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Can my computer install the centos4(redhat as4)?

cosmosd
cosmosd Posts: 2
in Getting Started with Linux

Hi, We want to buy a mobile computer for computing purpose, the OS must be linux(cent os 4 or redhat as4), the hardware of this computer is very new, nobody knew if it can install the linux os , so please help if somebody know it, the config of this computer is as follows:

ThinkPad W510 43193GC

CPU: intel i7 -720QM

Chipset: intel QM57

Memory: PC3-8500 DDR3 , 4G

Harddisc: SATA 500GB

Graphic: NVIDIA Quadro® FX 880M

CD_ROM: SATA Rambo

Soundchip: Conexant CX20561 codec, HD Audio

Wlan: intel ®6200AGN

Ethernet

Intel 82567LM

Comments

  • portamenteff
    portamenteff Posts: 2
    You should be good to go. You see, CentOS is just a recompiled RedHat. I'm not sure why CentOS is a must, but if your comfortable with it, It should work. You may have to configure it a bit, but it's a good stable system. An excellent server platform.
  • jabirali
    jabirali Posts: 157
    According to this page there have been some quirks running Linux on that laptop; notably the proprietary Nvidia drivers had graphics corruption problems, the e1000 ethernet card was limited to 10 Mb/s, suspend wasn't working properly and the wireless drivers weren't present in the mainline kernel.

    Note that all these issues have since been fixed.
    [ol][li]Use Nvidia driver 195.36.15 or higher to solve the graphics issue, there should be an installer available at nvidia.com.[/li]
    [li]To solve the ethernet issue, either use kernel 2.6.33 or greater, or install the intel e1000 drivers.[/li]
    [li]To get wireless working, either use kernel 2.6.26 or greater, or get the driver iwlwifi-6000-ucode.[/li]
    [li]If the info on the linked page is up to date, it seems like suspend requires a workaround; you need kernel 2.6.33, need to add SUSPEND_MODULES="xhci" in the file /etc/pm/config.d/unload_modules, and add acpi_sleep=sci_force_enable as an argument to the kernel in the GRUB configuration file.[/li][/ol]

    In other words, the easiest would be to get a distribution running the new kernel 2.6.33, but I so far don't know of any CentOS-ish distribution that officially offers a package for it. If suspend isn't very important to you, slightly older kernels should work fine too.

    According to DistroWatch, CentOS 4.8 seems to use the ancient kernel 2.6.9, while CentOS 5.4 offers kernel 2.6.18 - a kernel that will probably work better with the new hardware. Is there any particular reason why you want to put CentOS 4 on it instead of CentOS 5?

    [EDIT]
    According to this source, Fedora 13 is arriving in 6 days, and will come with kernel 2.6.33. Fedora should be familiar if you're used to RedHat/CentOS, and if you decide to try it, that distribution should make your hardware work pretty much out of the box :)
  • Goineasy9
    Goineasy9 Posts: 1,114
    Fedora 13 release has been pushed back to May 25th. There are still some blocker bugs that have to be resolved. I've been running it on production machines since the alpha and I have had no problems.

    As jabirali posted, the reason your having a problem is because of the older versions of kernels and the fact that the graphics drivers that support your card aren't available in the older versions of Centos. The beta for RedHat 6 has just been released, which means that a beta of Centos 6 will soon be on the way, each will contain newer kernels that will support your hardware. I'm positive about the 2.6.32 kernel being included in them, but I'm not sure if the 2.6.33 kernel is available.

    Once again, I agree with jabirali, Fedora 13 would be a wise choice is your familiar with Centos and want to have full functionality of your hardware. Below is a link to the RC2 release. You can try the Live CD's if you want to do a test, but the DVD's give you much more control of the configuration if your looking to install.

    http://serverbeach1.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/stage/13.RC2/
  • woboyle
    woboyle Posts: 501
    I could not recommend CentOS/RHEL 4 for any leading-edge system, mobile or otherwise, like this. It is woefully out-of-date. If the reason you need to run it is because of some application software, then install an up-to-date distribution such as Ubuntu 9.04 or later (current is 10.04) and run CentOS/RHEL 4 in a virtual machine. First of all, you will have much better support for all that new hardware. Second, the system will run better and be more secure. And third you will have much better compatibility with new software.
  • cosmosd
    cosmosd Posts: 2
    Thanks for all , The reason that I must use the redhat as 4 or cenos 4 is that a software must be instelled in that os. From your replies , I knew that this computer can run centos 4 but for some performance limited.

    Thanks , I deciede to buy this computer and have a try.

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