Long overdue upgrade questions

[comedian999]

Hey, all -

I'm a *long* time user (3 1/2 years, now) of Sage on a Windows XP platform (Still using Sage v 1.4 - I don't mess with a stable system). However, I find that 2 1/2 years into my most recent rebuild, my system is becoming more and more unstable, so I'm considering upgrading to the Linux OEM version, if only to give these nice boys some more money.

I've been running Ubuntu 7.04 on my desktop for a few months, so I'm far less nervous about trying Linux on my Magical Sage TV Box-O-Wonders.

That said, I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer so I can make an informed decision:

1) Does the Linux version (The full Gentoo distro version) include drivers for the USB-UIRT? If not, are they available (I've looked recently at Jon's Web site and have seen nothing about Linux drivers)?

2) Does the Linux version of Sage include built-in support for USB-UIRT the same way the Windows version does?

3) How is the Linux version of Sage w/ Gentoo with ATI video cards? Should I consider switching to an NVidia card for the easily-available Linux drivers?

4) I'm currently using a Linksys USB wired ethernet network adapter on my Windows Sage setup. Can anyone address if the Linux / Gentoo version has drivers for similar hardware?

5) Is 256 meg of memory *really* sufficient for running this version of Sage?

Sorry if these are newbie questions, but I have been drinking.

Thanks in advance,
Comedian999

[zoop]

Answers inline

Originally Posted by comedian999

Hey, all -

I'm a *long* time user (3 1/2 years, now) of Sage on a Windows XP platform (Still using Sage v 1.4 - I don't mess with a stable system). However, I find that 2 1/2 years into my most recent rebuild, my system is becoming more and more unstable, so I'm considering upgrading to the Linux OEM version, if only to give these nice boys some more money.

I've been running Ubuntu 7.04 on my desktop for a few months, so I'm far less nervous about trying Linux on my Magical Sage TV Box-O-Wonders.

That said, I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer so I can make an informed decision:

1) Does the Linux version (The full Gentoo distro version) include drivers for the USB-UIRT? If not, are they available (I've looked recently at Jon's Web site and have seen nothing about Linux drivers)?

I personally use hauppauge cards, but if USB-UIRT works with lirc it should work.

Originally Posted by comedian999

2) Does the Linux version of Sage include built-in support for USB-UIRT the same way the Windows version does?

See above.

Originally Posted by comedian999

3) How is the Linux version of Sage w/ Gentoo with ATI video cards? Should I consider switching to an NVidia card for the easily-available Linux drivers?

I have used both with no issues... I had an ATI 9800-PRO in my client system before swapping out to an nVidia 5200FX, both driving a projector at 720p over their DVI output.

Originally Posted by comedian999

4) I'm currently using a Linksys USB wired ethernet network adapter on my Windows Sage setup. Can anyone address if the Linux / Gentoo version has drivers for similar hardware?

I believe your USB adaptor is based on the ADMTek Pegasus chipset, which is natively supported in all 2.6 kernels.

Originally Posted by comedian999

5) Is 256 meg of memory *really* sufficient for running this version of Sage?

I would personally say no... I have found 512MB to be a nice number, with 768M even more preferable for disk caching purposes.

Originally Posted by comedian999

Sorry if these are newbie questions, but I have been drinking.

Thanks in advance,
Comedian999