Hi All,

Starting with the next AROS release I would like to publish list of "recommended hardware".

We have a great HCL list here https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Aros/Platforms/x86_Complete_System_HCL for people to check to what level their current hardware is supported. However for people who are willing to buy a new system specifically for AROS, a "recommended hardware" list would be something that takes out ambiguity from the decision process.

What conditions need to be met for a system to be on recommended hardware list?

The main one is that hardware needs to be owned by someone from testing team (=people contributing to in " AROS **** Development" threads) and the person needs to be willing to test current and future releases. So there is a commitment to continuity involved from person but also from me - if the hardware is on recommended list and there is a regression I commit to resolving it.

The second point is that the hardware needs to be somewhat common, in a sense that it can still be purchased second-hand without much trouble. It also needs to be unambiguous, that is a model name refers to a given hardware, rather then hardware family with multiple different components, some of which work and some do not under AROS.

The third area would be usability under AROS, here I'm thinking about following items:

• boots using VESA or native driver
• support audio via built-in or PCI card
• support wired or wireless network via built-in or PCI card
• AROS installs and runs from internal storage (IDE, IDE-emulation, SATA)

As far as size of that list goes, I'm thinking about 1-5 motherboards and 1-10 complete system. The limitation needs to be there so that we are not overwhelmed with testing and regression fixing. This will also hopefully help us choose the best supported hardware, rather then just list anything that works. I also don't expect this list to be at full (5/10) already in this release. It would be welcomed if we could recommend 1-2 motherboards and 1-2 complete systems this time around and see how things evolve.

I'm interested in hearing your feedback on this idea and whether you are interested in committing for the testing part, which might involve in future need for you to purchase some of the recommended hardware.

Also if something I wrote is not clear, please let me know and I will try to explain better.

I don't have any proposals for complete systems but I have used and use the HP Z400 and Z600 workstations, you have to take apart the network card and graphics

The Fujitsu Futro S720 is pretty useable for exploring and using AROS. Related to PoE-Connection and at least 1, maximum of 2 Sata-ports - so you can place a 2.5" hdd/ssd inside the casing - and internal USB-Connector-Pins, its a flexible device. Was running very well on AHCI and IDE-Mode so exploring those protocols can be also useful. Ethernet-Port is working fine with Realtek6169 and also Wireless should be useable related to Intel dual band.

The price for that device (Date: 06.11.2023) is ~30€, so it's pretty cheap. Related to the mass of these thin clients, it's quiet easy to purchase (not sure if also in America).

The only disadvantage here is the mSata-Port with the mSata-Module inside, which isn't required to start the thinclient.

So my recommentation for adding devices to a list for users without AROS-running devices.

I would second the idea of thinclients. But it is hard to tell which one(s) will remain available, over a longer time line. Some of them need storage expansion, if not run from USB, and the average user may not be up to the task.

ParkyTowers has thinclient reviews (specs, expansion, and limitations). I would suggest research in to the HP line of machines. https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/hp/ There is a wide range of them; they are plentiful and affordable. I don't, myself, have any.

I do have a handful of Wyse Cx0 thinclients. I don't believe Aros supports the gigabit ethernet, that it has built in. They do still seem available and affordable. But the internal storage upgrade may be more then an average user would want to face. It uses mini-ide flash, which can be spendy per Gig. It also only runs at 1Ghz, with a VIA processor (like a Pentium 4, with Pentium 3 performance). I would advise against this machine, unless someone wrote a 3D accelerated driver for it (and gigabit ethernet). Many of the HPs have better specs.

My question would be, what chip support and performance are we looking for? Is native video preferred?

I'd be willing to go through machines I have. A uniform checklist would be good. What would be excellent, is a wide spectrum benchmark app. The output could be attached to posts. Lots of system information could be included (hardware,vendor IDs, performance, bootlog). Would be handy, between builds, to see benchmarked performance differences. Example: is a network driver "unexpectedly" transferring slower then it should? But even without, an all in one test build proving app, most things could be included in a checklist; as long as the users knew how to derive the data for reporting.

@All

Thanks for comments

At this point I think we should gather a wide list of potential hardware, that anyone of you have and can confirm it runs latest AROS release and has basic video/audio/network support. Once such a wide list is built, a starting selection of a smaller set of models would be made, were secondary topics would weight in (for example: does it support only VESA or also native + 3D, does it support WiFi or only Ethernet, etc.)

So again, if you personally have hardware that you tested with latest release and found the basics working (the 4 bullet points in my first post), please post the name here and also post a link to either a manufactures page describing the model or a link to ebay/whatever where you can purchase this model.

It is difficult to do the search for complete systems totally compatible, I have had many in these years I have only added the graphics card and ethernet however currently I have an HP Z400 of which I added as mentioned above otherwise the original system goes VESA and the ethernet does not work

@Amiwell79

HP Z400 looks interesting. It is still fairly available on ebay so that's a good point. The downside is that it is a family of machines with different RAM/CPU and Video Cards. The question is whether the motherboard is the same in the whole family.

Some questions from me:
a) How is audio support? On-board Audio works?
b) What video card did you get your machine with?
c) Can you go to PCITool, click "Save complete PCI information to RAM Disk" and send me the generated file?

The Z400 has two types of motherboards the memory slots change substantially from 4 to 6 slots, for the rest the hardware remains unchanged, the audio on board works, a configuration with an NVIDIA Cuda NVS 295 video card can happen, which is perfectly compatible and costs very little, the ethernet on board does not work, but you can get a card for a few euros, actually my video board is a nvidia geforce 8400 GS with 512 Mb of ram the cost is very low

So why did you have to change the graphics card from the one you got with the computer?

For games that require 512 MB of RAM

Ok, thanks. What was the original video card and was it supported by AROS in native+3D mode?

Only with the NVIDIA CUDA NVS 290 card do other types of cards work with the VESA standard

It's a great computer, it doesn't cost as much as you say, you can still find it easily and it can also work with Linux and Windows and then AROS 64 and Axruntime

What do you mean by "other types of cards"?

It is usually sold with NVIDIA CUDA family cards

Looking at this page (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01709672), it seems it is sold with following cards:

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 450 512 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 295 256 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 256 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro FX 380 256 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 512 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 768 MB PCIe Graphics Card
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB Graphics
NVIDIA Quadro 5000 2.5GB Graphics

So what you are saying is that from the list only NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290 works with AROS in native mode?

yes exactly, I don't know if maybe the 295 also works well in native

Which other cards from the list have you also tested?

Now I don't have the cards here with me, I find out who I sold them to if they were 290 or 295

No, what I mean is that you said that other cards from HP Z400 family work only in VESA mode. So my question is which other cards from the family you tested and they failed working with AROS native driver. Or did you misunderstand and you haven't tested any other cards from HP Z400 family then then 290?