As an nForce2 owner using a Geforce4 card the only way I could get X working was to disable kernel GART and use the "NvAGP" support configured in XF86 supplied by the Geforce video drivers.
I think the issue is that if I did not have an nVidia video card (let's say a Radeon for the sake of argument) I would not (until now) be able to use the kernel GART code and not have AGP support in the video driver either.
I read with disgust your page at http://www.microsoft.com/oem/nakedPC.htm
This "article" contains so many omissions and misrepresentations of fact as to be nothing more than emotive propaganda;
> Trouble is, if you act on your customers' willingness to buy Naked PCs--
> knowing full well they are at risk of acquiring pirated operating systems
> elsewhere--you expose them to legal risks, viruses, and frustrating technical
> troubles.
The phrase "at risk of acquiring pirated operating systems" implies that the customer is too ignorant or stupid to determine the legitimacy of any software they purchase. I suggest that those incapable of making such simple judgements are/least/ likely to be asking for an OSless computer.
The majority of those wishing to buy a "Naked PC" (as the author so quaintly puts it) would surely be/more/ technically competant than the average and the most likely explanations would be;
1) They already have a legitmate Redmond OS license they intend to use.
2) They intend to purchase a legitimate Redmond OS license elsewhere in order to ensure they have a usable, reinstallable product rather than a proprietary OEM "recovery" disk with licensing so obscenely restrictive as to be legally unenforcable in most, if not all first world countries.
3) They have no intention of using/any/ Redmond OS whatsoever. There are other options.
The intent to install "pirated" software is only one of four options and one that common sense would suggest is not the most likely.
> 1.Highlight the fact that the PC will not work without an operating system.
Good advice.
> Mention that preinstalling the operating system on the new PC saves
> considerable time, expense and trouble. After all, your expertise is
> valuable.
In my experience the majority of small-scale assembler/vendors have staff little more skilled than trained monkeys. They will perform installations that are faulty or unusable and are incapable of solving problems more complex than simple configuration flaws.
The larger OEMs will usually provide an installation that is stable and well tested but contains every possible available package, has obscure partitioning requirements and undocumented proprietary "features" ready to trap all but the most mundane of day-to-day users. They supply simple "recovery" discs or files which repartiton and reformat the HDD (destroying all of the customers data in the process) before reinstalling a system as useless and bloated as it was before. The addition of even simple peripherals can be fraught with difficulty as device driver files are not made available to the end user as they would be with an over-the-counter copy of the same OS. In short - they are useless and best avoided.
> You install system software day in, day out, so there is little
> question you're best equipped to do it well.
This, as I point out above, is somewhat debatable.
> Politely decline to expose your buyers or their businesses to such troubles.
This appears to be suggesting that vendors *refuse to sell a system without a Redmond OS installed*. Microsoft has appeared in court more than once for this behaviour. It is illegal an many countries (e.g. France). Need I say more.
> Customers have the original CD so they can reload the software. They also
> have a manual for everyday troubleshooting, and a Certificate of
> Authenticity that proves the software is legal.
It is my understanding the OEMs had been asked not to supply CD copies of the various Redmond OS'. The manuals supplied with OEM PCs are terse to the extent of becoming pointless. The Certificate of Authenticity is only pertinant in this discussion if the customer/does/ purchase the OS. Not all OS' have Certificates of Authenticity.
> Sell your PCs fully equipped with legally licensed operating systems
> preinstalled.
Excellent advice. Perhaps a mention of BeOS, Solaris or any of a number of non-commercial OS' wouldn't go astray.
Slashdot Mirror
As an nForce2 owner using a Geforce4 card the only way I could get X working was to disable kernel GART and use the "NvAGP" support configured in XF86 supplied by the Geforce video drivers.
I think the issue is that if I did not have an nVidia video card (let's say a Radeon for the sake of argument) I would not (until now) be able to use the kernel GART code and not have AGP support in the video driver either.
This patch supposedly addreses this problem.
Goto:
https:/ /oe mpub.microsoft.com/scripts/oemapps/tools/feedback/ feedback.asp
and post your disgust. I did.
As did I:
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lizardb0y
Home of the Lizard
When I first saw these late last year they were US$35 IIRC.
Now that's inflation!
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lizardb0y
Home of the Lizard