<div dir="ltr">On 28 March 2018 at 09:50, Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:talk@gtalug.org" target="_blank">talk@gtalug.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Giles, thanks for reply.</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">My remarks, questions below.</font></div><span class="">
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Steve</font></div>
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<div>----- Original Message ----- </div>
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<div style="FONT:10pt arial;BACKGROUND:#e4e4e4"><b>From:</b>
<a title="gilesorr@gmail.com" href="mailto:gilesorr@gmail.com" target="_blank">Giles Orr</a>
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<div style="FONT:10pt arial"><b>To:</b> <a title="apetrie@aspetrie.net" href="mailto:apetrie@aspetrie.net" target="_blank">Steve Petrie, P.Eng.</a> ; <a title="talk@gtalug.org" href="mailto:talk@gtalug.org" target="_blank">GTALUG Talk</a> </div>
<div style="FONT:10pt arial"><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, March 27, 2018 12:14
PM</div><span class="">
<div style="FONT:10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [GTALUG] New Deaktop PC --
To Run debian Linux - PCPartPicker Recipe;</div>
<div><br></div>
</span><span class=""><div dir="ltr">On 27 March 2018 at 09:08, Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:talk@gtalug.org" target="_blank">talk@gtalug.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;PADDING-LEFT:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><u></u>
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<div><font size="3" face="Arial"><b>Greetings To GTALUG,</b></font></div>
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<div>At long last I have created a final build recipe for my new
desktop PC to run debian Linux. Replacing an ancient Dell PC running WIndows
XP<font size="2" face="Arial">:</font></div>
<ul>
<li><font size="2" face="Arial"><a href="https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Steve_Petrie/saved/#view=krFNNG" target="_blank">https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/us<wbr>er/Steve_Petrie/saved/#view=kr<wbr>FNNG</a></font></li></ul>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"> The configuration is an Asus LGA1151
socket motherboard with Intel i5-6500 CPU and 16 GB DDR4
memory..</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">A dialup modem remains to be added:
US Robotics USR5637 V.92 USB Faxmodem</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Comments welcome.</font><font size="2" face="Arial"></font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">* * *</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">* * *</font></div>
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<div><font size="2" face="Arial">My plan is to be ordering the parts by Friday
30 March or or Monday 2 April at the latest. The HP PS/2 keyboard and
HP PS/2 mouse are already ordered (from PC-Canada) but that order is still
on hold, pending addition of items to the
order..</font></div></font></div><span class="m_-396228125245597030HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"></font></span></div></blockquote></div><br clear="all"></div>
<div style="MARGIN-RIGHT:0px" dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra">It's probably too
late to convince you of this (as I suspect it would strongly imply a move to a
newer and more expensive processor) but getting USB-C and USB3.1 on the
motherboard would be good. You can _probably_ get a PCI-E card later,
but I wonder if it will fully support USB-C's relatively complex alt-modes and
etc. Of course, it may not support them on the motherboard either, but I
think it's worth a try.<br></div></div></span></blockquote>
<div style="MARGIN-RIGHT:0px" dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"> </div>
<div style="MARGIN-RIGHT:0px" dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"> </div>
<div style="MARGIN-RIGHT:0px" dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra">***Good points. I will
look into a possible motherboard upgrade to add USB-C and USB3.1.<br></div><span class="">
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra">I'd also encourage you - fairly strongly - to
not get PS/2 accessories. You're already encountering one of the
problems, trying to plug two devices into one port - I suspect that won't go
well for you. Not only is USB much more versatile, it's much easier to
"split," and add more ports.<br></div></blockquote>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
</span><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">***</font></div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">*** I know that PS/2 is
an ancient interface. I only chose PS/2 because it is my understanding that a
PS/2 keyboard and mouse combination is better supported and earlier, during the
actual Linux boot process, than a USB keyboard and mouse combination.
</font><font size="2" face="Arial">So PS/2 keyboard and mouse offer more liklihood
of functionality when there are Linux boot problems.</font></div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">*** I also understand
that USB keyboards and mice, take far more and more complex software drivers to
be loaded before keyboard and mouse functionality appears. So a non-bootong
Linux may not offer a functional USB keyboard / mouse service, whereas a PS/2
cpmbination might already be alive and functional.</font></div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">*** If I'm wrong on this
PS/2 versus USB keyboard / mouse boot-friendliness business, I will happily
switch to using USB keyboard / mouse.</font></div><span class=""><font size="2" face="Arial"></font>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;PADDING-LEFT:5px;PADDING-RIGHT:0px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px" dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra">And finally, I'm in awe of your memory
strategy. But I totally agree: max out every slot - when you can afford
it. That's the way to go. And 16G is already a decent
baseline.</div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"> </div></blockquote>
</span><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">*** Confession: Actually,
the choice of a single 16 GB memory DIMM came about at the end of an arduous and
desperate search for ANY memory available in Canada at reasonable price, that is
listed on the Asus motherboard's memory QVL (qualified vendor
list).</font></div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_extra"><font size="2" face="Arial">*** But yes, I'm not
unhappy to be keeping the full 64GB address space open. </font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">*** Is it just a superstition that I read
somewhere, that there is there a memory access speed advantage, to
using more DIMMs to get the desired total memory size ?? For example, that a
dual-DIMM 2x8GB configuration provides faster memory access than a single
DIMM 1x16GB ??</font><br></div></div></blockquote><div> </div></div>The last time I ran into a motherboard that didn't want to support USB keyboards at the BIOS level, it was 15 years old (or older). I have a fair number of antique computers around my place, so I think this is a fairly measured judgement ... I don't think this is a problem with modern motherboards. Don't you have an old PS/2 keyboard from your previous computer? Keep it around for the "just in case Giles is wrong" (it happens).<br><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">I believe that there's still some advantage to having matched pairs of DIMMs, which have to be in the correct, matching slots. But I've also had the impression that this offers only a relatively small advantage. But I am NOT an expert an expert on this subject: I hope someone else can answer this in more detail.<br clear="all"></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Giles<br><a href="https://www.gilesorr.com/" target="_blank">https://www.gilesorr.com/</a><br><a href="mailto:gilesorr@gmail.com" target="_blank">gilesorr@gmail.com</a></div>
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