Overall Model covered 🔼
This guide cover ONLY DELL PowerEgde Generation 11 first models specific the DELL T110 tower flavors. Can be treated similar for the DELL PowerEgde Generation 10 T100 specific model only but not for the rest of the generation 10 PowerEdge models.
Machine Overall 🔼
The DELL T110 I and DELL T110 II are server targeted machines, comes with a powered RAID0 & RAID1 hardware manager for the two primary disc drives, do not have audio devices and comes with MGA 200 eW Matrox video integrated.
Its a high performance machine, with hard and resistant design.
Devuan performance 🔼
Due its multi cores can be installed any server software, without performance problems, hardware RAID made possible the multiple task without performance problems. All the T110 I & II models and the T100 Model are enough power of computing for current Devuan versions.
Overall Status 🔼
Devuan and any recent Linux since 2014 March, in standard installation coverts without problems all standard hardware, except some special cases when CD/DVD are not detected property, and all of the features are enabled. RAID hardware are performed as virtual disk with proper modules from kernel, loaded automatically from install process.
Overall Devuan status 🔼
| Core Components | status | Observations |
|---|---|---|
| Boot standar kernel | Yes | |
| CPU Frequency Scaling | Yes | |
| Optical CD/DVD/BD | Yes | some issues in alpha flavors |
| Detect hard drives | Yes | RAID1 virtual disk by hardware |
| Supports SDD drives | Yes | SATA/eSATA |
| USB | Yes | |
| UEFI/EFI | N/A | |
| Hibernation | N/A | |
| Sleep/Suspend | N/A | |
| Overall temperature | below 60 | |
| Network devices | status | Observations |
| LAN network card: | Supported | Need firmware |
| Wifi network card | N/A | |
| Xorg and video | status | Observations |
| Primary video card | Yes | |
| Discrete video card | No | |
| Sound support | status | Observations |
| ALSA | No | do not have audio |
| OSS4 | No | do not have audio |
| OSS | Yes | support emulation null device |
| Input user devices | status | Observations |
| eSATA | Yes | |
| Keyboard | Yes | |
| Mouse/Touchpad | Yes | |
| Touchscreen | No | |
| Webcam | No | external |
| Keyboard's Hotkeys | No |
Overall install status: 🔼
Devuan normal images install not have any firmware, any type of install media will let the system incommunicable. An option its use the USB install way and put the firmware packages in the partition, another its put preformatted the target partition and put the required package there.
Configurations 🔼
No mayor fine tune need: hardware RAID load perfectly and perform a virtual disk in RAID0 and RAID1 configuration. If you installed some famous knowed desktop, the lack of a powered video card will perform a bad experience, due this its a server focused, so the right choice its openbox or similar.
Network 🔼
Unfortunately all the networking devices need firmware. At installation steps with official images, the computer remains uncommunicative after completing install, so its recommended download specific packages for each module and put inside the USB device if you install by the USB way as best choice:
| Network device | kernel module | firmware package | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAN | Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5722 | firmware-linux-nonfree |
NOTE some models have a intel based E1000 Gigabit.
Audio 🔼
No one of the DELL PowerEdge have audio devices. As option can be loaded a emulation layer OSS over alsa for some software such fbpanel if panned to install a desktop behavior as:
| Audio device | kernel module | firmware package | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dummy OSS layer | snd_dummy | must loaded manually if use desktop |
Desktop and audio devices 🔼
For Mayor desktops, the stupid "pulse" framework system audio need a sound card to set property select the main device as general out, but the dummy module are not loaded by default due no sound cards was detected.
For autoload of the dummy device if you install a desktop behavior put the module name in the /etc/modprobe file as:
echo "snd_dummy" >> /etc/modprobe
Video 🔼
All the DELL PowerEdge server comes in general with the MGA 200 eW Matrox models with 8Mb of RAM emulated.
| Video device (Xorg) | kernel module | firmware package | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAtrox MGA G200eW | matrox | firmware-linux-nonfree | no OpenGl capable |
Take in consideration that its a server focused hardware, so there's no OpenGL capabilities and no modesetting neither..
Identify the video devices 🔼
The kernel module mga its only used in some specific kernels, due its only DRI1 capable, DR2 was nenver updated and added to the kernel module, so Devuan does not support OpenGL on this hardware:
lspci -v|grep -A 11 -i ispla |awk '/ispla/ || /driver/ { print; }';lspci -v|grep -A 11 -i VGA | awk '/VGA/ || /driver/ { print; }'
04:03.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G200eW WPCM450 (rev 0a) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Default Devuan settings 🔼
Devuan installs XOrg modules, using mga module from xserver-xorg-video-mga package.
Manage power performance 🔼
The xrandr modules fails to manage and identify the device, due Devuan uses only DRI2/3. Lasted that can manage was Debian squeeze and its the bets choice for this king of hardware.
Keyboard 🔼
Keyboard are USB only. Its recommended do not change the USB settings in BIOS due that.