Annoying general question about hardware and linux

[scott_R]

Why doesn't linux find out what hardware is on your system like windows does? With every install I do (a few of them for friends, plus my own) I have to shoot into windows to check out specs, then install. Is it an MS patent, or something? (I hate to mention it, MS will patent it tomorrow because I said it.)

It seems more likely that any information on the cards would be relatively easy to get to for windows reasons if no other. Then again, I often wonder why modems are so damned hard to install when all they do is move information from one side to another, while translating it on board...

[DMR]

One of the primary reasons has nothing to with Linux at all- some manufacturers are not willing to release device/driver-level information to the open source community, which is something they would have to do to allow the Linux kernel developers to build in support for these devices. They do seem more than willing to work with Micro$oft, which is why Windows has buit-in support for a huge number of devices. Remember, it's not just a question of identifying a device, it's also a question of then being able to configure that device and load drivers for it.

While not yet up to par with MS, if you look at the number of video cards, NICs, monitors, sound cards, etc. that Linux supports now as opposed to a few years ago, you can definitely see that things have gotten a lot better.

[ 20 July 2001: Message edited by: DMR ]

[King Louie]

There are also more and more manufacturers making Linux drivers available either on their installation media or on their web site. Linux may not recognize the hardware diring installation, but it is generally pretty easy to find the appropriate drivers and install them. Annoying, yes. But for most major-brand hardware (and a fair number of not-so-major-brands), drivers are available.

[scott_R]

True to a point (about the drivers), but not being able to even identify the cards?

[ 20 July 2001: Message edited by: scott_R ]

[DMR]

scott_R,

It's been a looong time since I've directly dealt with low-level/device-level interfacing (can you say "8088"), and I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but put on your best programmer's hat and try to bear with me.#include <disclaimer.h> //anyone with more current knowledge is free to correct or crucify me, if doing so will give scott_R a more accurate answerJust the simple task of identifying a card still demands that an OS be able to interrogate (handshake with?) that card, and in return, have that device present the requested information in a way that the OS can understand. Network cards have a hard-coded MAC address, a part of which (I believe) at least identifies the manufacturer, if not the make/model. Sound cards, video cards, SCSI controllers, etc., do not, as far as I know, have that kind of unique identifier. For these devices, the OS must be able to access/query the firmware on those cards to get any identifying information. This, if I'm not just spouting rubbish at this point, goes back to the point I made earlier in this thread: vendors need to be more willing to work with/share their code with the open-source developers.

As far as Linux's ability to identify cards, I guess what I'm saying is: "what's the point?". If any given OS can tell you what cards you have installed, but can't provide built-in support for them... :confused:

[ 21 July 2001: Message edited by: DMR ]