Support for Specific Hardware

Testing Non-Listed Hardware

Running Linux on an Alpha system is similar to running Linux on the more well-known Intel platform. Many Alpha systems contain an ISA and/or PCI bus similar to that of an Intel system. However, only a subset of the peripherals that work on Intel systems will work on an Alpha. Sometimes, peripherals won't work because of driver differences that need to be ironed out in the kernel or in XFree86. Some hardware, however, is not compatible because it expects the world to be 32-bit, like Intel machines, and not 64-bit, like Alphas.

Before you attempt to use hardware that isn't listed to work with the Alpha, you should check the Red Hat Linux/Alpha mailing list for information on the hardware. Information on how to join the Alpha mailing list, axp-list@redhat.com, is available from http://www.redhat.com/community/list_subscribe.html . You can also check the AlphaLinux website at http://www.alphalinux.org to see if an attempt on a particular system is feasible.

Currently, only a select few models of Alpha-based systems are being tested in the Red Hat Quality Assurance labs. However, as more testing is done, both in-house and in the field, more information will become available in order to improve the Alpha version of Red Hat Linux and allow us to upgrade the status of more types of machines.

Linux runs on a majority of the different Alpha systems that exist on the market and we are constantly working to increase the level of compatibility for all Alpha machines. If more information is made available to us about installing Red Hat Linux on a certain class of machine, it becomes easier to qualify that machine for support.

If you have successfully installed Red Hat Linux on a particular class of Alpha machine, and you have information that you think can help increase the reliability of ensuring future installations on machines of that class, please send e-mail to < faq-maintainer@redhat.com > and tell us about your experiences.

Support Terminology

The following terms are used in this document to describe the level of support provided for specific hardware:

Certified

Certified hardware has passed all certification tests and requires no special action on the part of the user in order to set up the system. Certified systems are completely supported by Red Hat technical support. A badge may be on the physical hardware indicating its Red Hat Linux certified status.

Tier-2

Tier-2 supported hardware has been certified by Red Hat's QA. The Linux kernel can detect and use Tier-2 hardware. Red Hat will provide support to users installing Official Red Hat Linux boxed set software on Tier-2 hardware.

Tier-3

Tier-3 supported hardware is not certified, but should be detected by and usable with the Linux kernel. Tier-3 hardware includes hardware that Red Hat support technicians have personal experience with and/or hardware which is known to be reliable both in-house and in the field. However, some users may have reported problems with some versions of the hardware, or with the hardware's interactions with other hardware. Therefore, while Tier-3 installations can be supported under most circumstances, they cannot be guaranteed in all cases. Official Red Hat Linux boxed set owners can expect installation support for Tier-3 hardware, but it will be limited to:

• Determining whether Red Hat Linux recognizes the hardware

• Providing information on what drivers to use, what options to give to the kernel/module/driver, etc.

• Instructing users on when to perform Alpha Firmware upgrades

• Directing users to online information sources

Compatible but unsupported

Hardware that is listed as compatible but unsupported should be detected by the Linux kernel and should work with the Linux kernel under certain circumstances. However, the drivers for this hardware may be experimental or the hardware's functionality may be problematic. Owners of the Official Red Hat Linux boxed set will get information on which included drivers may work with the hardware and how to determine if Linux recognizes the hardware. Drivers for compatible but unsupported hardware are not always available from Red Hat. Support for third-party drivers will not be provided.

Incompatible

Incompatible hardware is known to NOT work with Red Hat Linux. Drivers or patches for this hardware may be found on the Internet, but Red Hat will not support them. The AlphaLinux website at http://www.alphalinux.org/ or the Compaq Digital Alpha FTP site at ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/linux/ may be useful for support with this hardware.

Not Listed

Systems which are not listed here are not considered compatible and are not supported. However, hardware that is not listed may become compatible and supported in the future.

Hardware vendors reuse product names on different hardware. This may be confusing to the consumer, since you may purchase something that appears to be supported but has a slightly different name (e.g., an added letter or plus sign). Usually, these changes indicate that the hardware is very different, and thus will not be supported.

Alpha Systems

Table 1-1 provides a snapshot of Alpha hardware, the support provided by Red Hat for different Alpha hardware, whether each system supports MILO and/or SRM, and the MILO image file needed for your system (if your system supports MILO).

SCSI Adapters

Table 1-2 provides information about which SCSI adapters are supported by Red Hat for use with a Red Hat Linux/Alpha system.

* Some drivers are statically linked into the kernel shipped with Red Hat Linux. No modules need to be loaded in order for SCSI adapters supported by these drivers to be recognized and used.

Network Interface Cards

Table 1-3 provides information about network interface cards and whether they're supported by Red Hat for use with a Red Hat Linux/Alpha system.

CD-ROM Devices

Table 1-4 provides information about CD-ROM devices and whether they're supported by Red Hat for use with an Red Hat Linux/Alpha system.

* Red Hat can only support drives which completely adhere to the ATAPI specification. Some DVD-ROMs and all Lite-On CD-ROMs do not adhere 100% to the ATAPI specification, and are therefore not supported.

Video Cards

Table 1-5 provides information about video cards and whether they're supported by Red Hat for use with a Red Hat Linux/Alpha system.

Sound Cards

Table 1-6 provides information about sound cards and whether they're supported by Red Hat for use with a Red Hat Linux/Alpha system.

Mice

The following mice are supported under Red Hat Linux and the X Window System:

• PS/2 Mice

• Serial mouse

Modems/FaxModems

Most modems are supported, except for WinModems and software modems, since they rely on Windows drivers which are incompatible with Red Hat Linux. For supported modems, not all features are necessarily supported (for example, voice mail features).

ISDN Adapters

Any external ISDN adapter that attaches to a serial port and emulates a regular modem should work with Red Hat Linux as if it were a regular modem. These ISDN adapters are considered compatible, but are unsupported.

Cable Modems

Any cable modem that attaches to a regular Ethernet interface will work with Red Hat Linux, and is considered compatible, but is unsupported.

	Please Note
	If your cable network requires client software for Microsoft Windows, then it most likely will NOT work.

Printers

Most printers that are compatible with a printer in the following list should work using the appropriate driver.

The text-only printer driver only prints ASCII text, not graphics or PostScript. Many non-PostScript printers can print with the text-only driver. Printers that are listed as being "Windows only" printers are not currently supported.

Red Hat Linux generally prints using PostScript; for some non-PostScript printers, Red Hat Linux uses "print filters" to translate PostScript into graphics commands that the printer can understand using the Ghostscript interpreter.

The following printer drivers are available for Red Hat Linux 6.1:

• Apple Dot Matrix

• Apple Imagewriter, high-resolution

• Apple Imagewriter, letter quality

• Apple Imagewriter, low-resolution

• C.Itoh M8510

• Canon BJ-100/200/210/240

• Canon BJ-10e

• Canon BJC-600 and BJC-4000

• Canon LBP-8II

• Canon LIPS III

• DEC LA50 dot matrix

• DEC LA70 dot matrix

• DEC LA75 Plus dot matrix

• DEC LA75 dot matrix

• DEC LJ250

• DEC LN03

• Epson AP3250 & ESC/P 2 printers

• Epson Color Dot Matrix, 24 pin

• Epson Color Dot Matrix, 9 pin

• Epson Dot Matrix, 24 pin

• Epson Dot Matrix, 9 pin, hi-res

• Epson Dot Matrix, 9 pin, med-res

• Epson Dot Matrix, 9 pin

• Epson Stylus 800 & ESC/P 2 printers

• Epson Stylus Color

• HP DesignJet 650C

• HP DeskJet 400/500C/520/540C

• HP DeskJet 500

• HP DeskJet 550C/560C/6xxC series

• HP DeskJet/DeskJet Plus

• HP LaserJet 4 - dithered

• HP LaserJet 4/5/6 series

• HP LaserJet III* with Delta Row Compression

• HP LaserJet III* with duplex capability

• HP LaserJet IId/IIp/III* with TIFF compression

• HP LaserJet Plus

• HP LaserJet

• HP PaintJet XL300 and DeskJet 1200C

• HP PaintJet XL

• HP PaintJet

• IBM 3853 JetPrinter

• Imagen ImPress

• Mitsubishi CP50

• NEC P6/P6+/P60

• Okidata Microline 182

• PostScript printer

• Ricoh 4081 laser printer

• StarJet 48

• Tek 4693d color printer, 2 bit mode

• Tek 4693d color printer, 4 bit mode

• Tek 4693d color printer, 8 bit mode

• Tektronics 4695/4696 inkjet plotter

• Text-only printer

• Xerox XES printers

Scanners

Red Hat does not offer support for scanners, cameras, and similar peripherals.

Such devices, if compatible, are considered compatible but unsupported. Most SANE-compatible scanners should work with Red Hat Linux.