COURSE OUTLINE

UNIT TITLE : INSTALL COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS UNIT CODE : ELC724318 UNIT DESCRIPTOR : This unit covers the outcomes required in installing, assembling and testing computers and common peripherals. ELEMENT PERFORMANCE CRITERIA Italicized terms are elaborated in the Range of Variables 1 Plan and prepare for installation 1.1. Installation is planned and prepared to ensure OH&S policies and procedures are followed, the work is appropriately sequenced in accordance with requirements. 1.2. Appropriate personnel are consulted to ensure the work is coordinated effectively with others involved on the work site. 1.3. Devices / systems are obtained in accordance with established procedures and to comply with requirements. 1.4. Location in which devices / systems are to be installed is determined from job requirements. 1.5. Materials necessary to complete the work are obtained in accordance with established procedures and checked against job requirements. 1.6. Tools, equipment and testing devices needed to carry out the installation work are obtained in accordance with established procedures and checked for correct operation and safety. 1.7. Preparatory work is checked to ensure no unnecessary damage has occurred and complies with requirements. 2 Install equipment / device / system 2.1. OH&S policies and procedures for installing devices/systems are followed. 2.2. Devices / systems are installed in accordance with requirements, without damage or distortion to the surrounding environment or services. 2.3. Variation to devices / systems installation is carried out in accordance to customer/client requirements 2.4. Devices / systems are terminated and connected in accordance with requirements 2.5. Unplanned events or conditions are responded to in accordance with established procedures 2.6. Approval is obtained in accordance with established procedures from appropriate personnel before any contingencies are implemented 2.7 On-going checks of the quality of the work are undertaken in accordance with established procedures 3 Conduct test 3.1 OH&S policies and procedures are followed 3.2 Circuits and systems are checked as being isolated where necessary using specified testing procedures 3.3 Parts or connections of the installation or service that are removed in order to conduct the test are stored to protect against loss or damage and in accordance with established procedures 3.4 Unplanned events or conditions are responded to in accordance with established procedures 3.5 Approval is obtained in accordance with established procedures from appropriate personnel before any contingencies are implemented 3.6 Devices / systems and/or installation is tested to determine whether it conforms to requirements 3.7 Parts, and/or connections removed for the purpose of testing are returned to pre-test conditions in

accordance with established procedures 3.8 Final inspections are undertaken to ensure the installed devices / systems conforms to requirements 3.9 Documentation in relation to the test is forwarded to appropriate personnel and/or authority in accordance with requirements

RANGE OF VARIABLES Variable Range 1. OH&S policies and procedures 1.1 Occupational Health and Safety Laws 1.2 Personal Safety 1.3 Workplace Hazards 1.4 Environment Laws 2. Requirements 2.1 Job orders 2.2 Request forms 2.3 Report sheets 3. Devices / Systems 3.1 Personal computer systems and devices * Monitor * System unit and its components e.g., motherboard, power supply 3.2 Peripherals such as printers, scanners 3.3 Network devices and cabling such as hubs, switches, LAN cards 4. Appropriate personnel 4.1 Technical Supervisor 4.2 Client 5. Tools, equipment and testing devices 5.1 Protective eyewear 5.2 Digital multi-meter 5.3 Wire stripper with bolt cutter 5.4 Pliers (assorted) 5.5 Screw drivers (assorted) 5.6 Soldering iron 5.7 Desoldering tool 5.8 Allen wrench (0.05 0.25 inch) 5.9 Flashlight 5.10 IC insertion/extraction tool 5.11 Mirror (inspection) 5.12 RS 232 pin insertion/extraction tool 5.13 Sharp pointed tweezers 5.14 Antistatic wrist wrap 5.15 LAN Tester 5.16 Crimping tools 6. Testing procedures 6.1 Aging test 6.2 Substitution test

EVIDENCE GUIDE 1. Critical aspects of competency Assessment must show that the candidate: 1.1. Installed the computer systems and networks in accordance with requirements, without damage or distortion to the surrounding environment or services 1.2. Tested the installed computer systems and network to determine whether it conforms to clients requirements 1.3. Conducted final inspections to ensure the installed devices / systems conforms to clients requirements 2. Underpinning knowledge 2.1. Types of computers 2.2. Computer operating systems 2.3. Peripheral devices 2.4. Application packages & use of application programs 2.5. Multimedia systems 2.6. Motherboards 2.7. Multimedia storage devices: 2.8. Video cards 2.9. Sound cards 2.10. Computer PC hardware 2.11. Local area networks (LANs) 2.12. Graphical user interface 2.13. Use of utilities/software * Operating systems * Diagnostic software * Device drivers 3 Underpinning skills 3.1 Cable troubleshooting 3.2 Problem solving skills 3.3 Decision making skills 3.4 Reading and writing skills 4 Method of assessment The assessor may select any two of the following assessment methods to objectively assess the candidate: 4.1 Practical Demonstration w/ oral questioning 4.2 Interview 4.3 Third Party 4.4 Portfolio

Planning Your System Installation

This topic provides an overview of the primary components typically deployed in a contact center environment and the installation processes for contact center components. It also describes the types of installations and various installation strategies.

Planning and preparing for cluster installation

Before carrying out cluster installation, you need to plan hardware and network details. Caution
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If you are using a shared storage device, before creating a cluster, when you turn on the computer and start the operating system, it is very important that only one node has access to the cluster disk. Otherwise, the cluster disks can become corrupted. To prevent the corruption of the cluster disks, shut down all but one cluster node, or use other techniques (for example, LUN masking, selective presentation, or zoning) to protect the cluster disks before creating the cluster. Once the Cluster service is running properly on one node, the other nodes can be installed and configured simultaneously. Each node of your cluster must be running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition.

In your planning, review the following items:

Cluster hardware and drivers

Microsoft supports only complete server cluster systems that are compatible with the Windows Server 2003 family. Confirm that your entire cluster solution is compatible with products in the Windows Server 2003 family by clicking the appropriate link in Support resources. For cluster disks, you must use the NTFS file system and configure the disks as basic disks. You cannot configure cluster disks as dynamic disks, and you cannot use features of dynamic disks such as spanned volumes (volume sets). Review the manufacturer's instructions carefully before you begin installing cluster hardware. Otherwise, the cluster storage could be corrupted. If your cluster hardware includes a SCSI bus, be sure to carefully review any instructions about termination of the SCSI bus and configuration of SCSI IDs. To simplify configuration and eliminate potential compatibility problems, consider using identical hardware for all nodes.

Network adapters on the cluster nodes

In your planning, decide what kind of communication each network adapter will carry. The following list provides details about the types of communication that an adapter can carry:
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Only node-to-node communication (private network). This implies that the server has one or more additional adapters to carry other communication. For node-to-node communication, you connect the network adapter to a private network that is used exclusively within the cluster. Note that if the private network uses a single hub or network switch, that piece of equipment becomes a potential point of failure in your cluster.

The nodes of a cluster must be on the same subnet but you can use virtual LAN (VLAN) switches on the interconnects between two nodes. If you use a VLAN, the point to point, round-trip latency must be less than 1/2 second and the link between two nodes must appear as a single point-to-point connection from the perspective of the Windows operating system running on the nodes. To avoid single points of failure, use independent VLAN hardware for the different paths between the nodes. If your nodes use multiple private (node-to-node) networks, it is a best practice for the adapters for those networks to use static IP addresses instead of DHCP.
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Only client-to-cluster communication (public network). This implies that the server has one or more additional adapters to carry other communication. Both node-to-node and client-to-cluster communication (mixed network). When you have multiple network adapters per node, a network adapter that carries both kinds of communication can serve as a backup for other network adapters. Communication unrelated to the cluster. If a clustered node also provides services unrelated to the cluster, and there are enough adapters in the cluster node, you might want to use one adapter for carrying communication unrelated to the cluster.

The nodes of a cluster must be connected by two or more local area networks (LANs); at least two networks are required to prevent a single point of failure. A server cluster whose nodes are connected by only one network is not a supported configuration. The adapters, cables, hubs, and switches for each network must fail independently. This usually implies that the components of any two networks must be physically independent. At least two networks must be configured to handle All communications (mixed network) or Internal cluster communications only (private network). The recommended configuration for two adapters is to use one adapter for the private (node-to-node only) communication and the other adapter for mixed communication (node-to-node plus client-to-cluster communication). Consider choosing a name for each connection that tells what it is intended for. The name makes it easier to identify the connection whenever you are configuring the server. Notes
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If you use fault tolerant network adapters, create multiple private networks instead of a single fault-tolerant network. Do not use teaming network adapters on the private network. Do not configure a default gateway or DNS or WINS server on the private network adapters. Do not configure private network adapters to use name resolution servers on the public network; otherwise, a name resolution server on the public network might map a name to an IP address on the private network. If a client then received that IP address from the name resolution server, it might fail to reach the address because no route from the client to the private network address exists. Configure WINS and/or DNS servers on the public network adapters. If Network Name resources are used on the public networks, set up the DNS servers to support dynamic updates; otherwise the Network Name resources may not fail over correctly. Also, configure a default gateway on the public network adapters. If there are multiple public networks in the cluster, configure a default gateway on only one of these.

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The adapters on a given node must connect to networks in different subnets. When you use either the New Server Cluster Wizard or the Add Nodes Wizard to install clustering on a node that contains two network adapters, by default the wizard configures both of the network adapters for mixed network communications. As a best practice, reconfigure one adapter for private network communications only. For more information, see Change how the cluster uses a network. Manually configure the communication settings, such as Speed, Duplex Mode, Flow Control and Media Type of each cluster network adapter. Do not use automatic detection. You must configure all of the cluster network adapters to use the same communication settings. Confirm that your entire cluster solution is compatible with the products in the Windows Server 2003 family by clicking the appropriate link in Support resources.

Cluster IP address
Obtain a static IP address for the cluster itself. You cannot use DHCP for this address.

IP addressing for cluster nodes

Determine how to handle the IP addressing for the individual cluster nodes. Each network adapter on each node requires IP addressing. It is a best practice to assign each network adapter a static IP address. As an alternative, you can provide IP addressing through DHCP. If you use static IP addresses, set the addresses for each linked pair of network adapters (linked node-to-node) to be on the same subnet. Note that if you use DHCP for the individual cluster nodes, it can act as a single point of failure. That is, if you set up your cluster nodes so that they depend on a DHCP server for their IP addresses, temporary failure of the DHCP server can mean temporary unavailability of the cluster nodes. When deciding whether to use DHCP, evaluate ways to ensure availability of DHCP services, and consider the possibility of using long leases for the cluster nodes. This helps to ensure that they always have a valid IP address.

Cluster name
Determine or obtain an appropriate name for the cluster. This is the name administrators will use for connections to the cluster. (The actual applications running on the cluster typically have different network names.) The cluster name must be different from the domain name, from all computer names on the domain, and from other cluster names on the domain.

Computer accounts and domain assignment for cluster nodes

Make sure that the cluster nodes all have computer accounts in the same domain. Cluster nodes cannot be in a workgroup.

Operator user account for installing and configuring the Cluster service
To install and configure the Cluster service, you must be using an account that is in the local Administrators group on each node. As you install and configure each node, if you are not using an account in the local Administrators group, you will be prompted to provide the logon credentials for such an account.

Cluster service user account

Create or obtain the Cluster service user account. This is the name and password under which the Cluster service will run. You need to supply this user name and password during cluster installation. It is best if the Cluster service user account is an account not used for any other purpose. If you have multiple clusters, set up a unique Cluster service user account for each cluster. The account must be a domain account; it cannot be a local account. However, do not make this account a domain administrator account because it does not need domain administrator user rights. As part of the cluster setup process, the Cluster service user account is added to the local Administrators group on each node. As well as being a member of the local administrators group, the Cluster service user account requires an additional set of user rights:
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Act as part of the operating system Back up files and directories Adjust memory quotas for a process Increase scheduling priority Log on as a service Restore files and directories

In addition, by default, the Cluster service account inherits the following user rights as a result of being a member of the local Administrators group:
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Manage auditing and security log Debug programs Impersonate a client after authentication

If your organization has removed these user rights from the default set of privileges assigned to the local Administrators group, you need to specifically assign these user rights to the Cluster service account. The preceding user rights are granted to the Cluster service user account as part of the cluster setup process. Be aware that the Cluster service user account will continue to have these user rights even after all nodes are evicted from the cluster. The risk that this presents is mitigated by the fact that these user rights are not granted domain wide, but rather only locally on each former node. However, remove this account from each evicted node if it is no longer needed. Be sure to keep the password from expiring on the Cluster service user account (follow your organization's policies for password renewal). For more information, see Passwords.

Volume for important cluster configuration information (checkpoint and log files)
Plan on setting aside a volume on your cluster storage for holding important cluster configuration information. This information makes up the cluster quorum resource, which is needed when a cluster node stops functioning. The quorum resource provides node-independent storage of crucial data needed by the cluster. The recommended minimum size for the volume is 500 MB. It is recommended that you do not store user data on any volume in the quorum resource. Do not use Shadow Copies for Shared Folders for the quorum resource.

If you plan to put the quorum resource on a disk with multiple NTFS partitions, ensure that all partitions on the disk are assigned drive letters. Note
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When planning and carrying out disk configuration for the cluster disks, configure them as basic disks with all partitions formatted as NTFS (they can be either compressed or uncompressed). Partition and format all disks on the cluster storage device before adding the first node to your cluster. Do not configure them as dynamic disks, and do not use spanned volumes (volume sets) or Remote Storage on the cluster disks. Cluster disks on the cluster storage device must be partitioned as master boot record (MBR) and not as GUID partition table (GPT) disks.

The following section describes the physical installation of the cluster storage.

Beginning the installation of the cluster hardware

The steps you carry out when first physically connecting and installing the cluster hardware are crucial. Be sure to follow the hardware manufacturer's instructions for these initial steps. Important
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Carefully review your network cables after connecting them. Make sure no cables are crossed by mistake (for example, private network connected to public).

Initial steps to carry out in the BIOS or EFI when using a SCSI shared storage device
If you are using a SCSI shared storage device, when you first attach your cluster hardware (the shared bus and cluster storage), be sure to work only from the firmware configuration screens on the cluster nodes (a node is a server in a cluster). On a 32-bit computer, use the BIOS configuration screens. On an Itanium architecturebased computer, use the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) configuration screens. The instructions from your manufacturer describe whether these configuration screens are displayed automatically or whether you must, after turning on the computer, press specific keys to access them. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for completing the BIOS or EFI configuration process. Remain in the BIOS or EFI configuration screens, and do not allow the operating system to start, during this initial installation phase. Complete the following steps while the cluster nodes are still displaying BIOS or EFI configuration screens, before starting the operating system on the first cluster node. Important
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Make sure you understand and follow the manufacturer's instructions for termination of the SCSI bus. Make sure that each device on the shared bus (both SCSI controllers and hard disks) has a unique SCSI ID. If the SCSI controllers all have the same default ID (often it is SCSI ID 7), change one controller to a different SCSI ID, such as SCSI ID 6. If there is more than one disk that will be on the shared SCSI bus, each disk must also have a unique SCSI ID. In addition, make sure that the bus is not configured to reset SCSI IDs automatically on startup (otherwise the IDs will change from the settings you specify). Ensure that you can scan the bus and see the drives from all cluster nodes (while remaining in the BIOS or EFI configuration screens).

Initial steps to carry out in the BIOS or EFI when using a fibre channel shared storage device or no shared storage device
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Turn on a single node. Leave all other nodes turned off. During this initial installation phase, remain in the BIOS or Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) configuration process, and do not allow the operating system to start. While viewing the BIOS or EFI configuration screens, ensure that you can scan the bus and see the drives from the active cluster node. On a 32-bit computer, use the BIOS configuration screens. On an Itanium architecture-based computer, use the EFI configuration screens. Consult the instructions from your manufacturer to determine whether these configuration screens are displayed automatically or whether you must, after turning on the computer, press specific keys to access them. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for completing the BIOS or EFI configuration process.

Final steps to complete the installation

If you have not already installed Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, on the first cluster node, install it before proceeding. After you complete the BIOS or EFI configuration, start the operating system on one cluster node only and complete the configuration of the Cluster service using Cluster Administrator. With the Cluster Administrator New Server Cluster Wizard, you can choose between Typical (full) configuration and Advanced (minimum) configuration options. Typical configuration is appropriate for most installations and results in a completely configured cluster. Use the Advanced configuration option only for clusters that have complex storage configurations that the New Server Cluster Wizard cannot validate or for configurations in which you do not want the cluster to manage all of the storage. The following examples describe each situation:
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In some complex storage solutions, such as a fiber channel switched fabric that contains several switches, a particular storage unit might have a different identity on each computer in the cluster. Although this is a valid storage configuration, it violates the storage validation heuristics in the New Server Cluster Wizard. If you have this type of storage solution, you might receive an error when you are trying to create a cluster using the Typical configuration option. If your storage configuration is set up correctly, you can disable the storage validation heuristics and avoid this error by restarting the New Server Cluster Wizard, selecting the Advanced configuration option instead. On particular nodes in a cluster, you may want to have some disks that are to be clustered and some disks that are to be kept private. The Typical configuration option configures all disks as clustered disks and creates cluster resources for them all. However, with the Advanced configuration option, you can keep certain disks private because this configuration creates a cluster in which only the quorum disk is managed by the cluster (if you chose to use a physical disk as the quorum resource). After the cluster is created, you must then use Cluster Administrator to add any other disks that you want the cluster to manage.

Follow OH&S policies and procedures

Unit Descriptor

This unit specifies the competency required to work safely on a civil construction site adhering to OH&S policies and procedures. It includes the minimum criteria for competency assessment. This unit includes emergency procedures, identification of hazards applicable to civil construction workplaces and basic risk assessment.

ELEMENT 1 . Follow safe work practices

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

1. Tasks are performed in a safe manner and in accordance with legislative requirements, enterprise policies and procedures 2. Organisation of duties, tools, equipment and materials are performed in accordance with enterprise procedures 3. Personal protective equipment and clothing is worn, used and stored according to enterprise procedures 4. Plant and equipment guards are used in accordance with manufacturers specifications and regulations 5. Safety signs and symbols are identified and followed 1. Hazards in the work area are identified, assessed and reported to designated personnel 2. OH&S issues and risks in the work area are identified, assessed and reported to designated personnel 3. Safe workplace procedures and safe work instructions are followed for controlling risks 4. OH&S, hazard, accident or incident reports are completed according to workplace procedures and State/Territory legislation 1. Appropriate personnel are identified in the event of an emergency 2. Safe workplace procedures for dealing with accidents, fires and emergencies are followed within scope of responsibilities 3. Emergency and evacuation procedures are practiced and carried out when required

2 . Assess risks

3 . Follow emergency procedures

Device / System
This page lists hardware known to work with Plan 9. Most hardware is listed by chipset, you may need to know what chipset your particular cards use. There is also a list of known broken hardware. IDE/ATAPI CONTROLLERS Plan 9 supports almost all motherboard IDE/ATAPI controllers, but DMA transfers are only used on these recognized chipsets (chipsets not listed here will simply run slower; you can try turning on DMA by editing /sys/src/9/pc/sdata.c).
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ALi M1543, M5288 SATA AMD 755, 756, 766, 768, 3111, CS5536 AMD/ATI SB400, 200M, 4379 SATA CMD 640B, 646 HighPoint HPT366 Intel PIIX, PIIX3, PIIX4, ICH, ICH0, ICH2-7, ICH9, 6300ESB NS PC87415 nVidia nForce 1-4, MCP 55, 61, 65, 69, 430 PC-Tech RZ1000 Promise PDC202xx, Ultra/133 TX2, 20378 ServerWorks IB6566 SiL 3112 SATA, 3114 SATA/RAID SiS 962 VIA 82C686, VT8237 SATA/RAID

SATA CONTROLLERS Plan 9 supports a few SATA controllers in their native AHCI mode, as opposed to the IDE-compatibility mode that some of them offer.
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AMD SB600 Intel 63xxESB Intel 82801GxM, for x = B or H Intel ICH8, ICH9

The non-AHCI Marvell 88SX series four- and eight-port PCI-X chipsets are also supported. ATA-OVER-ETHERNET DEVICES Plan 9 supports access to ATA-over-Ethernet devices.

USB USB audio, disks, Ethernet, keyboards, mice and printers are supported (see usb(4)) via the UHCI, OHCI and EHCI interfaces. XHCI (USB 3, 5Gb/s) is not yet started.

ETHERNET Plan 9 will automatically recognize the PCI and PCI-Express Ethernet cards that it can drive. The following chips/cards are supported, in decreasing order of speed:
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Intel 82598 10Gb Myricom 10Gb Alteon, DEC, or SGI Acenic fiber Gigabit Intel 8254x PRO/1000 Gigabit Intel 8256x, 8257x Gigabit PCI-Express National Semiconductor DP83820 Gigabit Netgear GA620 Gigabit (discouraged due to large firmware blob) Realtek 8110S/8169S Gigabit Via Velocity Gigabit 3Com 3C562, 3C589, and 3C589E PCMCIA 3Com 3C450, 3C575, 3C59x, 3C90x, 3CSOHO100-TX Accton EtherPair-PCMCIA EN2216 AMD 79C970 D-Link DFE-538TX, DFE-560TXD Dell TrueMobile 1150 wireless Digital (now Intel) 2114x and clones. (Tulip, PIC, PIC-II, Centaur, Digital DE-500) EtherFast 10/100 PC Card Intel 82562EM/EZ/ET/VE, 8255x PRO/100 Intersil Prism2.5 wireless Linksys EC2T Combo PCMCIA EtherCard, NB10T Linksys WPC-11 wireless Lucent/Agere/Avaya/Orinoco Wavelan wireless NE2000 clones National Semiconductor DP83815, DP8390 Netgear FA310, FA311, FA312, FA410TX, FA411 PCMCIA Realtek 8029, 8139 - DL10038(D) (Remark of Realtek 8139) SMC 1211, 8040TX PCMCIA, 91CXX PCMCIA VIA Rhine VT6102 Western Digital/SMC WD8003, WD8013, WD8216 Winbond 89C940

Some of these cannot be used to bootstrap (load kernels via TFTP). VESA VIDEO CARDS Plan 9 can attempt to drive video cards using the VESA BIOS extensions instead of using drivers specific to particular chips. To use VESA, choose "vesa" as your monitor type during the CD boot or when making an install floppy. The following cards are known to work using VESA. (Cards not listed here are still worth trying!)
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Intel 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (Dell desktops) Intel 855GM Integrated Graphics Device (Thinkpad X40) Radeon 9200 Mobile (Compaq NX7010) Radeon Mobility 9600 (ThinkPad T42p)

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Radeon Mobility 7500 M7 LW (Compaq Presario 1500) Radeon R200 QH (Fire GL 8700 and 8800) Radeon RV280 (9200 SL) Nvidia Quadro4 980 XGL SiS630 onboard SiS630 ST onboard (JVC MP-XP3)

(Some of the cards in this list have been moved to the main table) The following cards are known not to work with VESA:
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Neomagic NM2360/MagicMedia 256ZX (Thinkpad 600X): Blank screen. Cirrus Logic CL-GD5436/46 (no VESA support?) AMD Geode GX2. Blank screen. Bug identified by Russ Cox, but hard to solve.

VGA CARDS AND CHIPSETS For VGA cards it is more precise to describe the chips we support rather than the cards they are based on, since the cards are more ephemeral. Beware: different revisions of a card may use different chip sets. Plan 9 can use some basic acceleration features such as filling and scrolling rectangles. NOTE: If your chipset is not listed or listed as not supported, try the VESA driver by entering "vesa" as your monitor type.
Chip | Native | VESA | Notes -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------#9 Ticket to Ride IV | Yes | ? | for SGI 1600SW 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee | Yes? | ? | Works perfectly with Elpin Banshee(Rev 1.1) 3Dfx 55-0013-04 3Dfx Voodoo 3 1000 | Yes | ? | 2000 | Yes | ? | 3000 | Yes | ? | AMD Geode GX2 | No | No | ARK 2000pv | Yes(2) | ? | ATI Mach Mach 32 | Yes(2)| ? | | Mach64xx | Yes? | ? | Some newer Mach64 don't work(eg, later ATI Xpert) ATI Rage - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI_Rage Rage IIc | Yes | ? | Needs hwaccel off Rage 3D II+ | Broken | Yes | Garbled display Rage 128 | No | ? | Too different from the Mach 64 Rage XL | Yes | Yes | ATI Radeon (789)xxx | (1) | Yes | Works well with VESA Mobility M7 LW | No | Yes | Max: 1024x768x24 X1600 Pro | No | No | CHIPS hiQVideo 65550 | Yes | ? | 65554 | Yes | ? | 69000 | Yes | ? | Cirrus Logic CL-GD542x | Yes | ? |

CL-GD543x | Yes | No | CL-GD544x | Yes | Yes | Used by qemu CL-GD546x Laguna | Yes | ? | Intel i81x | Yes | ? | Intel i740 | No | ? | Intel i950 | No | Yes | Intel 82845G | No | Yes | Intel GMA3100 | No | Yes | Matrox (Note: GXXX series only support 8bit and 32bit depths) G200 | Yes | ? | G400 | Yes | ? | G450 | Yes | Yes | G550 | Yes | Yes | P650 | No | Yes | Matrox Millennium II | Yes | ? | Neomagic MagicGraph | Yes | ? | MagicMedia | Yes | No | NVIDIA TNT | Yes | ? | TNT2 | Yes | Yes | GeForce | Yes? | ? | GeForce 2 | Yes | ? | GeForce 2 DVI | Yes | ? | GeForce 2 MX/MX 400 | Yes | Yes | GeForce 3 | Yes | ? | GeForce 4 | Yes | ? | GeForce 4 MX | Yes | Yes | GeForce FX 5200 | Yes | Yes | Native: Some people have reported problems with DVI. GeForce 6200 | No | Yes | GeForce 6800 XT | Yes | ? | S3 801, 805, 864, 928 | Yes(2) | ? | S3 968 | Yes | ? | S3 Savage Savage 4 | Yes | ? | Savage IX/MV | Yes | ? | SuperSavage IXC/16 | Yes | ? | SavagePro8/DDR | Yes | ? | Savage 2000 | No | ? | S3 ViRGE DX,GX,GX2,MX,VX |Yes | ? | S3 Trio64V+ | Yes | No | dbvesa: invalid vesa signature S3 Elsa 1000Trio/V | Yes | No | Works fine with 1024x768x8, supports max. 8 bit depth. S3 Trio3D | No | Yes | Tseng ET4000 | Yes(2) | ? | Trident Cyber938x | Yes | ? | VIA UniChrome (EPIA-MS) | No | Yes | VMware virtual chipset (vmware won't release documentation, please use qemu instead) 4.5 | Yes | ? | 5.0 | Yes | ? | Needs hwaccel off

(1) See the radeon drivers page. (2) Only tested with old editions of Plan 9. Cards supported in the third edition but not tested in current system:
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ATI Graphics Xpression

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ATI Xpert 98 ATI xpert@work ATI Xpert LCD #9FX Reality 334 Diamond Stealth3D 2000 vers 1.04 Diamond Stealth64 Video 2001 Diamond SpeedStar 64

Cards supported in the first and second editions but not tested in the current system:
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#9FX Reality 332 #9GXE Level-11, Level-12, Level-16 #9GXE 64 #9GXE 64pro Diamond SpeedStar Pro Hercules Terminator NCR 3230 Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 Orchid Kelvin 64 Quadtel S3 86C801, 86C805 STB PowerGraph X-24 STB Velocity 3D STB Velocity 64 Video Stealth 64 Video 3000 Stingray 64/Video Various Rackmount SBCs

SCSI CONTROLLERS
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LSI Logic 53C8xx and 53C1010 chipsets, e.g., cards from: Tekram, LSI Logic, Symbios, Compaq, NCR, I-O DATA, ASUS. The chip numbers matter more than the brand. LSI Logic now owns Symbios and Mylex. You may need to configure the SCSI BIOS to "START UNIT" (spin up) the bootable drive so I/O works for the main BIOS. Also, beware 53C1020/1030 cards--they are "Fusion/MPT" and cannot be supported by this driver. Buslogic BT-948 or BT-958 (AKA Mylex multimaster series). These aren't being made any more, but you might be able to buy them used. Adaptec 1540 or 1542 for the ISA bus Ultrastor 14F ISA or 34F VLB

KEYBOARDS Any PS/2 keyboard should work. USB keyboards might work if you can enable PS/2 "emulation" in your BIOS. MICE Plan 9 supports PS/2, PS/2 Intellimouse, and serial mice. USB mice are supported via a user-space driver. See usb(4), usbd(4), and usb(3). You will want a 3 button mouse for plan9, using the scroll wheel as the middle button is not really satisfactory. The IBM 40K9201 and HP DY651A are both good quality USB optical mice with three real buttons. There is preliminary support for the scroll wheel and extra buttons as on the Toshiba Portege 3440CT.

Most laptops present their built-in pointing devices as PS/2 mice. The middle mouse button on the virtual VMware mouse appears not to work when running Plan 9 under Windows 2000 on certain laptops, notably IBM Thinkpads. To the extent that fault can be assigned, it is a hardware bug. The mouse controllers do not follow the same protocol that all other 3-button mice do for reporting the button count. See http://lists.cse.psu.edu/archives/9fans/2002-May/017472.html for a Windows workaround. LAPTOPS Laptops are often the hardest systems to get Plan 9 running on, because you can't choose the hardware piece by piece. The following laptops are known to work in the current release:
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Acer TravelMate 4052 WmLi (no wireless, no sound) Asus F7400 Compaq Presario 1500 (ATI Radeon Mobility M7 LW, Intel PRO 100/VE i82562, usb mouse works) Dell Inspiron 2650 (mouse not working though) Dell Inspiron 70n 7000 Dell Inspiron 1000 (no ether, no sound, cardbus not tested) IBM Thinkpad 560, 560E, 600E, T20, T21, T23, T30 (using Philippe Anel's Radeon Drivers), T42p (no wireless), X20, X40, X60 NEC Versa LX, SX Sharp Actius A250 Sony Vaio PGC-105k (uk) Sony Vaio PCG-GR114EK Toshiba Portege 3440CT Toshiba Tecra 750CDM HP Compaq nx6315 (No net) JVC MP-XP3

The following laptops worked in previous releases and may work in the current one:
y y y y y y y

AT&T GIS Globalyst 250 Compaq Armada 7710 MT Dell Dimension cpi 333 IBM Thinkpad 560X, 570 NEC Versa 6030X, 6200MX Sony VAIO PCG 747 Toshiba Satellite 2800

The following laptops are known not to work with Plan 9:

y y

y y

Compaq Armada 7800 (does not detect all physical memory, runs out, apparently hardware cursor doesn't work either) Compaq LTE 5300 (unsupported video card Cirrus Logic GD7543)<- Are You sure about this? I think CL-GD7543 is well supported (Generic 640x480 LCD), I had a COMPAQ Armada 1120T, but the problem was the memory (24MB) not the graphical chip set! see google groups Dell Inspiron 4000, 5000e (unsupported video card ATI Mobility M3) Zenith Znote 425 (not enough RAM)

CARDBUS AND PCMCIA CONTROLLERS The following cardbus controllers are supported:
y y y y y y

Ricoh 476 PCI/Cardbus bridge Ricoh 478 PCI/Cardbus bridge TI PCI-1131 Cardbus controller TI PCI-1250 Cardbus controller TI PCI-1450 Cardbus controller TI PCI-AC51 Cardbus controller

If the cardbus chipset is not supported, Plan 9 falls back to the PCMCIA driver, which handles the Intel i82365, Cirrus Logic CL-PD6710, Cirrus Logic CL-PD6720, Vadem VG-46x, and compatibles. This covers most laptops. AUDIO Supported audio devices:
y y y

Sound Blaster 16 or later, ISA card ESS 1688 running in 8-bit SBPro mode most USB audio devices

Supported but not as well tested:

y

Any Sound Blaster 16 clones (NOT Sound Blaster Pro clones)

USB audio devices that have been reported to work:

y y y y y y y y y y y y

Edirol UA-1X (recording untested, but believed to work) Edirol UA-3 Philips USB speakers, model DSS 370/17 Xitel AN1 Xitel Pro HiFi-Link (setting and reading back the volume works, but does not seem to affect the playback.) Xitel MD-Port DG2 Onkyo SE-U55X Onkyo SE-U55GX Auditek USB speakers using C-Media CM102 chip (supports 48000Hz playback only) Creative Sound Blaster MP3+ Creative Sound Blaster live! ( Can't set record speed ) M-Audio FastTrack USB (recording untested; gets "Can't set record speed" message on startup; setting and volume succesds but has no effect.)

FLOPPY DISKS Plan 9 supports generic floppy drives, although some people have had trouble accessing them. If you have trouble accessing your 3.5" floppy drive and also have a 5.25" floppy drive, try disabling the latter in the BIOS. USB floppy drives are not supported.

MAGNETO-OPTICAL DISK JUKEBOXES Virtually any modern SCSI jukebox will work. The key thing to look for (probably on the manufacturer's web site) is that the jukebox must implement the SCSI SMC (SCSI Media Changer) command set. Media (M-O disks) and jukeboxes can be had cheaply on ebay.com. We have had good experience with these models on Plan 9 file servers:
y y y

HP 330FX (choline) HP 160FX (original emelie) HP 1200EX (emelie)

We've had limited experience with these models (bought used), and they failed within a few months, one mechanically and the other electronically:
y y

HP 40FX HP 80EX

The 160FX and up seem to be built much more sturdily than the smaller jukeboxes, which are the size of large tower PCs. MOTHERBOARDS
y

ASUS A8R32-MVP (onboard NIC not supported, use a PCI NIC instead)

The System/Device/Location
The System.Device.Location namespace allows application developers to easily access the computer's location by using a single API. Location information may come from multiple providers, such as GPS, Wi-Fi triangulation, and cell phone tower triangulation. The System.Device.Location classes provide a single API to encapsulate the multiple location providers on a computer and support seamless prioritization and transitioning between them. As a result, application developers who use this API do not need to tailor applications to specific hardware configurations. The GeoCoordinateWatcher class supplies location data that is based on latitude and longitude coordinates. The CivicAddressResolver and ICivicAddressResolver types provide the ability to resolve from a coordinate location to a civic address. Additionally, the IGeoPositionWatcher(Of T) interface can be implemented to extend the types of location data that are supplied. In Windows, all the System.Device.Location classes are fully functional if a location provider is installed and can determine the computer's location. On Windows, the Default Location Provider that can be set in Control Panel is the only location provider that is supported. Note In versions of Windows prior to, the following conditions apply:
y y y

All System.Device.Location objects that have constructors can be created, but the Status property will always have the value Disabled. The location indicated by the Location property of Position will always be Unknown. No location events will be raised.

Class
Description Represents a civic address. A civic address can include fields such as CivicAddress street address, postal code, state/province, and country or region. Provides functionality for resolving a coordinate-based location to a CivicAddressResolver civic address. Represents a geographical location that is determined by latitude and longitude coordinates. May also include altitude, accuracy, speed, and GeoCoordinate course information. Supplies location data that is based on latitude and longitude GeoCoordinateWatcher coordinates. Contains location data of a type specified by the type parameter of the GeoPosition(Of T) GeoPosition(Of T) class. GeoPositionChangedEventArgs(Of T) Provides data for the PositionChanged event. GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs Contains data for a GeoPositionStatusChanged event. ResolveAddressCompletedEventArgs Provides data for the ResolveAddressCompleted event. Class

Interfaces
Interface ICivicAddressResolver IGeoPositionWatcher(Of T) Description Provides a method that when implemented, resolves a latitude/longitude location to a civic address. Interface that can be implemented for providing accessing location data and receiving location updates.

Enumerations
Enumeration Description GeoPositionAccuracy Specifies the requested accuracy level for the location data that the application uses. GeoPositionPermission Indicates whether the calling application has permission to access location data. GeoPositionStatus Indicates the ability of the location provider to provide location updates.