Message-ID: <3A36412A.5B9DE086@cupserv.org>
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 10:15:54 -0500
From: "Fred A. Miller"
Subject: Linux Versions Can't Handle Pentium 4
Linux Versions Can't Handle Pentium 4
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Mary Jo Foley, CNET News.com
Chalk up to the list of Pentium 4 pitfalls the fact that not all
versions of the Linux operating system support the new Intel
processor.
A number of the prepackaged versions of the open-source operating
system, including Caldera Systems' eServer desktop and server
products, won't run on Pentium 4-based computers because the software
cannot identify the chip, Intel executives acknowledged.
Intel, however, said it was up to individual Linux sellers to update
their operating system releases to bring them into compliance.
As originally reported on the LinuxGram Web site, the only versions
of Linux that Intel has certified as working properly with the
Pentium 4 are Red Hat's Red Hat 7.0 and Turbolinux's Turbolinux 6.
Other major Linux releases--including products from Caldera, Corel,
MandrakeSoft and SuSE--do not include CPU-identifying information in
their CPUID databases.
As a result, when someone tries to install one of those versions of
Linux, the operating system doesn't recognize the chip and the
installation is suspended.
It is unclear when some of these versions of Linux will be updated to
work with the Pentium 4. Corel and SuSE could not immediately be
reached for comment.
Darren Davis, Caldera's vice president of engineering, said Caldera
made a conscious decision not to add Pentium 4 support to its
currently shipping eServer 2.3 and eDesktop 2.4 products. Instead,
Caldera plans to add Pentium 4 support to its second-quarter updates
for both of those products, which will be based on the Linux 2.4
kernel.
"We'll do what our customers demand," Davis said. He added that so
far, there has not been much Pentium 4 interest among Caldera
customers.
Intel, for its part, maintained that it was the fault of the Linux
software companies that they had not kept pace with Intel's CPU
release schedule.
"We went to everyone in the (Linux distribution) community" to ensure
they had the CPUID information for the Pentium 4, said George Alfs,
Intel's P4 spokesman. "We've had this information out there for quite
a while--that's why Turbo and Red Hat already are in compliance."
Caldera's Davis basically agreed with Alfs' characterization, noting
that "Intel gave us all the (Pentium 4) information we needed."
He said Caldera decided to aggregate all of its fixes and patches
into upcoming upgrades rather than issue a P4 fix separately.
Alfs said that to support Pentium 4, Linux sellers simply need to use
the sample CPUID code supplied by Intel or to download the Test 11
release of the Linux 2.4 kernel, which includes the Pentium 4 CPUID
code as part of the base release. The final version of Linux 2.4 is
expected to be available later this month.
Pentium 4 computers went on sale Nov. 20 after a series of delays.
While the Pentium 4 runs at a faster clock speed than other chips on
the market, benchmark testers and other analysts have said the chip
so far doesn't provide quantum leaps in performance.
It does well on multimedia applications but worse than the fastest
Athlon from rival Advanced Micro Devices on business applications.
--
----/ / _ Fred A. Miller
---/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Systems Administrator
--/ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / Cornell Univ. Press Services
-/____/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\ fm@cupserv.org
