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Supported Hardware

FOG is broadly compatible with PC hardware. If a machine can PXE boot and run a
modern Linux kernel, it can almost certainly be imaged with FOG. There is no
official "certified hardware" list — instead this page describes the general
picture, the areas that commonly need attention, and where to find the
community-maintained compatibility list.

General compatibility

  • Firmware: both legacy BIOS and UEFI (32- and 64-bit) are supported, as is
    ARM64 UEFI. See BIOS and UEFI Co-Existence if
    you have a mix of firmware types on your network.
  • Disks and controllers: SATA, NVMe, and most common storage controllers
    are handled by the FOS kernel.
  • Network: most onboard wired NICs work out of the box. Wireless is not used
    for imaging — FOG always images over a wired connection.

The FOS kernel bundles drivers for a very wide range of hardware. When a
brand-new machine isn't recognized, the usual fix is a newer kernel — see
Manual Kernel Upgrade, or Compile
the FOS Kernel to build your own.

Community compatibility list

The most up-to-date, real-world list of what works is maintained by the community
on the forums:

Areas that commonly need attention

USB-to-Ethernet adapters

Tablets, ultrabooks, and 2-in-1s often have no onboard wired NIC and rely on a
USB-to-Ethernet adapter. Two separate things have to work: the adapter must be
able to PXE boot, and the FOS kernel must have a driver for it during
imaging.

  • For PXE booting over a USB NIC, FOG ships a dedicated iPXE binary,
    ncm--ecm--axge.efi, in /tftpboot for the common ASIX/CDC chipsets.
  • The FOS kernel supports many USB NIC chipsets (ASIX AX887xx / AX88179, Realtek
    RTL8152 / RTL8153, and others).

Forum references:

Surface and 2-in-1 tablets

Microsoft Surface and similar tablets are a recurring source of PXE and boot
quirks (firmware boot settings, USB NIC, secure boot). Search the forums for your
exact model — for example:

Reporting hardware

If you get a device working (or get stuck), posting the details on the
FOG forums helps keep the community list above
useful for everyone.