Hardware technical writers are regularly shipped or handed down barebone systems and naked prototype motherboards. With nothing more than various types of fans, a 700W power supply, DRAMs and/or a video card, writers explore BIOS screens and check hardware configurations.
With no HDDs, chassis, or accessories to work with, a small Linux OS on a flash drive is a technical writer's best friend. Some prototypes won't even boot up without any storage device connected so the USB doubles as storage and as an operating system. Knoppix is an excellent choice of Linux for these day-to-day tasks - a fitting one considering its long storied history supporting hardware.
Even with the latest chipsets from Taiwan and Chinese manufacturers, Knoppix has no problems running and detecting components. Its low-resource requirements make it perfect for the new APUs and conservative processors integrated in boards today.
On a small note, it's also not a good idea to switch off hardware setup directly from the power supply. As a rule, shutting down from within an operating system is healthier for a motherboard, prototype or not.
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