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The Ubuntu community has contributed 12252 ideas, 57766 comments, 1176667 votes

Idea #5685: LiveCD all-in-one testing tool for hardware compatibility



bug This idea is a duplicate of idea #4444: Hardware Compatability Tester.
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Written by jerieljan the 25 Mar 08 at 13:27. Category: Installation.
Related to: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Description
I'm thinking that there should be a program bundled along with the LiveCD releases that allows users to see / inform them if all of the hardware that they have on their computer is 100% compatible with Ubuntu.

Think something along the lines of the DirectX Diagnostic tool in Windows which has a bunch of tests featuring Direct* stuff although this time, it's a program that tests if all of your hardware works well. (Sound, Networking, Wireless, Graphics, Hard Drive, etc.)If it doesn't, well at least inform the people about what's faulty.

This will help new people trying out Ubuntu to be more confident on installing the os without any doubts or at least, help them pinpoint problems if they do install ubuntu eventually.

Edit: Hm, the idea can go off in two ways, from what I can see...
It can go from something simple to something that's 100% sure, like that of integrating the whole hardware database (hm, how about connecting to the hardware DB to automatically check. That could work too.)

As for the simple part, it can go on like running a series of simple tests that the user will confirm himself if the system responds correctly. (e.g. Sound using a sound and music test, Graphics by using a 3D test, resolution change, whatever.)

Of course, the aim in all of this is that it's a all-in-one tool for determining compatibility.
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jshackles wrote on the 25 Mar 08 at 17:55
This is a great idea. But there is a difference between hardware working, and hardware working "well". A lot of hardware issues I've encountered with Ubuntu can be overcome by compiling your own drivers, editing config files, etc.

If you have a tool which tells people if the hardware will work "out of the box" that would be good, but may also shy someone away from installing Ubuntu when the fix for that hardware may be a simple one.

For something like this to work, you would almost have to have some sort of hardware repository for compatibility also on the disc. I think they do this now for video cards(?)

Anyway - other than the obvious hurdles, great idea.

mp3phish wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 02:13
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/item/40/

this has been proposed, and about a thousand duplicates already for it.

Basically, it is slow moving, but should eventually happen once the dohickey and hwdb clients are up to par and can reliably report to the central database.

Moderator saivann (Moderator) wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 02:43
I rejected the duplicate suggestion because idea 40 stand for a better Hardware compatibility database while this idea is about integration of that Hardware database with the LiveCD.

This idea would probably need idea 40 to get implemented first.

Muunsyr wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 02:48
Voted no based on the fact that Ubuntu is designed to work out of the box.

Hence the live CD is essentially a test in and of itself - you stick it in and have a play with Ubuntu. If you can play with it, then it is obvously working. Otherwise the hardware does not work.

DShepherd wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 05:01
@Muunsyr

That would require to try out 'everything' on the live cd to know if there hardware works and works properly. With a hardware compatibility test tool the user wouldn't need to do that.

I voted yes

jiu wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 08:39
it's a duplicate of some other ideas if not #40, but it's a real good idea nonetheless.

@ Saivann: It seems to me this wouldn't really need to have the hwdb working first, it would be a plus to integrate reporting the results online but it could also be run as a standalone script even before the liveCD boots, or rather, when using a text install (which would be the way someone would go about it if the LiveCD couldn't boot properly). Then the script could tell what component isn't working and suggest a search string to solve the problem post install (if at all possible).

Moderator saivann (Moderator) wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 22:42
You're right, it would not *need* it to be fixed, but it might be better if idea #40 is implemented first.

ethana2 wrote on the 26 Mar 08 at 22:45
Hardware summary:

Ubuntu has detected a recent ati card on your system. This means that for now, Ubuntu will use a proprietary driver for maximum performance, but in the future, this GPU will be fully supported on installations with no internet connection.

Ubuntu has also detected a wireless chipset that is not fully supported yet. Your WiMax card may not work properly until the next Ubuntu release.

Your monitor appears to have inaccurate hardware information. Click [here] to verify the maximum resolution and refresh rate of your display.

Your CPU is a model that indicates support for intel-VT and speed stepping. Would you like to tune power usage now?

Your processor does not seem to have it's kernel virtualization features enabled. If you are using virtualization, you may have to turn them on via your machine's BIOS. If you are not, ignore this.

BungaMan wrote on the 27 Mar 08 at 07:20
I'm a bit reluctant to vote yes on this one. Yes it would be a great help for the user to determine if it works out-of-the-box. But what if it doesn't and there is an easy fix? You would put off the user to install ubuntu because of an easy to fix hardware incompatibility?


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