn't have an opportunity to dig around for fixes. The deb drivers do exist. I suspect its just a matter of tweaking.

On a vaguely related note of interest and personal declaration of independence, Intel is evidently currently advocating the use of some sort of DRM (digital rights management) in their hardware:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=24638

I do not fully understand the ramifications of this for Linux, but it is obviously designed to the benefit of M$ and entertainment execs. I see absolutely no positive benefit to this for anyone else.

I have had it with MS, Dell and now Intel (I'll spare you my Dell rant, think 'outsourced' customer-service). I am fed up with being at the mercy of these corporate regimes. I will no longer accept their terms of usage.

I will not accept the contracted mandatory arbitration agreements. I will not be dictated to with regards to whether I want to play a legally purchased CD in my car or on my computer. I will not let them stifle my ability to learn (nor will I ever again believe that there is any intrinsic value in learning proprietary information). And I sure as he-- will not be told what I may use on my boxen and what I may not.

Let it be written.

Thank you for listening. Good night.

q

Yes it has been out for a while working well with windows. Just to keep it simple as I think Mepis is trying to do. If you used the live CD and boot you get no video if I remember right it does list a panic error. I am using a good Mepis CD as i put it in a Intel D865 chipset motherboard and it boots right up and installs to hard drive no problem. The on board intel nic is not working and sound is not working. It is the same with 2.4 and 2.6 Yes maybe if we spend alot of time tweaking we may get some better results. If you check RossDV8 and Cosmolee they have had problems for awhile with the new chipsets. This should just work with out much effort put CD in and boot to a live Mepis desktop. Maybe some other members can tell us if they are using this board with Mepis. I have tried many new Intel 915 boards and are the same. Basic system Intel 915 GAVL motherboard which they have on board sound and intel nic on board, with 512 of Kingston memory, 1.44 Floppy drive, CD Rom drive, 80 Gig SATA drive as also most all new boards now are using, I have tried Nvida and ATI video cards basic PCI-Express cards but I think that Mepis is just not supporting PCI-Express or is having a problem with this, Logitech standard keyboard and mouse 17" monitor. This is very basic system nothing special. I think one of the guys from mepis mention of or was looking at problem but no post yet.
Thanks Greg

The web address for the drivers should be somewhere in the posts on the topic, along with the dates they were released. I got the details off the intel site at the time.
Since I have had to change to another distro to make things like USB camera and MP3 player and USB key work again because Mepis is overwriting fstab on startup, I have archived all the Mepis specific stuff.
All the other debian based distros seem to have all except sound working. There is a list of which distros I have tried that support the 915 boards in the original topic also.

I have been there before drivers from Intel are for Redhat, Suse and Red Flag. These are the only drivers for Linux Intel has and are listed beta for the most part. Not going to put much effort for a lower customer base. Windows has desktop and good part of server market. It is interesting that most other distros will work with Video and Nic and not Mepis there is something different here.
Thanks

Well, this has become a long annoying trip. OK, I got the Kanotix RC ISO. Yes, it boots, but same problem as all the other Debian distros I've tried: no audio.

I even tried downloading SUSE 9.3 eval DVD, which has drivers for this chipset. Even though it recognizes all the Intel chips (video, network, audio), I couldn't get the sound to work. With enough fiddling I assume it would work eventually, but I can't waste any more time twiddling with this board. I'm just going to stick a Sound Blaster card in a PCI slot and be done with it.

FWIW, I tried booting Fedora 4 as well, since Intel makes Red Hat drivers, and I hoped that maybe they transfered over to the Fedora base, but I kept getting panics on booting the install CD.

Here's what I'm finally going to use: Ubuntu. It's ugly and not very polished, but the video & network work, and it works with 1GB of RAM. No audio, but a Sound Blaster will solve that issue.

I really like the look of PCLinuxOS. In my opinion, it gives Mepis a good run for the money in terms of polish. I think its menus are better organized, and it looks better. Video & Network also work. But with 1GB RAM it runs dog slow. 512MB, OK, but 1GB, it grinds to a halt. I saw this with newer Fedora kernels as well. The Ubuntu kernel that works OK w/ 1GB is 2.6.10. The PCLinuxOS kernel that didn't was 2.6.11. The Fedora that worked was 2.6.8. Newer isn't better, eh?

Knoppix, Kanotix 2005-4 beta, Mandriva: video & network, no audio.

Well, I've wasted the past four days on this mobo. Needless to say, I'm never again going to assume that just because it's Intel, that it's going to be well supported. I never would have expected such ugly surprises with an Intel board.

I don't know why Mepis can't get the video working on this board, since other Debians can. But it sure doesn't help things that Intel seems to be Debian-deaf when it comes to drivers.

Still to be tested if I get some time: Red Hat Enterprise, which has official Intel drivers.

Hope this info helps others....

Cosmo

I run Mepis 331 on a dell D610 with the Intel 915 chipset.
Only quirk is that I am forced to use the vesa X driver as I haven't updated to Xorg yet (where the i810 would work, as it does on Ubuntu).

At installation since the screen is unreadable at firts, just switch to console CTRL-ALT-F1 and as root edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to remove all modelines and enable DPMS in the device section, then go back to X CTRL-ALT-F7 and restart it CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE

network, wireless, sound all work fine. I updated to eth 2.6.11.6 kernel anyway.

I have a INTELD865PERLK motherboard. The latest release does boot up on bothe kernels but the network interface is not started up at boot up.

You have to go into the Mepis control center and then start it up. You can then use the web browser. You have to wait a few minutes for the weather report to come up.

The perlk uses a gigabit on board nic.

I have a BC845 mainboard which does not have this problem. It will bootup and the wnetwork comes up. Even thought on boot up it says failed to start.

It seems the intel on board nics do not work properly on boot up. some may not work at all unless you manually start them up.

FRANK

I found a solution for the sound issue!

The D915 chipset (with "HDA" audio) needs Alsa 1.0.9. I got finally it running successfully on the beta version of Kannotix 2005-4. Once installed, you must run:

alsaconf
then alsamixer
then check KDE control center in root make sure sound system is ok
Also check kmixer

Don't know when Alsa 1.0.9 is going to be generally available. All Debian distros seem to currently be running 1.0.8.

Cosmo

Detailed changelog between 1.0.8 and 1.0.9 releases
***************************************************
-----snip------
- Summary: Add Intel HDA driver
Added a new Intel High-Definition audio driver.
The driver consists of two separate modules: the generic support
module for HD codecs (snd-hda-codec), and the driver for Intel ICH6/7
chipset (snd-hda-intel). The snd-hda-intel was called formerly
snd-azx in the ALSA 1.0.8 rlease.
- Summary: Move azx driver to alsa-kernel tree
snd-azx driver is moved to alsa-kernel tree.
Now it's renamed to snd-hda-intel (to avoid the codename).
-------snip---------

Looks like you need at least alsa-1.0.9 to support sound on the chipset.

hey, cosmolee

You are correct that ALSA 1.0.9 (1.0.9b) has nearly all the codec driver support for Intel motherboards. There are a few bugfixes being submitted for the next ALSA release in support of newer Intel motherboards. Debian Sarge is lacking any current ALSA driver code, thus the reason for no audio.

Greg, there is a new team at Intel focused on desktop/laptop Linux. We're trying to get caught up with Red Flag, Red Hat, CS2C, Novell/SuSE and coming soon Debian. The group is working with the Linux distros, but in some situations, the distro vendors won't take the latest stuff from X.org or ALSA. So, we have to do some backporting.

If you visit http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/av/av_drive.htm and look at drivers for the Intel 915GAV, for example, you'll see newer, non-Beta drivers for the newer linux distros. This is what we've been working on for the past year or so. The beta drivers are from the previous group working on Linux.

You will see Intel motherboard drivers for Debian showing up on the Intel website soon.