AppLabs
Linux Compatibility TestedIBM Netfinity 5500-M20
Linux Compatibility Testing Results

AppLabs
July 27 1999

This document presents the results of the Linux Compatibility test, which included the installation of Caldera OpenLinux 2.3, TurboLinux Server 4.0 and SuSE 6.2 on the IBM Netfinity 5500-M20.


AppLabs' Linux compatibility testing of this system showed the IBM Netfinity 5500-M20 to be compatible with Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 SuSE 6.2. The IBM Netfinity 5500-M20 is awarded the AppLabs Linux Compatibility mark.

System Configuration

The following table defines the system configuration tested by AppLabs.

System Configuration
IBM Netfinity 5500-M20M20
The BIOS revisionrevision 0
Testing Results

The following table defines the hardware as tested in this system by AppLabs, and provides the pass/fail results.

TestCommentResult
Installation Testing
CD-ROM InstallationUser must download and install IBM's patch immediately after the linux install or the system will not boot. SEE NOTESPASSED
NFS InstallationPASSED
Device Auto ProbingPASSED
System Setup
Kernel Compatibility N/APASSED
LILO Compatibility N/APASSED
XWindows Compatibility N/APASSED
I/O Sanity
Heavy disk I/O TestingRun for over eight hoursPASSED
Network Server Load TestingRun for over eight hoursPASSED
Display Adapter
Console Compatibility N/APASSED
USB Interfaces N/A N/A
Serial Ports
Kernel Detection N/A PASSED
Setserial Compatibility N/A PASSED
Throughput Testing N/A N/A
Parallel Ports
Kernel Detection N/APASSED
Compatibility Testing N/A PASSED
Mouse Ports
Kernel Detection N/A PASSED
Compatibility Testing N/A PASSED
Other
Pointing Device N/APASSED
Keyboard N/APASSED

Hardware Details

The following table defines the hardware configuration details for the tested system.

Hardware Configuration Information
Motherboard and ProcessorThe system motherboard is a IBM . This system contains four Intel Pentium II 450 Xeon processors.
Display Adapters There is an S3 Trio 64 Plus display adapter. There is one megabyte of video memory present.
I/O Busses The system includes a standard floppy drive interface. There are PS/2 style keyboard and mouse ports present.
Network InterfaceThis system contained a network interface built in on the min board and a 3COM Boomerang 100Base TX
Included PeripheralsThe included CD-ROM drive is IDE. This system had a Micorsoft Natural keyboard and a 3-button PS/2 mouse.
Miscellaneous Hardware There are three serial ports present. Two regular and one management There is one bi-directional parallel port present. There is one 1.44 megabyte floppy drive present.

Related Notes

Caldera 2.3 Notes:

1. User must reconfigure and re-compile kernel before rebooting system.

2. Distribution will not correctly identify the video driver. Use the VGA_16 X driver when setting up X.

3. Lisa floppies made from CDROM will not properly boot system, locking up at LILO boot prompt. Cannot do a remote install due to this problem.

TurboLinux Server 4.0 Notes:

1. Distribution will not correctly identify the video driver. Use the VGA_16 X driver when setting up X.

SuSE 6.2 Notes:

SuSE has bootdisk image which can be found at:

ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.2/disks/servraid

1. Download this image and put it onto floppy using dd. Boot with this diskette then install from CD. After system is running, user can boot from the CD, but will need to apply the patch mentioned above. User is advised to download the 2.2.12 kernel and apply the patch to that kernel instead of the one included with the distribution. After the kernel is patched and compiled, the user needs to install the lilo.rpm update found on the first CD in /unsorted/lilo. This will update the lilo program. User must then run lilo and system will boot from the hard disk.

2. Tester could not get the onboard NIC device working. Testing was done with a 3Com NIC installed into a PCI port.

3. Distribution will not correctyl identify the video driver. Use the VGA_16 X driver when setting up X.

4. Printer setup under SuSE did not work. This is a configuration problem with the distribution and not with the IBM hardware.

Legal

AppLabs makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, regarding the information or lack thereof present in this document or in the documents it references.




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