Linux on an old computer Options

[DarkSerge]

Greetings!

Guess what? I bought an old used system from a local computer store! I plan on running Linux on it!

A few years ago, I attempted to run Linux on an old laptop of mine. The system was pretty old, and didn't support much. I got some distros to work but they were pretty slow and had some hardware issues. I eventually abandoned the project and the old laptop just sits around as random storage as a network drive.

I recently found out a local store sells used systems dirt cheap (they had a 1.1 GHz Pentium system for $25, although it was missing a hard drive.) So I bought a system with the intention of running Linux on it and using it as my mostly-for-internet PC.

So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any distros to try on the system. Here are the specs:

Compaq Presario 5000
Pentium III @ 933 MHz
512 MB RAM (256 MB PC100 SDRAM x 2)
60 GB HDD
3.5" Floppy Drive
DVD-ROM and CD-RW drives

Any fun suggestions?

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I would try something VERY LITE for starters. Don't try the typical FAT, GRAPHIC-HEAVY distros. I think you'll have issues trying to run them in a Pentium III with only 512M Ram. My lean Slackware system uses 300M+ on startx with Firefox and Thunderbird initialized. My Debian at startx is using 589M right now with Firefox and Thunderbird initialized.

RAM is going to be your limiting factor with that machine, I'm afraid. If you're an experienced Linux adventurer, I'd try something really lite like Arch with Xmonad (ask Securitybreach - Josh about this) or minimal Debian installation with LXDE and Openbox WM.

Stand by for more suggestions...

Luck with it!

Oh, RAM is pretty dirt cheap for that box. If you could find two 512M sticks to replace those 256 ones, you'll be in better shape.

[securitybreach]

Well I would have to agree with Eric, you could build an extremely lightweight system with Archlinux (even a PentiumPro), but you would need some Linux experience. If you do not have much Linux experience I would suggest maybe Vector Linux. It is based up on Slackware, runs Xfce by default, and is pretty easy for a new penguin. Looking at the system requirements, it should run great on your machine:

Hardware Requirements

* Cpu: Pentium 3 or equivalent or higher
* Ram: 128mb or higher
* Hard Disk: 4.8 GB for a full install with all the optional packages included

http://vectorlinux.com/products/vectorlinu...tandard-edition

Also look here: Top 10 Lightweight Linux Distros

Thanks

[DarkSerge]

I have minimal Linux experience. Some years ago I tried it but things didn't work out that well. I tried it on my laptop, but that thing's pretty old, way older than the used one I picked up cheap today. VectorLinux is one of the distros I tried back then. It worked mostly but had a few graphics issues.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

There are always the "pocket" Linux's.... Puppy, SLAX, Wolvix, RIPLinux, etc. Very small... well run from CD or thumb drives, actually. They can be installed on hard drives, though.

[securitybreach]

I have minimal Linux experience. Some years ago I tried it but things didn't work out that well. I tried it on my laptop, but that thing's pretty old, way older than the used one I picked up cheap today. VectorLinux is one of the distros I tried back then. It worked mostly but had a few graphics issues.

If I were you I would burn a few different distros and test them to find out which distro works best on that machine, I would give Vector a try again since alot has changed in the last few years as far as hardware detection.

Thanks

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Zenwalk, also based on Slackware, is VERY lite and lean running Xfce.

[arochester]

I hate to disagree...BUT...

Pentium 3, 512 Mb of RAM?

I have a Dell C400, a Pentium 3, 256Mb of RAM. I am running Crunchbang (an Ubuntu derivative)

512Mb of RAM should run many/most things...

Zenwalk, that Eric mentions is Xfce based (ie not Gnome or KDE). There are other Xfce distros - Xubuntu, Sam Linux, Dreamlinux.

...I would be tempted to try, TRY Gnome or KDE.

This post has been edited by arochester: Dec 2 2009, 05:44 AM

[Cluttermagnet]

...512Mb of RAM should run many/most things...

Zenwalk, that Eric mentions is Xfce based (ie not Gnome or KDE). There are other Xfce distros - Xubuntu, Sam Linux, Dreamlinux.

...I would be tempted to try, TRY Gnome or KDE.

Yep. I thought of Xubuntu and was going to suggest that one.

FWIW I'm running Ubuntu on systems as modest as P4 at 1.6GHz, 400MHz FSB,
and 512M of 266 MHz DDR RAM. Quite usable.

P-III perhaps not quite so peppy, but maybe at least try Gnome (Ubuntu)?

This post has been edited by Cluttermagnet: Dec 2 2009, 07:17 AM

[Cluttermagnet]

Talking about small computers, I was wandering around on DistroWatch and I ran across this interesting distro called Tiny Core by the guy who had to do with making DSL. I got to reading about it and ended up downloading and burning this tiny distro with a (get this:) 11M footprint. That's right, I downloaded and burned 11 megs to a CD and here I am running a Linux distro with Firefox 3.5. The whole thing is themed 'live CD' only. You boot it up and start installing apps like FF each and every time. It does have some persistent menory like DSL, however, so it can stash some stuff on your hard drive and remember it, if you want. Absolutely amazing. I'll play with this for a while. I wonder if this would play on my old 486-66MHz?

BTW needless to say, this little distro is fast! Talk about lightweight!

Tiny Core on Distrowatch
Tiny Core Home Page

This post has been edited by Cluttermagnet: Dec 2 2009, 09:42 AM

[arochester]

@cluttermagnet You might also look at Slitaz
http://www.slitaz.org/en/
A giant at 30Mb

Tiny Core Linux is not really a complete desktop - but Slitaz is.

[Cluttermagnet]

@cluttermagnet You might also look at Slitaz
http://www.slitaz.org/en/
A giant at 30Mb

Tiny Core Linux is not really a complete desktop - but Slitaz is.

Thanks! I'll have to take a 'relook' at Slitaz. A few of us in this forum tried it. It ended up labeled 'a bit weird but interesting'. I still have that disk downstairs somewhere.

[raymac46]

I think 512 MB of RAM is plenty to run a Gnome or KDE based distro. I did it for quite a while on a PIII machine that wouldn't take more than 512 MB. Frankly I think your machine is already maxed out as far as RAM goes.
You have lots of choices. I'd recommend Mandriva One Gnome personally, or Ubuntu. If you want something fast and light Vector Linux 6.0 Standard would be good although it takes bit more fooling around to get printers etc working.
Another winner is Vector Linux KDE Classic. I'm trying this out right now in VirtualBox.

This post has been edited by raymac46: Dec 2 2009, 12:53 PM

[DarkSerge]

So far, here's what I've tried:

Vector Linux - can't get it to work, doesn't seem to like my video card. Tried the Standard Edition, haven't tried the KDE classic.

Kubuntu 9.1 - Live version has had two successful startups and two startups where a network connection wasn't made.

Knoppix 6.0 - Live version has had two successful startups and one startup where a network connection wasn't made.

Ubuntu 9.1 - No fully successful startups. I get to the desktop and something's off about the graphics creating some odd glitch around the mouse pointer, and on one startup it didn't make a network connection.

I'm going to try Zenwalk and PCLinuxOS as well.

My biggest problem so far is that the live versions are having troubles with the network connection. Kubuntu and Knoppix have had a couple trials where a network connection was never made. Not sure why. Although, just for the heck of it, I switched around the network card into a different slot and pulled out the dial-up modem and since then it's had successful network connections.

That's what has happened so far. Haven't settled on what version to stick with. Still just experimenting, which was the purpose of buying a cheap used PC to begin with.

[securitybreach]

DarkSerge: in one of the livecds could you open up a terminal and type

CODE

$ lspci

Post the output, so we can see what hardware you are working with: network card, video card, etc.
Maybe we can figure out what is going on and what distro would work best for you.

Thanks

Reason for edit: Fixed spelling mistake

[BarryB]

You might want to try Mepis and Linux Mint also...I would lean towards Mepis, based on your machine specs. Is your video card a chip set on the motherboard card or installed via AGP slot? are you getting IRQ errors on boot up? If you check in the BIOS does everything show up consistently(e.g. hard-drives CDROM..or time changes etc) if so you might want to replace the CMOS battery, usually a RS232, my point is sometimes with inconsistent/ spotty equipment issues in the sign of a failing CMOS Battery. Probably not the issue, but it's one of the first things I do on any system I get that is older than 5 years. It's probably just getting the proper Distro for the box...was just thinking of other things that could cause an issue.

[jimg]

DarkSerge: in one of the livecds could you open up a terminal and type

CODE

$ lscpi

make that

CODE

$ lspci

I ran PCLOS 0.9x on a similar computer for a couple of years and it was very usable. 0.93 is still on there and still works. That computer mostly sits unused now, but i fired it up a couple of weeks ago looking for some files.

I remember going through at least a dozen live cds before I found something that felt right.

You might try going back a few releases of ubuntu and giving that a try. Something like 8.04 LTS might be a better choice than the more recent releases.

This post has been edited by jimg: Dec 3 2009, 10:03 AM

[raymac46]

So far, here's what I've tried:

Vector Linux - can't get it to work, doesn't seem to like my video card. Tried the Standard Edition, haven't tried the KDE classic.

Try selecting VESA for your video when you configure. That usually always works with Vector Linux. Afterwards you can reconfigure X for your video card using VXCONF.

[raymac46]

Don't forget to give Mandriva 2010 One Gnome a try. It is usually great at hardware detection.

[securitybreach]

make that

CODE

$ lspci

I ran PCLOS 0.9x on a similar computer for a couple of years and it was very usable. 0.93 is still on there and still works. That computer mostly sits unused now, but i fired it up a couple of weeks ago looking for some files. I remember going through at least a dozen live cds before I found something that felt right. You might try going back a few releases of ubuntu and giving that a try. Something like 8.04 LTS might be a better choice than the more recent releases.

Thanks for the spelling correction, it was late. I made the correction to the post.
Thanks

[Eggdog]

Don't forget to give Mandriva 2010 One Gnome a try. It is usually great at hardware detection.

I'm gonna agree with Raymac here. I am running Mandriva 2010 One Gnome on a Pentium M with 512 Mb of RAM, 1.4 GHz; maybe a little faster than your reclamation project, but probably not much, since the Pentium M is a stripped-down low-power-consumption chip and not especially powerful. Mandriva runs great on it, and also supports the aging Intel video card that has dropped off the radar of some other mainstream distros.

KDE is not fun on this machine.

Puppy is very lightweight and powerful; I use it for a rescue disc. You can run it "live" and see if it does a good job with your hardware, including printing; troubleshooting and patching hardware in Puppy can be a very geeky adventure.

I don't know Slitaz or some of the other lightweight distributions that have been mentioned here. I had no luck with Vector either, though many people enjoy it a lot. The beauty of Linux -- or one of the many beauties of Linux -- is that you can try a distribution and if it doesn't work for you, all you've blown is a couple of hours and a CD-R.

[DarkSerge]

I'm running Zenwalk on it right now. It's nice, I rather enjoy it. I had Knoppix running earlier. It was pretty good too except the windows kept opening off slightly off screen. Hah.

[securitybreach]

I'm running Zenwalk on it right now. It's nice, I rather enjoy it. I had Knoppix running earlier. It was pretty good too except the windows kept opening off slightly off screen. Hah.

I take it everything works on your system in Zenwalk? If so, I am glad you found a distro that works on your system.

Thanks

[DarkSerge]

It works great on this system! I'm posting from it right now. I'll probably still try out a few other versions with Live CDs and such, but for the time being I'll stick with this one while I aquaint myself with a Linux system. I've got a good pile of CDs now just to try out on different computers. I'm enjoying the multiple workspaces since I have such a small monitor for this system.

One question, where can I find a good list of keyboard shortcuts? I'm looking for the shortcut to switch between workspaces.

[sunrat]

One question, where can I find a good list of keyboard shortcuts? I'm looking for the shortcut to switch between workspaces.

Ctrl-Alt-Arrow (right arrow for next workspace, left for previous)

http://www.keyxl.com/aaac887/409/Xfce-Wind...d-shortcuts.htm
http://www.xfce.org/documentation/4.2/manuals/xfwm4 This is for Xfce4.2, no manual for 4.6 yet.

There's also a good table at Wikipedia for Win, Mac, KDE and Gnome shortcuts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_keyboard_shortcuts