Capt.Crow's woes. A thread of my linux mistakes and solutions that

[securitybreach]

Had a bit of fun today with a very old pentium r machine 333mhz 256mb ram two hd (one not found by slackware fdisk nor cfdisk. ) Couldn't get into it no how. So sledged it with Slackware 8.1 install disk . That was ok but lilo got a bit absent. So right now that stubborn old-timer is meekly installing Slackware 14.01. *huge.s* kernal.

 

 

 

Picked up ubuntu 14.04 install disk . Thinking might install it ... Any bits to especially keep an eye on ?

 

Ubuntu 14.04 will not run on that machine:

 

Ubuntu Desktop Edition

• 700 MHz processor (about Intel Celeron or better)
  
• 512 MiB RAM (system memory)
  
• 5 GB of hard-drive space (or USB stick, memory card or external drive but see LiveCD for an alternative approach)
  
• VGA capable of 1024x768 screen resolution
  
• Either a CD/DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
  
• Internet access is helpful
  

 

https://help.ubuntu....temRequirements

 

You might be able to run PuppyLinux but that is the lowest system requirements that it supports:

Puppy Linux requires 128MB of RAM and 333Mhz of CPU, although 256MB of RAM is recommended.

 

Basically you cannot run 99% of Linux distros out there on that hardware.

[abarbarian]

Had a bit of fun today with a very old pentium r machine 333mhz 256mb ram two hd (one not found by slackware fdisk nor cfdisk. ) Couldn't get into it no how. So sledged it with Slackware 8.1 install disk . That was ok but lilo got a bit absent. So right now that stubborn old-timer is meekly installing Slackware 14.01. *huge.s* kernal.

 

 

 

Picked up ubuntu 14.04 install disk . Thinking might install it ... Any bits to especially keep an eye on ?

 

This may run

 

http://www.slitaz.org/en/about/

 

or this

 

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/bchafy/xin.html

 

an this defo will

 

http://tinycorelinux.net/intro.html

 

plenty of non buntus to play with and much more fun

[securitybreach]

or this

 

http://www.ccs.neu.e...bchafy/xin.html

 

That is pretty neat!!

[abarbarian]

or this

 

http://www.ccs.neu.e...bchafy/xin.html

 

That is pretty neat!!

 

I have had that on the back burner for a while, I even downloaded the .iso but that is as far as I got. Now if we can con Capt'n into trying it .........................

[Capt.Crow]

Oooo ! woe is me -e-e-e-.. Woe is Me-e-e-e-e!!!. Ubuntu sure don't like me or me machine s.

Now I hope you are sitting down .. There I was after starting to install and tried it about 4 times as a live distro ,Also vector 3.2 trisquel qntix . all had fun untill It was time for install on a really old flatbed hp vectra ,,,p111 cpu so all should be good . Not when you find out that the hd ,d are 2119 mb and 512 mb ..Bloop big time . so threw out the tiny one and put in a really old rattley 40gb Maxtor . All went well . made boot stick etc restarted hoping to get lilo prompt . Some chance boyo boy.. Those poor drives have been written and formatted at least 12 times . Oh! forgot toma=ention the 512mb pc100 . It should have worked .I've canniblised 7 machines but aside from some highend graphics cards and some really fancy coolers ad a couple of almost new rom drives . no way does one of dem dere dad blistered boxes wanna be anything other than melted down and turned into car parts.

 

So it's time to hunt around for a mid range Motherboard ,cpu,memory , bundle. This machine is to be the nerve center for a music recording, editing and disc burning work -station .

It's will not be on the net and it will not need a big lumbering OS . So all ideas welcome .

[securitybreach]

Sounds like you also need some harddrives.. You can get a terabyte for about 60 bucks now. I couldnt imagine using a 21gb or a 512mb drive. Heck I download more than 21gb each day and average more than 500gb a month. Granted I do not save that much but the traffic is 500gb+ a month per my ISP's calculator.

[Capt.Crow]

Some times I find it hard to use up the 30Gb allowance . So a big hard drive would be wasted as I clean up after each net session . That's on this PC. The one I need for the music station will not need very much space as the work will be completed tune by tune and bulk saved (also zipped) on DVD. What really has me stymied is getting a music dedicated OS. without all the other padding. Ist dvd player I tried "plattered" itself out at last .So put in a Maxim instead . Better sound quality . But no where near the full sound of vynil.

 

You must have a good deal with your ISP. My miserable crew charge me 30 euro for the 30Gb. When one thinks about it they really are making a lot of dosh out of old rope .

But that's the corporate dominated world we live in .

What news of Anubis ?

[sunrat]

What really has me stymied is getting a music dedicated OS. without all the other padding.

Try KXStudio. There is a full iso available based on Ubuntu 14.04 with KDE, or you can add the repositories to a Debian Jessie install and just pick which packages you want.

http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/

[securitybreach]

You must have a good deal with your ISP. My miserable crew charge me 30 euro for the 30Gb. When one thinks about it they really are making a lot of dosh out of old rope .

But that's the corporate dominated world we live in .

What news of Anubis ?

 

Not really... That is standard rate on my plan. I get 125mbps download and about 30mbps upload with a 800gb soft cap for about 70 bucks a month.

 

Anubis is doing just fine. Thanks for asking.

[abarbarian]

'AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (2.5GHz) Socket AM2 Energy Efficient L2 1MB (2x512KB) Cache

 

I have one of the above and a load of DDR2 ram coming spare in a week or so.

 

I have it paired up with a

 

http://www.pcnation.co.uk/product.aspx?id=9175&af=11

 

at the moment. However I am swapping out the DDR2 and putting in some DDR3 that was ultra cheap and putting in a Phenom 965 BE that I got ultra cheap second hand. With a older ssd that was ultra cheap it runs sweet and should run even sweeter with the upgrades. On baord graphics are good for anything except modern gaming so no need for a gfx card.

The mobo is great in my opinion as you can get DDR2 and AMD chips for next to nowt and you can gently upgrade as you please.

[Capt.Crow]

Had a look at the link . That gave me a little inspiration . Found a way to put an inexpensive machine together over here. Check out > https://ie.webuy.com <

Any advice on what to get together for a halfway decent box .With the parts on sale there . Cheers

[Capt.Crow]

Over the past 6months I have tried to get a Philips dvd-rw 416 series to play video discs . to no avail and great frustration. Even more so now that my old (never on the net ) XP-pro box has gone very glitchy. The usb drives work OK . on this Slackbox. But not the dvd drive. Kplayer brings up the very first file but dumps after that. The drive shows up in usr/home . The files are readable but no way will the videos play. Not fussy which player but would love to get one to work straight off the device notifier. I'm sure the info is out there I just cannot find it.

 

This is another instance where a dead tree book would be a terrific help . Just havent got the guts to send over a hundred bucks to Canada for a copy . Nothing here on the island . Not even the local LUG operates.

[securitybreach]

Is it a dvd movie? If so, you need both libdvdcss and libdvdread.

[Capt.Crow]

Just found a cool link .When searching for libdvdcss.Funny how one tiny bit of info leads to a whole new ball game .Thank you Securitybreach

 

Checked the link .Didnt work.

 

Beyond Linux^® From Scratch

Edited November 8, 2015 by Capt.Crow

[securitybreach]

http://www.linuxfrom...svn/index.html.

 

Just found a cool link .When searching for libdvdcss.

Funny how one tiny bit of info leads to a whole new ball game .

Thank you Securitybreach

 

Not a problem

 

BTW your link doesn't work

[Capt.Crow]

Yes malfunctional link . Had to google the header to get back there.Sorry about that.

[securitybreach]

Yes malfunctional link . Had to google the header to get back there.Sorry about that.

Not a problem

[Capt.Crow]

Heads up on this :-I've been messing about with an old MSI 7030 board . Three times tried and three times failed to install an operating system . Pulled all the slots and peripherals . to no avail .Then just when I was going to break the board for the gold I noticed the graphics card was getting warm . Pulled it and put in an older one.. Bingo.

Also had a wee problem with the power supply . Found a solution for the flashing green LED and no start up. on the net. Now all working well. Just pull the power plug off the board and slowly push it back into the MB socket until it starts to push the CPU fan and PS fan . Done this a couple of times . Now the old tower starts on the button and all well.

 

So tonight I celebrate with a couple of Strong martini cocktails ....Slurp!!!

[abarbarian]

 

 

So tonight I celebrate with a couple of Strong martini cocktails ....Slurp!!!

 

You will no doubt be watching the new Bond film whilst sipping them Martinis.

[Capt.Crow]

Crashed 2 towers .All washed up !!! Slackware 14 and vector 3.2

 

Last ditch distro now is Ubuntu 15.04.

 

Thought Chromium would be my new browser of choice .Even Browser would have been beter than Firefox.

 

Either way the whole kit and rescued caboodle is slower than a calabash growing uphill.

[abarbarian]

Crashed 2 towers .All washed up !!! Slackware 14 and vector 3.2

 

Last ditch distro now is Ubuntu 15.04.

 

Thought Chromium would be my new browser of choice .Even Browser would have been beter than Firefox.

 

Either way the whole kit and rescued caboodle is slower than a calabash growing uphill.

 

Iceweasel seems to run a lot better here than FF.

[Capt.Crow]

What would be keeping the CPU running at 95.3% all the time. Nothing shows in *system processes* above 10% for fire fox and 6 / 14% for the gnome system monitor. Swap no usage. Ram just under 28% of 2.6Gb.

 

Ubuntu 15.04

[securitybreach]

What would be keeping the CPU running at 95.3% all the time. Nothing shows in *system processes* above 10% for fire fox and 6 / 14% for the gnome system monitor. Swap no usage. Ram just under 28% of 2.6Gb.

 

Ubuntu 15.04

 

Check what is using the cpu with htop. A lot of these graphical programs will not show you all the information.

[Capt.Crow]

Had to install htop. Ran it and no biggie . There was nothing showing any heavy usage . Compiz at 3%. Nothing more of any note. But the box is still really slow . Browser either Firefox or Chromium crawling along at snail pace. Chromiun has lost all the bookmarks just a black box where they should be .

[Capt.Crow]

Just noticed something odd. If systems monitor is left running in the background then called up, it at first shows CPU usage in the normal range then starts to climb until it shows at least 96%..

 

curiouser and curiouser .. hmm!!!

[securitybreach]

So system monitor is the culprit. Kill it via htop

[Hedon James]

Hey Captain,

 

Not sure if you're doing your current rescue project for fun, knowledge and experimentation; or attempting to find a permanent workable solution. If it's the former, carry on Mate! I enjoy reading about other's experimentations and discoveries, and this thread has taken many twists and turns since the first page. A good read!

 

If it's the latter, Ubuntu with Unity is too much of a resource hog for that kit, IMO. And keep in mind, I'm not an Ubuntu basher...I think I'm probably one of the few (only?) fans of Ubuntu on this forum. With that said, I can't help but wonder if you have the right distro, but the wrong Desktop Environment (DE)? Is there a specific reason you chose Ubuntu with Unity? With the specs you mentioned, I think I would've suggested Lubuntu as a better "fit" for that hardware. If you want to experiment a little further, install the LXDE desktop (from Software Center), logout, and log back in to the LXDE desktop environment. Even if its "not for you", it might provide a clue as to whether your CPU race is being caused by Unity, or something else.

 

Carry on!

[securitybreach]

Yeah, I agree. I missed the part where yous said you are running Unity.

 

Unity is a big resource hog so I would try out something a bit lighter as suggested.

[Capt.Crow]

Will kill systems monitor.

 

The one and only reason that Ubuntu 15.04 is on this box is because Slackware took a long slide after the last update/upgrade. There was no way I could format the HD and reinstall Slackware . The only other discs here are Ubnoxious. em *typo* Vector and Knoppix. There is Trisquel and Antix too. So just for the "craic" plumped for Ubu-

I was hoping to install Emby as a general one stop shop for media.

Just an aside:-graphics= Galium 0.4 0n llvmpipe(Lvm3.6,128 bits)

Mem 2.6GiB... Pent4 CPU 2.6 Ghz...... OS 32bit. HD 86 gb .

 

 

 

So far the only distro that ran trouble free for me was Debian Squeeze. all except I couldn't get the Huawei E3272 to work . I still have that tower untouched until such time as I get to install the Huawei . Mind you by then the OS may well be obsolete.

[Hedon James]

I've been watching the Emby project with interest (formerly "Media Browser"..."MB"..."Emby") and just read an article on that in this month's Linux Format Magazine (November 2015, issue 204). I have a server with Kodi managing the media, several set-top OpenELEC devices, and a few Android devices with "Media House" software that automatically locate UPnP/DLNA servers, of which Kodi qualifies. While I think I'll still prefer Kodi as the receiving device/front end, Emby looks interesting as the hub of the spoke to serve up content to other protocols. I highly recommend the Linux Format article to you!

 

With that said, I feel real good about my advice in post #148. IMO, Ubuntu with Unity is a terrible choice for a limited spec server machine, especially if there's any kind of transcoding involved. Now that I know what you're trying to accomplish, I would strongly encourage you to install the LXDE desktop on your Ubuntu distro, boot into the LXDE destop, and never use Unity again on that machine while it's a server. I think you'll be quite pleased with the performance of LXDE on that machine. From there, install Emby and you're on your way (barring anymore of Cap'ns unforseen linux mistakes)