raymac46 Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 Got the computer set up at my SIL's house and all is well. The secret was to get a good Atheros based wifi adapter. kids@kids-Inspiron-530:~$ inxi -Fxz System: Kernel: 5.4.0-42-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal Machine: Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Inspiron 530 v: N/A serial: <filter> Mobo: Dell model: 0RY007 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: 1.0.18 date: 02/24/2009 CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo E8400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Penryn rev: A L2 cache: 6144 KiB flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 11969 Speed: 1995 MHz min/max: 1998/2997 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1995 2: 1995 Graphics: Device-1: NVIDIA GF119 [GeForce GT 520] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz OpenGL: renderer: NVD9 v: 4.3 Mesa 20.0.8 direct render: Yes Audio: Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Dell Inspiron 530 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 Device-2: NVIDIA GF119 HDMI Audio vendor: eVga.com. driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-42-generic Network: Device-1: Intel 82562V-2 10/100 Network vendor: Dell Inspiron 530 driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: ff00 bus ID: 00:19.0 IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter> Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9271 802.11n type: USB driver: ath9k_htc bus ID: 1-3:2 IF: wlxec086b195286 state: up mac: <filter> Drives: Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 21.34 GiB (9.5%) ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: A-Data model: SU635 size: 223.57 GiB RAID: Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 bus ID: 00:1f.2 Partition: ID-1: / size: 218.57 GiB used: 21.34 GiB (9.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 39 C Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A Info: Processes: 178 Uptime: 54m Memory: 7.77 GiB used: 1.02 GiB (13.2%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 kids@kids-Inspiron-530:~$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 Good to hear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 Fixing up a 13 year old system this way is overkill to be sure, but it is needed for school and it has some sentimental value, considering I've worked on it off and on for ten years. What I did learn is that a casual user can get by with very trailing edge technology. This machine cannot run the latest video games, do virtualization or video rendering but it is OK for web browsing and light office use. Nowadays a person with moderate computer skills can easily keep an old system going for ten years or more. The only exception would be cheap laptops that cannot be easily upgraded, or systems with motherboards that break down or cannot be fixed with a replacement part. Linux is helpful too. It wouldn't be worth buying Windows 10 for a system this old. And an SSD works wonders - nobody wants to spend 3 minutes booting a PC today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Well the biggest limitation with browsing is the amount of ram. For instance, I have a 64bit atom netbook from 2010 that would work great for most things but the problem is that its maxed out with 2gb ram. So as soon as you open the browser and navigate to gmail or something else JS intensive, it locks to machine up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Personally, I have zero use it for as I have newer laptops but it is a neat little machine that manages to give you full sized keys on a 10” form factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 i have one of those netbooks too and I agree it is hobbled by the unupgradeable 2 GB of RAM. However it also has a brutally slow Atom N450 CPU that is really a single core - though supports multithreading. The video is horrid as well. The E8400 CPU I have in the Dell Inspiron 530 now is 8 times as powerful as the Atom - but even that isn't a lot compared to a modern CPU. Bottom line - the netbook is a writeoff for general use, but the desktop gives a little hope for the fuure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 30, 2020 Author Share Posted August 30, 2020 (edited) I have just updated my Arch installation on the netbook and I am posting from it using the Midori browser. [ray@ray-arch ~]$ inxi -Fxz System: Host: ray-arch Kernel: 5.8.5-arch1-1 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: LXQt Distro: Arch Linux Machine: Device: laptop System: TOSHIBA product: TOSHIBA NB305 v: PLL3AC-01E014 serial: N/A Mobo: TOSHIBA model: NPVAA v: 1.00 serial: N/A BIOS: TOSHIBA v: V1.10 date: 11/20/2009 Battery BAT1: charge: 15.7 Wh 64.4% condition: 24.4/60.5 Wh (40%) model: Dell PA3785U-1BRS status: Discharging CPU: Single core Intel Atom N450 (-MT-) arch: Bonnell rev.10 cache: 512 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3326 clock speeds: max: 1667 MHz 1: 1426 MHz 2: 1360 MHz Graphics: Card: Intel Atom Processor D4xx/D5xx/N4xx/N5xx Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.20.9 ) drivers: intel (unloaded: modesetting,vesa) Resolution: 1024x600@60.00hz OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Pineview M version: 1.4 Mesa 20.1.6 Direct Render: Yes Audio: Card Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Def. Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k5.8.5-arch1-1 Network: Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k bus-ID: 07:00.0 IF: wlp7s0 state: down mac: <filter> Card-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCIE Fast Ethernet controller driver: r8169 port: 2000 bus-ID: 09:00.0 IF: enp9s0 state: down mac: <filter> Drives: HDD Total Size: 120.0GB (28.2% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SDSSDA12 size: 120.0GB Partition: ID-1: / size: 108G used: 30G (29%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.17GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda2 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A Info: Processes: 137 Uptime: 1 min Memory: 271.1/1973.7MB Init: systemd Gcc sys: 10.2.0 Client: Shell (bash 5.0.181) inxi: 2.3.56 [ray@ray-arch ~]$ It does work after a fashion. Edited August 30, 2020 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Yeah but our forums aren’t JavaScript heavy. Try to load up gmail or seeing JS heavy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 I don’t Gmail anymore but I remember that it was bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Old netbooks make decent music players. My EeePC 900 (2008) with a whole 1GB RAM can run all day under antiX with Deadbeef playing. As long as it's plugged in to mains of course, the battery is pretty much FUBAR. It doesn't actually get used though as my old LG G3 phone has better quality sound, is much more compact, and the battery still lasts many hours when just playing music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 My Toshiba netbook cost me nothing (my neighbor was sick of its poor performance.) I put in a cheap SSD and use it as proof of principle for Arch Linux stability. It runs and looks great with LXQt. It would be fine with Libre Office for some light wordsmithing or spreadsheets. You can even get by with a lightweight browser like Midori. I have taken it on trips (back when traveling was a possibility.) My wife gets frustrated with its Web performance though. She's used to a quad core desktop with 16GB of RAM. I let her take the Thinkpad when she goes to visit her mother for a few days (Yes my 90 year old MIL has Internet access at her house.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 (edited) Here's the Toshiba in Ft. Lauderdale back in 2016. Those were the days. As I recall we used it for Yahoo mail with the Basic settings. Did not help much with web surfing though. It was good to back up our digital hotos. Edited August 31, 2020 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 My SIL has hooked up a webcam, and the old Dell desktop is now in service as a remote learning workstation. My youngest granddaughter has been using it with her school's GSuite of apps. I think having a discrete video card is crucial to getting such an old machine to function well enough for educational purposes. This one has only an Nvidia GT520 but it's much better than the 2007 era onboard Intel 3100 graphics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 My SIL said yesterday that the kids are fighting over who gets to use a 13 year old desktop system for their remote learning sessions. Go figure. It's set up at a worktable, it has a nice 22 inch monitor and decent speakers, its webcam works great with Linux and the upgrades have turned it into a surprisingly capable machine. It's come a long way from what was essentially a piece of junk with a flawed Vista O/S back in 2012. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 21, 2020 Author Share Posted September 21, 2020 Apparently my youngest granddaughter has won the battle over the old Dell desktop. She likes having lots of table space, a big screen for viewing, and decent streaming for Google Meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crp Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 On 9/21/2020 at 6:00 AM, raymac46 said: Apparently my youngest granddaughter has won the battle over the old Dell desktop. She likes having lots of table space, a big screen for viewing, and decent streaming for Google Meet. are you sure it was a win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 You'd be surprised how capable this machine is with a much better CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and an SSD. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 16 minutes ago, raymac46 said: You'd be surprised how capable this machine is with a much better CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and an SSD. That SSD is the highest performance boost for any computer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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