Re: Running ECCO Pro in Linux

Richard, I totally get your setup.  Give me a moment and I will explain why I think you should read-up a little more on VB. I wouldn't bother but it really does sound like something you could benefit from - and this despite what you have said about hardware limits. Here goes ...

Although you are more Linux, I've been in the same boat of attempting to keep old hardware running to work with old software or other old hardware, then dealing with various limits of various hardware and software, then figuring out where to physically put everything, and of course some cables are always too short.  I would see the whole thing as a devious crossword puzzle that, over time, became my nemesis.  Oh, and my old setup always included heartache in the form of hardware failure - mostly harddrives - or software corruption ... sometimes Ecco.   

10 years ago I trained for a career change which would take me miles away the the stupid computer.  I was very upset at the monster I had created. 

Well, alot of "life stuff" went on these last 10 years to keep me tethered to the computer.  What has saved me is VirtualBox.  Yes, there is reading and learning involved so I would not recommend VB to everyone.  But your setup sounds like mine did so I am offering this version of 'skinning the cat' to think about ....

After alot of testing of VB on 'lesser boxes', I bellied up to the bar and dropped about $750 on a "brand new for me" computer.  This is what I am suggesting you think about as an alternative to your setup.  It was through ebay and an accredited Microsoft refurber in Texas.  What I got was a screaming $5000 2 year old just off lease HP Z420 Xeon workstation w/ 16 cores and 32 GB RAM. That one cpu has replaced 6 cpu's and associated headaches.  Space requirement are down, heat is down, number of cables is down, energy consumption and noise is down. And everything is fast. I use 3 screens and keep 5 or more different 'deep projects' open on 5 different OS' at all times. And Ecco is there on each OS (which was easy to setup and maintain, btw).

The VB community support is good.  Documentation is deep. I work with zero tech support and I am not the brightest bulb on the block, yet I have been able to make it all work. 

So there you go.  More to think about :-)

-Mark