[LinuxBIOS] One very important device to support

[popkonserve]

>>user adjustable i would have to enforce them. i don't think that telling 
>>the user to read the source code and uncomment some performance options 
>>is a real solution. who wants/can to read the source code anyway?
> 
> Basically those people who understand what those options are for. I
> doubt anyone who knows that is unable to read a config file.

people knowing chipset options are not necessarily programmers. a menu 
like the current bios implementations offer would be nice to have.

> The question is: Why would you set your system up in a non-optimal way
> in the first place. 

because there are chipset options that shouldn't be set according to the 
manufacturer but they do have in fact an impact on performance.
the best example are ALi chipsets: if you leave everything unconfigured 
the chipset will be dead slow. if you set everything to optimal 
performance some (pci) devices could run into problems. the user should 
have at least the options to flip some bits if something isn't working 
correctly.

> If a setting is possible, stable and performance-improving, lets always
> set it. If not, it is no good?

agree! i wish the chipset manufacturers would have written those 
information in their chipset documentation. that would make things so 
much easier. i guess the main reason why they made those options 
adjustable is the fact that there is so much different hardware out 
there that cling to different (more or less officical) specifications. 
that makes it almost impossible to find the optimal setting for every 
possible combination.

> I do agree here. Please do post those links, if possible.

celeron 600 at 1008 (by cranking up the fsb from 66 to 112MHz):
http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/cpu/oc_warehouse1000/page3.shtml

ram interleaving on VIA chipsets:
http://www.georgebreese.com/net/software/readmes/venabler_v015_readme.htm
http://www.overclockers.com/tips105/index03.asp

register tweaking the Intel BX chipset:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips607/index03.asp

register tweaking a PcChips mainboard with SIS chipset:
http://m571.com/m571/tweek.htm

power saving (not performance, but still useful):
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/jacobi/linux/softwares.html#athcool

enable UDMA on a PcChips mainboard:
http://www.rainbow-software.org/hardware/m726tune.html

and there are so many more..i didn't find anything on PCI performance 
benchmarks but some tweaks modify pci performance registers, too.
i should definately do some tests on a pcchips board regarding pci 
performance..
Holger