Upgrading the Motherboards of Linux Boxen?

synchronicity asks: "I just got a new motherboard and processor and would otherwise like to keep my system setup exactly as it is now. Every site I have visited about upgrading a motherboard and processor ends with something to the effect of 'When your machine boots up, Windows will be confused for a little bit, but will detect all your hardware as new, reboot itself a few times, and then you'll be up and running again.' All well and good, except that I don't run Windows. So what do I need to do to get my Linux (Mandrake 7.2) system to recognize the new PCI bus addresses/interrupts/etc. to make this upgrade a success?" What things do you do in preparation for such a procedure?

Comments

Re:1) Write down everything

[NeoTomba]

right, except when you install a new processor, unless you reinstall windows (and repeat all those steps you listed, replacing "linux" with "windows"), your windows install won't take advantage of any new features in the new processor (SSE, 3dnow, whatever)

So, if you're upgrading, you really ought to reinstall no matter what OS you're running.

-NeoTomba

Linux - no problem.

[Daffy Duck]

I upgraded the motherboard/CPU on my dual-boot box from an Abit P2/300 to a Soyo P3/1000. My Linux installation just recognized the new chipsets properly at the next reboot without any complaints.

Windows had a shit-fit. Claimed to have found all new EVERYthing - hard disks, sound cards, modems, cd drives, video, mice. Sometimes it found two or three of each kind, and it kept on finding new stuff at every reboot. Ended up having to do a complete reinstall, which was no real hardship since I only use that partition for games. But even with a clean re-install it doesn't seem to be able to shutdown or reboot from Windows anymore.