[MPlayer-users] Re: DVD trouble on Inspiron 6000 (SCSI: No DMA)

[Reshat Sabiq]

Thorgal Aegirsson <d_werdan <at> yahoo.com> writes:

> there is a net-install solution ;)
> 
> BUT!
> don't do that if you're happy with fedora. As I said
> earlier, debian has quite a diffrent approach when it
> comes to box configuration and other sorts of box
> hacks. If you're used to administer your machine in a
> fedora environment, you could be surprised ... and
> depressed at times ...
> So, as long as you're ok with FC, I wouldn't recommend
> switching to debian. I did it because I was tired of
> many things with redhat-FC but that was in the early
> days (redhat9, FC1). I guess it has improved by then
> :) 

I've tried the latest stable Debian thru net-install, using 1.4 kernel. Same
thing: no DMA, and hdparm cannot be used to turn it on. I'll re-install it using
2.6 kernel, just in case, but i expect the same result. In which case i'll have
to stay on FC, because i'm already used to it.

P.S. Btw., i find FC installer, anaconda, more powerful and user-friendly. It
picked radeon driver for me, for instance, whereas Debian defaulted to vesa.
Debian had some security questions though, which made me think about some
things. On the plus side, Debian might be a tad more secure, and
security-maintainable. But the i use Linux, FC and Debian would probably be
about equivalent in security terms.

P.P.S. I thought hibernate and suspend were the largest general holes in Linux.
But looks like DMA support is also in that category for a good number of
machines out there.
I'd prioritize things as:
1. DMA
2. hibernate and suspend
3. better peripherals support