LINUX to avoid VISTA

Idiens · #1 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Anyone out there with experience of running LINUX on an onboard computer? I am trying to avoid being forced down the VISTA road (i.e. buy a new computer to have enough power to run the operating system). Already I have I nice Compaq Armada running Mandrake 10.1 with all the usual office applications.
Snag is getting anything else on to it without being a LINUX guru. Example: Skype - There is even a version for Mandrake 10.1, which installs and then ... vanishes.
Garmin don't support LINUX. Any chartplotter software out there that runs under LINUX? sigh.

HeadbangerSmurf · #2 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

You could start here: http://www.eit.se/chartplotter/.

Java based chartplotter software that should run under linux. I'm not a big Mandrake fan so I can't help you there. I know Redhat/Fedora pretty well and have worked on Debian lately. Personally, I'd just go Vista. If you're going to buy a new PC it's worth it. If you've got a decent laptop (that Armada has to be old, they haven't made the Armada line in a long time if I remember correctly) why bother upgrading?

Here's another page of stuff for linux: http://www.ibiblio.org/fplan/Aviatio...n-HOWTO-8.html
It says it's for aviation but I'm sure that doesn't matter too much.

The other thing you could do is run SeaClear under WINE. Check this out:

http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

Of course, I don't yet own a boat so I have no idea if any of the stuff I've listed above works. I've read about SeaClear and it looks nice so I'm going to try that when I finally do get something to sail. Hopefully this summer. A client of mine has a 45' Sabre and he uses a computer with a remote display to handle all of his chartplotting and stuff. The one time I've been out on his boat it seemed to work great. Wish I could remember the program he was using. I do know he was running XP Pro.

Tom

Idiens · #3 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Thanks Tom. I have five perfectly good computers. Four are just as fast with their old operating systems as XP is on the the newest. I don't want to buy a sixth one just yet. If I go for VISTA, it will be after its SP2 and then only because it comes with the new machine.
I am using the Armada to gain experience with LINUX. All the office applications work fine on it and are subjectively just as fast as the same applications on a 2 GHz Dell under XP - but the Armada has only one tenth of the processor speed and one eighth of the memory.

I will follow up your links. I will try WINE, it might solve some problems.

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

The only problem I see with running WINE is whether you can get WINE to recognize the NMEA connection. If it is a serial connection, it shouldn't be much of an issue, but if it is USB or USB-to-serial, you may have some problems.

pigslo · #5 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Ihave a Garmin gps with a serial port. An adapter from serial to usb works just fine.
pigslo

HeadbangerSmurf · #6 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

The only problem I see with running WINE is whether you can get WINE to recognize the NMEA connection. If it is a serial connection, it shouldn't be much of an issue, but if it is USB or USB-to-serial, you may have some problems.

Any modern linux distro should be able to handle a usb to serial connection. At least they better be able to. The last time I tried to run linux on a laptop was two years ago and I couldn't get the wireless working in a decent amount of time (over a week) so I went back to XP. Of course, the laptop is older and the wireless was poorly supported. If I were to load up a distro on my current laptop (compaq nx7010) I'm sure everything would work. I'm currently running Vista and using an XP Pro video driver to make the screen work.

Actually, I've got that old laptop sitting on a table at work now that the guy using it left the company. I think I'll load up Debian or something and see if this stuff works. Sure will pass the time better than reading the forums and dreaming of spring.

Tom

sailingdog · #7 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Pigslo-

The question wasn't whether the USB-to-serial adapter would work, but whether it would work under linux and be recognized by a program running under WINE in linux.

BTW, there is a fair amount of good open source software out there that is GPS related for Linux.

magnusmurphy · #8 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Does anyone know whether running a macbook in Windows XP startup mode will run the Raymarine RNS software?

Raymarine itself is not prepared to make any commitment.

Thanks

HeadbangerSmurf · #9 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by magnusmurphy

Does anyone know whether running a macbook in Windows XP startup mode will run the Raymarine RNS software?

Raymarine itself is not prepared to make any commitment.

Thanks

Do you mean running XP on a Macbook with Boot Camp? It should run just fine. There are XP drivers for all of the hardware included in the Boot Camp setup.

Tom

sailingdog · #10 (**permalink**) 02-26-2007

The only driver that has some issues AFAIK is the iSight driver, which doesn't support sound under Windows... but I haven't played with the latest BootCamp drivers is a while, so that may have changed. The Raymarine software should work just fine, as there shouldn't be any hardware specific issues at this point.