enabling "lapic" boot option on 10.04 Live CD

After burning the Live CD at the slowest speed my burner would do, I got it to boot on the old (2003) Pentium III that I'd like to eventually install it on. I tried to run the axis and stepper_inch sim configurations of LinuxCNC once it booted in the "try-it" mode, but they both said something about needing the local APIC option ("lapic") in the boot. So, I found this page:

help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

It said to press any key during the "keyboard equals man in circle" screen (I was trying to get to the point where you can hit F6 to manually edit the boot line and add options), but it seems like the keyboard is not loading till the next screen (the "Ubuntu with dots under it" screen). I tried hitting a few letter keys, but those didn't seem to do anything, so I tried hitting NUM LCK, which didn't respond (light the LED on the keyboard) till I hit it again once on the "Ubuntu with dots under it" screen. Any ideas? It's a USB keyboard. Could it not be activating the USB ports till it gets to that second screen? The motherboard is a Shuttle AV18E (ancient, complete with ISA slot cause I used to have a SCSI card in there with a CD-R drive and a zip drive hooked up to it):

global.shuttle.com/products/productsSpec?productId=612

Thanks,
David

Hi

If you are contemplating running on a PIII, you must use the 8.04 based Live CD

Even if the 10.04 one would work, it would almost certainly run horribly.

LAPIC will cease to be a problem, the realtime with 8.04 does not require it.

Your BIOS undoubtably does not support USB and you will be reliant upon drivers being loaded before your keyboard works.
With a computer that old you should be using a PS2 keyboard or adaptor

However I would advise buying an old coporate desktop P4 2.4GHz or higher. You can pick them up cheaply on Ebay.
The PIII is very slow and even if you get it working, it will be very frustrating to use

regards

Thanks. I just burned the 8.04 CD. Will see how that works tonight. If not so well, it may be time to shop for a used P4...

I ran the latency test with the 8.04 CD - not so great - 42619 and 34496 ns. Any advice on shopping for a used P4? Anything to stay away from due to SMI issues, etc?

Hi

We are the opposite side of the 'pond' so what is available will differ.

I have 3 of these, which return 9K max base jitter very heavily loaded
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FUJITSU-SIEMENS-SCENI...&hash=item1e7dd24ced

As a lot of members are from the US, the list at
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Latency-Test
should assist

Note there are no good 'makes', it is all down to the actual motherboard chipsets etc.
Dell seems ubiquitous in the US, but be warned ther are some absolute dogs from that stable alongside others of seemingly similar spec that work well.

Regards SMI, see my FAQs at the head of the Computer section, I have listed all the chipsets affected
The latency test page also mentions SMI for several models

If in doubt, when you have found a few alternatives, ask if anyone else is using that machine.

That will be the best check

regards

Yup, lots of Dells on eBay. I did find some cheap Lenovos (might need a little more memory):

www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-M52-...&hash=item35cab3fa5f

specs:

support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-60416

dbotos wrote:

Yup, lots of Dells on eBay. I did find some cheap Lenovos (might need a little more memory):

www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-M52-...&hash=item35cab3fa5f

specs:

support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-60416

That one uses the 82801GB chipset which is ICH7
Both the revision 0 and revision 1 of this chipset cause the SMI problem, but it should be able to be rectified by the smi fix
www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/forum...me-latency-solutions

You would be well advised to get another 512MB at least of RAM and may want to consider a graphics card, depends how the onboard chip performs and the jitter you get in graphics operations

Yup, I saw that chipset in the specs. The SMI page on the wiki didn't specifically call out the 82801GB, but did mention the ICH7, rev 0 and 1. I guess if the SMI fixes will make it behave, it's worth a shot for the price...

I am guessing that GB equates to revision 1, because the lettering goes up to GH or higher

It is confusing to say the least, that they started with one lettering system and then partly went over to another alpha numeric one, whilst using both interchangably.

I would hope that it does cure it, but can't promise anything.
Hold off getting the extra RAM / video card until you have tried it. You should be able to put it straight back on ebay and get your money back at least if worst comes to worst

regards

Yeah, the Lenovo spec didn't say what ICH7 revision it was. I tried to google on it, but didn't come up with much. I did find a loooong pdf document from Intel that mentioned something about a Revision Identification Register. Maybe something I can check once I get a hold of the machine. Will report back on that and the latency once I get it and have a chance to mess with it. Would this machine be a better candidate for 8.04 or 10.04 (P4, 3.2 GHz)?