USB2 and ethernet combo PCI card?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike245
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Mike245

I'm quickly running out of slots and my only free slot is the one next
to the nvidia G3 card with the fan, which I think would be a smart move
to keep open. Is this assumption wrong?

I'd like to add USB2 support to my system, and it feels like an ethernet
card taking a PCI slot is a waste of space. Does anyone make a USB2
combo ethernet card or a USB2 combo sound card? Websearches have been
of no help so far. This is for a windows machine, so linux support isn't
necessary but it would be nice when I run Knoppix on occasion.

Also, can someone recommend a cheap linux-friendly AGP card?
Essentially its just for a linux server so 3D doesn't matter one whit.
I have older cards but the mobo has that new AGP slot that won't accept
older AGP cards. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm
currently sporting an old Matrox PCI card in there and its really on its
last legs and causing some problems. Running RH9, if it helps.
 
Mike245 said:
I'm quickly running out of slots and my only free slot is the one next
to the nvidia G3 card with the fan, which I think would be a smart move
to keep open. Is this assumption wrong?

I'd like to add USB2 support to my system, and it feels like an ethernet
card taking a PCI slot is a waste of space. Does anyone make a USB2
combo ethernet card or a USB2 combo sound card? Websearches have been
of no help so far. This is for a windows machine, so linux support isn't
necessary but it would be nice when I run Knoppix on occasion.

Also, can someone recommend a cheap linux-friendly AGP card?
Essentially its just for a linux server so 3D doesn't matter one whit.
I have older cards but the mobo has that new AGP slot that won't accept
older AGP cards. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm
currently sporting an old Matrox PCI card in there and its really on its
last legs and causing some problems. Running RH9, if it helps.
Click to expand...

Todays' ethernet cards are usually very small. The ones I've seen run
to the end of the PCI slot lenghwise, and the height is a bit over an
inch (maybe 3cm). Why can't you stick one of those next to the video
card?

Jeff
 
Mike245 said:
I'm quickly running out of slots and my only free slot is the one next
to the nvidia G3 card with the fan, which I think would be a smart move
to keep open. Is this assumption wrong?
Click to expand...

PIC1 is usually sharing resources with AGP, many graphics feature cards like
DVD/DivX cards are supposed to be plugged nto the first PCI for a good
preformance.

I'd like to add USB2 support to my system, and it feels like an ethernet
card taking a PCI slot is a waste of space. Does anyone make a USB2
combo ethernet card or a USB2 combo sound card? Websearches have been
of no help so far. This is for a windows machine, so linux support isn't
necessary but it would be nice when I run Knoppix on occasion.
Click to expand...

Nah, haven't heared or seen any such combinations, why not just upgrade your
mainboard to one with USB2/Ethernet/Sound built in, that would free 3 PCI for
you at once.
Also, can someone recommend a cheap linux-friendly AGP card? Essentially
its just for a linux server so 3D doesn't matter one whit. I have older
cards but the mobo has that new AGP slot that won't accept older AGP
cards. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently
sporting an old Matrox PCI card in there and its really on its last legs
and causing some problems. Running RH9, if it helps.
Click to expand...

What about a cheap GF2MX/GF4MX card?, then only thing I have seen to match
those in price lately is a really cheap noname mainboard with built in S3
graphics.


//Aho
 
Mike245 said:
I'm quickly running out of slots and my only free slot is the one next
to the nvidia G3 card with the fan, which I think would be a smart move
to keep open. Is this assumption wrong?

I'd like to add USB2 support to my system, and it feels like an ethernet
card taking a PCI slot is a waste of space. Does anyone make a USB2
combo ethernet card or a USB2 combo sound card? Websearches have been
of no help so far. This is for a windows machine, so linux support isn't
necessary but it would be nice when I run Knoppix on occasion.

Also, can someone recommend a cheap linux-friendly AGP card? Essentially
its just for a linux server so 3D doesn't matter one whit. I have older
cards but the mobo has that new AGP slot that won't accept older AGP
cards. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently
sporting an old Matrox PCI card in there and its really on its last legs
and causing some problems. Running RH9, if it helps.
Click to expand...

Remove PCI ethernet card. Install PCI USB2.0 card. Attach USB ethernet
adapter. I've heard that nVidia's support for linux is pretty good. I'm
running redhat 8 (for the moment) using a PCI TNT2 card.
 
Todays' ethernet cards are usually very small. The ones I've seen run
to the end of the PCI slot lenghwise, and the height is a bit over an
inch (maybe 3cm). Why can't you stick one of those next to the video
card?

Jeff
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats a great idea. I believe the card is a half sized. Thanks.
 
J.O. Aho said:
Nah, haven't heared or seen any such combinations, why not just upgrade
your mainboard to one with USB2/Ethernet/Sound built in, that would free
3 PCI for you at once.
Click to expand...

That's probably the next step or I'm going to just let it burn out, as
I've upgraded everything else on that machine. What's keeping me from
replacing the mobo is that I believe that means I would have to
reinstall windows2k and all my apps, which is a lot of work amd may not
be worth it right now (its not a slow machine but it uses old ram and
wont let me go faster than a 1.4mhz Duron).

I wonder, how well does windows handle finding itself in a new mobo but
with all the same peripherals/devices? The current mobo is a via-based
fic Compaq OEM.
 
Mike245 said:
I wonder, how well does windows handle finding itself in a new mobo but
with all the same peripherals/devices? The current mobo is a via-based
fic Compaq OEM.
Click to expand...

That is quite prooly handled by Microsoft Windows, regadles of version, and as
it don't properly uninstall drivers, the old drivers would be interfearing
with the new ones (if it would manage to install the new ones). I would
suggest you go totally for linux, there you can do a lot worse hardware
changes (made once a nice switch from P133/intel-chipset to
AMD1000/Via-chipset, removed harddrives from the old machine to the new,
turned on the new machine with the old harddrives, booted up and everything
worked thanks kudzu).

Another option could be, keep the Compaq as a microsoft windows box (IMHO
compaq machines are succy) and get a proper machine and run linux on it.


//Aho
 
[Followup-to set]

J.O. Aho said on 12/17/2003 8:43:
Nah, haven't heared or seen any such combinations
Click to expand...

DLink has a USB/Ethernet combo (DSB-H3ETX). Works fine on my Slackware system.
It uses the Pegasus chipset.

-Joe
 
J.O. Aho said:
That is quite prooly handled by Microsoft Windows, regadles of version,
and as it don't properly uninstall drivers, the old drivers would be
interfearing with the new ones (if it would manage to install the new
ones).
Click to expand...

You don't do that very often do you. I do it all the time and the above
paragraph is utter crap. Every version of Windows (from Win95 on)
adjusts itself to the new environment automatically.

If it already has the drivers it will load them automatically. If it
doesn't you load them afterwards. The old drivers do not do anything to
the new drivers.

I would suggest you go totally for linux, there you can do a lot
worse hardware changes (made once a nice switch from P133/intel-chipset
to AMD1000/Via-chipset, removed harddrives from the old machine to the
new, turned on the new machine with the old harddrives, booted up and
everything worked thanks kudzu).
Click to expand...

Linux also adjusts itself to a new motherboard, it does it alot quicker
and you don't have to reboot 16 times.
Another option could be, keep the Compaq as a microsoft windows box
(IMHO compaq machines are succy) and get a proper machine and run linux
on it.
Click to expand...

Yes Compaq machines do suck, and running Windows on them sucks even more.
 
J.O. Aho said:
....

Nah, haven't heared or seen any such combinations, why not just upgrade your
mainboard to one with USB2/Ethernet/Sound built in, that would free 3 PCI for
you at once.
Click to expand...

Except if it's an Eagletec M810-DLU, you'll probably have to add a
card anyway, because the onboard sis900 ethernet won't work with RH7.1
(knoppix is the only thing that even sees it), grumble grumble spit
snarl.

Sound only works in knoppix too (but x doesn't very well)

I just posted this as a heads-up so others can learn from my
experience.
Of course, YMMV.
 
Harry said:
J.O. Aho wrote: ....

You don't do that very often do you. I do it all the time and the above
paragraph is utter crap. Every version of Windows (from Win95 on)
adjusts itself to the new environment automatically.

If it already has the drivers it will load them automatically. If it
doesn't you load them afterwards. The old drivers do not do anything to
the new drivers.
Click to expand...
With winNT/2K/XP, you'll probably get the famous "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE"
or other errors. No, safe mode doesn't help here, either one has drivers
preloaded or one has to reinstall.
Well, in Linux that shows as "no init found/kernel panic", but there are
always solutions :)
 
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