Hi Daniel,
I have a website in Brazil (www.olinux.com.br) OLinux with news,
programs, security, programming, interviews, games sections at one of the main
brazilian's portal: UOL.
We only use Debian here but talk about others also.
Andre Souza ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) has made some single programs to
detect video, sound, onboard modem, 3DFx cards, pnp modems.
We want to help in some manner, altought you are not developers... yet.
I maintain a debian-br homepage about Debian in Brazil
(www.linuxsolutions.com.br/debian-br)
With udpkg, modular installer and hardware detection, Debian will be
take the world. ;)
Regards, Paulo Henrique
Quoting Daniel Migowski ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
> Hi,
>
> One of the biggest disadvantages of linux in comparision with windows
> (seen from the 'normal' users perspective) is the lack of hardware
> autodetection. It often takes a long time for normal users without advice of
> an other
> linuxer to get the 'hole' system running.
>
> Other distribution have made efforts, to provide a working autodetection
> system, but i think, this isn the kind of autodetection and
> autoconfiguration, what is suitable for a stable and usually well working
> system like
> debian-linux.
>
> I will now propose an set of software, that should do the hole thing in an
> well defined manner. After that, i will show, how to be able to create a
> debian-hardawre-database.
>
> HOW WILL IT WORK:
>
> First we have the 'hwdetect'-command. This command checks the /proc/pci
> and /proc/bus/pci for information, it can gather, and checks it hardware
> database. Then it gives output like the following example:
> [PCI-SLOT-1]
> Device-Capabilities: Graphic-Display-Adapter, TV-Receiver
> Name: NVidia GeFORCE 256 GTS
> [Configuration Options]
> XServerModule needed: blah blah
> ...
> [other Slots]
> ...
> [Motherboard]
> Device-Capabilities: Isa-Bridge
> Name: Blah Blah
>
>
> After that, specialized program could help in automatically editing the
> configfiles, including making backups automatically and showing to the user,
> what was done.
> This step also includes configuration advice for either
> kernel-compile-options, or a bit easier, if there are preconfigured default
> linux-kernels
> where everything is precompiled in modules, this step will check the
> /etc/modutils/ directory and install the needed software.
>
> WHAT WILL NOT WORK:
>
> It is, as far as i know, not possible, to detect isa-devices
> automatically, but one could write a kernel-module, which uses it previleges,
> to do the
> automated ISA-HW-Detection. As you know, this could let the system crash, if
> you have some special isa-devices, but i think, that soon, isa will not
> beused anymore, so its no real problem.
> But debian-linux should be a linux, that also can be found on older pc's,
> so one should try it.
>
> WHERE ARE OTHER PROBLEMS:
>
> For isa-cards using jumpersetted irq's, those irqs must, as far as i know,
> be marked in the PC-Bios as not to be given to PCI-Devices. So the
> detection for those devices should be done at kernel-boot-time somehow. I'm
> waiting
> for suggestions, how to solve that problem.
>
> HOW TO CREATE THE DEBIAN-HARDWARE_DATABASE:
>
> There is lots of hardware around, and lots of hardware needs special
> konfiguration to work correctly.
> To build a pool of hardwareinformation, one (maybe I) could build a little
> program, that everyone, that likes linux, should execute one time on his
> PC. This program will gather information of your PC and will generate a human
> readable file of your /proc/pci and /proc/bus/ and e.g. /etc/X11/,
> /usr/src/linux/.config, /etc/modules7 and others, and will ask you a few
> questions,
> which hardware is perfectly running on your system without problems.
> Those files have to be mailed back to base, where another proggi could
> parse your configs and suggestions, to build a
> device-TO-configuration-Database.
>
> HOW TO SHIP THE DATABASE TO THE USERS:
>
> There could be debian-packages like hwdb-graphicadapters, hwdb-soundcards
> and so on (splitted, to keep updates small), and hwautodetect (the detector)
> and hwautoconf, which will provide routines for aiding you in rewriting
> your configuration files.
>
>
> Please send your suggestions to that problem!
> Is someone interested in building a team of hardwareAutoconfigurators?
>
> sincerely
> Daniel Migowski
>
>
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