4. Linux Compatibility

Knoppix Linux 3.3 (Build Feb 9, 2004) Bootable CD

The Knoppix Linux CD booted up fine. Almost all the hardware was detected (sound, video and the two virtual Hyper-Threaded CPUs). Two items were not detected correctly; the memory card reader, and the 1280X800 screen size. Knoppix defaulted to 1024X768 resolution, which made the display slightly blurry. LCD screens do not look great at their non-native resolutions.

Fedora Linux Core 1 Install

The Mayhem G1 is Linux friendly, as we installed Fedora Linux Core 1 without any problems. Almost all the hardware was found. The memory card reader and the Atheros wireless were the two exceptions. You have to install the wireless drivers from Project: MADWIFI on Sourceforge to get the wireless functions to work.

In preparation for the Fedora installation, we split off a ten GB chunk for Linux from the 45 GB C: drive. We used Partition Magic 8, but you can use any software to do the partition split. Remember to defrag the C: drive before you split it. You don't want to risk losing any information on your C:

The Fedora installation was "smart" enough to find the Hyper-Threaded Virtual CPUs. After the installation, the boot loader showed three boot options: Linux with SMP, Linux without SMP and our original WindowsXP Home. The recovery CD did not affect our boot loader or ext3 partitions. So, you can mess up and recover Windows to your hearts content, knowing that your Linux OS is safe.