Ubuntu Recommended Hardware List

[aysiu]

I'm very good at coming up with ideas but not very good at following through with them (take a look at the IceBuntu derivative, Ubuntuzilla, the Ubuntu forum ambassadors). I'm hoping, in my eternal laziness, that others will take up these reins as well.

I thought there was a thread about this already, but I can't find it. I did find a Brainstorm about it. (http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/8988/)

Ubuntu Recommended Hardware List
This would be a Wiki page at https://help.ubuntu.com/community (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecommendedHardware) but it would be very different from https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport

It's nice to have something like HardwareSupport to find out if the hardware you already have will work well with Ubuntu. Truthfully, you can probably find that out quite quickly with a live CD, but HardwareSupport also sometimes has little tweaks and fixes to compatibility problems that crop up for certain configurations.

What I'm proposing goes beyond that. It's not targeted at people who want to install Ubuntu on hardware they already have. It's targeted at people looking to get new hardware for Ubuntu (either a new desktop/laptop or new peripherals).

The idea is to go beyond just "Does it work?" or "Is there some crazy tutorial that can somehow make it work?" and really shoot for "What can you get that is guaranteed to work?"

In other words, what hardware components would you put the Tux sticker or Ubuntu sticker on?

Is anyone with me on this?

The page is here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecommendedHardware

[Mazza558]

If you dig up my perfectly working laptops thread somewhere on the forums, you'll find a huge list of what people have claimed work fine with Ubuntu. This'd be a good start.

[aysiu]

If you dig up my perfectly working laptops thread somewhere on the forums, you'll find a huge list of what people have claimed work fine with Ubuntu. This'd be a good start.
Thanks. That may be my start.

[gameryoshi600]

Nice. Next time I get a new laptop I will add what worked and what didn't. I will even put ubuntu on my other comps i never use to test.

[atomkarinca]

If everyone chips in their perfectly working hardware, we can get a reasonable database even with just that.

[aysiu]

Thanks. That may be my start.
I added the Dell and IBM. I wasn't too sure about the laptops that got low * ratings.

I also took out anything that mentioned any kind of tweak (installing 915resolution, for example).

[aysiu]

If everyone chips in their perfectly working hardware, we can get a reasonable database even with just that.
I just want to make sure people know to put in only hardware that works perfectly.

None of this "If you just install _____ driver" or "If you edit the /etc/modules file" stuff.

[gunashekar]

I fail to understand the wisdom of " ubuntu recommended hardware" list. I was under the impression that ubuntu/linux is meant to work on all types of hardware. I understand that there are some issues with certain hardware and some hardware may need some tweaks. Information on such problem hardware is welcome. Every other hardware should be "recommended" for ubuntu.

[atomkarinca]

I just found out (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_evolution&num=1) that latest ATI graphics cards are shipped with Tux logo on it and Linux drivers inside the CD.

[aysiu]

I fail to understand the wisdom of " ubuntu recommended hardware" list. I was under the impression that ubuntu/linux is meant to work on all types of hardware. I understand that there are some issues with certain hardware and some hardware may need some tweaks. Information on such problem hardware is welcome. Every other hardware should be "recommended" for ubuntu.
So someone who's looking to buy hardware that will work well with Ubuntu should first look to see which ones don't work and then, by process of elimination, buy something else in the hopes that it will work?

[gunashekar]

So someone who's looking to buy hardware that will work well with Ubuntu should first look to see which ones don't work and then, by process of elimination, buy something else in the hopes that it will work?

someone who's looking to buy hardware should be able to go ahead and buy any hardware and be reasonably confident that it will work with Ubuntu as well as it works with other popular operating systems.

[atomkarinca]

someone who's looking to buy hardware should be able to go ahead and buy any hardware and be reasonably confident that it will work with Ubuntu as well as it works with other popular operating systems.

How can you say that where hardware vendors are willingly writing Windows drivers and not showing the slightest bit of code to Linux developers? Do you think reverse engineering is a piece of cake? Well, it's not. In a retail store on how many boxes can you see a Tux logo, and on how many of them can you see a Windows logo?

Someone who's looking to buy hardware for Ubuntu should go ahead and check whether it's working on Ubuntu or not.

[aysiu]

someone who's looking to buy hardware should be able to go ahead and buy any hardware and be reasonably confident that it will work with Ubuntu as well as it works with other popular operating systems.
What world do you live in?

Ubuntu is not compatible with every single piece of hardware in existence. And it does work better with some hardware than others.

No, you can't just get anything.

[wersdaluv]

Digg this!

[aysiu]

I'd really like to encourage people to update the wiki entry with hardware they know works for them instead of culling old lists that may have works-quite-well-with-tweaking hardware instead of works-perfectly hardware.

[gunashekar]

My experience has been that the compatibility of Linux with different hardware has been growing amazingly fast. I am of the opinion that today we can claim that Linux / Ubuntu works "out of the box" for most mass market pc hardware. Certainly any quality and mass marketed hardware will not remain incompatible with Linux for long. There are some issues of course with certain hardware (such as Winmodems) and with manufacturers not sharing code with Linux developers but they are a vanishing breed . In any case Linux developers are finding workarounds faster than ever before. This amazing ability of Linux will perhaps be an important reason for people taking to Linux in the future.

My point is that we have reached a stage when manufacturers have started putting tux or Ubuntu logos on their hardware. If we are to fight the Ubuntu bug No 1, it is time to let the hardware manufacturers start worrying if their hardware will be purchased by a Linux user.

I still maintain that it is not possible to evaluate and recommend with certainty, any specific hardware brand / model as being better suited to Ubuntu than another. We can only list hardware that has problems working with Ubuntu or those that require some tweaks to make them work. My prediction is that the long lists of Linux compatible hardware will soon become irrelevant.

[aysiu]

We can certainly help along the process by encouraging people to buy hardware that works perfectly with Linux, thus providing financial incentives to hardware manufacturers for making sure their hardware is Linux compatible (perhaps working with the kernel developers in that endeavor).

I don't really see how it could hurt to have a Recommended Hardware page until we're at the point where every virtually every single ccnsumer-targeted peripheral and computer has a Tux logo on it.

[zachtib]

Is the intent for everything here to work on strictly open source drivers. ie, I had to load the nvidia driver for my quadro card, but everything else on my laptop works ootb

[aysiu]

Is the intent for everything here to work on strictly open source drivers. ie, I had to load the nvidia driver for my quadro card, but everything else on my laptop works ootb
Yes, that is the intent.

That's why it's recommended hardware and not just hardware that can work.

[rune0077]

I still maintain that it is not possible to evaluate and recommend with certainty, any specific hardware brand / model as being better suited to Ubuntu than another. We can only list hardware that has problems working with Ubuntu or those that require some tweaks to make them work. My prediction is that the long lists of Linux compatible hardware will soon become irrelevant.

The list of hardware that doesn't work on Ubuntu would be considerably longer than the list of hardware that does. You're prediction, nice as it sounds, may be a tad optimistic. It would be a lot less work to list what does work.

I'm all for this list, I'll help out with the hardware I've got working.

[Tom--d]

I can say that my Laptop, Toshiba A200 IVO works. (not all things, has to be configured a lot (wireless, and only wireless). I'm not here to say put this laptop on but the hardware inside it)).

My lspci is: they all work-out-of-the-box and NO configuration is needed at all!

Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub
VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller
Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03)
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller
SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller
SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller

Hope this helps.

*** The reason I think this laptop should not be under all works-out-of-the-box is due to the wireless card. Its a hard one to configure but is possible.***

Hope this helps.

[GavinZac]

Yes, that is the intent.

That's why it's recommended hardware and not just hardware that can work.

So is it a case of works-out-of-the-box, or does this have to be solely free software? My laptop worked with an out-of-the-box Hardy install, but Hardy automatically put the restricted drivers in place for me.

[aysiu]

So is it a case of works-out-of-the-box, or does this have to be solely free software? My laptop worked with an out-of-the-box Hardy install, but Hardy automatically put the restricted drivers in place for me.
Well, I think that might be up for some discussion.

I'd be inclined to go with - if Hardy automatically (with no user intervention) installs restricted drivers for you, then it should be recommended.

I know some here would disagree.

We could always star those or put those in a different color if there was controversy about their inclusion.

[atomkarinca]

Well, I think that might be up for some discussion.

I'd be inclined to go with - if Hardy automatically (with no user intervention) installs restricted drivers for you, then it should be recommended.

I know some here would disagree.

We could always star those or put those in a different color if there was controversy about their inclusion.

Doesn't having a Linux driver count as works-out-of-the-box? Does it matter if it works as you plug in or not? Hmm, I'm a little confused.

[rune0077]

Do monitors go under the multimedia section, or is the monitor-section just missing? (or am I just blind and didn't see it?)

[aysiu]

I left off the monitor section. Feel free to add it in. Whoops.

[odiseo77]

I think this is a good idea, but I'm wondering: is there a lot of hardware, or a reasonable amount of hardware, that works *perfectly well* and *out of the box* on Linux without any tweaking?

I mean, for example, I have a wireless card with the rt2500 chipset, which has native Linux drivers and which drivers have even been recently included into the Linux kernel. This card used to work perfectly and out of the box in Feisty. But then, on Gutsy, I think the Ubuntu developers included the newer, but experimental, rt2x00 driver which had some flaws, so people had to blacklist some modules and install the legacy driver to get things working fine. Now that the kernel developers included the rt2x00 driver in the kernel (from kernel 2.6.24 and up), paradoxically, new issues have arisen, so I had to do some tweaking on Hardy to get the card working again. Anyway, I hope, and I believe, this issues will surely be solved in the future with more work by the folks from serialmonkey and the kernel devs; and if some friend asks me for a good wireless card, I'd probably suggest this one since it's the only one I know and has native linux drivers, although I'd warn him/her about the problems he/she might have. However, something worth telling here is that I have the card working perfectly fine on Debian Lenny after blacklisting the new kernel's modules and installing the legacy driver; and on Arch, which is supposed to be hard I didn't even had to install any driver; I just followed some Arch guide I read and after following a few simple steps, the card was working like a charm, even using the new driver included in the kernel (which gave me problems on Hardy).

Aside that, I have a cheap webcam which uses the stv680 driver that works absolutely flawlessly on Linux. I also have a HP digital camera which works perfectly fine on linux, and an old HP printer which works fine too (don't remember which model, though. And no, this is not a HP advertisement :)).

So, what I mean, or what I'm trying to figure out, is the question from the beginning: "Is there a reasonable amount of hardware that works *perfectly well*, *out of the box* and *without any tweaking* on Linux" as to build a database based exclusively on this hardware, and excluding other pieces of hardware that would surely work after following some steps?

Please, don't misunderstand me, I don't want to spoil the party, nor this intended to be a rant. I understand the purpose of building such a database (or list, etc.) is inherently related to the aim of Ubuntu, which is targeted primarily at newbies and people who want things to just work and don't want to spend some time making some piece of hardware work.

What first comes to my mind as a solution is a memory from my first steps in Linux. I remember having seen a Mandrake hardware compatibility list which had ratings for the listed hardware. So it could be something like "Works OOB", "Requires tweaking", "Doesn't work", etc.

Hope my thoughts can be of any help.

(And sorry if the last part is poorly elaborated, it's just that I'm about to leave the office and my boss is almost throwing me out of it, hehe).

[aysiu]

I don't think the list needs to be that long, as long as there is as least one item listed per category.

It's not intended to be a long list (though if it is one, great).

We already have a hardware compatibility list that lists what works, what doesn't, what sort of works with tweaking, etc. It's a mess to go through, and some of the stuff hasn't been tested since Breezy.

[madjr]

@aysiu

i have been looking a lot lately into the Wine app database (http://appdb.winehq.org/) and i think your project would be perfect with this type of system.

it's just so easy to use and organized. Also the Top-10 Platinum & Gold List make it easy to spot working apps.

I think we could do the same with Hardware.

maybe they can lend us the code, get something similar up and running with one of the CMS's available (like brainstorm did) and/or integrating it with launchpad for bug reports.


i feel each Wine release follows a similar process as kernel or ubuntu releases (new compatibility, new bugs, broken stuff, etc.)

the point would be to make interactive and easy for anyone to search and/or post their experiences with the hardware + ubuntu version (like the ratings used: platinum, gold [...] garbage)

efficient + easy

what do you think?

[aysiu]

It sounds good in theory, but I don't have the technical expertise to implement it. I was kind of hoping the community would step up to get this project off the ground, but there hasn't been much contribution so far.

[odiseo77]

It sounds good in theory, but I don't have the technical expertise to implement it. I was kind of hoping the community would step up to get this project off the ground, but there hasn't been much contribution so far.

Sorry aysiu; I recognize after my post above I should have checked all my hardware and list what works, etc. It's just that lately I've been a bit busy at work (and lazy at home), so for one reason or another, I haven't done it. Anyway, I'll try to do it tonight, or the upcoming days, and post the list here :). (Sorry if this sounds as a personal note).

[chris4585]

I contributed! :D

Also I added the "Printer - Scanner - Copiers" section, I felt it needed one, since I have a printer/scanner/copier that works out of the box

good idea aysiu

[odiseo77]

Well, I tried to login with my launchpad account to the site aysiu links on his first post, but I forgot my launchpad password, and for some reason the recovery haven't sent my password to my e-mail yet. So, if someone else can post this hardware there I'd appreciate it. Here it is:

lspci on machine 1 (P4 2.6 Ghz):


00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP Controller (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB (ICH5) SATA Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x] (rev a2)
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)

(Everything there works perfectly).

lspci on machine 2 (C2D 2 Ghz):


00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82946GZ/PL/GL Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82946GZ/PL/GL PCI Express Root Port (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G71 [GeForce 7300 GS] (rev a1)
05:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation PRO/100 VE Network Connection (rev 01)

Everything above works perfectly. I omitted the rt2500 wireless card for the reasons I mentioned before (requires extra tweaking).

Peripherals and other devices:

.-HP DeskJet 842C (printer).
.-HP Photosmart E317 (Digital Camera).
.-Titan Digital mp4 player.
.-STMicroelectronics Imaging Division (VLSI Vision) Aiptek PenCam 1 (USB webcam with the stv680 driver). This is supposed to be a dual mode camera (webcam and digital camera), but the still images it takes are so bad and have a really poor resolution, so I think it's better to say it's just a webcam.
.-Any generic USB flash drive and mp3 device, etc.

Greetings.

[nickdbliss]

Printer:Hp Photosmart C4188 (All in one)
Media card reader:Texas Instruments, 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)
Ethernet Card:Broadcom Corporation's NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet
Dvd reader:MATSHITA-UJDA770 DVD/CDRW


Those are the things that worked on my hp nx6325 laptop out of the box using hardy. Rest i had to tweak, to get it going.