Best mobo for Ubuntu?

[cvicisso]

My attempt with an MSI 890FXA-GD70 failed miserably.  Had to resort to Win 7 - which is running great, but it [obviously] costs more, and I'm limited to 4 cards. 

My search is simple:

• cheap
• proven Ubuntu-friendliness (read: experience)
• as many PCI-e slots as possible (don't need to be 16x)
• would love for it to have an on/off switch on the mobo like the 890FXA-GD70
• AM3 socket preferred

Thanks!! 

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[Fletch]

What issues did you have with the MSI motherboard? I have the exact same card and it runs beautifully, at least on 64bit Ubuntu 11.04 (latest stable).

[cvicisso]

What issues did you have with the MSI motherboard? I have the exact same card and it runs beautifully, at least on 64bit Ubuntu 11.04 (latest stable).

It's a long story, but is well documented here: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=18005.0

The thread started off on a different topic, but quickly morphed into my Ubuntu+MSI mobo issues. 

So what exactly does your rig consist of?

[Fletch]

My rig consists of:

MSI 890FXA-GD70
AMD Sempron 140 2,7GHz
Corsair 2GB 1333MHz 1.5V Value Select
3 x Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme
FSP Aurum 600W 80+ Gold

It's currently running Ubuntu 11.04 off a harddrive, but I intend to clone that partition over to a USB thumb drive and use the harddrive for something else.

I read the topic you linked to and I'm afraid I have no other info to give you other than the fact that prior to installing Ubuntu, I disabled everything I didn't need in the BIOS (sound card, com port, usb3 etc). If that doesn't help, it would appear there is something wrong with your motherboard since there are lots of people in these forums running the same motherboard on Ubuntu (and other distros).

Did you by any chance ask in the Ubuntu forums?

[iamzill]

I have two machines running:

Ubuntu 11.04
MSI 890FXA-GD70
AMD Sempron 140
4 x HD5830 Mixed brands 

The installation was smooth with no special tricks needed.

Also the 4 GPU per machine limitation on Windows is now gone with the latest drivers. So you're not really losing anything by switching to Windows.

[jgraham]

My attempt with an MSI 890FXA-GD70 failed miserably.  Had to resort to Win 7 - which is running great, but it [obviously] costs more, and I'm limited to 4 cards. 

My search is simple:

• cheap
• proven Ubuntu-friendliness (read: experience)
• as many PCI-e slots as possible (don't need to be 16x)
• would love for it to have an on/off switch on the mobo like the 890FXA-GD70
• AM3 socket preferred

Thanks!! 

Are you using a 64 bit version?  Are you booting from a CD or USB key?
Did you try burning/creating a new one?

[cvicisso]

.... Also the 4 GPU per machine limitation on Windows is now gone with the latest drivers. So you're not really losing anything by switching to Windows.

That's good news!  I went ahead and gave it a shot - I received my 5850 and 5830 in the mail yesterday.  CCC recognizes everything and I can tweak all five cards, but then when I fire up GUIminer, things get screwy.  GUIminer can see the extra card too - but when I try to create a new miner and associate it with the fifth card - everything locks up.  Tried several times. 

It sounds like it might be a driver issue (like you mentioned).  Any suggestions?  My 5830 is sitting disconnected on the desk in front of me (and it's killing me to look at!  ).

Thanks again.

[Elder III]

I'm having the exact problem with GUIMiner and a 5'th GPU... anyone know what to do about it?  My suspicion is that the motherboard can't provide enough power to all 5 PCIE slots.... should I look into an riser/extender with a molex connector to the PSU?