Has anyone tried ASUS M3N78-VM

[sharkdivertoo]

I'm trying to install Kubuntu 7.10 to use LMCE on a system and since everything I read suggested to usw NVIDIA graphics cards instead of ATI, I chose a motherboard that supports NVIDIA GeForce 8200 series from the MB along with SPDIF HD audio.  Thought it would be great to get HDMI off the MB but I am having difficulties finding drivers for the video, audio and built-in GIGABIT ethernet port.  I purchased a 2nd GIGABIT card from the start so I could run 2 connections as suggested in the articles I've read.  Any help would be great.  Starting my umpteenth reload to try and get everything running.... Had the video figured out in Kubuntu but received an X server setup error window when installing LMCE and have had a black screen since.  Try loadiing in safe mode and it just locks up.

[Norman Ramsey]

I had a bad experience with this mobo and the Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 install disk.
First I got thrown into initramfs prompt.  Found answer on web: use all_generic_ide option.
Then I couldn't get ethernet to work.  After wasting half a day, I wound up just buying
an ethernet card.  Finally, the latest nvidia linux drivers work very badly with the GeForce 8200.
There is lots of tearing on the screen, and XV video does not work well.

I am quite disappointed in the board.  Maybe in six months support will be better.

[skatingn330]

Hey rodercot,

Could you get kubuntu running before u added the graphics card and nic?

I just got my htpc:
Asus m3n78-pro
250 gig sata drive x2
Sata Dvd-rw
4 gigs ram

All the drivers run fine in vista ultimate. The hdmi 1080p w/ 7.1 audio playback is great with this board in vista.

I tried to install kubuntu but the screen just says there's no input after I choose to install, or install in safe graphics mode.

[kiyote]

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forums, but I thought that I would post my experiences using this board.

First, as mentioned above, in order to get the Live DVD to boot from a SATA DVD drive, I had to change my bios to treat the SATA devices in AHCI mode.

Once I did that I was able to boot the DVD and install the system. Once the system was installed, I ended up having to download and compiled the new kernel (using make defconfig) from kernel.org (2.6.26). With the new kernel, I was able to change the bios back to loading in SATA mode.

Armed with the new kernel, I then proceeded to download the new NVIDEA drivers from their website and install those onto the system. The install went perfectly and I suddenly had video through HDMI.

At this point, I had X windows running so I decided to give the HDMI to the TV a try (previously I had been running over VGA to my other computer's monitor). This was a great success, and I am currently typing on my TV right now. Because my setup doesn't require a DHCP server I disabled the DHCP server on the box and my eth0 is working fine. I've never had any problems with the onboard ethernet adapter, but I didn't have the ability to ping anything until after I disabled the DHCP server on the box.

Now I'm stuck trying to get the audio to work on the box. If I remember I will try to post here to update on how/if I get the audio to work (over HDMI or otherwise).

I would also like to point out that I've been working on this setup through trial and error since the beginning of July (2 months)  off and on (when I could spare my monitor from my other machine) so this has not been easy going, but these are the steps that have been successful so far.

[kiyote]

Well, I can't really tell you much about why the ethernet worked for me and didn't for you. All I know is that it seemed to work as soon as I disabled the DHCP.

Also, I remember reading about the all_generic_ide boot option, but I'm fairly sure I never used it. I have however installed Fedora 9 on this HD (and subsequently overwrote it with LMCE). I can't think of any reason that this would have affected anything, maybe it did, I'm sure people much more experienced with Linux than I could confirm.

As for how I installed the new kernel:
After installing LMCE with the BIOS in ACHI mode, it wouldn't boot normally. Instead, I would enter 'recovery mode' from the grub boot options, and through that I mounted a flash drive with the kernel on it.

Hope that helps some.

[kiyote]

rodercot,

I just re-read your post and I realized what you were asking. I doubt that the ethernet was working without the new kernel. I installed the kernel (using the usb flash drive) before I was able to get any sort of outside connection. It may have been that the dhcp was killing the connection, or more likely based on posts from others, the nic just wasn't recognized at all.

[kiyote]

Thanks rodercot,

I followed the link you gave me and recompiled the kernel, adding in that Intel HD module option. I also added two options underneath that one that started with Intel, I don't remember what they were called, but maybe you could try those too if just the Intel HD option isn't working. That managed to get the analog audio working, which is good enough for me right now. At least this is something that I can work with.

As to what case I'm using: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29983. Everything seemed to fit just fine, and it doesn't seem to have any heating issues. Obviously I haven't done too much work with it yet, but so far I'm pleased with it.

[mikkok]

Hi,

I registered only for this thread so I have to get some help
I have no plans to install LMCE but I'm having the same struggle with the m3n78-vm on board sounds.
I would have got a pci sound card days ago but my pci slots are already taken by dvb tuners.

So, let's get to the point. I have successfully installed openSuSe 11.0. As a display I'm using my tv via hdmi with the latest nvidia display driver (works fine with 1080p).I get no sound from hdmi and I guess that is too much to ask at this point.

Well, since i didn't figure out how to get sound working, I compiled latest stable from kernel.org (2.6.26.3). Actually I'm running that one right now but same problem with the sound.
I got rid of some acpi related "unable to do something"-messages at the boot though. I get something out of analog output but it's a mess. Sounds like there is lot's of echo or something.

I was wondering could this hdmi connection mess up something or what? Could you tell how did you manage to get the analog audio working? BIOS settings for the AZALIA codecs etc.

[mrussell]

Hello -

I am trying to get LinuxMCE running with a similar board, the M3N78 Pro, and I can't even seem to get the installer to run.  After the Kubuntu splashscreen where I hit f6 to add the all_generic_ide option, I see the kernel loading up, it switches back to text mode for a second or two, and then... blackness.

I've read all about the blank screen issue, but no combination of number keys gets me anywhere.  I thought that generally happened after install and reboot, not during the install... at any rate, this case also doesn't seem to have an internal speaker, so I can't listen for the beeps to tell me what's going on.  There's a lot of disk activity for a few minutes, and then nothing.  Ctrl-alt-del at that point causes some more disk churning and then ejects the CD - so it seems like the installer is running and waiting for input, but I can't for the life of me see the display.  I've tried the onboard HDMI & VGA ports, as well as DVI & VGA ports on an PCI-express GeForce 8400 GS.  Come to think of it, that PCI-E card might be too new as well.

I'm using IDE hard drive & cd-rom; onboard SATA, sound, & lan are disabled.  Any advice is appreciated.

My advice for others thinking about building lmce systems... Buy the components recommended in the Wiki!

[mikkok]

rodercot,

Well, I don't want to get another card with poor support so I don't think any PCIe sound card is really an option.
Creative has released beta2 drivers for X-Fi series cards but ALSA is not supporting those yet.

I don't want to compile the kernel again just yet, I'll compile the latest ALSA driver and try different options for hda_intel module.
When it's working, should I be able to see Nvidia + Realtek ALC883 by running aplay -l?
Currently I get something like Nvidia + VIA analog. I have enabled only external codec from BIOS.

[mikkok]

Alright, just one more question
When you say analog side was not working for you with 2.6.26-3,
did you hear any sound at all or, like me, some distorted and echoed sound?
I'm asking cause I don't know if I have had the correct module with right options but something else is still wrong.

[mrussell]

Thanks for the tip, Dave... I was traveling this weekend and just had time to give it a shot.

Things move along fine for a while.  I now see the warning screen come up that asks which drive to use for the install and warns that all data will be removed, but the install just goes on without waiting for input... maybe because there's only one hard drive in the system, and it's brand new (empty).

Some text flies by after that and the last line of output is:

Running local boot scripts (/etc/rc.local)             [OK]

There are several warnings above that about files not found and directories that don't exist.  I'm not going to have much time to wrestle with this in the next few weeks, so I think I might just wait for the next version of Linux MCE and try again.  I know the Hardy livecd will boot on the machine, so I'm hoping that will be less of a struggle.

Thanks,
Mark

[Mark Jenks]

I have the MB working in Fedora 9, and everything is pretty much working pretty well.

I haven't tried doing anything with HDMI-Audio, but I have a pretty highend sound card also installed in this box.

I have been having problems with USB.  I have a USB Remote (lirc_mceusb2) that I am trying to use, and it works for alittle bit, and then it seems to lock up the entire USB bus.  Has anyone seen this?

-Mark

[lukis100]

Hi all,

I am using Ubuntu and I am trying to set up dual monitors, but I have trouble doing so with the graphics processor that comes with the mobo. Has anyone been able to do this? If so, how?

Best,

LKS

[colinjones]

Dual monitors are not supported in LMCE. You say Ubuntu, that isn't used for LMCE either, it is Kubuntu. Are you trying to setup LMCE?